Angelus News | February 21, 2025 | Vol. 10 No. 4

ANGELUS

WHAT LOVE

PRESERVES

A 60-year marriage

begins a new chapter

after the Eaton Fire

February 21, 2025 Vol. 10 No. 4

February 21, 2025

Vol. 10 • No. 4

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Los Angeles, CA 90010-2241

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ANGELUS

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ON THE COVER

VICTOR ALEMÁN

Ray and Mary Jo Spano look through a box of love letters from the early

1960s that were saved before their Altadena home burned in the Eaton

Fire. Starting on Page 10, Ann Rodgers tells the story of a 60-year marriage

built to endure the toughest of trials. On Page 14, associate editor

Mike Cisneros reports on how LA’s Catholic schools have mobilized

to keep kids displaced by the LA fires in class, and on Page 18, Kimmy

Chacón speaks to Latino Catholic workers facing precariousness after the

catastrophe.

THIS PAGE

VICTOR ALEMÁN

More than 60 religious sisters and

brothers celebrated significant

anniversaries of their vows at the

Annual Religious Jubilarians Mass

on Sunday, Feb. 2, with Archbishop

José H. Gomez. For more photos,

visit AngelusNews.com/photos-videos.

CONTENTS

Pope Watch............................................... 2

Archbishop Gomez................................. 3

World, Nation, and Local News...... 4-6

In Other Words........................................ 7

Father Rolheiser....................................... 8

Scott Hahn.............................................. 32

Events Calendar..................................... 33

20

22

24

26

28

30

Farewell to Louie Carnevale, LA’s Catholic master of stone

Photos: Vocations basketball and World Day of the Sick Mass

Is pope’s hope for a Catholic/Orthodox Easter common date realistic?

Greg Erlandson: Why J.D. Vance shouldn’t be ‘heartbroken’ on immigration

Rafael Alvarez on the ‘rugged old cross’ of The Band’s Garth Hudson

Heather King: Like it or not, Catholicism is a religion of visionaries

February 21, 2025 • ANGELUS • 1

POPE WATCH

What children are worth

The following is adapted from the

Holy Father’s address to the World

Leaders Summit on Children’s Rights

at the Vatican on Feb. 3, celebrated as

World Children’s Day.

Even today, too often the lives of

millions of children are marked

by poverty, war, lack of schooling,

injustice, and exploitation.

Increasingly, those who have their

whole life ahead of them are unable

to approach it with optimism and confidence.

It is precisely young people,

who are the signs of hope in every

society, who struggle to find hope in

themselves. This is sad and troubling.

What we have tragically seen almost

every day in recent times, namely

children dying beneath bombs, sacrificed

to the idols of power, ideology,

and nationalistic interests, is unacceptable.

In truth, nothing is worth

the life of a child. To kill children is to

deny the future.

Many other minors live in “limbo”

because they were not registered at

birth. An estimated 150 million “invisible”

children have no legal existence.

This is an obstacle to their accessing

education or health care, yet worse

still, since they do not enjoy legal

protection, they can easily be abused

or sold as slaves.

This actually happens! We can think

of the young Rohingya children,

who often struggle to get registered,

or the “undocumented” children at

the border of the United States, those

first victims of that exodus of despair

and hope made by the thousands of

people coming from the South toward

the United States of America, and

many others.

Sadly, this history of oppression of

children is constantly repeated. If

we ask the elderly, our grandparents,

about the war they experienced when

they were young, the tragedy emerges

from their memories: the darkness

— everything is dark during the war,

colors practically disappear — and

the stench, the cold, the hunger, the

dirt, the fear, the scavenging, the loss

of parents and homes, abandonment,

and all kinds of violence. I grew up

with the stories of the First World

War told by my grandfather, and

this opened my eyes and heart to the

horror of war.

Seeing things through the eyes of

those who have lived through war is

the best way to understand the inestimable

value of life. Yet also listening

to those children who today live in

violence, exploitation, or injustice

serves to strengthen our no to war, to

the throwaway culture of waste and

profit, in which everything is bought

and sold without respect or care for

life, especially when that life is small

and defenseless.

In the name of this throwaway

mentality, in which the human being

becomes all-powerful, unborn life

is sacrificed through the murderous

practice of abortion. Abortion suppresses

the life of children and cuts

off the source of hope for the whole of

society.

Sisters and brothers, how important

it is to listen, for we need to realize

that young children understand,

remember, and speak to us. And with

their looks and their silences, too, they

speak to us. So let us listen to them!

Papal Prayer Intention for February: Let us pray that the

ecclesial community might welcome the desires and doubts

of those young people who feel a call to serve Christ’s

mission in the priesthood and religious life.

2 • ANGELUS • February 21, 2025

NEW WORLD OF FAITH

ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ

Time for immigration reform (again)

national debate about

immigration frustrates me.

“Our

… Many of our leaders

seriously believe the issue can best be

‘solved’ by rounding up and removing

everyone caught living in our midst

without proper legal documents. This

would be a human rights nightmare,

involving the forced repatriation of a

population roughly the size of Ohio. …

“Politicians talk in euphemisms about

… making life so scary and harsh for

people who are here illegally that they

will want to leave the country of their

own accord. From the courts and

legislatures to the media and popular

opinion, there is an outraged, personal

tone to our immigration debate

that you don’t hear very often in our

politics.”

I wrote those words in 2013 at the

beginning of my book, “Immigration

and the Next America” (Our Sunday

Visitor, $11.95). I could write the same

words today.

I’ve been ministering to migrants for

nearly 40 years, from the time I was a

young priest in Texas and Colorado.

During that whole time immigration

has continued to be a flashpoint in

American life.

The recent controversies with the new

administration in Washington, D.C.,

reflect a lack of awareness of the history

and confusion about the duties of the

Church and government.

The Church has been a good partner.

Working with the government through

Catholic Charities and other agencies,

we have helped our nation welcome

and settle millions of legal immigrants

and refugees.

We work with efficiency and compassion

and use the taxpayer monies entrusted

to us wisely. On top of that, the

Catholic faithful give very generously,

not only their money but countless

volunteer hours, to help those seeking a

new life in our country.

The Catholic Church did not break

the nation’s immigration system, but

every day we deal with the human

damage caused by that broken system:

women and children who have been

trafficked by coyotes and cartels; people

who’ve been living and working in this

country for decades but don’t have

the rights or benefits of citizens; those

addicted by the drugs being smuggled

across our borders.

Now, once again, we are dealing with

the fears of ordinary men, women, and

children in our neighborhoods, parishes,

and schools.

We all agree that we don’t want

undocumented immigrants who are

known terrorists or violent criminals

in our communities. They should be

removed from our country in a way

that respects their rights and dignity as

human beings.

But we still need to fix the broken

system that allowed them to cross our

borders in the first place. Not enough

people in Washington seem to be

serious about that.

The last comprehensive reform of

our nation’s immigration system was in

1986.

It was a different world then: the Cold

War was going on, the European Union

was in its infancy. The internet was

experimental, there was no such thing

as a “smart” phone; Mark Zuckerberg,

the founder of Facebook, was two years

old.

Forty years is a long time for our

leaders to avoid solving an important

problem. The failure of political will

and courage has truly been bipartisan,

and both parties have shown themselves

willing to exploit the issue for

political gain.

In the meantime, the American

economy has changed and so has the

global economic and financial system.

The mass migration of poor peoples,

displaced by wars, disasters, and

instability in their home countries, has

become a crisis for America and almost

every nation in Europe.

The criticism of the Church is misplaced

and distracts from the real issues,

which are deep and decades old.

In 2013, a very different administration,

from the other political party, was

in power in Washington. That administration

deported more than 5 million

immigrants.

I said then and it’s still true today: deportation

is not an immigration policy.

Every nation has the solemn duty

to control and secure its borders. But

border walls need doors, too.

People are born with the natural right

to emigrate in search of a better life,

and prosperous nations are called to be

generous in welcoming them.

But we cannot let everyone in who

wants to live here, so there need to be

rules and an orderly process for deciding

who we welcome, how many we

welcome, and under what conditions.

These are basic principles of Catholic

teaching and international law. Other

industrialized nations in the West have

a coherent immigration policy. America

should too.

Government has its responsibility and

the Church has her mission. And I am

praying that in the months ahead we

will find ways to work together for the

common good.

Pray for me and I will pray for you.

May Our Lady of Guadalupe, mother

of Jesus and mother of all the peoples

of the Americas, keep us close to her

Son in this moment. May she help us

to work together as neighbors, in a spirit

of unity, to truly become one nation

under God.


WORLD

■ Vatican backtracks on day of obligation ruling

The Vatican reversed its 2024 instruction on holy days of obligation, stating

now that the obligation to go to Mass does not transfer if a feast day is moved

due to liturgical calendar conflicts.

Last year’s instruction was instigated by the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception,

normally celebrated Dec. 8. But because that date fell on an Advent

Sunday, the celebration of the solemnity was transferred to Dec. 9.

In response to a question by the U.S. bishops, the Vatican had declared that

multiple feasts, including the Immaculate Conception, are always a day of obligation

even when the date is transferred.

But instructions given last month by Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery

of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, now override

the September letter.

“In the event of the occasional transfer of a holy day of obligation, the obligation

to attend Mass is not transferred to the [new] day,” Roche wrote, citing his

dicastery’s interpretation of canon law.

■ Sister of slain French priest champions forgiveness

The sister of a French priest killed by Islamist radicals called her brother’s life a

sign that “forgiveness is a force of peace and hope.”

At a Jan. 25 Jubilee Year event in Rome, 84-year-old Roseline Hamel spoke of

the healing friendship she developed with the mother of one of the men who

stabbed Father Jacques Hamel while he was saying Mass in 2016.

“To understand each other, we must know each other, and to know each other,

we must talk to each other, despite the differences that can intimidate us,” she

said during the talk. “Only by facing them and their differences will we not be

afraid of others.”

In the years before his murder, Hamel had been involved in interreligious

dialogue with the Muslim community in his parish. His cause for canonization

was opened in 2017.

A site of suffering — Rabbis pray during a commemoration event in Brzezinka, Poland, on Jan. 27 marking the

80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination

camp. Prayers were also recited on behalf of Catholics at the event. “God suffered a great deal in every single person

who was here,” said Cardinal Grzegorz Rys of Lodz, Poland. | OSV NEWS ALEKSANDRA SZMIGIEL, REUTERS

Bishop Rolando Álvarez

this month in Rome. |

DANIEL IBAÑEZ/CNA

■ Freed Nicaraguan

bishop: ‘I always believed

in my release’

Bishop Rolando Álvarez of

Matagalpa, Nicaragua, gave his first

remarks to the press since being

released from prison and exiled to

Rome by the country’s socialist regime

in January 2024.

Asked by Spanish newspaper La Tribuna

de Albacete what he would say

to his countrymen facing hard times

back home, Álvarez quoted a December

2024 message from Pope Francis

to Nicaraguans.

“Be certain that faith and hope work

miracles. Let us look to the Immaculate

Virgin; she is the luminous

witness of that confidence,” Álvarez

quoted.

Shortly following Alvarez’s interview,

the regime dissolved the legal status

of the Poor Clares in two cities and

on the night of Jan. 28, government

agents forced 30 nuns from their

cloister.

That same day, Álvarez’s former residence

in Matagalpa was raided and

all the furniture, including religious

objects, were removed.

In a separate interview with EWTN,

Álvarez said he was about “90%”

recovered from the ordeal.

“I always believed in my release,”

he said. “When? I didn’t know, but

I always hoped to be free and what

sustained me was prayer.”


NATION

Crosses were set up at an

Arlington, Virginia, memorial for

victims of the crash near Ronald

Reagan Washington National

Airport. | OSV NEWS/JEENAH

MOON, REUTERS

■ New York shrine to Jesuit

martyrs gets ‘national’ label

The birth site of St. Kateri Tekakwitha in upstate New

York has been officially designated a national shrine, the

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced Jan. 27.

The Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs in Auriesville, New

York, has long been venerated as the site where Jesuit

priests Sts. Isaac Jogues, René Goupil, and Jean de

Lalande were martyred in the 1640s. It is located at the

site of a former Ossernenon village where Tekakwitha was

born in 1656.

The shrine has served as a place of pilgrimage since

1885. It was originally operated by the Jesuits until 2017,

when ownership transferred to a nonprofit corporation

chaired by the bishop of Albany.

■ Virginia priest consoled families

after DC plane crash

A Catholic priest was quickly on the scene of the Jan. 29

crash between an American Airlines jet and an Army Black

Hawk helicopter that killed 67 people.

“I felt it was really my duty. I felt an impulse — call it the

gifts of the Holy Spirit or guardian angel,” Father Frederick

Edlefsen, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Arlington,

Virginia, told EWTN News Nightly.

Reagan National Airport is within the territory of Edlefsen’s

parish. Through a parishioner with a background in law

enforcement, Edlefsen was able to be escorted to a lounge at

the airport where family members of the victims had gathered

to await news.

“We were able to be present, not only to the grieving families

but also to the personnel who, when they went to work

this morning, they didn’t know this was going to hit them,”

Edlefsen said.

■ Trump announces task force

to take on ‘anti-Christian bias’

President Donald Trump said his administration will create a

Department of Justice task force to combat anti-Christian bias

headed by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Trump made the announcement at the National Prayer

Breakfast on Feb. 6.

“The mission of this task force will be to immediately halt all

forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the

federal government,” Trump said. “In addition, the task force

will work to fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism

in our society, and to move heaven and earth to defend

the rights of Christians and religious believers nationwide.”

Trump also announced the creation of a presidential commission

on religious liberty and a White House Faith Office,

led by televangelist Rev. Paula White.

A woman touches a statue of St. Kateri Tekakwitha at the Shrine of Our Lady of

Martyrs in 2012. | OSV NEWS/JASON GREENE, REUTERS

■ Bishops’ conference lays off

50 migration staffers

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops laid off

about a third of the staff in its Migration and Refugee

Services Office following the new Trump administration’s

suspension of a federal refugee resettlement

program.

Until Jan. 15, the government had reimbursed agencies

including the USCCB for their work with refugees

who qualified for federal assistance.

A USCCB spokesperson confirmed to OSV News that

the 50 layoffs were “a result of the continuing uncertainty

regarding refugee resettlement” and the “overall

future” of resettlement programs.

In a memo to conference staff, USCCB general

secretary Father Michael Fuller said the cuts would also

affect Catholic Relief Services, the overseas relief and

development arm of the Catholic Church in the U.S.,

“even more harshly.”


LOCAL

■ Sierra Madre retreat

center makes quick

comeback after fire

damage

Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center in

Sierra Madre partially reopened to

visitors on Feb. 7, just one month after

nearly being destroyed by the Eaton

Fire.

While the retreat center’s employee

apartments, hermitage, and garage all

burned in the fire, the retreat center’s

main building was largely spared.

Since then, Mater Dolorosa’s staff

launched an informal fundraising

campaign, had the building professionally

cleaned, and replaced furniture

items such as mattresses. The

site has also been tested for hazardous

materials.

Damaged areas will remain fenced

off while recovery work continues on

the 83-acre property.

“We will have some limitations, people

will not be able to go anywhere

they want,” said Mater Dolorosa’s

director, Father Febin Barose, CP.

“But we can still work things around.

We don’t need to have things at 100%

to be open. We are human beings, we

are resilient, and we are flexible.”

For information on Mater Dolorosa’s

rebuilding campaign, visit materdolorosa.org/donate.

Still singing his praises — The Halpin family sings during a benefit concert for fire victims at St. Therese Church in

Alhambra Feb. 2. The family became well known after a video circulated showing the Halpins singing near a statue

of the Virgin Mary at the burned remains of their Altadena home. The concert was held as part of celebrations for

the parish’s 100th anniversary year. | ST. THERESE CHURCH

■ Homeboy Industries founder honored

at Loyola Marymount University

Loyola Marymount University honored Homeboy Industries founder Father

Greg Boyle, SJ, by giving him its 2025 Doshi Bridgebuilder Award during a special

ceremony Feb. 10.

The award, established in 2005, is given to an individual or organization dedicated

to fostering understanding between cultures, peoples, and disciplines.

Boyle founded Homeboy Industries in 1988 as a way to offer former gang members

job training, employment opportunities, and spiritual rehabilitation.

“Father Greg Boyle has consistently demonstrated a profound commitment to

investing in individuals, fostering hope, and cultivating a sense of community,”

said Richard Fox, dean of LMU’s Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts. “We …

anticipate that his insights will encourage our students to engage critically with

complex social issues and approach them with empathy and compassion.”

Y

■ Ethical Leadership Luncheon raises

money for Catholic students

Moderator Carol Costello, center, poses with panelists Joe Davis, Renata Simril,

Anne Sweeney, and Alessandro DiSanto. | JOHN RUEDA

Local business leaders raised money for Catholic school students

affected by the recent fires at the second annual Ethical Leadership

Luncheon, held Jan. 29 during Catholic Schools Week.

LA Catholic Schools Superintendent Paul Escala told the nearly

400 guests at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels conference

center that at least 915 students across 76 of the archdiocese’s

schools had been displaced by the fires, leaving a need of more

than $7 million in tuition relief.

To address the need, Catholic Education Foundation executive

director Doug Cooper announced that proceeds from the lunch

would go toward the newly created “Wildfire Catholic School

Tuition Relief Fund.”

The event featured a panel discussion on ethics in sports and entertainment

with Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis, LA84 Foundation President and CEO Renata Simril, Alessandro DiSanto,

co-founder of the Catholic app Hallow, and former Disney executive Anne Sweeney.

To donate to the Tuition Relief Fund, visit cefwildfiretuitionrelief.funraise.org.


V

IN OTHER WORDS...

Letters to the Editor

Don’t ignore climate change and the LA fires

While both the Jan. 24 and Feb. 7 editions of Angelus had many excellent

articles about the LA wildfires, none mentioned the climate crisis.

While we cannot definitively link any single event to the climate crisis and while

human-controlled factors may have contributed, this silence speaks very loudly.

Despite Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical on the environment “Laudato Sí”and his

recent moral call to action on human-induced climate change, the topic has been

largely avoided in Catholic circles in the U.S.

While we are all still mourning the devastation from the fires, we cannot ignore

the climate crisis as a life issue. Our Catholic leaders need to emphasize that

this is a nonpartisan life issue that deserves more attention. A letter from the U.S.

Conference of Catholic Bishops to Congress last month that included a call for

the “decarbonization of the economy” to “remain a key priority” is a good start.

As Christians who understand that everything is grace, we should soberly but

prayerfully face a problem of even this magnitude without fear and respond with

love and hope.

— Mark Rutkowski, La Cañada Flintridge

Y

Continue the conversation! To submit a letter to the editor, visit AngelusNews.com/Letters-To-The-Editor

and use our online form or send an email to editorial@angelusnews.com. Please limit to 300 words. Letters

may be edited for style, brevity, and clarity.

A papal production with help from Hollywood

“Your shepherds, bishop

and priests are committed

to keeping the seal of

confession — even to the

point of going to jail.”

~ Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly, in a Feb. 3

statement addressing two Washington state

proposed bills that would force priests to break the

seal of confession.

“Discipline had become

my god.”

~ Ultra-marathoner Johnny Kuplack, in a Feb. 6

National Catholic Register article on his 100-

day run to raise money for his Catholic-inspired

nonprofit.

“Shia’s journey reflects what

Padre Pio is telling us: the

path to heaven begins with

repentance and dying to

oneself.”

~ Brother Alex Rodriguez, in a reflection for

CapuchinsWest.org marking a year since actor

Shia Labeouf’s entrance into the Catholic Church,

asking, “Why does God choose a broken man to

play Padre Pio in a movie?”

“We can’t just start

dumping this stuff at every

landfill.”

~ Wayde Hunter, president of the North Valley

Coalition of Concerned Citizens, in an LA Times

report on LA County’s plans to dump toxic debris

from the recent wildfires.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ digital team helped produce this month’s “The Pope Video,” which broadcasts Pope

Francis’ monthly prayer intentions. February 2025’s prayer intention centers on helping and accompanying young people

in their discernment of possible religious vocations. The video features a photo of a young Jorge Mario Bergoglio

(Pope Francis), appearances by several local religious sisters, and an LA priest. | ARCHDIOCESE OF LOS ANGELES

To view this video

and others, visit

AngelusNews.com/photos-videos

Do you have photos or a story from your parish that you’d

like to share? Please send to editorial @angelusnews.com.

“Walls, for example, can

have doors in them for

those who need refuge and

who exercise the right to

migrate.”

~ The Catholic bishops of Minnesota in a Feb.

7 joint statement on “Immigration Law and the

Common Good of the Nation.”


IN EXILE

FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI

Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father

Ronald Rolheiser is a spiritual

writer; ronrolheiser.com

Jesus and the poor

I

grew up a second-generation immigrant

in the outback of the Western

Canadian prairies. Our family was

poor economically, subsistence farmers,

with the necessities but seldom with

much more. My father and mother

were charitable to a fault and tried to

instill that in us. However, given our

own poverty, understandably we did not

have much of a vision in terms of social

justice. We were the poor.

Growing up in this way can deeply

ingrain certain instincts and attitudes

inside you, some good, some bad.

Positively, you grow to believe that you

need to work hard, that nothing is given

to you free, that you need to take care

of yourself, and everyone else should

do the same. Ironically, that very ethos

can blind you to some major truths

regarding the poor.

I can testify to this. It took me many

years, work that took me over many

borders, some firsthand encounters

with people who didn’t have the basic

necessities of life, and countless hours

in theology classrooms before I even became

aware of some of the basic biblical

and Christian truths regarding the poor.

Now I am struggling to live them, but

at least I accept that they are non-negotiable

for a Christian, irrespective of

denomination or political persuasion.

In brief, as a Christian, we are given

a non-negotiable mandate to reach

out to the poor in compassion and

justice. Moreover, this mandate is just

as non-negotiable as keeping the Ten

Commandments, as is clear most everywhere

in Scripture.

Here is the essence of that mandate:

• The great Jewish prophets coined

this mantra: “The quality of your faith

will be judged by the quality of justice

in the land; and the quality of justice

in the land will always be judged by

how ‘widows, orphans, and strangers’

(biblical code for the weakest and most

vulnerable groups in a society) are

doing while you are alive.”

• Jesus not only ratifies this; he

deepens it, identifying his very person

with the poor. (“Truly, I say to you, as

you did it to one of the least of these my

brethren, you did it to me”). He tells us

that we will be judged for eternal life

on the basis of how we treated the poor.

• Moreover, in both Testaments in the

Bible, this is particularly true regarding

how we treat foreigners, strangers, and

immigrants. How we treat them is how

we are in fact treating Jesus.

• Note that Jesus defines his mission

with these words: “The Spirit of the

Lord is upon me, because he has

anointed me to bring good news to the

poor.” Hence, any teaching, preaching,

or government policy that is not good

news for the poor may not cloak itself

with either Jesus or the Gospel.

As well, most of us have been raised to

believe that we have the right to possess

whatever comes to us honestly, either

through our own work or through legitimate

inheritance. No matter how large

that wealth might be, it’s ours as long

as we didn’t cheat anyone along the

way. By and large, this belief has been

enshrined in the laws of democratic

countries, and we generally believe that

it is morally sanctioned by Christianity.

It is not, as we can see from these truths

in Scripture:

• God loves everyone. There are

no favorite ones or privileged ones in

God’s eyes, and God intended the earth

and everything in it for the sake of all

human beings. Thus, created goods

should flow fairly to all.

• Wealth and possessions must be understood

as ours to steward rather than

to possess absolutely.

• No person or nation may have a

surplus if others do not have the basic

necessities.

• All people are obliged to come to

the relief of the poor.

• The condemnation of injustice is a

non-negotiable aspect of our discipleship.

• In all situations where there is injustice,

unfairness, oppression, grinding

poverty, God is not neutral. Rather God

wants action against everything and

everyone who deals injustice and death.

These principles are strong, so strong

in fact that it is easy to believe that Jesus

can’t really be asking this of us. Indeed,

if taken seriously, these principles

would radically disrupt our lives and

the social order. It would no longer be

business as usual.

To take just one example: there are

nearly 45 million refugees in our world

today, most of them looking to cross a

border into a new country. Is it realistic

for any country today, in biblical terms,

“to welcome the stranger,” to simply

open its borders and welcome anyone

who wants to cross?

That’s simply not realist or socially expedient

regarding what it would mean

practically in terms of our comfort and

security.

While that may be granted, what may

not be granted is that our (seemingly)

necessary social and political pragmatism

in dealing with “the widow,

the orphan, and the immigrant” may

cloak itself with Jesus and the Bible. It

may not. This is antithetical to Jesus.

Whether or not this upsets our security

and comfort, God is always on the

underside of history, on the side of the

poor.



Ray and Mary Jo Spano hold a box

with love letters from more than 60

years ago at the site of their Altadena

home, which was destroyed in the

Eaton Fire. | VICTOR ALEMÁN

BUILDING ON

WHAT REMAINS

After 9 kids and 60

years of marriage, Ray

and Mary Jo Spano

lost their Altadena

house overnight —

but not the love it

was all built on.

Ray and Mary Jo with their

children and grandchildren

in December 2019. |

SPANO FAMILY

BY ANN RODGERS

As the deadly Eaton Fire roared

toward the Altadena home that

Ray and Mary Jo Spano had

lovingly restored from near ruin, Ray

grabbed their most precious possession:

nearly 300 love letters from their

courtship in the early 1960s.

Mary Jo carried photos of their nine

children and 24 grandchildren. Before

they left, she affixed the image of

Divine Mercy to their front and back

doors and the separate entrance to

Ray’s architectural studio.

“Even though we lost the house and

his office, you still feel that God was

very present and there’s a reason,” said

Mary Jo, 84. “I guess in time we’ll

understand what that was.”

Raised in far distant parts of the

country, they were introduced by

Ray’s college roommate in architectural

school at the University of

Arizona. He happened to be Mary Jo’s

cousin.

“For some reason, he thought Mary

Jo and I would be a good match,” said

Ray, now 87.

One reason was surely the deep,

shared faith that is guiding them

through this catastrophe.

Ray grew up in Cleveland, Ohio,

attending the Cathedral Latin School

before his family moved to California

his senior year. He graduated from

Chaminade High School (now Chaminade

College Preparatory School) in

West Hills.

Meanwhile, in Lafayette, Indiana,

Mary Jo studied at St. Francis High

School. It was about to close, and

classes her final two years were in the

chancery of the Diocese of Lafayette.

There, she so impressed Bishop John

Bennett that he hired her as his secretary.

She continued with then-Bishop

John Carberry, becoming close to him

before his appointment as the cardinal

archbishop of St. Louis.

After her cousin finagled a matchmaking

visit to California, Ray and

Mary Jo began a two-year courtship

across 2,000 miles. “In those days,

phone calls were expensive,” Ray said.

Thus, 300 love letters.

Also in those days, bishops rarely

celebrated weddings. But Carberry,

with whom they remained friends

until his death, married them on Dec.

26, 1964.

His wedding gift was a porcelain image

of the Blessed Mother, in a frame

with a crimson velvet background.

They attached her to the bedroom

wall where they could see her when

they awoke, and carefully transported

her as Ray finished college and they

relocated to Southern California and

moved house several times. In 1978

they bought a fixer-upper in Altadena.

Built in 1909-1910 as the first house

on Rubio Street, the 3,400 square-foot

craftsman accommodated nine children

— now ages 43-59 — but was

in sad shape. Wisteria and ivy hid the

exterior. Inside, wood paneling had

been painted over and the original

sconces ripped out for modern lighting.

Decorative tiling was destroyed.

For 30 years, as Ray worked, their

children attended Catholic school

and they sang in the choir at St.

Elizabeth of Hungary Church, Ray

and Mary Jo stripped paint, restored

wood, installed period fixtures, and

landscaped the large yard. A statue of

the Blessed Mother that had belonged

to Mary Jo’s mother stood against a

low brick garden wall.

Ray also remodeled the detached


garage, enlarging it to create an architectural

studio whose skillful design

testified to his skills. After 20 years of

working there, he was planning to retire

as he finished one last project for

an old client. He and Mary Jo wanted

to travel and spend more time with

their children.

Last May, Rubio Street was the site

of an annual Altadena home tour that

raised more than $100,000 for Huntington

Hospital. A café was set up in

their backyard and Ray’s studio was a

tour site. Video taken that day of their

yard and studio has survived. Virtually

everything shown on those videos is

ash and cinder.

On Jan. 7 they fled the flames. Their

home probably burned the next

morning.

They went first to their eldest child,

Christina, in Pasadena. Her house was

threatened and they evacuated again.

Christina’s home survived, but they

remain for now in Long Beach with

their youngest, Julia.

Their son Tony, his wife, and three

children had been living with Ray and

Mary Jo in Altadena but visited his

wife’s family in Korea over Christmas

and New Year’s. Tony returned before

them for work, landing at LAX the

night of the fire. His family is still in

Korea “because we don’t have a home

for them to return to,” Ray said.

After the smoke died, Ray and Mary

The remains of the Spanos’ Altadena home following the Eaton Fire. | SPANO FAMILY

Jo donned hazmat suits to inspect

what remained.

They found the chimney, the foundation,

the low brick wall and the

concrete garden statue of the Blessed

Mother. Sitting upright amid rubble

and twisted cables from the collapsed

second floor were several cherubic

angel figurines.

Their treasured porcelain Madonna

from Cardinal Carberry is gone.

“I didn’t think we would lose our

house. I thought we would take the

most precious things and then come

back. Had I thought for a minute that

the house would be gone, that was

one of the objects that I would have

taken,” Ray said.

“Those are the things that nothing

you can do can replace them. You just

have to keep them in your heart.”

He is thankful that they are alive and

“we have the faith to move forward,

whichever direction that will be.”

Their intention is to rebuild, and to

help their neighbors do likewise.

They began emailing their Rubio

Street neighbors with practical

information, and the list has grown to

about 90 as others asked to join. Their

son Nick, who runs a café, hosted

a gathering for the Rubio Street neighbors

to have lunch and consult with a

law firm.

Ray’s faith tells him not to ask why

God allowed the fire, which he attributes

to forces of nature. Instead, he

asks God how to respond.

He scrapped his retirement plans.

“Everything can be taken from us, but we also

need to be cognizant that this is only a speck of

what we are going to experience in eternity.”

“I’d like to assist my neighbors in getting

their homes redesigned,” he said,

speculating about how to ease their

way through a yearslong process.

He had always wanted to design a

home for their own family but never

had the opportunity. Amid the terrible

circumstances, he sees a chance to

fulfill a dream.

Their insurance includes transitional

housing, but finding a place large

enough for them and Tony’s family

has been difficult. It is also difficult

to live so far from St. Elizabeth of

Hungary Church, where they long to

gather with friends.

At St. Elizabeth of Hungary School,

when fire inspectors asked principal

Phyllis Cremer for blueprints of the

gas lines, she was astonished to discover

that they had been signed long ago

by Spano. Friends for 27 years, she

described the couple as quietly generous

to the church, whether through

financial giving or hosting the choir

for Christmas caroling parties.

“If you ever have a bad day, you just

need to be with the Spanos,” she said.

Now the entire parish is hurting, its

buildings damaged and many families

homeless. She believes they will draw

inspiration from Ray and Mary Jo

because their marriage shows what the

sacrament is all about.

“Their faith is so strong. You get a

sense of how Christ-centered their

relationship is. We all have our

challenges within our relationships,

and we need to allow God to be a part

of those challenges to be a witness to


others. Ray and Mary Jo do that,” she

said.

“When you’re with Ray and Mary Jo

it doesn’t feel like they’ve been married

for 60 years. They’re as fresh and

loving and tender as people who have

just fallen in love.”

Ray and Mary Jo are grateful when

friends tell them they are praying for

them or ask them how they can help.

Their greater concern is for victims

who feel alone.

“We’re blessed because of our family

and the number of friends that we

have. I can’t imagine somebody going

through this without that,” Ray said.

“Everything can be taken from us,

but we also need to be cognizant

that this is only a speck of what we

are going to experience in eternity. I

tell people that our house went up to

heaven before we did.”

Ann Rodgers is a longtime religion

reporter and freelance writer whose

awards include the William A. Reed

Lifetime Achievement Award from the

Religion News Association.

Ray and Mary Jo Spano receive a

blessing after Mass at the Cathedral

of Our Lady of the Angels from

Archbishop José H. Gomez on Dec. 26,

2024, the day of their 60th anniversary

(and Archbishop Gomez’s birthday). |

PABLO KAY


LEARNING LESSONS

St. Elizabeth School Principal

Phyllis Cremer, right, carries

supplies delivered from Kansas

to help students and families

affected by the wildfires. |

VICTOR ALEMÁN

Their lives upended

by the LA fires,

displaced Catholic

school families found

a support network

ready to help them.

BY MIKE CISNEROS

Not many have experienced the

uneasiness the LA fires caused

as uniquely as Phyllis Cremer,

the principal at St. Elizabeth School

in Altadena. Not only did students and

parents turn to her as the Eaton Fire

ravaged their homes, but she herself

was evacuated, and is now displaced

because of fire damage to her home.

“It’s like a death,” she said. “Here’s this

life that I had that is no longer and that

literally went away. Now, being an administrator

for a school that is dispersed

is probably the hardest thing that I have

ever experienced.”

But if anyone can help navigate and

make sense of what happened, where

the school community goes from here,

and how not to lose faith in the process,

it’s Cremer.

“It sounds corny, but I was made for

this,” said Cremer, whose husband,

Doug, is a deacon at St. Elizabeth

Church. “I want to take care of people

… I am fighting for my family and

fighting for all families, and fighting for

my faith.”

For Catholic school families in areas

hit hardest by the fires — particularly at

St. Elizabeth School and Corpus Chris-


ti School in Pacific Palisades — that

hope is needed as they work out where,

why, and how to send their children to

school.

The Department of Catholic Schools

has said that 915 students in 76 of the

Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ schools

were displaced by the fires, as well as

several teachers, staff, and administrators.

While many students have since

returned to their normal schools, others

have been temporarily taken in by other

campuses, such as American Martyrs

School in Manhattan Beach, St. Martin

of Tours School in Brentwood, and

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

School in Pasadena.

Some have moved out of the area.

Others went out of state. Another left

the country altogether.

While grateful for being able to still

send their children to Catholic school,

some families said the uncertainty

caused by the fires has taken a toll on

them.

Courtney Graff, whose children

Sydney and Robert attended Corpus

Christi, said it’s been hard not to be

able to provide them with “concrete

answers” about the future.

“We said the house is gone, the

church is gone. Part of the school appears

to be there, but the school is not

open right now. We don’t know when it

will be,” she said.

Like many families when they

first heard about the distant Palisades

Fire, Elizabeth Beall and

her husband both never thought it

would reach their home on the south

side of the community.

“In order for the fire to reach us, it

would have to burn the whole Palisades,”

Beall recalled thinking. “Earlier

that day, that seemed impossible. We

were like, there’s no way it’s going to

burn the whole village.”

Beall’s children Teresa and Charlie

were at Corpus Christi the morning

the Palisades Fire started. By noon,

the school had emailed parents asking

them to pick up their students.

The Bealls decided to evacuate for at

least the night, still expecting to return.

They even left a car in the driveway.

On the news that night, they watched

their neighbor’s house become engulfed

in flames. It started to sink in

that they weren’t going to have a house

to return to.

Graff and her

family were

equally shocked

to learn that their

house — which

they shared with

her parents,

including her

blind father and

mother, both in

their 80s — was

no longer there.

“Then you find

out the church

is gone, the

school is gone,

the entire town

is gone,” Graff

said. “And this

is a school that

Sydney and Robert

Graff pose at Corpus

Christi School before

a fire burned down the

church and significantly

damaged the school. |

COURTNEY GRAFF

I went to. This is a church that I went

to, a church that my sisters and I got

married in.”

“The school felt like home to me

because I’ve been going there for so

long, and the teachers and the principal,

I’ve known them forever,” said

Graff’s daughter, Sydney, a third-grader

at Corpus Christi.

It didn’t take long for Anna-Marie

Silva, the Department of Catholic

Schools’ (DCS) superintendent

for the San Gabriel Pastoral Region,

to realize the fires were going to be

“something that we hadn’t encountered

before.”

Having handled previous emergencies

before, the DCS team kicked into gear

and began working with schools, asking:

Is everyone safe? Are any structures

threatened? What’s the air quality like?

Which schools need to close?

When the magnitude hit of how many

families were being affected, the focus

shifted to finding out where students

were, how to help them get necessities,

and how to keep them connected as a

community of faith.

“Our role is always accompaniment,”

Silva said. “That’s how we define what

we do. We accompany wherever we’re

at.”

It soon became clear — especially

in Corpus Christi and St. Elizabeth’s

case — that students would need to be

steered to other schools.

DCS began calling principals in the

surrounding areas, asking them to take

in displaced students. Figuring out

the logistics of tuition, uniforms, and

laptops would come later.

“The principals were great,” Silva

said. “They’re welcoming the families.

They’re including the kids and things,

but also being very sensitive that they’re

still mourning.”

Beall said Corpus Christi families

began breaking off into groups, with a

large contingent getting rental homes

in the South Bay and taking their students

to American Martyrs. But Beall

and her husband wanted their children

to be with as many of their close classmates

as possible, so eventually decided

to follow another group to St. Martin of

Tours in Brentwood.

“We felt like for our kids, the most

important thing was going to be to keep


Charlie and Teresa Beall, students at Corpus Christi

School prior to the fires, pose outside their home before

the school’s Christmas Eve Nativity play. | ELIZABETH

BEALL

them with their friends and to keep that

continuity,” Beall said.

Both the Beall and the Graff families

said they and their children are

handling the situation as best they can.

While there are some minor inconveniences,

such as meeting new teachers,

learning a new math program, a

longer commute — the Bealls used to

walk to school — they’re also taking

any success they can. Charlie Graff has

bonded with the St. Martin basketball

team. Teresa Beall is enjoying the

STEAM lab.

“Even though it’s hard sometimes,

and to think about that my whole

home is gone now, it’s just that was

how God wanted it to be,” Teresa Beall

said.

Both Corpus Christi and St. Elizabeth

principals acknowledge that

their job is “a lot harder” now

than before.

“Transferring mail over there, going to

pick up the mail, making sure that the

families are OK,” said Corpus Christi

Principal Paola Sessarego. “And emailing

constantly, to keep them updated.

It’s a lot of little pieces here and there.”

Both principals shared a moment

recently where they silently acknowledged

the pain — for themselves, for

their schools, for their families.

“We didn’t say anything, but we

hugged each other and cried,” Cremer

said. “To have someone, without saying

words, to understand where you’re at.

Just to know that I have someone on

this earth hurting just as much as I

am.”

Looking ahead, the extensive cleaning

and rebuilding of Corpus Christi

and St. Elizabeth make it difficult to

project when each will reopen.

But both the Graffs and the Bealls are

ready for when that happens.

“No, we will, we’ll be back,” Elizabeth

Beall said.

The Wildfire Catholic School Tuition

Relief Fund has been created to pay for

students who have been displaced by the

wildfires to continue attending Catholic

school. To donate, visit cefwildfiretuitionrelief.funraise.org.

Mike Cisneros is the associate editor of

Angelus.

Editor-in-Chief Pablo Kay also contributed

to this story.

From Kansas with love

When news reached Assumption

of Blessed Virgin Mary

Church in Pasadena that a

Penske truck full of school supplies, toiletries,

and other necessities for families

affected by recent wildfires was on its

way from Kansas, students, volunteers,

staff, and even a bishop quickly got

ready.

The transport was sent by St. Michael

the Archangel Church in Leawood,

Kansas, where students and parishioners

had gathered donations for families

affected by the Eaton Fire. The surprise

arrival coincided with National Catholic

Schools Week, celebrated this year

Jan. 27-31.

The supplies mainly went to families

from St. Elizabeth School in Altadena,

where a significant number were

displaced. Since the church and school

remain closed due to the fires, the

donations were brought to Assumption

of the Blessed Mary Virgin School,

where many of the displaced students

are attending.

St. Michael Deacon Greg Trum, who

helped drive the truck, said the school’s

principal asked students to imagine

what it would be like to wake up with

nothing.

“[The principal] said, ‘If you woke up

tomorrow and you had lost everything,

what would you need?’ And that is what

you should bring,” Trum said.

The parish contacted Paul Escala, senior

director and superintendent of the

archdiocese’s Department of Catholic

Schools, to determine what essential

items were needed.

When the truck arrived, students from

both St. Elizabeth and Assumption

were standing by, forming an assembly

line to help unload the items.

Also on hand to help were staff and

officials from across the archdiocese,

including LA Auxiliary Bishop Brian

Nunes of the San Gabriel Pastoral

Region.

“It’s just all these communities

together and even when you look at the

families that are helping from Kansas

City, it’s just like one big family of love

is reaching out to help people in need,”

Nunes said. “It’s just amazing and it’s

what we’re all about.”

Trum and his traveling partner were

invited to spend the night at Sacred

Heart Retreat House in Alhambra

before heading home.

“We wanted to let the people know

that we care about them,” he said. “It’s

something we would do for our family

and we recognize we’re all a family of

God.”

— Mike Cisneros


Larisa holds up the rock

featuring Jesus’ face that

was found at the car wash

where she worked, which

she believes saved her job

from burning down in the

Palisades Fire. | KIMMY

CHACÓN

WAITING

FOR A SIGN

For many Latino

workers, jobs lost

in the Palisades

Fire may never

come back, leaving

them to lean on

their faith.

BY KIMMY CHACÓN

Maria-Consuelo didn’t lose her

home in the wildfires that

burned parts of Los Angeles

County in early January, but her employers

did.

For Maria-Consuelo, 74, that meant

going from working 35 hours a week as

a housekeeper to practically nothing.

The two other properties she worked

at were also gone: a dance studio and

an elderly man’s house where she spent

every Monday to accompany him.

She used her income to send money

to her family in Guatemala, pay rent

for her room, and cover her day-to-day

necessities.

“For me, it’s so painful, only two or

three houses survived in our neighborhood,”

she said. “That was all my area

of work.”

Among the vast numbers of LA-area

Latino workers in domestic jobs that

often include housework, landscaping,

and caregiving, everyone has heard a

story like Maria-Consuelo’s. According

to a recent UCLA study, at least 35,000

jobs held by Latinos could be lost due

to the wildfires. This is particularly

true in Pacific Palisades, where Latinos

make up only 7% of the residents, but

hold 34% of the jobs.

But for all the tales of Catholic Latinos

like Maria-Consuelo suffering after

the fires, there are just as many of faith.

Maria-Consuelo came to the U.S.

from Guatemala more than 40 years

ago. She soon began working for a

family in Pacific Palisades, developing

a deep connection with them.

“We lost the house,” the homeowner’s

son called to tell her over the phone a

few days after the Palisades fire. They

cried together, she recalled.

The first thing she could think to do

was pray.

Maria-Consuelo sits around the table with the family

she began working for in Pacific Palisades more than

40 years ago. | SUBMITTED PHOTO


She felt God’s blessing shortly afterward

when a priest from her parish, St.

Agatha Church, called and asked her

to come to the church.

The priest “pulled out a piece of

paper and a pen, and said, ‘I must help

you. Please give me your information,’ ”

she said. “Shortly after, he handed me

a check.”

The check was for $1,000.

“Why does God bless me like this? I

feel so blessed,” she said in an interview,

crying.

Despite her losses, the check from the

parish — and help from her former

employer — remind Maria-Consuelo

that hope hasn’t vanished.

“The service of God never ends, and

neither will I, as my brother would

say,” she said. “In the cemetery, there is

rest, but in the service of God, there is

none. Therefore, we must continue to

work [on earth].”

For 37 years, Norma worked as a

housekeeper, including the past four

years with a family in Pacific Palisades.

She remembered watching from the

house window as the fire got closer,

and the homeowners began worrying

for Norma’s safety.

“By two in the afternoon, the owner

came to the house and asked me if I

wanted to leave because the fire was

getting worse,” she said. Without hesitation,

Norma grabbed her belongings

and drove off. It took her three hours

to exit Pacific Coast Highway amid the

rush of residents escaping the black

smoke.

A few days later, the home’s owner

reported that the house had miraculously

“survived” the fire, despite some

damage to the back of the building. It

will be uninhabitable for at least a year,

she was told.

“What do I do next?” said Norma, a

parishioner at St. Clement Church

in Santa Monica. “I’m even more

heartbroken for my Latino colleagues

who lost their jobs and are the breadwinners

for their families. But I have

faith in God. I know something good

will come out of this.”

As she looks for work, Norma has also

begun gathering at her house with

friends also affected by the fires and

others in need of work.

“I can’t just sit and wait for a job,”

Norma said. After two-and-a-half weeks

Larisa, who previously

worked at a car wash

in Pacific Palisades,

scrambled to find a job

with a food truck while

waiting to see when her

employer will reopen. |

KIMMY CHACÓN

without work, she returned to her

second job in Malibu, commuting two

days a week.

As she faces an uncertain future,

Norma said she finds consolation in

the timing of the disaster.

“We’re in the Jubilee Year of Hope.

If God has allowed it to be the year of

hope, it’s because he has something

stored for each one of us. It’s hope.”

A few days before the fire outbreak,

Larisa’s manager at the car wash she

worked at in Pacific Palisades had

found a rock with the image of Jesus.

The manager told her to keep the rock,

and she did — holding on to it as a

symbol of good luck and a “sign” from

God.

When the fires began, “I only thought

about my job, and I have a lot of work

to do,” she said. When she received a

call from her manager telling her to

evacuate, she drove off watching ambulances

rushing by. She grew concerned

for the people living in the area but

prayed that everything would be OK.

When Larisa arrived home, she

watched images of the fires approaching

her workplace in disbelief.

“When I heard people saying places

were burned … I hoped the car wash

wouldn’t,” she said. “That my job

would be saved. No matter how much

I saw the images, I had faith in God

that my workplace was saved from the

fires.”

The stress and worry consumed her

for two days until she learned her workplace

was “untouched” by the fires.

At that moment, “in my mind, the

image of the rock with the ‘Christ the

Teacher’ imprint came to mind,” Larisa

said. “Thank you. I understand clearly

now.

“Whenever something happens to

me, I simply ask God to give me an

answer.”

Larisa was convinced that God had

performed a miracle to save her job.

“It was my faith in him,” said Larisa, a

parishioner at St. Thomas the Apostle

Church in Los Angeles. Still, it may

be a long time before she and so many

other workers can return to work in the

Pacific Palisades area.

Larisa strengthened her prayer life,

hoping to find a job. She had taken

some time to care for her sick aunt, but

was determined to keep searching for

work.

“My faith and trust in God remain the

same,” she said. “I’m not sure when,

maybe in two or three months, but I

know I will return to work at the car

wash.”

The National Domestic Workers Alliance

has created a fund to help these

types of workers affected by the fires.

Donate at act.domesticworkers.org/a/

la-wildfires.

Kimmy Chacón is a freelance journalist

and graduate of the Columbia

University Graduate School of Journalism.

She lives in Los Angeles.


A LIFE

ETCHED

IN STONE

A portrait of Louie

Carnevale at his

funeral Mass.

When you marvel

at the LA cathedral

and other parishes,

you’re looking at the

heart and influence of

Louie Carnevale.

STORY BY GREG HARDESTY /

PHOTOGRAPHY BY VICTOR

ALEMÁN

He was a master of stone, with

the softest of hearts.

Devout Catholic Louie Carnevale,

the son of Italian immigrants

who at age 21 founded a natural stone

contracting company that grew into an

industry leader, couldn’t say no to even

the poorest of churches in the Archdiocese

of Los Angeles.

Over the past several decades, Carnevale

installed new altars and flooring

at a steep discount to help renovate

cash-starved parishes.

Meanwhile, his company — Carnevale

& Lohr Stone, founded in Bell

Gardens with best friend Ed Lohr

Family, friends, and loved ones react to an

anecdote about Louie Carnevale, whose

funeral Mass was celebrated at the Cathedral

of Our Lady of the Angels on Jan. 31.

— was working on such iconic LA

projects as the Getty Museum and the

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels,

where Carnevale, who started as a

journeyman stonemason in his teens,

was eulogized on Jan. 31.

Carnevale, 87, died Jan. 16 in Granada

Hills. He is survived by his high

school sweetheart and wife of 67 years,

Jackie, two sons, David and Michael,

who now run the company, and scores

of other family members, colleagues,

and admirers throughout the archdiocese

and beyond.

“You cannot walk into this cathedral

without touching the soul of this

wonderful artist, Louie Carnevale,”

Cardinal Roger Mahony said at the

funeral Mass. Separately, he told Angelus

that Carnevale’s “deep faith and

commitment to the Church and our

archdiocese was singular.”

It was Cardinal Mahony, archbishop

of Los Angeles from 1985 to 2011, who

commissioned Carnevale, revered as a

hands-on craftsman and a businessman

with unimpeachable ethics, to design

and build the main cathedral altar

of the archdiocese’s new home that

opened in September 2002.

And it was Cardinal Mahony who

stood on that same altar — crafted

from a six-ton slab of Turkish Rosso

Laguna marble and fabricated, cut,

polished, and shipped from Carrara, Italy

— as he fondly recalled Carnevale

as a generous businessman with great


artistic abilities.

“Both of us had this great sense we

were about to build something sacred,”

Cardinal Mahony recalled.

He recounted how the altar was so

large — 8 feet wide, 10 feet across, and

10 inches thick — that two cranes had

to lower it into the cathedral before the

roof was installed.

Carnevale was born on July 21, 1937.

The youngest of five children, he grew

up in South Central LA and Bell.

Young Louie worked summers in the

marble shop alongside his father.

“I wanted to do marble since I was

7,” he once recounted. “I just thought

it was fascinating to create and build

something so beautiful and solid.”

In 1958, just a few years after graduating

from Bell High School where

he excelled at sports and architectural

drafting, Carnevale founded the company

with Lohr as equal partners.

That same year, Louie and Jackie got

married.

Carnevale & Lohr rapidly developed

a reputation in the industry for its

meticulous attention to detail and

unparalleled artistry.

Carnevale’s philosophy was, “Pretend

it’s your own building — think how

you would want it done as it’s yours

and do it that way.”

The business partners were inseparable.

Carnevale and Lohr drove the

Cardinal Roger Mahony, who worked with

Louie Carnevale to build the altar at the

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, presided

over Carnevale’s funeral Mass.

same type of trucks and had the same

art and fine china in their homes.

In his eulogy, David Carnevale said

his father’s countless good works have

been rewarded with everlasting life.

“I attribute this to his deep religious

convictions and belief in the principle

that success in life begins with honesty,

trust, and respect,” David said.

“But for him,” he continued, “even

greater than [his accomplishments]

was his belief in family — family was

everything to him. He never spoke of

his accomplishments … but those of

his family. He never bragged about

his stature or wealth or possessions

but instead he did brag about being a

husband, a father, an uncle, a cousin, a

grandfather.”

David said his father told him his

success could not have been achieved

without Jackie.

Bishop Spyridon of Amastris, pastor

emeritus of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox

Church in Northridge, also spoke

at Carnevale’s funeral.

He recalled when, in 1966, Carnevale

and Lohr came to bid on the stone and

marble work at the parish.

“After negotiating and handshaking,

Louie lingered,” the bishop recalled.

“A friendship was formed, and it was

founded on a tremendous amount of

love. It came from the heart.”

Cardinal Mahony recalled how

Carnevale, in Turkey to watch the slab

of marble being prepared for shipment,

became saddened that the non-Christian

workers had no idea it would

become the cathedral altar.

“It wasn’t just rock to Louie,” Cardinal

Mahony said.

After the marble was blessed in Italy,

Carnevale smiled.

“It gladdens my heart to see the block

of rock groomed to be an altar, and

here it stands today for all time,” he

told Cardinal Mahony.

The cardinal recounted a conversation

he and Carnevale had about

needy parishes.

“We have this really poor church that

can’t afford to do anything, and they

need help,” Cardinal Mahony said.

“Let me take a look,” Carnevale said.

“They don’t have much money.”

“They’ll get a bill they’ll be happy

with.”

Cardinal Mahony asked him how he

could swing that.

“Ever hear of Robin Hood?” Carnevale

responded. “Wealthy churches will

pay a bit more to pay for improvements

to smaller churches.”

“Brilliant,” Cardinal Mahony said.

“God will love you for that.”

Carnevale was honored with the

Marble Institute of America’s Migliore

Award in 2008 for his lifetime achievements.

In 2010, he received the Archdiocese

of Los Angeles’ Cardinal’s Award.

Carnevale had fond memories of

meeting St. Pope John Paul II and

getting to know countless priests, nuns,

and fellow laypeople while working on

numerous construction and refurbishing

projects at parishes, convents, and

other religious institutions throughout

the state.

His other survivors include his grandchildren,

Nico and Luca; his nephew,

Steve; and his grandniece and nephew,

Taylor and Roman.

David reminded the congregants

of his father’s philosophy in life and

business:

“I have always believed you are who

you are associated with.”

Greg Hardesty was a journalist for the

Orange County Register for 17 years

and is a longtime contributing writer to

the Orange County Catholic newspaper.


BOUNCE IN

THEIR STEP

Team Seminarians defeated

Team Priests, 49-41, in the

annual fundraising basketball

matchup to support vocations.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ISABEL CACHO

Players on Team Seminarian celebrate with the trophy after winning the Priests vs. Seminarians

basketball game for the fourth consecutive time.

Father Andrew

Chung, right, drives

on seminarian

Michael Lee.

Fans attending the game hold up cutouts of the players’ faces during the Priests vs. Seminarians

basketball game on Jan. 31. More than 1,200 turned out to attend the annual game.

Players on both squads pose with LA auxiliary bishops and priests

following the game at Bishop Alemany High School in Mission Hills.


SOLACE FOR THE SICK

The annual World Day of the Sick Mass offered meaningful

signs of God’s healing grace to those suffering in body or spirit.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY VICTOR ALEMÁN

Auxiliary Bishop

Marc Trudeau,

center, performs the

anointing of the sick

during the annual

World Day of the

Sick Mass on Feb. 8.

A woman receives

a blessing at the

Cathedral of Our

Lady of the Angels

during the annual

Mass organized by

the Order of Malta.


Archbishop José H. Gomez

anoints and blesses a sick

woman’s hands at the Mass.

A DATE OF

UNITY

For centuries, Easter has usually

fallen on different days for Catholics

and Orthodox. Here’s why Pope

Francis hopes that can change.

BY CHARLES COLLINS

Pope Francis shakes hands with

Catholicos Awa III, patriarch of the

Assyrian Church of the East, at the

end of a meeting Nov. 19, 2022, in the

library of the Apostolic Palace at the

Vatican. | CNS/VATICAN MEDIA

Why do Christians in the East

usually celebrate Easter on

a different day than those in

the West?

Coincidentally, the story dates back

to exactly 1,700 years ago, when the

world’s first Ecumenical Council, the

Council of Nicaea, was held in A.D.

325.

Most famous for rejecting the Arian

heresy, and confirming Jesus Christ

is God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God, begotten, not

made, consubstantial with the Father

— as we repeat at every Sunday Mass

— the council also unified the time of

Easter.

At the time, some areas followed the

Jewish calendar more closely, and the

council ordered churches to follow the

Roman calendar.

Time can be a complicated thing,

and days, months, and years don’t

always match. Easter is supposed to be

tied to the Jewish Passover, but given

12 months don’t really match up to

one year, the way these things get put

together can differ.

Much like the Arian issue, the Council

of Nicaea didn’t really get accepted

by every Church for a few hundred

years. And even though the council

established that the date of Easter

would be the first Sunday after the full

moon following the vernal equinox,

the method of measuring these things

differed from place to place.

Things got muddled up again when

the Gregorian calendar was established

in 1582, officially replacing the

Julian calendar in Catholic countries.

Even though its more accurate way


of connecting months to the length

of the year had been accepted across

the world by the 1900s, the Eastern

Orthodox religions still observe the Julian

calendar for Easter, which usually

takes place after it is celebrated in the

Western churches.

That brings us to 2025, which will

see a remarkable coincidence: Both

the Eastern and Western will hold

Easter on the same day this year —

April 20 — a joint celebration that

doesn’t happen often.

Pope Francis found an opportunity

to bring the topic up in remarks at an

ecumenical prayer service marking the

end of the Week of Prayer for Christian

Unity last month.

“I renew my appeal that this coincidence

may serve as an appeal

to all Christians to take a decisive

step forward towards unity around a

common date for Easter. The Catholic

Church is open to accepting the date

that everyone wants: a date of unity,”

Francis said Jan. 25.

It wasn’t the first time that the pope

has broached the topic.

In 2022, for example, he told an

Assyrian Orthodox patriarch: “Let

us have the courage to put an end to

this division that at times makes us

laugh” with the ridiculous possibility

that Christians could ask each other,

“When does your Christ rise again?”

For most Christian laity, this topic

isn’t really an issue — they celebrate

Easter when it is celebrated in their

parish church. Even the beginning

of Lent isn’t a real issue among most

people — even when Easter falls on

the same day, the “40 day” preparation

begins on a Wednesday in the West,

and on a Monday in the East, and

nobody panics about the disparity.

But the pope’s remarks are a reminder

that the Catholic Church leadership

is less committed to the date

in the Western churches. In recent

times, various popes have suggested

just celebrating it on the second or

third Sundays of April, and Eastern

Catholic Churches often follow the

Julian calendar, like their Orthodox

counterparts.

Last December, Ecumenical Patriarch

Bartholomew of Constantinople

said the mutual celebration of Easter

in 2025 will be “an amazing convergence.”

“As we have repeatedly highlighted

lately, more than a calendrical coincidence,

this alignment offers a great

opportunity for togetherness, especially

since the way of celebrating the date

of Easter was one of the issues that

the Council of Nicaea resolved,” he

said, before urging Francis to accept

the Julian calendar for the Catholic

celebration.

Practically speaking, the Eastern

method also makes sure Easter comes

after the Jewish celebration of Passover

— again, an issue less fundamental in

the West.

However, it can affect things if the

West accepts the Julian calendar for

Easter. The latest date for Easter in

the West is this year, April 25. In the

East it is May 8. This means Pentecost

could be in late June and push the celebrations

of Most Holy Trinity and the

feast of Corpus Christi into July, which

is the beginning of the secular holiday

season in many Western nations that

are at least nominally Christian.

Still, you’d be hard pressed to find

ordinary faithful clamoring for such

a change. Personally, I’ve never lost

a moment’s sleep over the thought

that my Orthodox friends would be

celebrating Easter on a different day,

yet when Christians deny the divinity

of Christ, I tremble.

Even at Easter’s most sacred site —

the city of Jerusalem — celebrating

Easter on the same day is more of

a “platonic ideal” than a practical

one. The truth is, letting Catholics

and Orthodox use the Church of the

Holy Sepulchre on different days to

observe the Church’s most significant

celebration makes things easier for all

involved.

Even Bartholomew acknowledges

a unified celebration wouldn’t solve

the differences that divide the East

and West. But Church leaders insist

it would still be an important step for

Christian unity.

At least until Christmas, which Orthodox

Christians celebrate on Jan. 7.

Charles Collins is an American

journalist currently living in the United

Kingdom, and is Crux’s managing

editor.


INTERSECTIONS

GREG ERLANDSON

Missing the bottom line

What is one to make of only the

second Catholic vice president

in U.S. history lashing

out at his own bishops in his first week

in office? It would seem to bode ill for

church-state relations in the near term

as the Trump administration rapidly

implements its anti-immigrant deportation

agenda. Whether it will bode ill

for relations between the bishops and

Catholic voters, a majority of whom

voted for Trump, remains to be seen.

At first blush, the sight of a Catholic

Vice President J.D. Vance speaks

during a press briefing in Damascus,

Virginia, Jan. 27. | OSV NEWS/BEN

CURTIS, POOL VIA REUTERS

politician stating that the bishops are

into refugee assistance for the money

echoes the anti-Catholic shibboleths

of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

During the recurring tides of immigration

in U.S. history, there was often a

hostile reaction from those who saw the

immigrants — very often Catholic and

poor — as a threat.

Nativists in the 19th century saw them

as a fifth column for the pope. Reacting

to the influx of Irish and Germans,

many of them Catholic, one such

nativist, Samuel Morse, said, “Our

institutions ... are at the mercy of a body

of foreigners, officered by foreigners,

and held completely under the control

of a foreign power. We may then have

reason to say, that we are the dupes of

our own hospitality.”

Some politicians feared immigrants’

potential political power and were

reluctant to give them citizenship. In

the 20th century, a resurgent Ku Klux

Klan joined politicians in promoting

the anti-immigrant agenda. In the debate

leading up to the 1924 law severely

restricting immigration from southern

Europe and Asia, Sen. Ira Hersey of

Maine said that Americans had “thrown

open wide our gates and through them

have come other alien races, of alien

blood, from Asia and southern Europe

… with their strange and pagan rites,

their babble of tongues.”

In lashing out at the U.S. bishops’

recent statements critical of the Trump

administration’s decision to rescind a

policy preventing immigration arrests at

churches, schools, and hospitals — as

well as of its plans to deport millions of

undocumented residents — J.D. Vance

ascribed it to greed.

In a Jan. 26 interview with CBS news

personality Margaret Brennan, Vance, a

Catholic convert, said, “As a practicing

Catholic, I was actually heartbroken

by that statement [by the bishops]. And

I think that the U.S. Conference of

Catholic Bishops needs to actually look

in the mirror a little bit and recognize

that when they receive over $100 million

to help resettle illegal immigrants,

are they worried about humanitarian

concerns? Or are they actually worried

about their bottom line?”

Such a statement ignores both Catholic

teaching and the facts. The U.S.

bishops, primarily through its office


Greg Erlandson is the former president and

editor-in-chief of Catholic News Service.

of Migration and Refugee Services,

is “one of 10 national resettlement

agencies that receive federal funding

and partner with local organizations to

assist refugee populations that qualify

for federal assistance,” as OSV News

reported.

The greater issue concerns the responsibility

of Catholics to help the migrant

and the foreigner. The Catechism of

the Catholic Church talks about the

obligation of “prosperous nations … to

welcome the foreigner in search of the

security and the means of livelihood

which he cannot find in his country of

origin.”

A Jan. 22 statement by Bishop Mark

J. Seitz, chair of the USCCB’s Committee

on Migration, captures the dual

stance of the Church: Recognizing that

every nation has the right to regulate its

borders and put just limits on immigration,

but also to avoid “policies with

consequences that are contrary to the

moral law.”

Vance’s assertion that the USCCB has

“not been a good partner in common

sense immigration enforcement”

completely misunderstands what the

Church’s role should be. It is not there

to be an arm of the government. It is to

serve people in need.

The bishops’ position is in many

ways unchanged from a Sept. 26,

1919, pastoral letter marking the third

plenary council in Baltimore. The

bishops called on Americans not to

look upon immigrants with distrust,

but to extend to them “the hand of

charity. Since many of their failings

are the consequence of treatment from

which they suffered in their homelands,

our attitude and action toward them

should, for that reason, be all the more

sympathetic and helpful.”

While the bishops have been united

on issues surrounding immigration,

they still face a dilemma. Their priorities

are many, and it serves both them

and the administration to find a way to

work together on areas of agreement

while acknowledging there are sure to

be differences as well.

For now, and in virtually every diocese,

there are local Catholic parishes

and diocesan organizations that continue

to serve the needy without looking at

their immigration status. In the spirit of

the good Samaritan, that work will continue,

regardless of national policies or

threats. But potential raids on Catholic

churches, offices, and schools — if they

come to pass — will certainly ratchet

up the tension.

Perhaps all Catholic communities

should pray for the intercession of St.

Frances Xavier Cabrini, who Pope Pius

XII proclaimed “Patroness of Immigrants.”


ART LIEN

America’s tinker of sound

Raised in an insular Protestant community, Garth Hudson

defined musical greatness while finding a way to survive it.

BY RAFAEL ALVAREZ

In 1970, at the height of their fame,

The Band was on the cover of

Time magazine when that meant

something. One by one, right up to last

month, each member of the extraordinary

quintet passed away, felled by

alcohol, drugs, cancer, and suicide.

With the Jan. 21 death of multi-instrumentalist

Garth Hudson — age 87, the

organist and grown-up of the group, the

only one granted a peaceful death —

all are gone from this sphere if not the

radio.

Now and then you’ll hear the “Up on

Cripple Creek” on an oldies station.

Other times, independent radio will

air all five-and-a-half minutes of “The

Weight,” known via the chorus “...take a

load off Fannie.”

Born in Windsor, Ontario, in 1937,

Hudson grew up and was classically

trained in nearby London, all long

before there was such a thing as classic

rock. His star turn is the Lowrey Festival

organ introduction to “Chest Fever,”

a song that runs five minutes and 18

seconds on vinyl.

Onstage, the intro alone could go as

long as eight minutes. Grounded in

Anglican liturgical music and Baptist

hymns he played as a kid at his uncle’s

funeral parlor, it’s an operatic swirl of

Bach, church music, and whatever happened

to be firing behind the virtuoso’s

wide, curved brow any given evening.

“Garth’s organ playing is the secret

sauce of The Band,” said Peter Aaron,

arts editor of Chronogram in the

Hudson Valley where Hudson lived in

Woodstock for the past 50 years. “The

colorful little sprinklings and hues and

countermelodies he weaves throughout

the songs makes The Band sound

different from the other groups of their

day.”

To quote Nathaniel Hawthorne,

Garth’s work “...breathed passion and

pathos, and emotions high or tender,

in a tongue native to the human heart.”

He did so before tens of thousands

when The Band accompanied Bob Dylan

on his 1974 “Before the Flood” tour

and, as the decades and spotlight faded,

a few hundred fans at small venues

like Cheek-to-Cheek Lounge — now a

drug store — in Winter Park, Florida.

It was there in March of 1986 that

pianist and plaintive vocalist Richard

Manuel played his last show, thanking

Garth after “for 25 years of incredible

music.”

Manuel, 42, hung himself with his

belt in the predawn hours the follow-


ing day, abetted by despair and bottles

of Grand Marnier, in the bathroom

of a nearby Quality Inn, an alcoholic

unable to reconcile past greatness with

the present.

Bassist Rick Danko died in 1999 at age

55 from heart failure exacerbated by

drugs and alcohol. Drummer, vocalist,

and mandolin player Levon Helm —

born in Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, in

1940 — died in 2012 from throat cancer.

Guitarist and primary songwriter

Robbie Robertson, 80, died of prostate

cancer in 2023.

Aside from autobiographies by Robertson

and Helm, the primary resource

for what these men achieved and how

they did it is “Across the Great Divide:

The Band and America” (Hal Leonard,

$30), a 1993 book by the journalist

Barney Hoskyns. In a 2002 interview,

Hudson gave one of the best descriptions

of the way music is transformed

— The Band a prime example of all

strands of Americana — when filtered

through the people playing it.

“Different musical styles are like different

languages,” he said, fluent as well

on accordion and any saxophone he

cared to pick up. “It’s all country music;

it just depends on what country we’re

talking about.”

The country that Hudson explored

in 1980 was Los Angeles by way of the

empyrean. It was the city’s bicentennial

year and he provided the soundtrack to

a massive installation by designer and

native Angeleno Tony Duquette.

Duquette (1914-1999) called work inside

the Museum of Science and Industry

at Exposition Park “The City of Our

Lady Queen of the Angels on the river

Porciúncula.” It included eight 28-foottall

archangels, a quartet of altars to the

elements, and bejeweled tapestries.

Hudson released the music independently

on cassette and gave it the

same name as the installation. You’d

have to be a very ardent follower of his

work to know it was him or even know

it exists. Upon careful listening —

ethereal organ spiced with the chirping

of birds, Hudson on trumpet and vocals

by his late wife Maud — it becomes

clear.

Like myself, many fans of The Band

and of Hudson had never heard of

it until he passed. In the comments

section of a video of the album one

posted: “May Garth rest in the peace

of Christ with Our Lady and the

angels…”

A tinker of sound, Hudson was known

by insiders as “Honey Boy” for the

sweet touches he added to The Band’s

music in the studio, on stage, and in

post-production. He was the guy who

recorded, compiled, and edited songs

from 1967 of Dylan and The Band

known as “The Basement Tapes”

released in 1975.

He was born Eric Garth Hudson on

Aug. 2, 1937, in a family that identified

with a nonconformist Christian

movement known as the Plymouth

Brethren, an early 19th-century Irish

offshoot of Anglicanism. (Volunteers

from the group’s Rapid Relief Team

recently assembled in LA during the

wildfires and fed firefighters and rescue

teams thousands of meals.)

His mother, Olive Pentland Hudson

— whose accordion Garth began

playing at 12 — was said to be a strict

adherent to the Brethren, who hold

that the Bible is the only authority

on worship and doctrine. His father,

Fred, a farm inspector and drummer

who also played flute, saxophone, and

piano, helped his only child rebuild

two pump organs. Both parents sang

and the family spent hours together

listening to the radio.

To pacify his parents, when Hudson

joined a band that played in nightclubs,

honky tonks, and roadhouses,

he said he was giving the boys music

lessons. In many ways, they learned

from him to the end.

Loquacious only on an instrument,

more is known about Hudson’s

thoughts on music than his religious

beliefs — though the two merged

seamlessly anytime he sat down at a

church organ.

I happened to be riding a cargo ship

in the North Atlantic when Hudson

died on the feast day of St. Agnes. It

was organ music I heard — as expansive

as a basilica — while saying a

rosary for his soul at the Cathedral of

Our Lady in Antwerp a week later, the

feast of St. Thomas Aquinas.

As I sat for an hour or so before returning

to the ship, Mass began. While

I don’t understand Flemish, my Catholic

muscle memory led me through the

celebration by way of cadence.

Taking my place in line, I received

the Eucharist for the soul of Hudson, a

man I’d never met, somehow knowing

he wouldn’t mind. His last performance

was sitting in a wheelchair at a

piano in the nursing home playing and

singing The Old Rugged Cross.

“I will cling to the old rugged Cross

And exchange it some day for a

crown …”

After the last note, he says, “Yeah,

that’s a good ole tune…”

Hudson was mourned during a

service at the Old Dutch Church in

Kingston, New York, on Jan. 27. He is

buried nearby at the Woodstock Artists

Cemetery.

Rafael Alvarez is an author and

screenwriter based in his hometown

of Baltimore, the Premier See of the

United States. His books include “First

& Forever: A People’s History of the

Archdiocese of Baltimore.” He boarded

a cargo ship in Norfolk in January for

Antwerp, Belgium. He can be reached

at orlo.leini@gmail.com.


DESIRE LINES

HEATHER KING

A religion of visionaries

Rhoda Wise. | WIKI-

MEDIA COMMONS

I’ve developed a soft spot for those

people we hear of from time to time

who see Christ in a tortilla, Mary’s

face in the trunk of a sycamore, the

baby Jesus in the condensation of a

hospital window.

In Protestant New England, where

I come from, we had little regard for

such phenomena. “Malarkey,” the

grownups might have snickered, then

doggedly continued chopping wood,

hauling lobster traps, or canning

peaches.

For many years after I converted, I

harbored the same general view. So

you had a vision — so what? Did it

make you kinder, more forgiving,

more patient? Have you become more

Christ-like?

But over the years, I’ve had occasion

to write about various visionaries, mystics,

and stigmatists. And over the years,

my view has softened.

Sister Mary Alfred Moes (1828-1899),

for example, a Catholic nun of the

Sisters of Saint Francis, saw a vision

of a hospital rising out of a Rochester,

Minnesota, cornfield, and helped build

St. Mary’s — the starter facility for what

is today the world-renowned Mayo

Clinic.

Snicker all you want, but who can

deny that her vision bore rich fruit?

Servant of God Rhoda Wise (1888-

1948), a Catholic laywoman, was

a wife, mother, and convert from

Canton, Ohio. Born to working-class,

Protestant parents, Rhoda was the sixth

of eight children. Anti-Catholic bias

permeated the household.

At 16, Wise suffered a burst appendix.

A nurse at the hospital gave her a St.

Benedict medal, which she kept ever

after.

In 1917 she remarried widower

George Wise. The couple adopted

two daughters, one of whom died in

infancy. George’s alcoholism was a

source of ongoing poverty, shame, and

embarrassment.

In 1932, Wise underwent surgery to

remove a life-threatening, 39-pound

ovarian cyst. In 1936, she tripped into a

sewer drain and sustained serious injury

to her leg.

During her convalescence, a Sister of

Charity introduced Wise to St. Thérèse

of Lisieux and taught her how to pray

the rosary.

Wise was received into the Church

in 1939, and continued to experience

chronic pain and discomfort.

In the middle of the night on May 28,

1939, she woke to find the room filled

with light and Jesus, garbed in a gold

robe, sitting on a chair. A month later,

she received a visit from St. Thérèse of

Lisieux. Her abdominal wound, ruptured

bowel, and leg were miraculously

healed.

In the ensuing years, Our Lord and

St. Thérèse appeared to Wise 20 more

times.


Heather King is an award-winning

author, speaker, and workshop leader.

From 1942 to 1945, Wise suffered

the stigmata every first Friday from

noon to 3 p.m. In her later years, she

prayed for and helped heal a young

woman who later became Mother

Angelica and founded EWTN.

Today, visitors to the Rhoda Wise

House and Grotto are promised:

“Cures more wonderful than your

own will take place on this spot.”

Many healings have been attributed

to her. But maybe her biggest cure was

this: Before she died, Wise’s alcoholic

husband was relieved of the obsession

to drink.

Servant Of God Irving “Francis”

C. Houle (1925-2009), a Michigan

husband, father, and “guy next door,”

is said to have received the stigmata,

and suffered the Passion every night

between midnight and 3 a.m. until the

day he died.

By all accounts a loving husband and

father — he and his wife, Gail, would

be married 60 years — Houle was a

faithful communicant and prayed the

Stations of the Cross every day after

work.

Over the decades, Houle had jobs

in retail and manufacturing. He

became plant manager at Engineered

Machine Products, where he was

employed for the last 15 years of his

working life. He was a bit of a prankster,

a plain-spoken, solid family man

with a penchant for jokes and teasing.

A 4th degree Knight in the Knights

of Columbus, Houle received the stigmata

on Good Friday 1993, at the age

of 67. He was initially affected in the

palms of his hands. “I’m taking away

your hands and giving you mine —

touch My children,” Christ allegedly

told him.

Afterward, the physical suffering

spread throughout his body. He was

said to have suffered the Passion every

night thereafter between midnight and

3 a.m.: those hours being “times of

great sins of the flesh.”

Gail, luckily a sound sleeper, never

witnessed these nocturnal sufferings,

though others, including his brother

Reynold, did. So did Father Robert J.

Fox who, in 2005, published a book

about Houle entitled “A Man Called

Francis.” The pseudonym “Francis”

was used in order to protect Houle’s

identity, but the name stuck.

Houle avoided the limelight and

neither sought nor accepted any financial

donations for the myriad healings

that were said to have flowed from his

suffering and prayer. “Jesus is the one

who heals,” he insisted.

He died at Marquette General Hospital,

not far from the place where he

was born: unassuming, unheralded, a

sign of God’s strange and unexpected

mercy.

The psalmist asked, “When will I

come to the end of my pilgrimage and

see the face of God?” And who am I to

question that Christ comes to each of

us how and in the ways he wishes?

Irving “Francis” C. Houle.

| CNS/COURTESY IRVING

HOULE ASSOCIATION


LETTER AND SPIRIT

SCOTT HAHN

Scott Hahn is founder of the

St. Paul Center for Biblical

Theology; stpaulcenter.com.

Chair up

It’s 39 years since I was received into full communion

with the Catholic Church. In some

ways it seems like an eon ago. In other ways it

seems like yesterday.

It’s almost four decades now, but I still experience,

every February, a certain sense of homecoming.

On Feb. 22, the Church celebrates the

feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Apostle. What

a strange theme for a feast day. We celebrate

a chair! If you go to Rome and visit St. Peter’s

Basilica, you’ll find an actual chair there, on

display for your veneration.

The feast of the Chair has ancient origins.

Some of the earliest complete Christian calendars

date to the sixth century, and they include

this celebration. They say that the date marks

the first time the Prince of Apostles celebrated

Mass with his Roman flock.

Today, we continue the tradition of our Fathers,

and we celebrate the office of St. Peter’s successors

as well. We celebrate the papacy.

We have good reasons to celebrate. Peter’s

Chair is a point of unity for us. It is a haven of

safety. We have the guarantee of divinity on the

matter. Jesus said to Simon: “And I tell you, you

are Peter [Rock], and on this rock I will build

my church, and the powers of death shall not

prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the

kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on

earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever

you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew

16:18–19).

In my youth I came to Christian faith as a Protestant, and I

experienced so much that was good in Reformed and evangelical

churches. I was ordained a Presbyterian minister and

served as a pastor of congregations I dearly loved.

But the condition of Protestant Christianity was a mess.

There was no unity in essential matters. In fact, there was

contention over almost every point of doctrine, practice, and

scriptural interpretation. Clergy disputed among themselves

over whether baptism was for babies or only for adults — and

whether sacraments were merely symbolic or something

more. Everyone agreed that the answers were in Scripture,

but disagreed on what Scripture was saying. And no one on

earth had the authority to settle the disputes.

The Chair of St. Peter in 2024 at St. Peter’s Basilica, exposed for the first time since 1867. | WIKIMEDIA

COMMONS

I could not pretend that this situation was acceptable. In no

way did it reflect the condition of the Church as I saw it in

the pages of the New Testament.

The branches could not bear fruit apart from the vine (John

15:5–6).

I found consistency, coherence, and stability on the Rock

that has demonstrably been foundational in the Church

since the first century. I found confirmation of this in the

works of Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Cyprian of

Carthage, Basil the Great, Jerome of Stridon, Cyril of Alexandria

— and the many others I came to know as “Fathers

of the Church.” Each of them and all of them recognized

that there was one “Papa” on earth, and he was Peter and all

those who came to occupy his chair.

That’s reason to celebrate.


■ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15

Journeying with Jesus: Lenten Workshop. Holy Name of

Mary Church, 724 E. Bonita Ave., 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Handson

workshop for catechists who minister to elementary-age

children. Learn creative ideas to help families live a

Christ-centered Lent. Cost: $25/person. Visit lacatholics.

org/events.

“Shining Lights: Seek and Save”: A Panel Discussion on

Human Trafficking. Our Lady of Grace Church, 5011

White Oak Ave., Encino, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Hosted by the

Office of Life, Justice and Peace. Call 818-342-4686.

Journeying with Jesus: Lenten Workshop. St. Joseph

Korean Catholic Center, 20124 Saticoy St., Canoga Park,

4-7 p.m. Hands-on workshop for catechists who minister

to elementary-age children. Learn creative ideas to help

families live a Christ-centered Lent. Cost: $25/person. Visit

lacatholics.org/events.

23rd Annual Black History Mass. Cathedral of Our Lady

of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 5 p.m. Celebrant:

Archbishop José H. Gomez. Honorees will receive the

Keeper of the Flame Award.

■ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19

“The Word of God” weekly series. St. Dorothy Church,

241 S. Valley Center Ave., Glendora, 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays

through May 7. Deepen your understanding of the

Catholic faith through dynamic DVD presentations by

Bishop Robert Barron, Dr. Edward Sri, Dr. Brant Pitre, and

Dr. Scott Hahn. Free events. No reservation required. Call

626-335-2811 or visit the Adult Faith Development ministry

page at www.stdorothy.org for more information.

■ THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20

Religious Education Congress: Youth Day. Anaheim

Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim, 7:30

a.m.-4 p.m. Youth day includes general session, keynote, two

workshops, lunch, closing session, and Eucharistic liturgy.

Speakers; Jessica Cox, Maggie Craig, Chris Estrella, and

more. Visit recongress.org.

■ FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21

Centering Prayer Silent Weekend Retreat. Holy Spirit

Retreat Center, 4316 Lanai Rd., Encino, 2 p.m.-Sunday,

Feb. 23, 1 p.m. With Sister Chris Machado, SSS, and the

centering prayer retreat team. Visit hsrcenter.com or call

818-784-4515.

Religious Education Congress 2025: “Called to Compassion.”

Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Ave.,

Anaheim. The event runs Feb. 21-23 and features keynotes,

workshops, liturgies, exhibits, and entertainment. Visit

recongress.org.

■ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22

Citizenship Workshop. Azusa City Library, 729 N. Dalton

Ave., Azusa, 9 a.m. Catholic Charities of Los Angeles is hosting

free workshops to offer legal services, preparation, and

information about citizenship in the current immigration

landscape. Appointments required. Call 213-681-6464.

Pay Attention! How God Reveals Himself. St. Didacus

School, 14325 Astoria St., Sylmar, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Day of

teaching, prayer, and Mass. Topics include: “The Spirit of the

Lord is Upon Me,” and “How the Saints Have Heard God’s

Voice.” Cost: $25/pre-registration, $30/person at door,

includes catered lunch. Register online at events.scrc.org.

Call 818-771-1361.

■ SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23

Reshaping the Church for Today’s World Through

Synodality. Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Dr., Los

Angeles, 5:30 p.m. Speakers Father Orobator, SJ, delegate in

the Synod on Synodality, and Carol Costello, former CNN

anchor, will discuss the significance of the synod. Visit lmu.

edu.

■ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24

Holy Mass and Healing Service. St. Rose of Lima Church,

1305 Royal Ave., Simi Valley, 7 p.m. Celebrant: Father Bill

Delaney. Sponsored by the Charismatic Prayer Ministry. Call

805-526-1732.

■ TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25

Journeying with Jesus: Lenten Workshop. St. Emydius

Church, 10900 California Ave., Lynwood, 6-9 p.m. Handson




org/events.

Good Grief Fire Survivor Support Group. St. Philip the

Apostle Church, 151 S. Hill St., Pasadena, 6:30-8 p.m. Sixweek

session runs through April 1 and is open to anyone

who has suffered loss from the recent fires. Facilitated by

Cynthia Bygin of the St. Bede Bereavement Ministry and

Sara Lee, LCSW, at St. Philip the Apostle Church. Call Cynthia

at 626-840-7478 or Sara at 626-485-6808.

■ THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27

Journeying with Jesus: Lenten Workshop. Zoom, 7-9 p.m.

Virtual workshop for catechists who minister to elementary-age



org/events.

■ FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28

Journeying with Jesus: Lenten Workshop. St. Joseph

Church, 11901 Acacia Ave., Hawthorne, 6:30-9 p.m. Handson




org/events.

■ SATURDAY, MARCH 1

Immigration Services Workshop. St. Sebastian Church,

1453 Federal Ave., Los Angeles, 9-11 a.m. Catholic Charities

of Los Angeles is hosting free workshops to offer legal

services, preparation, and information about citizenship in

the current immigration landscape. Appointments required.

Call 213-251-3575.

Lenten Silent Saturday. Holy Spirit Retreat Center, 4316

Lanai Rd., Encino, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. With Sister Chris Machado,

SSS, and the silent Saturday team. Visit hsrcenter.com or

call 818-784-4515.

Cancer Support Ministry Meeting. St. Euphrasia Church,

11779 Shoshone Ave., Granada Hills, 10 a.m. The group

gathers to honor the gift of life and encourage cancer

patients, survivors, and caregivers, in honor of late pastor

Msgr. James Gehl. For more information, email Lisa Barona

at lbaloha@gmail.com.

Lenten Talk: Media Fasting. Pauline Books & Media, 3908

Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sister Nancy

Usselmann, FSP, will offer a unique fasting method called

Media Fasting, based on her book. RSVP to 310-397-8676

or email culvercity@paulinemedia.com.

Items for the calendar of events are due four weeks prior to the date of the event. They may be emailed to calendar@angelusnews.com.

All calendar items must include the name, date, time, address of the event, and a phone number for additional information.


Angelus News | February 21, 2025 | Vol. 10 No. 4

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