SAGINAW — Saginaw Area Catholic Schools Regional Superintendent and Nouvel Catholic Central High School principal Irene Hensinger has announced she will retire at the end of the 2011-12 school year.

Hensinger, who has held the dual position for three years, made the announcement Monday, Feb. 13, to allow adequate time for a replacement to be found and to offer support for a smooth administrative transition. (more…)

Declining enrollment, red ink force Adrian Dominicans to close St. Joseph Academy

ADRIAN — The Adrian Dominican sisters announced Tuesday, Feb. 7, that St. Joseph Academy, founded in 1896 by the sisters on their home grounds in northeast Adrian, and the Montessori Children’s House, founded in 1971 at the academy, will close at the end of the 2011-12 academic year.

The congregation cited declining enrollment and multiple-year deficit budgeting as the reasons to close the institution after 115 years of educating tens of thousands of children — Catholic and non-Catholic, ages pre-school through high school, and from Lenawee County and beyond. The Adrian Dominican sisters are the corporate sponsors of the academy. (more…)

Jessica Coffelt (left) joins Sr. Roselyn Nichols, S.S.M., and Dr. Angel Valdez of FUMSIL to examine an ambulance Coffelt acquired for the border region of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Courtesy photo

By Jeff Wack
The Catholic Times

PINCKNEY — St. Mary School graduate Jessica Coffelt embodies a life lived in service to others.

The 2001 St. Mary grad, while attending college, got involved with FUMSIL (the Fundación Mariana San Isidro Labrador), a nonprofit organization that operates along the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. FUMSIL is governed by the Catholic parish St. Isidore the Laborer in the province of Eli’as Pin’a and is a provider of health care, nutritional, religious and educational assistance to more than 25,000 people. (more…)

Fr. Edward Konieczka gives the homily during the all-schools Mass on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at St. Hyacinth Church in Bay City. Fr. Rick Varner and Fr. Rick Filary (background) listen. Sharon Pagryzinski/Catholic Weekly

BAY CITY —  The All-Schools Mass for the Bay Area Catholic Schools (BACS) was Wednesday, Feb. 1, at St. Hyacinth Church, 1515 Cass Ave.

Fr. Edward Konieczka was the celebrant with concelebrants Fr. Craig Albrecht from St. Mary of the Assumption Parish, Fr. Rick Filary from St. Stanislaus Parish, Fr. Dale Orlik from St. Boniface Parish and Fr. Ricky Varner from St. John the Evangelist Parish in Essexville. Pastoral administrators Sr. Virginia Scally, S.N.D.deN., from St. Maria Goretti Parish; Sr. Gail Addis, I.H.M., from St. Joseph Parish, and Sr. Joann Plumpe, O.P., from St. Hedwig Parish, also joined the worshippers in representing Vicariate IV in the celebration of Catholic Schools Week. (more…)

ANN ARBOR — Pro-life members of the Ann Arbor community will join together for the kick-off event of 40 Days for Life from 7-9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20, at St. Luke Lutheran Church, 4205 Washtenaw Ave.

The opening rally will feature motivational talks by Christen Houck, president of Students for Life of Michigan; Deb Ives and women from Heartfelt Family Services; Deacon Larry Randolph of Christ the King Catholic Church in Ann Arbor and Fr. David Rosenberg of St. Andrew Catholic Church in Saline. The rally also will feature an informational fair of pro-life organizations. Light refreshments will be available. (more…)

SAGINAW — As part of the Planning Tomorrow’s Parishes process, Bishop Joseph R. Cistone will lead a holy hour each month throughout this year in churches located across the diocese.

The intention for the holy hour will be Planning Tomorrow’s Parishes, a strategic planning process designed to engage parishioners to assess the state of churches across the 11-county Diocese of Saginaw and develop recommendations to enhance the vibrancy of future parish life.

The second holy hour is 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, at St. Elizabeth Church,12835 E. Washington Road in Reese. (more…)

Pope Benedict XVI greets Bishop Bernard A. Hebda of Gaylord during a Feb. 3 meeting with U.S. bishops from Michigan on their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican. Bishops from Ohio and Michigan were making their “ad limina” visits to report on the status of their dioceses to the pope and Vatican officials. CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano

Quiz Bowl teams from Bay City All Saints, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart Academy and Saginaw's Nouvel Catholic Central high schools competed in front of the staff and students from Sacred Heart Academy and television cameras, which streamed the event live over the Internet.

By Mark Haney
The Catholic Weekly

MOUNT PLEASANT — On a stage, in front of television cameras and classmates, students from the Diocese of Saginaw’s three high schools tested their knowledge of the Church and the faith.

And the team from Sacred Heart Academy in Mount Pleasant, riding the efforts of its freshman-sophomore group, won the day, with 625 points. Saginaw’s Nouvel Catholic Central was second with 415 points, thanks to a second-half surge by its junior-senior group (freshmen and sophomores competed in the first half, juniors and seniors in the second). Bay City All Saints was third with 223 points in the inaugural Quiz Bowl on Friday, Feb. 3, at Sacred Heart. (more…)

Author: Bring your beliefs to work every day and let them keep you in balance

By Ann Seebaldt
The Catholic Times

ANN ARBOR — Integrating deeply held values into the workplace is not easy, but it is worth the effort.

That was the message delivered Friday, Feb. 3, by Margaret Benefiel at St. Francis of Assisi Parish’s fifth annual Business Breakfast Forum, “Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations.”

Benefiel offers consulting, coaching and spiritual direction for leaders and organizations as executive officer of Executive Soul, is an adjunct faculty member of Andover Newton Theological School in Boston and is the author of “Soul and Work” and “The Soul of the Leader” as well as co-editor of “Soul of Supervision.”

She speaks from personal experience. In her case, Benefiel said, she felt as though she was “losing my own soul,” which was rather disturbing for a theology school’s faculty member. (more…)