The calendar year ended in the diocese with Bishop Earl Fernandes making his first visit to the St. Francis Evangelization Center in McArthur and the newly formed Divine Mercy Parish in Jackson and Vinton counties.
The bishop began his Dec. 31 trip at the St. Francis Center and ended with a Mass at Zaleski St. Sylvester Church, which is part of the new Divine Mercy Parish established Jan. 1 that includes Wellston Ss. Peter & Paul and Jackson Holy Trinity churches.
At the St. Francis Center, Bishop Fernandes toured the facility with Lisa Keita, director of the diocese’s Joint Organization for Inner City Needs (J.O.I.N.); Father Thomas Herge, pastor of Divine Mercy Parish; and Deacon Dave Bezusko, the new director of charities for the diocese.
The St. Francis Center primarily serves Vinton County residents and offers a clothing center and several food programs to help ease poverty in the area. A food pantry is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and four mobile sites are open each week in the county. The center also delivers food to families in remote areas, supports several food programs and provides school supplies for children each summer.
In addition to Keita, the center staff includes two full-time assistants and one part-time assistant. Volunteers help on a regular basis at the center, which serves an estimated 10 percent to 20 percent of Vinton County’s 13,000 residents.
Bishop Fernandes said he was impressed by the staff and by the good will of the people who have donated support for the center in many ways.
“It’s eye-opening that people in our country live with such a high degree of poverty,” he said. “My visit here has raised my awareness of what the true need is here and what the difference between urban poverty and rural poverty is.
“I think sometimes in the Diocese of Columbus the impression is that everything revolves around (the city of) Columbus. People need to be aware of both the Catholics and non-Catholics who live out here and about the people here at the St. Francis Center who are doing such great work in McArthur who serve the needs of these underserved communities.
“It’s precisely through the efforts of the staff and the people here that people encounter Christ and encounter the Church with spiritual and corporal works of mercy.”
Deacon Bezusko, who recently began a new role as diocesan director of charities, said he is looking forward to raising awareness of the needs in communities to assist the people who are providing aid to the underserved.
“One of the things we want to talk about is that, when we serve the poor, the needy among us, we’re serving Christ, and we’re being Christ to others,” he said. “We’re here to be His hands and feet. And the idea of loving God and loving our neighbor are not to be separated.”
A number of diocesan parishes support the St. Francis Center with monetary and material donations, but more help is needed. Contribution can be made to the center at https://dioceseofcolumbus.org/donatejoin.
Later in the day, Bishop Fernandes traveled to Zaleski to celebrate a Vigil Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God on the feast day of the church’s patron, St. Sylvester.
Concelebrating with Bishop Fernandes were Father Herge and Father David E. Young, a retired diocesan priest in residence at St. Sylvester. They were assisted by Deacons Bezusko and Deacon Bart Supino.
Bishop Fernandes has visited most of the parishes in the diocese during his 2½-years as its shepherd and said St. Sylvester was one of his last stops.
On the final day of the year, the bishop invited parishioners to reflect on 2024 and look ahead to 2025 as the three area parishes became one.
“It’s an opportunity to give thanks to God for all the graces He has poured out through the decades at his parish,” Bishop Fernandes said in his homily. “But just like someone who walks through a door, you leave the old life behind and you walk into something new – to contemplate what this something new might be for you as a parish family.
“Change is difficult. Change can also be good and beautiful.”
The bishop went on to explain the history of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, a title given to her at the Council of Ephesus in 431, and of St. Sylvester, who became pope in 314.
Pope St. Sylvester led the Church during the Council of Nicea, which defined the nature of God the Father and God the Son. In 2025, the Church will observe the 1,700th anniversary of that council.
“The whole Church was torn apart by this controversy, which was resolved at the Council of Nicea during the reign of Pope St. Sylvester,” Bishop Fernandes said. “He is the one who confirmed the decision of Nicea. And he is the first pope to be called the Confessor of the Faith.”
As a parish, St. Sylvester has a long history dating to the post-Civil War era. The parish was established in 1867 and named in honor of Bishop Sylvester Rosecrans, who was an auxiliary bishop of Cincinnati and the Diocese of Columbus’ first bishop.
The original church was built in 1869 in Zaleski, a town whose origins are traced to the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad, but it burned down in 1929. The current church was built at the same site in 1931. The parish rectory was also destroyed by a fire in 1938.