DIOCESAN PASTORAL COUNCIL
May 16, 2015
Tom Tynan, DPC Chairperson, welcomed everyone and gave special recognition to the parish
pastoral council presidents attending that day. Following prayer parish council presidents were
instructed to leave for a breakout session with Msgr. Lang, Br. Ed Falsey and Sr. Laura Bufano.
Opening Prayer was led by Dcn Bob Talomie with music provided by Larry Hagan.
Election of DPC Officers - Margi Lawrence, DPC Past Chair, and chair of the nominating
committee, presented the proposed slate of officers for 2015-2017:
Thomas Tynan, Chairperson (Southern Region)
Joseph Stanton, Vice Chairperson (Eastern Region)
David Roman – Membership Chairperson (Northern Region)
Marilyn Madison - Secretary (Western Region)
Tina Dyer, DPC Executive Secretary, then conducted the election process. Since there were no
nominations from the floor the secretary was asked to cast one ballot for the proposed slate. The
vote was unanimous.
Welcome - Tina Dyer then called the session to order and recognized Chancery staff present. She
introduced the outgoing Executive Committee members and thanked them for the extra time they had
given over the past two years to plan plenary sessions.
The New Evangelization – Mary Hallman, Director of the Evangelization Office, addressed
The questions,
What is the New Evangelization?
What does it mean to me?
What does it mean to my parish?
It is ‘new’ because of to whom it is directed - it is towards each one of us– practicing Catholics,
inactive Catholics and de-Christianized cultures. It helps to reconnect Catholics with a faith they once
knew and it proposes a new way of living for priests, religious and laity – US!!! It is everyone’s
mission to evangelize. It is the hope that by wordless witness, we as Catholics, will stir up questions
of those who are observing how we live. It is this witness that is a silent proclamation of our faith and
an initial act of evangelization.
Mary provided an array of free resources including a variety of CDs from Lighthouse Media. She is
available to speak at parishes, parish council meetings and PCA gatherings to show ways your parish
can become a more evangelizing community. She can be reached at (315)470-1429
The Extra Mile Program – Father James Schultz, Associate Pastor at 3 parishes in the
Northern Region gave a comprehensive overview of the Extra Mile program. Last year when
Father was stationed at Sacred Heart, Cicero he applied for, and received, a McDevitt grant to initiate
the program there. It was so successful he decided to apply again this year for a grant to be able to
replicate the process in the parishes where he is now assigned. (Fulton, Mexico and Pulaski) DPC
members were given a complete set of handouts that were used at Sacred Heart. They would be
easy to streamline to fit any parish. (copies may be found at: www.holytrinityfulton.weconnect.com
(click on :The Extra Mile)
The Extra Mile asks each parishioner to make a 90 day commitment from one of 12 choices from the
categories: prayer, sacraments, service, study and evangelization. The key concept is “EXTRA”
– something they are not doing now. For example – a person might decide to pray the Hail Mary
every day. That would mean they are not doing it now – so that would mean 90 extra Hail Marys over
the next 90 days. Several examples of possible choices were given. “Pledge cards” are collected
during Mass and the results are tallied – updated and put on display in the church.
Kathy Kreinheder, a parishioner at Holy Family in Fulton, gave a brief explanation of how the
program will be modified to fit the needs of her parish.
Jacqueline Bressette, Coordinator of the Safe Environment and the Victims Assistance
Offices, spent time updating the Council on the two offices. Some of her key points were:
* this is the 13th year for the Safe Environment Program in the diocese
* all clergy, religious, employees and volunteers that come in contact with children must
go through the Safe Environment training and the refresher training session 5 years
later
* everyone teaching in a Catholic School is required to be trained
* we are one of the few dioceses that require the refresher session 5 years later
* sexual abuse of children continues to be a serious problem in our society, as is
indicated by the frequent articles in our newspapers
* there are 80 trained facilitators, all volunteers, across the diocese who conduct the
training sessions
* to date there are over 35,000 people who have attended these sessions
* there are 241 sites and each site has a coordinator who is responsible for making
sure that all volunteers and employees are trained and then 5 years later take
part in the refresher session
* every month bulletin blurbs are sent out to parishes with either Safe Environment or
Victims Assistance topics – actually, it is a requirement from the USCCB that the
Diocese makes it known that it provides help for people who have been victimized.
In the future, these bulletin blurbs are going be sent to the parish directors of Faith
Formation and to the site coordinators
* every 3 years the USCCB conducts an on-site audit of our offices – they were here
this past spring for 2 days interviewing 15-20 people checking to make sure that the
diocese was following the national norms as well as our own policies – and for
the 13th year we passed the audit process
* quite often people ask why a group like their choir has to attend a training session when
the parish down the street does not require its choir to attend a session. It is up
to each pastor to decide who the people are in his parish that need to attend
training sessions
* every year in our Catholic Schools and in our Faith Formation classes students receive
an hour of instruction on how to keep themselves safe
* if you ever see anything that makes you uncomfortable you are encouraged to call the
Safe Environment Office – all calls are confidential – and sometimes you might not
be the only one calling the Office about the same issue
* keeping our children safe is a joint effort – it requires that all of us be vigilant and
aware of things going on around us
Bill Flynn, At Large Member from the Northern Region, spent a few minutes reviewing the results
of the communication survey that the Council members filled out during the March plenary session.
The survey covered use of email, texting, twitter, YouTube, etc.
Remarks and Q and A with Bishop Cunningham
Cathedral - There have been some rumors going around about the Cathedral. Shortly after Bishop
arrived in Syracuse he was told that a new slate roof would be needed shortly. Then he was told there
were heating problems. At that point Bishop decided that repairs could not be done piece-meal.
There had to be a plan. So last July a committee was put together with Cathedral parishioners and
other diocesan people to advise Bishop. In addition, representatives from 2 construction companies
prepared a report on what the needs of the Cathedral are – which obviously would be a multi-year
process. Now, we have definite needs –certain wants – and then the question of where does the
money come from.
Issues:
 the heating system – the boiler system is over 40 years old and is under the floor which
means additional work will have to be done on the floor
 the Cathedral slate roof has had no significant work done on it in more than 50 years the
interior has not been painted in over 30 years – most of us paint the inside of our
homes at least once every 30 years
 there have been improvements in lighting
 there is no type of ‘gathering space’ at the Cathedral – they will be looking at using the
space we have – without building anything new – so that when we have groups there
will be a place for them to gather
 there are not enough restrooms
If we put together all the ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ we are talking several million dollars. Bishop and the
committee will be looking at how to raise the money to do what we really need to do.
Catholic Schools – The diocese has 22 Catholic Schools. About 2 years ago we began a process to
have all of our schools accredited by the Middle States Association. This has been a lot of work for
each of the schools as well as a lot of work by the accrediting agency. During this past week 15 people
from the Middle States Association were here for 2 days and visited all of the schools. We were
notified this Thursday that every one of our schools has been approved for accreditation for a period of
7 years. This is a tremendous accomplishment and a credit to the people involved in our Catholic
School system. The Middles States people said it was rare that an entire diocese is accredited all at
one time. The diocese chose to do this as a way to show parents and parishioners the quality of
education we have. It is nice to be recognized by a secular accrediting agency.
3 of the questions dealt with Confirmations:
Were there any Confirmations held at the Cathedral this spring. It would seem that
being Confirmed there would be something ‘special’ to be remembered.
Why can’t PCAs share their Confirmations at the Cathedral? It would be a start to
sharing in our PCAs.
Would it not be helpful to all concerned to have more Confirmations in the Cathedral?
Bishop would be all for it. There have been a couple of Confirmations there this spring. Bishop
Costello has one on Pentecost Sunday. The Cathedral is always open for that possibility but it is not
something that Bishop is imposing on PCAs or anyone else. Some PCAs do Confirmation together at
one of the parishes – just not at the Cathedral. Some directors of parish Faith Formation like to
come to the Cathedral and some do not. Some think it is interfering with the way they have always
done things.
Will Pope Francis visit upstate New York? Have you invited him? No, he has not been invited.
He will only be in NYC for about 36 hours. His schedule will be tight.
Why is the Feast of the Ascension a Holy Day of Obligation on Thursday in New York State and
yet it is celebrated on the weekend in many other places in the country? About 20 years ago the
bishops in Region 2 (New York State) voted to keep the Holy Day on Thursday, as did the bishops in
Region 3 (Pennsylvania and New England states). Each region in the United States made their own
decision. The question continues to surface now and then at USCCB meetings.
Which is preferred – or correct? Timothy Cardinal Dolan or Cardinal Timothy Dolan? And if it
is Timothy Cardinal Dolan why is the title in the middle? Having the title in the middle may be a
carry over from the medieval court system. We now have Charles Prince of Wales and Katherine the
Duchess of Cambridge. It could be that in early days the Cardinals were seen as princes of the
Church and therefore dubbed “Francis Cardinal Spellman” – and would sign their letters that way. But
the Associated Press Stylebook would say it should be “Cardinal Francis Spellman” and therefore
“Cardinal Timothy Dolan.”
Please mark your calendars
September 19
2015 – 2016 Plenary Dates
November 21
March 12
Respectfully Submitted,
Joseph E. Stanton
DPC Secretary
Our Catholic Faith
Know it - Live it - Share it
May 7