Local News November 2007
Phoenix Art Museum Presents Saint John’s Bible
The Gospel According to Matthew in a copy of the St Johns Bible in the Kino Library
PHOENIX (November 30, 2007) From December 11, 2007 to March 9, 2008 will be hosting Illuminating the Word: The Saint John’s Bible – the only handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned since the advent of the printing press more than 500 years ago.
Concurrent with The Saint John’s Bible, Phoenix Art Museum will host The Early History of the Bible from the world-class collection of sacred manuscripts at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, and Selections from the James Melikian Collection from a private collection in Phoenix representing more than 20 ancient Christian and Jewish texts and manuscripts from these two important collections.
“We are extremely proud to host this rare gathering of artwork celebrating the expansive history of the book as an art form,” said James K. Ballinger, director of Phoenix Art Museum. “These three exhibitions provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view some of the rarest books and manuscripts from throughout history, and to experience the incomparable masterpiece.”
For more information on this once-in-a-lifetime presentation, access http://www.phxartilluminated.org.
A STATEMENT FROM THE DIOCESE OF PHOENIX
Re: The Praise and Worship Service - Dale Fushek and Mark Dippre
November 27, 2007
On Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2007, Dale Fushek, a priest of the Diocese of Phoenix on administrative leave, conducted a praise and worship service that was in opposition to directives given to him to cease all public and sacred ministries. Mark Dippre, a priest who left public priestly ministry to enter into a civil marriage and is not a priest in good standing, also participated in the service. The service was not Catholic nor was it endorsed by the Catholic Church. We encourage the Catholic faithful to keep the Holy Mass, the ultimate form of praise and worship, as the center of their lives.
CTODP OPERATING PHILOSOPHY, SCHOLARSHIP RESULTS SHOW STRONG SUPPORT OF HISPANIC COMMUNITY
PHOENIX (November 14, 2007) The Catholic Tuition Organization of the Diocese of Phoenix (CTODP) reported today that the Hispanic community received over $3.8 million dollars in scholarships and 39% of all need-based awards for the 2007/8 school year
CTODP, the Catholic fundraising organization that uses a private education tax-credit to enable tax-paying individuals and corporations to redirect their Arizona tax dollars to support students’ scholarships, earlier reported that a record 6,517 scholarships had been awarded this year to 49.6% of the total student population—or 1 out of every 2 children—at Diocese of Phoenix elementary and secondary schools. Awards for this school year were made possible because of the $12.5 million dollars in combined individual and corporate contributions raised by CTODP in calendar year 2006.
Further analysis of the scholarship results indicated another year of very favorable results for the Hispanic community in the Diocese. According to numbers supplied by CTODP, the 2007/8 award results show that although Hispanics only comprise 28% of K-8 students and 21% of grades 9-12 students in Diocesan schools, they actually received 39% ($3,694,558) of all “need-based scholarships.” Overall Latinos received 35% ($3,819,748) of the $10,942,034 in total scholarships awarded for 2007/8.
This year’s results reveal more funding than ever for Hispanics, and build on the similar successes from the previous 2006/7 school year, wherein Hispanics received 39% of need-based awards ($3,123,906) and 35% ($3,200,321) of the $9,118,428 in scholarships awarded.
Executive Director Paul Mulligan expressed his satisfaction over the news.
“We are enthusiastic about the results of this year’s award and the impact our program is having in all sectors, but particularly within the Hispanic Community,” Mulligan said, adding “The fact that our award decisions are based on the financial needs of each applicant means that lower income families can come to CTODP and actually get the aid they need not just to get into our schools, but to stay there.”
Mulligan pointed out that CTODP’s Catholic identity, philosophy and unwavering commitment to social justice are what make the organization different from most other student tuition organizations (STOs) in Arizona. By design, the system favors students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds in order to make it possible for those families to afford a Catholic education.
Jose Robles, Director of Hispanic Ministry for the Diocese of Phoenix, was encouraged by the financial support being delivered to Latino families in the form of tuition assistance.
“Let’s face it,” he said. “Education is the key to success for everyone. If Latinos are going to be prepared to assume greater positions of leadership and responsibility in the community, we are going to need to have more choices in education, and that includes increased access to Catholic schools.”
Robles also said he is pleased to see what CTODP is doing to make tuition more affordable and to expand opportunities for Hispanics who he says tend to value “the traditions and heritage of Catholic education,” but often based on financial constraints, “can’t realistically entertain that option.”
Mulligan called attention to the organization’s planned efforts to specifically ensure more low-income families in the Hispanic community receive the opportunity to choose Catholic schools. He said that in addition to the Spanish-language scholarship application and instruction materials currently being used, CTODP will engage in a campaign to simplify the process and increase the likelihood of more eligible families completing applications ahead of the deadlines, commenting that “language and cultural obstacles present an extra layer of challenges for many Hispanic families.”
Mulligan said he realizes that if CTODP is successful in its efforts to get more low- and middle-income families into the application process, there will be “more pressure than ever” to produce results and deliver funds, but he also said he is optimistic about the road ahead.
“There are huge numbers of tax-paying people who value Catholic education but for some reason or another have yet to contribute to CTODP. We just need to show them that redirecting tax dollars is easy and that it is part of practicing ‘responsible citizenship’—and best of all that it doesn’t cost them anything,” he added.
More information on what CTODP is doing to increase opportunities for the Hispanic community and to promote more participation this calendar year in order to generate even more scholarships for next school year can be accessed through their website at www.catholictuition.org
Bishop Olmsted Celebrates Our Lady of Guadalupe
Bishop Olmsted in 2006 at the 1st annual Our Lady of Guadalupe Celebration in downtown Phoenix
(PHOENIX, Ariz.)--Oct. 24, 2007 -- Thomas Olmsted, Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix, is inviting families to attend the Diocesan Celebration on Sunday, Dec. 9. The celebration will honor the Phoenix Diocese Patroness; Our Lady of Guadalupe with the theme “Honor Your Mother.” Our Lady of Guadalupe is key in the Catholic faith as the Patroness of the Americas and entrusted by our forever-beloved John Paul II as the Protector of all human life, especially that of children and those of danger of not being born.
At 9:30 a.m. Bishop Olmsted will lead a short procession from Immaculate Heart of Mary at 909 E. Washington St. toward the Diocesan Center near St. Mary’s Basilica.
At 11 a.m. Bishop Olmsted will begin mass, joined by Rev. Padre Humberto Villa of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish.
Following mass, families can enjoy a day full of activities, live music on multiple stages and food. Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament will be available inside St. Mary’s Basilica; Knights of Columbus will provide Standing Guard.
The Diocesan Celebration is expected to draw thousands of faithful to the downtown area.
CATHOLIC TUITION ORGANIZATION OF THE DIOCESE OF PHOENIX
ANNOUNCES PAT LAVIN AS NEW DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
PHOENIX (November 6, 2007) The Catholic Tuition Organization of the Diocese of Phoenix (CTODP)
announced today that is has hired Mr. Pat Lavin to be its new Director of Development.
CTODP, the Catholic fundraising organization that uses a private education tax-credit to enable tax-paying individuals and corporations to redirect their Arizona tax dollars to support students’ scholarships, established the position recently in order to seize the opportunity to increase more participation in the ‘no-cost’ scholarship program.
CTODP is in the midst of record-setting year after awarding 6,517 scholarships this school year. Based on newly released reports, 49.6% of the total student population at Diocese of Phoenix elementary and secondary schools received CTODP scholarship support this year. Awards for this school year were made possible because of the $12.5 million dollars in combined individual and corporate contributions raised by CTODP in calendar year 2006.
As CTODP’s Director of Development, Lavin will play a leading role in two fundamental areas of the organization’s mission: 1) developing a Diocesan-wide parish- and school-based fundraising apparatus led primarily by parents who receive CTODP scholarship money, and 2) heading up CTODP’s corporate gifts program which in 2006 produced $2.4 million in contributions from qualified C-corporations.
“Pat is a great addition to our CTODP team. He is an accomplished development professional, but more than that, he is a ‘true believer’ in the value of Catholic education, and as a motivator and a coach, Pat brings tremendous expertise to the organization,” said Paul Mulligan, CTODP’s Executive Director.
A Valley native, Lavin graduated from Ss. Simon & Jude Catholic School in Phoenix, and later from St. Mary’s High School. He received his Bachelor’s degree at Arizona State University in 1968 and his Master’s Degree from Northern Arizona University in 1974. It was in his role as a successful, championship-winning head football coach at St. Mary’s from 1968 to 1977 that Lavin first gained major attention in the Valley—and beyond. His achievements there enabled him to leave Phoenix to pursue coaching opportunities at the collegiate level, first at N.A.U. and later at the University of Minnesota.
Lavin came back to Phoenix in 1980 and, after coaching at three public high schools and at Phoenix College, returned to the familiar environment of a Catholic high school, serving as Bourgade’s head coach and development director from 1998 to 2006. In his development role, Lavin headed up a four-phase, $11.9 million capital campaign to expand the campus and to renovate existing structures. He also significantly boosted enrollment at the school through his direct engagement of elementary students and his ability to share with them the value of the Catholic education that awaited them at Bourgade.
Lavin’s most recent position was as the Phoenix Metro Market Vice President with the American Cancer Society, but he says he couldn’t be happier to be back in the Diocese again:
"I've spent most of my life in and around Catholic schools, and I really believe there is not a finer place a parent could send a child. So as a ‘product’ of our Diocesan schools, I am excited to be working with CTODP to help the organization get more scholarship support for more families who desire a Catholic education."
Mulligan said he believes that the move to hire Lavin is “one more positive indicator that CTODP is heading the right direction.”
With the acquisition of Lavin as Director of Development and the resultant restructuring which took place, CTODP’s former Assistant Director Ms. Debby Castro became the organization’s new “Director of Operations,” taking over primary responsibility for the growing scholarship program.
More information on what CTODP is doing to raise awareness about the scholarship program and promote tax-payer contributions this calendar year can be accessed through their website at www.catholictuition.org
