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 Tiffany Borges By TIFFANY BORGES
CatholicAnchor.org
I’m in the market for a set of used encyclopedias. As in the clunky, coordinated volumes that make a bookshelf sag while they await curious little hands. I also recently resumed writing in the family journal, as well as reading an ambitious list of magazines and periodicals.
You see, our family has disconnected the Internet for the summer, in search of unity, true leisure and a deeper call to Christian service.
We’re not among ‘early adopters’ of gadgets or apps, nor are we tech devotees of any real sophistication — there are no e-readers or iPads in my daily life. However, I love to read and find it difficult to moderate my reliance on the web for social and cultural commentary. My appetite for news devolves rapidly into a craven search for gossip. After all, even the most bustling news day can elicit little in the form of true action on the part of the reader. We’d do better to knock on our neighbor’s door than cluck through web stories about suffering or triumphant souls and re-posting them to Facebook. more…
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CatholicAnchor.org
For months — even years — I’ve been meaning to write to thank Editor Joel Davidson and Assistant Editor Patricia Coll Freeman for the beautiful job you have done in making the Catholic Anchor the outstanding paper it is. It is a true gem and one I look forward to receiving in the mail each month. You are obviously outstanding writers, and it would appear outstanding Catholics as well.
In these amazing and critical times, there is so much going on in our nation and in the world which Catholics need to be kept apprised of and for which it is critical that the true Catholic faith and perspective are reported. That is just what you two and the Catholic Anchor have done. It’s no wonder the Anchor continually receives Catholic awards. Both of you deserve recognition and commendation for your fine writing and admirable efforts in the service of God and the Anchorage Archdiocese.
I am sure there are many others there who deserve to be thanked and acknowledged, too, and I do not mean to downplay anyone else’s contributions. This email is way overdue and too little. We have been blessed to have you both!
Thank you so much, and thanks be to God. May He always bless you and your efforts.
– Barbara A. Johnson, Anchorage
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 Colette Ohotnicky dons her heavily decorated sash as a Patriot in American Heritage Girls at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Eagle River on May 15. — Photo by Mindy Goorchenko American Heritage Girl mixes faith & outdoor adventure
By MINDY GOORCHENKO
CatholicAnchor.org
Colette Ohotnicky, 17, recently became the first American Heritage Girl in Alaska to earn the organization’s highest badge — the Stars and Stripes Award.
The coveted honor, equivalent to the Eagle Award in Boy Scouts, requires hundreds of hours of work, self-reflection and the completion of a project to better the community.
The journey to achieving this award has left a lasting imprint on the home schooling teen and parishioner of Holy Family Cathedral in Anchorage. more…
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Safe Environment
By JENNY MICHAELSON
CatholicAnchor.org
I know that many Catholics are weary of hearing about sex abuse each time the Catholic Church is mentioned.
Because of this weariness, some Catholics refuse to hear about or believe what many lay people and clergy have been doing to prevent abuse of our most vulnerable.
We know that some priests and bishops have failed our children and families, causing lifelong harm and emotional pain by abusing and/or not stepping in to protect and make victims a priority. more…
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Zenit.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The annual audit of diocesan compliance with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People found a drop in the number of allegations, number of victims and number of offenders reported in 2012.
The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), which gathered data for the report, found “the fewest allegations and victims reported since the data collection for the annual reports began in 2004.”
Most allegations reported last year were from the 70s and 80s, with many of the alleged offenders already deceased or removed from ministry.
StoneBridge Business Partners, which conducts the audits, said law enforcement found six credible cases among 34 allegations of abuse of minors in 2012. Credibility of 15 of the allegations was still under investigation. Law enforcement found 12 allegations to be unfounded or unable to be proven, and one a boundary violation. more…
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 . CatholicAnchor.org
Fairbanks-based Little Flower Ministries aims to launch KQHE 92.7FM, a Catholic radio station with continuous Catholic programming via a full-power FM signal in August, reports the Fairbanks Daily News Miner.
At startup, EWTN, a global Catholic television, radio and news network will provide KQHE with free Catholic programming and news coverage from around the world.
Eventually, the station founders plan to establish local programming as well, the News Miner reported.
Station founders told the News Miner that they hope the station will bring greater communication and unity between the Fairbanks and highway parishes and enable shut-ins and those in nursing homes to hear the Mass on the radio and pray the rosary.
Long-term, the station aims to reach all 47 parishes scattered across the Fairbanks Diocese.
KQHE 92.7 FM will be the third Catholic radio station in Alaska. KNOM in Nome began broadcasting in western Alaska in 1971, and Sacred Heart Radio, KBKO 88.3 FM launched in Kodiak last year.
Little Flower Ministries is operated by the laity with permission of Fairbanks Bishop Donald Kettler but without funding or material support from the diocese.
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CatholicAnchor.org
Catholic Social Services will host its annual World Refugee Day celebration on Friday, June 21, 4-7 p.m., at Mountain View Lion’s Community Park (Mt. View Drive and Pine Street, Shaw Pavilion). There will be music, dancing, BBQ and children’s activities. For more information or to learn about volunteer opportunities, contact Kristen Borash at 339-0488.
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 Sister Francis Vista CatholicAnchor.org
After three years, Daughter of Charity Sister Frances Vista is stepping down from her post as director of Native Ministry for the Anchorage Archdiocese.
In July Sister Vista will move to California to be closer to her elderly mother and family members.
According to an announcement by the Anchorage Archdiocese, Sister Vista’s next assignment in California will be with the Vincentian Service Corps (similar to the Jesuit Volunteer Corps). She will be working with young adults, “mentoring them as they learn the ropes of living in community, on stipends and being of service to others.”
The Daughters of Charity will be sending another sister to serve the Anchorage Archdiocese. She has not yet been named but will likely arrive in the fall.
Additionally, in May, Daughter of Charity Sister Trinh Kju arrived in Anchorage to replace Sister Katie Kline who concluded a three-year assignment in Alaska where she served the elderly and volunteered with Catholic Social Services.
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CatholicAnchor.org
Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz has assigned two local priests to new assignments beginning this summer.
Father Frank Reitter will be moving on from his post at St. Francis Xavier Church in Valdez, where in 2011 he became the first resident priest in Valdez in 22 years.
Effective June 1, Father Reitter will replace Father Joe Classen as pastor of St. Mary Church in Kodiak.
Father Classen, who had served in Kodiak since July 2011, is taking a break from parish-based ministry after working in that capacity for 10 years. He told the Catholic Anchor that he is taking time off to discern how God might be leading him to serve in other ways.
After eight years of parish work in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Father Classen volunteered to serve in the Anchorage Archdiocese. During two years in Kodiak he helped launch Sacred Heart Radio and hosted a local Catholic radio show. He has also written a number of books on Catholic spirituality.
Back in Valdez, Father Diosdado Esguerra will take over for Father Reitter. Father Esguerra had been serving as pastor of Holy Rosary Church in Dillingham since last September where he also celebrated the sacraments in King Salmon and outlying communities. Circuit priests will fill Father Esguerra’s ministry.
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CatholicAnchor.org
The Midsummer Light Bible Institute at Alaska Pacific University is June 18-21. Cosponsored by the Cardinal Newman Chair of Catholic Theology at APU and the Anchorage Archdiocese, speakers include Dr. Alice Laffey, of College of the Holy Cross and Dr. Mary Kate Birge, CSJ, of St. Mary’s University Emitsburg, Maryland. The event begins with a free lecture June 18 by Dr. Laffey’s titled, “Biblical Interpretation in the 21st Century.” For more email boiscl@alaskapacific.edu.
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