tvc.dsj.org | March 19, 2019
IN THE CHURCH
11
Catholic Charities CEO Urges All to ‘Shatter Stereotypes’ About Immigrants
By Jacob Comello,
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON -- Dominican Sister
Donna Markham, president and CEO
of Catholic Charities USA, challenged
the group of students, professors and
clergy in her audience March 12 at
Georgetown University’s Dahlgren
Chapel to a thought experiment.
Making them visualize the story of
the good Samaritan, she asked them to
graft it onto their own lives, imploring,
“Who is lying by the side of the road?”
and later, “Am I one of the priests or
Levites who passed by?”
It is this ref lection that Sister
Markham wants Catholics, and indeed
all people around the country to keep
in mind when thinking about the plight
of immigrants and refugees worldwide.
“Tending to the suffering ... is not easy
work” she said, adding that we must
all “confront (our) biases” if we are to
truly do the work of Christ.
Sister Mark ham admitted that
her sheltered suburban upbringing
initially prevented her, as it may pre-
For Lent, Irish Catholics
Urged to Abandon ‘Weapons
of Mass Distraction’
DUBLIN (CNS) -- Alcohol, smoking
and chocolates are some of the most
well-known vices that people tradi-
tionally give up during Lent. But now
Massgoers in Ireland are being urged
to make what might be an even harder
sacrifice throughout the penitential
six-week period -- switching off their
mobile phones. Parishioners in Navan,
County Meath, are being urged to
“reconnect with their families” in the
weeks leading up to Easter by talking
to one another rather than texting and
browsing online. The “Invitation for
Lent 2019” urges churchgoers to “re-
duce screen time in order to increase
family time.” Father Robert McCabe
of St. Mary’s Church, Navan, said he
hopes parishioners will make a per-
manent lifestyle change, rather than
just putting down their devices dur-
ing Lent. “Everybody can benefit from
spending less time on their phones and
laptops and using that time to com-
municate instead with their families,”
he said. “Even members of the clergy
are guilty of being on their phones
too much, and Pope Francis himself
has highlighted this point when he
chastised priests and bishops who
take pictures with their mobiles dur-
ing Masses, saying they should lift up
their hearts rather than their mobiles.”
vent many in the United States, from
recognizing the struggles of the most
desperate.
“I come from a homogenous subur-
ban background. ... I never had contact
with people who had to run for their
lives,” said Sister Markham.
But her experience, and her heart,
changed when she and her convent
took in a young Romanian couple in
the ‘90s that was fleeing persecution in
their homeland. Both the man and the
woman were bursting with potential,
the man an engineer and the woman a
concert pianist.
And both had suffered unspeakable
torture at the hands of their govern-
ment.
When Sister Markham’s convent
welcomed them at Christmastime and
she slowly discovered the humanity of
the couple, she was forced to re-evalu-
ate what she thought about refugees up
to that point.
“I had harbored a bias,” Sister
Markham related, “that refugees had
come for ... a handout.” She now real-
ized that she was lucky to have met
people whose stories of suffering were
so similar to those of Christ: “I am
privileged to hear the stories of those
... who have lost everything.”
And this encounter energized her
for the rest of her life. She continued
to help immigrants throughout her
career, and now presides over Catholic
Charities USA, which, with its network
of local affiliates, is one of the primary
providers of care and housing to asy-
lum-seekers in the United States and
runs programs for them at over 4,000
sites, including important ports of en-
try, like McAllen, Texas, and Nogales,
Arizona.
She lamented that the United States
has recently been making the window
of opportunity for asylum-seekers
increasingly narrow, as the rules for
who can apply for asylum constantly
fluctuate and asylee ceilings continue
to drop. She revealed that Catholic
Charities would be “lucky” if 5,000 are
admitted this year.
But, amid the uncertainty, she main-
tains faith in the humanity of people
across the globe.
She finished by sharing a story of
“transcontinental human goodness,” a
story that she counted herself fortunate
to have taken part in.
Two brothers from Honduras, Car-
los and Edwin, were on the run from
their home country when gangs sought
to do them harm. Carlos, who had
been shot in the back three times, was
paralyzed and was pushed in a chair by
his brother throughout the entire 2,000-
mile journey to the southern border of
the U.S. The journey took one year.
When they arrived at Nogales, Sister
Markham conveyed that “they were
terrified” of being returned to Hon-
duras, and every month they waited
in detention the clock was ticking
down to their deportation. But Catholic
Charities was able to place them with
Dominican friars in Chicago, who with
Sister Markham’s help were eventually
able to find them a place in Canada.
Referring to the love of the brothers
and the love of all across the U.S. and
Canada who had made their trip a
success, Sister Markham commented,
“This is what our life is about ... we have
to welcome the stranger. ... I would say
these are the faces of the Christ.”
Georgetown University Troubled by Coach’s Involvement in College Scam
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Officials at
Georgetown University were “deeply
troubled” to learn that the school’s
former tennis coach, Gordon Ernst, is
alleged to be part of a widespread col-
lege admissions scandal. He is one of at
least nine athletic coaches and 33 par-
ents, including celebrity moms, charged
March 12 in the scandal that involved
bribing college coaches and others to
secure coveted spots at selected colleges
and universities around the country.
Ernst, head coach for the men’s and
women’s tennis teams at Georgetown
from 2006 to 2017, resigned last year
from the school and is currently the
tennis coach at the University of Rhode
Island. He was charged with conspiracy
to commit racketeering March 12 and
accused of accepting $2.7 million in
bribes. He was released on a $200,000
bond later that day. Ernst, who resides in
Maryland, had to surrender his passport
and can only travel within the state. A
letter sent the same day to members of
the Georgetown University community
by school officials said: “Earlier today,
we were deeply troubled to learn that
former tennis coach, Gordon Ernst, is
alleged to have committed criminal acts
against the university that constitute an
unprecedented breach of trust. Ernst’s
alleged actions are shocking, highly
antithetical to our values and violate
numerous university policies and ethi-
cal standards,” the letter said.