!ii/
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m
in Martin County are served
of parishes by two priests, Father
and Father Tom Kessler. They min-
too, to the former parishoners of St.
Township, in neighboring
ty.
Jillson begins a special series of
the "parish future, parish present"
Catholic Churches of Martin County,
el of St. Mary, Barr Township
next report in this series will be pub-
ptember.
i!! :i00i
The Churches of Martin County
And the chapel at St. Mary, Barr Township, toe
JILLSON
to the Message
is the word that best
the past year for the
Martin Coun-
Churches. Last
they welcomed Father
former pastor of
in Evansville,
County; saw one of the
parishes redefined as a
and became charter
first parish "clus-
the Diocese of Evansville.
Martin County cluster
St. Joseph Church in
St. John Church in
St. Mary Church in
St. Martin Church
Also included are
from the
County area of St.
Mary, Barr Township, which is
now a chapel.
Services at the four Martin
County parishes are handled on
a rotating basis by Father
Kessler, who serves as pastor of
St. Joseph in Bramble and St.
Martin in Whitfield (though he
resides at St. Mary, Barr Town-
ship) and Father Le6 Kiesel,
pastor of St. John, Loogootee
and St. Mary in Shoals.
If you're confused by all this,
you're hardly alone; the parish-
ioners and ministers directly
involved in the process are still
searching for the best way to
share the spirit and their
Abortion-related developments
heating up with summer
WASHINGTON (CNS)
Abortion-related developments
nationwide have been heating
up this summer.
Those developments include:
Several congressional
actions.
A Michigan court order
temporarily blocking a late-
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Subscribers of the Message.
term abortion out-of-state.
The birth of a baby during
what was supposed to be a par-
tial-birth abortion in Arizona.
Condemnation of acid
attacks on abortion clinics by
the bishop of Galveston-Hous-
ton.
Growing concerns over the
use of anti-racketeering laws
agat abortion protesters.
By a vote of 276-150, the
House July 15 passed legislation
making it a federal crime to take
resources among a geographic
area that encompasses not only
four parishes but also four
school districts. In other words,
people with deep-seated habits,
traditions and rivalries are
being asked to work together to
form one big, cohesive Catholic
family.
"We (in Martin County) have
been asked to really chart a
course for what is potentially the
future of the Catholic Church,"
explained Father Kessler. "The
fact is, forming a cluster of
parishes is a way of addressing
to the Message, P.O. Box 4169,
Telephone (812) 424-5536, or toll-free
(800) 637-1731. E-mail addresss: message@diocese-
minors over state lines to obtain
an abortion in order to circum-
vent parental consent or notifi-
cation laws.
Shortly before the vote, Rep.
Chris Smith, R-N.J., co-chair-
man of the House Pro-Life Cau-
cus, said passage of the Child
Custody Protection Act "should
be a no-brainer."
"To lure teen-agers over state
lines and to encourage strangers
to purposely avoid state laws is
indefensible," he said.
With a 9-6 tally July 16, the
Senate Judiciary Committee
voted to send identical legisla-
the fact that, throughout the
Church, we simply have more
Catholic parishes than priests.
"What we're doing here is
very exciting because we're the
first in the diocese to go through
something like this. But as a
community and as a family,
ioners of St. Mary, Barr Town- •
ship cope with the transforma-
tion of their parish into a chapel
which means that only spe-
cial ceremonies such as wed-
dings and funerals may be held
there, as opposed to having a
regular Mass schedule. Accord-
ing to Fathers Kessler and
Kiesel, the most pressing and
important goal of the cluster is
to be there for the people of garr
Township and to aid them in
transitioning into one of the
remaining cluster parishes.
Said former parishioner Alice
Mattingly, the physical close-
ness of Father Kessler (who
lives in the rectory) is helpful,
but a percentage of former
parishioners are stilt somewhat
disillusioned.
"Some people still feel lost,"
she said. "The sense of family is
we're also helping one another missing and people are going in
deal with changes that can be different directions.
dramatic and even traumatic." "But just the other day, Father
At the top of the list is helping Leo (Kiesel) stopped by a (pre-
the displaced former parish- ,fee CHURCHES page 3
i i ,q
To the Catholics of the Diocese of Evansville: This
edition is one of six issues of the Message to be mailed
to every registered Catholic household this year. Two dol-
lars of each Catholic Church member's contribution pays
for these diocesan-wide subscriptions.
rH, H i
Priestless Sundays Page 2
Clergy Assignments ................ • Pages 8-9
EWTN and Odyssey .................. Page 14
See DEVELOPMENTS page 13 .......
