2018-01-19-eEdition

Volume 84, Number 02 JANUARY 19, 2018 T HE C ATHOLIC W EEK Official Publication of the Archdiocese of Mobile facebook.com/TheCatholicWeek twitter.com/TheCatholicWeek www.mobarch.org/catholicweek I NSIDE T HIS W EEK By SHANNON ROH For The Catholic Week MOBILE — Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi and the Director of Development and Stewardship for the Archdiocese of Mobile, Mrs. Shannon D. Roh, have announced that the 2018 Catholic Charities Appeal goal is $4,500,000. The ba- sic pledge is $540 per year, which is $45 per month for 12 months. The 2018 Catholic Charities Ap- peal theme is We are the hands of Christ reaching out to those in need . Inspired by St. Peter’s first letter to the Christians, “As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grade.” – 1 Peter 4:10. The parishioners and friends throughout the Archdiocese of Mobile have served as Christ’s hands here in the southern half of Alabama for 87 years through their generosity to the annual Catho- lic Charities Appeal. The appeal supports more than 30 ministries across the Archdiocese of Mobile. These ministries feed the hungry, clothe the naked, serve the elderly and disabled, strengthen the faith 2018 CATHOLIC CHARITIES APPEAL By SHANNON ROH For The Catholic Week MOBILE—The Catholic Charities Appeal is blessed with many great volunteers throughout the Archdiocese of Mobile. The Appeal could not happen without the generosity of time and hard work given by our ministry speakers, parish chairs, district chairs, deanery chairs and archdiocesan chairs. These amazing volunteers give so generously of their time, talents and treasure to ensure a successful appeal. Leading our volunteers this year are Jim and Jeanne Backes, archdiocesan co-chairs. B aldwin Deanery Chair Terri and Gary Cowles kindly agreed to serve a second year as the Baldwin/Escambia Deanery Co-Chairs for the Catholic Charities Appeal. Gary, a lifelong resident of Fairhope, attended Annual Appeal’s deanery chairs introduced This year’s goal set at $4.5 million; theme, co-chairs announced See APPEAL, Page 8 See DEANERY CHAIRS, Page 9 Students ‘FOCUS’ on sharing the faith By ROB HERBST The Catholic Week Some who attended the Student Leadership Summit in Chicago ear- lier this month described it as “life- changing.” Now, how will they effect others’ lives? Students representing colleges throughout the country, including Auburn, Troy, South Alabama and Spring Hill, attended the weeklong Fellowship of Catholic University Students’ Student Leadership Sum- mit titled “Inspire and Equip,” a leadership and training conference designed to train students to evange- lize on their campus. FOCUS is a Catholic outreach which evangelizes on college cam- puses and FOCUS missionaries are on 137 college campuses. “If I, and we as Auburn students and we as people who were there, implement (what we learned), the world really would be changed, not just our lives but the whole world,” said Daniel McKnight, an Auburn junior who was raised in Tyler,Texas. “Not just this time, but all of time.” McKnight was one of about 50 students to attend, along with five FOCUS missionaries at Auburn, ac- cording to Msgr. William Skoneki, pastor of St. Michael Parish in Au- burn. Msgr. Skoneki has attended the biannual SLS since the inaugural conference in Baltimore in 2012 and said SLS has an effect on those who Pages A-1—A-16 See SLS, Page 15 Auburn, other colleges well-represented at leadership summit