Deacons, wives gather for retreat

Diocese of Helena permanent deacons and their wives shared a weekend of retreat and reflection at St. Mary Parish in Helena on Sept. 24-26. Deacon Tony Duvernay, a retired pastoral adminstrator for St. Mary Parish in Helena, directed the group retreat experience. Its theme was “Called to Serve.”

The group of 22 people reflected on the call to the diaconate; diaconal ministry; the spirituality of the deacon; ongoing formation; and a challenge that retreat participants discern their ministerial futures. The diocesan diaconate usually meets twice a year.

Teachers’ development day set

Teachers from seven of Montana’s Catholic schools will gather in Helena on Oct. 21 for a day of professional development. Trainers will conduct workshops designed to help educators meet needs of individual students in the context of the students’ learning styles. One-hundred-forty faculty members are registered for the professional- development day.

Five of the participating schools are in the Diocese of Helena: Butte Central High School, St. Matthew Elementary School in Kalispell, Loyola Sacred Heart High School in Missoula, St. Joseph Elementary in Missoula and De La Salle Blackfeet School in Browning.

Diocese of Great Falls- Billings schools sending teachers are St. Paul Mission Grade School in Hays and Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School in Great Falls. Funding for the professional development comes from the individual schools’ federal dollars for initiatives intended to raise student achievement through preparation and training of educators.

Youth ministry collaboration expands

A youth ministry innovation adopted in the Flathead Valley about 10 years ago has expanded to other places in the Diocese of Helena, fostering collaboration among parishes and helping them provide services economically. Multi-parish ministry based on the model of Catholic Youth Rural Outreach, or CYRO, recently expanded to Bozeman and Anaconda, diocesan youth minister Doug Tooke said Sept. 29.

Using the CYRO framework, parishes with a common vision for youth ministry collaborate. The work of youth-ministry coordinators is shared among those parishes, rather than each parish individually employing a coordinator.

The Catholic Church Extension Society, whose grants assist the Church in places that have insufficient resources, provided money for CYRO’s Flathead Valley launch. Subsequent financial help came from the diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry. Now, Extension dollars are helping similar efforts in Bozeman and Anaconda. Bozeman’s Resurrection and Holy Rosary parishes are collaborating in youth ministry, as are Anaconda Catholic Community’s Holy Family Church and St. Peter Church. Such collaboration allows faith communities to provide a level of youth ministry they likely could not afford if they functioned separately, Tooke said.

Flathead Valley parishes involved are Immaculate Conception in Polson, Pope John Paul II in Bigfork, Risen Christ in Kalispell and St. Richard in Columbia Falls.

Psychologist in religious order speaks at Carroll

Sister Nancy Kehoe, a clinical instructor in psychology at Harvard Medical School, spoke on spirituality and mental illness Sept. 16 at Carroll College. Sister Kehoe, a licensed psychologist and a member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart, has for 29 years led groups that focus on spiritual beliefs and values for adults with psychiatric disabilities. She speaks of building bridges between the multiple, fragmented parts of people’s lives, as a step in reconnecting with core values and goals.

Her book titled “Wrestling with Our Inner Angels: Faith, Mental Illness and the Journey to Wholeness” was published last year. Carroll College Counseling Services and the National Alliance on Mental Illness sponsored Sister Keohe’s appearance in Helena.



Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 26, No. 10, October 15, 2010.