Local News September 2007
Powerful memories told of papal visit
Visitors admire some of the items that were used by Pope John Paul II on his visit to Phoenix 20 years ago. More photos can be seen in adjacent slideshow
Photo: Rebecca Bostic, The Catholic Sun
(Sept 17th)-How can the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix possibly mark the 25th anniversary in 2012 of Pope John Paul II’s historic visit to the Valley in 1987? How can it outdo what it did Saturday night for the 20th anniversary celebration at the new Phoenix Convention Center?
The classy event, on the theme, “An Encounter with Christ,” drew almost 1,000 people, first for a Mass with standing-room-only at St. Mary’s Basilica, then with the three-hour center in the third-floor ballroom of the center. The event conjured memories of the Holy Father’s 24 hours in the Valley and showcased his life and 26-year papacy. <read article>
DIOCESE OF PHOENIX TO HOST BIOETHICS SEMINAR
(Phoenix, AZ, September 10, 2007) The Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix, and the Phoenix Catholic Physicians Guild will host a two-day seminar on Catholic Bioethics on Friday and Saturday, September 14 and 15, at the Diocese of Phoenix Pastoral Center, 400 E. Monroe St., Phoenix.
Presented by the National Catholic Bioethics Center, which is located in Philadelphia, the seminar will feature nationally known expert on stem cell research Rev. Thadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D., director of education for the Bioethics Center. A priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, Fr. Pacholczyk holds a doctoral degree from Yale University in neuroscience and was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School in molecular biology. He will be joined at the seminar by Dr. John Haas, president of the Center; Dr. Marie Hilliard, director of bioethics and public policy for the Center; and Dr. Stephen Napier, a staff ethicist at the Center.
The seminar will offer case studies that will translate moral theory into clinical practice. Topics include beginning-of-life and end-of-life issues that clinicians and pastoral support personnel face on a daily basis. Some of the subjects that will be addressed are contraception, sterilization, protocols for treating victims of sexual assault and responding to state mandates, the moral status of assisted reproductive technologies and human cloning.
The National Catholic Bioethics Center was established to provide expert moral analysis in the fields of medicine and life sciences. It works to promote and safeguard the dignity of the human person through research, education, consultation and publishing.
For more information on the seminar contact the Phoenix Catholic Physicians Guild at cpgphoenix@cox.net.
NEW MAUSOLEUM OPENED AT QUEEN OF HEAVEN CEMETERY
MESA, AZ (September 5, 2007) – The Diocese of Phoenix Catholic Cemeteries has opened St. Timothy Mausoleum at Queen of Heaven Cemetery & Mortuary, 1562 E. Baseline Road, Mesa, AZ.
The mausoleum features a large covered interior corridor that will serve as an outdoor interment chapel. There are two entryways that include stained glass windows of angels watching over those interred and those visiting the facility. A separate air-conditioned and heated building houses 380 premium glass-front cremation niches of the 500 total niches that exist in the mausoleum. The premium niches offer a unique opportunity for a family to personalize the area where a loved one’s cremated remains will be placed to rest. In addition, there are 392 crypt spaces in the mausoleum.
“St. Timothy Mausoleum is the first of many small garden mausoleums planned to be constructed along the perimeter of Queen of Heaven Cemetery,” stated Gary L. Brown, Executive Director, Diocese of Phoenix Catholic Cemeteries. “The construction of these mausoleums enables the cemetery to expand its inventory to continue meeting the Christian burial needs of future generations of its Catholic community members.”
The building has been under design and construction for three years and is part of the cemetery’s long-term development plan for meeting the future needs of the East Valley Catholic community. The overall development has added over 12 acres of new burial space, including traditional flat memorials, upright monuments, cremation spaces and a new 10,000-square-foot mortuary. This mortuary is the Diocese of Phoenix’s first Catholic owned and operated mortuary. It opened for service on June 9, 2007.
“With these planned additions, Queen of Heaven Cemetery is now positioned to provide Christian funeral and burial services for at least the next 100 years,” Brown noted.
The mausoleum was designed by J. Stuart Todd, Dallas, and was constructed by Carrier Mausoleum Construction out of Quebec, Canada. Two stained glass windows were provided by Conrad Pickel Studios, Vero Beach, Florida. Engineering for the Garden was done by DEI Professional Services and landscaping design was provided by Todd & Associates, both out of Phoenix, AZ. Whitfield Nursery of Phoenix was the landscaping contractor.
The mausoleum is just one of the many features, programs and services provided by the Diocese of Phoenix Catholic Cemeteries, with four locations in the valley (two in Phoenix, one in Mesa and Avondale) and two locations in northern Arizona (Cottonwood and Flagstaff). For more information, call the Catholic Cemeteries at 602-267-1329.
20 years later, papal visit still has impact on Valley
Twenty years ago, the Valley basked in the rare visit of a sitting pope. Perhaps no one more famous could have created such a buzz. Most may never live long enough to see it happen again. It may never.
Tens of thousands of Arizona Catholics fondly remember those 24 hours spread across Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 14 and 15, 1987.
As luck would have it, Pope John Paul II was one globe-jaunting Holy Father, and during his 26 years at the Vicar of Rome, he traveled to 117 nations. He logged about 1.1 million miles, and it’s said no human was ever seen, in the flesh, by more people. <
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Catholic mortuary aims to preserve faith’s burial traditions
Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Mesa could be a force for preserving Catholic funeral practices and traditions with the construction of its own mortuary.
Now besides having a loved one buried in a Catholic cemetery, Catholics can engage a Catholic mortuary to handle every detail from the time of death. <
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