In a most unusual year, Catholics rise to the occasion

Parishes, schools and organizations respond to coronavirus pandemic

A year like no other.

During 2020, the coronavirus pandemic affected nearly every aspect of people’s lives, including how Catholics worshipped, learned, shared their faith and ministered to those in need.

Despite the disruptions, the Archdiocese of Omaha, its parishes and schools, and other Catholic organizations responded to the needs of their members and others, working hard to continue carrying on their missions of spreading God’s love, mercy and message of hope.

Mid-March saw the abrupt closing of schools and temporary suspension of public Masses for the sake of public health.

School administrators and teachers scrambled to adapt curricula to a digital format to help students finish the school year remotely. And they worked hard to implement practices to facilitate safe resumption of in-person learning in the fall.

Archbishop George J. Lucas issued a dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass – a provision still in effect today. To fill the void, parishes livestreamed and recorded Masses to be viewed online, with Catholics making use of these and other televised Masses to bolster their faith.

And food pantries such as those operated by Catholic Charities and the St. Vincent de Paul Society adopted safety measures to continue operating and serving the ever-growing demand for food, given the increased hardships due to the pandemic.

But, not all of the year’s news highlights hinged on the coronavirus.

Progress was made concerning important initiatives such as the passage by the Nebraska Legislature of a bill banning the practice of dismemberment abortion in the state. The measure, supported by the Nebraska Catholic Conference and Catholics across the state, was passed by the Legislature Aug. 13 and was signed into law by Gov. Pete Ricketts Aug. 15.

And Archbishop Lucas announced an ambitious goal to help parishes throughout the archdiocese to, within six years, become “missional communities,” reaching out to those who have never heard the Gospel and those who need to hear it anew.

Details of these stories are presented in the capsule summaries below.

Omaha archdiocese unveils ‘big goal’

“My biggest dream, my biggest hope is … where it’s second nature (for people) to have conversations about the faith, about their walk with the Lord, their experience or encounters and what it’s done for them.”

That’s how Father James Keiter, pastor of three parishes in Cedar and Knox counties summed up his hopes for an archdiocese-wide effort to help parishes become “missional communities” reaching out to share the light of the Gospel with non-practicing Catholics and others who have not received Christ’s healing message.

VIDEO FRAME/ARCHDIOCESE OF OMAHA

He offered those comments in a video as part of an Oct. 1 online conference of more than 800 priests, parish leaders and archdiocesan staff during which Archbishop George J. Lucas announced the initiative, dubbed “the big goal.”

The archbishop emphasized the need to “embrace the challenges that Jesus gave to the first disciples of sharing the light of the Gospel, and offering that in a generous and joyful way to as many people as we can.”

The goal is described as the next step in bringing to fruition the archdiocese’s pastoral vision: One Church – encountering Jesus, equipping disciples and living mercy.

Pro-life advocates celebrate a victory

On Aug. 13, the final day of its 2020 session, the Nebraska Legislature passed LB814, a bill banning dismemberment abortion, also known as dilation and evacuation. The method, which involves using forceps to tear the unborn baby apart in the womb and removing the pieces, was called barbaric by Sen. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln, the bill’s sponsor.

“I believe the way we treat the most vulnerable in our society is the way we treat everyone,” she said. “When we devalue life in the womb, we devalue life outside the womb, and I think we’re seeing that in our society.”

The bill was passed thanks to the prayers of pro-life advocates, plus thousands of phone calls, letters and emails to their senators, said Tom Venzor, executive director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference (NCC), which supported passage of the bill.

Considered by the NCC to be the most significant pro-life legislation passed in the state in the past 10 years, the bill was signed into law Aug. 15 by Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts.

Catholic organizations help those most impacted

As the pandemic took its toll on the employment and incomes of increasing numbers of people in the archdiocese, Catholic organizations such as Catholic Charities and the St. Vincent de Paul Society stepped up to lend a hand.

During the pandemic, demand for food assistance more than doubled at the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry in Omaha, said Marty Smith, the group’s executive director. “Food is expensive when your funds are limited, especially fresh produce, meat and dairy, so it’s hard initially if you’ve never been in that spot before.”

To protect the health of staff, volunteers and clients, the food pantry shifted from allowing clients to shop for items inside its facility to pre-packaging food items and drive-thru distribution.

MIKE MAY/STAFF

Food pantries at the St. Martin de Porres Center in north Omaha and the Juan Diego Center in south Omaha, both operated by Catholic Charities, also saw dramatic increases in the need for food, said Mikaela Schuele, director of emergency and supportive food services.

“It’s pretty remarkable, it’s heartbreaking, but it’s why we’re here,” she said.

For safety, the Catholic Charities’ food pantries also moved to outdoor distribution of pre-packaged food, and distributed up to one million pounds of food during the year.

Schools shift to remote learning

As response to the coronavirus pandemic expanded in the United States, mid-March saw in-person learning come to a sudden end for Catholic schools in the archdiocese, prompting them to quickly set about adapting the remaining academic year’s curricula to a remote learning format.

For high school seniors, it spelled an anticlimactic end to the school year as special celebrations and graduation ceremonies were canceled or postponed. Jacob Gathje of Mount Michael Benedictine School near Elkhorn said it was “… really hard missing out on a lot of senior memories that would have come from that last few weeks of school. There’s no sense of closure … not being able to say goodbye to everyone.”

Over the summer break, the Catholic Schools Office and archdiocesan schools worked to develop a plan for reopening schools in the fall that would prioritize full-time, in-person attendance while allowing flexibility to adapt to changing public health conditions via remote learning or a hybrid model including both in-person and remote learning.

“The interaction that our kids have with one another and with their teacher is such an important part of their social and emotional development,” said Vickie Kauffold, Catholic schools superintendent. “The best learning happens when we can have direct contact with our students.” She said the plan worked well, with no large-scale return to fully remote learning.

Parishes adapt to coronavirus restrictions

In early March, as the need to take precautions against the coronavirus was just beginning to enter America’s collective consciousness, parishes throughout the archdiocese adopted protective measures such as suspending the sign of peace and receiving the Precious Blood of Jesus.

But it wasn’t long before state health guidelines prompted Archbishop Lucas to temporarily suspend public Masses and grant a dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday and holy day Masses. Soon parishes learned to livestream and post their Masses online, and Catholics also flocked to the Mass for Shut-Ins, the weekly televised Mass broadcast on Omaha’s WOWT-TV.

By May 4, churches reopened for Masses with additional precautions in effect, such as 6 feet of spacing between individuals and family groups, removal of hymnals and missalettes, and discontinuation of passing collection baskets.

Parishes also developed methods for maintaining a sense of community, especially with those not attending Mass, such as using calling trees to maintain regular contact. And parish groups used online technology such as Zoom and Google Meet to allow them to continue their faith-building and evangelization efforts.

Schools shift to remote learning

As response to the coronavirus pandemic expanded in the United States, mid-March saw in-person learning come to a sudden end for Catholic schools in the archdiocese, prompting them to quickly set about adapting the remaining academic year’s curricula to a remote learning format.

MIKE MAY/STAFF

For high school seniors, it spelled an anticlimactic end to the school year as special celebrations and graduation ceremonies were canceled or postponed. Jacob Gathje of Mount Michael Benedictine School near Elkhorn said it was “… really hard missing out on a lot of senior memories that would have come from that last few weeks of school. There’s no sense of closure … not being able to say goodbye to everyone.”

Over the summer break, the Catholic Schools Office and archdiocesan schools worked to develop a plan for reopening schools in the fall that would prioritize full-time, in-person attendance while allowing flexibility to adapt to changing public health conditions via remote learning or a hybrid model including both in-person and remote learning.

“The interaction that our kids have with one another and with their teacher is such an important part of their social and emotional development,” said Vickie Kauffold, Catholic schools superintendent. “The best learning happens when we can have direct contact with our students.” She said the plan worked well, with no large-scale return to fully remote learning.