August 25, 2018

Dear Parents:

Peace and good! As we prepare to begin another school year, the current circumstances in which we find ourselves as a Church make it more urgent that ever that we renew for you our commitment to ensure that in our schools and religious education programs we are doing everything we can to create a safe environment for your children. Once again, I reiterate that:

a.       Our diocese immediately reports all allegations of any kind of abuse or neglect of children to appropriate legal authorities.

b.      No priest or deacon against whom a substantiated claim of abuse has been made is currently serving in active ministry in our diocese.

c.       Since 2002, every allegation of sexual abuse on the part of clergy has been investigated by our Diocesan Review Board, which from its very beginning has always been comprised of a majority of laymen and laywomen.

Further, a revamped landing page on our diocesan website (www.ArlingtonDiocese.org/Child-Protection) provides information and links to:

a.       Diocesan policies that have been in place since 2002 to insure the protection of

children and that provide a process for handling allegations of sexual abuse on the part of clergy.

d.      Bishop Burbidge’s public statements and podcasts in which he has addressed these sensitive issues.

On behalf of all of the priests serving here at St. Joseph Catholic Church, I assure you of the personal commitment of each one of us to strive daily to be faithful to the commitments we have made never to harm and only to protect and care for the safety and security of the children and young people of our Church.

Let us together continue to pray for the safety and security of our children, for the healing of victims of abuse, and that we might do all that we can to insure that the wrong-doing and the evil of the past are never repeated in the future.

In the peace of Francis of Assisi,
Father Tom Bourque, TOR
Pastor
 

                  Denise Rutledge Named New Principal of Saint Joseph School

Father Tom Bourque, TOR, Pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church and Dr. Jennifer Bigelow, Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Arlington, announced today the appointment of Mrs. Denise Rutledge as principal of Saint Joseph School. She will begin her new ministry on July 2, 2018.
 
“Mrs. Rutledge brings with her school-wide experience, joy, enthusiasm, and a strong commitment to Catholic education,” said Father Tom. “She is well respected in the Diocese, active in her parish, and has been a faith-filled Catholic educator and leader at St. Timothy Catholic School and in the Diocese for twenty years. I look forward to working with Denise in her new ministry as principal at Saint Joseph School.”
 
Mrs. Rutledge began her career in Catholic Education as an elementary school teacher at St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic School in Clifton, VA. Since 1998 she has ministered as a Catholic educator at St. Timothy Catholic School as a teacher, Dean of Academics, and Assistant Principal. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from Villanova University (PA), earned the degree of Juris Doctor from Stetson University College of Law (FL), and a M.Ed. in Administration and Supervision (Catholic Leadership) from Marymount University (VA).
 
As the SJS Principal Search Committee shared in their recommendation of Mrs. Rutledge as the new principal, her accomplishments as a Catholic educator and leader include: commitment to the Gospel of Joy; directing strategic planning efforts aimed at developing a mission-driven vision for the school community; collaborating with faculty to enhance teaching and learning by emphasizing the nurturing of the Catholic faith and development of 21st century skills; and enriching the spiritual life of the school community through an increased emphasis on faith development for all students, teachers, and families.
 
Father Tom and Dr. Bigelow extend their gratitude to the members of the SJS Principal Search Committee. The faith community of St. Joseph Catholic Church looks forward to welcoming Mrs. Rutledge. Peace and good!

Feast Day: Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

Peace and good! On the Monday after the Solemnity of Pentecost, the Church celebrates a newly established feast day: Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.

As we have learned from the spirituality and prayer of Pope Francis, he has a deep devotion to Mary. In February 2018, he established a new feast for the Catholic Church devoted to Mary as the “Mother of the Church,” to be celebrated on the Monday after Pentecost. This announcement was proclaimed in a decree released by the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

The decree observes and celebrates the long standing veneration of Mary as Mother of the Church. The decree mentions its ancient roots in Catholic tradition, reaching back to St. Augustine and St. Leo the Great. We also learn that this title of Mary is rooted in New Testament accounts about Mary. The decree shares the following insights:                                                                                                                    

She became the tender Mother of the Church which Christ begot on the cross, handing on the Spirit.

Christ, in turn, in the beloved disciple, chose all disciples as ministers of his love towards his Mother, entrusting her to them so that they might welcome her with filial affection.

In reading the decree, we are reminded that at the close of the Second Vatican Council, Blessed Pope Paul VI formally declared Mary as the Mother of the Church, and invited Catholics to invoke Mary’s help under that title. The Vatican produced a votive Mass for Mary under the title of Beata Maria Ecclesiæ Matre, or Blessed Mary Mother of the Church during the jubilee year of 1975.

With the new decree, devotion to Mary as Mother of the Church now becomes an approved feast for the universal Church. The decree states:

This celebration will help us to remember that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the Mystery of the Cross, to the oblation of Christ in the Eucharistic Banquet and to the Mother of the Redeemer and Mother of the Redeemed, the Virgin who makes her offering to God.

Blessed feast day of Mary, Mother of the Church!

Father Tom

Reference:

Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. (2018, February 11). Decree on the Celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church in the General Roman Calendar. Vatican.