January | 2025 VOL 34 NO 5
IN THIS ISSUE
IN A6 STRENGTH NUMBERS
Diocese provides FY 2024 financial statements
A8 ADDRESSING IMMIGRATION
Bishops issue letter in support of migrant communities
TO SHOP B1 WHERE St. Mary-Oak Ridge
thrift store gives rise to a market ministry
Catholic commentary ....................... A3 Parish news ....................................... B4 Diocesan calendar ............................ B5 Columns ..........................................B6-7 Catholic schools ..........................B9-10 La Cosecha ............................Section C
Bishops back new school choice bill Lawmakers to take up Education Freedom Act; special session called By Bill Brewer
COURTESY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE
E
ducation savings accounts, which already are in place in Hamilton, Davidson, and Shelby counties, are again at the top of Gov. Bill Lee’s legislative agenda, this time for the 2025 General Assembly. And the bishops of Tennessee have come out in support of Gov. Lee’s new legislation as similar versions have been drafted in the state House and Senate, creating a new education savings program for elementary and high school students that covers the entire state. The House bill is HB1 and the Senate bill is SB1. The new versions incorporate many aspects of the existing ESA program but also include modifications. In Gov. Lee’s Education Freedom Act, Education Freedom Scholarships would be available to all families with school-age
Legislative action Gov. Bill Lee delivers his 2023 state address to a joint session of Tennessee’s legislature. Gov. Lee and state legislators are set to take up the Education Freedom Act during the 2025 General Assembly. children. Parents would have the opportunity to choose the school for their children, regardless of income or ZIP code. The legislation provides 20,000
scholarships for Tennessee students beginning with the 2025-26 school year, with 10,000 seats reserved for families with household incomes that do not exceed
300 percent of the amount required to receive free or reduced lunch in public schools, who have a disability, or are eligible for the existing ESA program. The Education Freedom Act will grow with demand as 5,000 scholarships with universal eligibility will be added each year after 75 percent of total scholarships are taken in the prior year. Each student will receive a scholarship equal to the per-pupil base funds allocated to public school students each year—$7,075 as of the most recent school year—which will be deposited into an account for parents to use on tuition and fees first, followed by other qualified education expenses. More than 350 private schools, including the 10 Catholic schools in the Diocese of Knoxville, would be eligible to receive Education Freedom Scholarships as School choice continued on page A20
‘We begin a great pilgrimage’ Diocese of Knoxville opens participation in Jubilee Year 2025 By Gabrielle Nolan
GABRIELLE NOLAN (2)
O
n Christmas Eve, Pope Fran cis ushered in the Jubilee Year 2025 by opening the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome prior to Mass. With the theme “Pilgrims of Hope,” the Jubilee is the first ordinary Jubilee since Pope John Paul II declared the Great Jubilee of 2000. Catholics around the world are called to participate in the Jubilee and increase their hope in the Lord. In particular, bishops were invited to place a special cross in their cathedrals to commemorate the Jubilee and invite the pilgrims of hope to prayer. On Jan. 4, the vigil of the feast of the Epiphany, the Diocese of Knoxville opened its participation of the Jubilee Year with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Mark Beckman at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The cross chosen to commemorate the Jubilee for the cathedral was a San Damiano cross, a replica of a Romanesque cross that St. Francis of Assisi prayed before when he received direction from God to rebuild His Church. The San Damiano cross was placed at the front of the sanctuary near the Marian side, where it will remain for the rest of the Jubilee Year. After processing into the cathedral, Bishop Beckman blessed and incensed the cross. “Brothers and sisters, tonight we gather to celebrate the vigil of the great feast of the Epiphany,” Bishop
A hopeful message Above: Bishop Mark Beckman leads the Jubilee Year with a Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral on Jan. 4. Below: A San Damiano cross commemorating the Jubilee Year was a prominent part of the Mass. Beckman said. “And tonight, as we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany, we all begin our participation in Pope Francis’ opening of the Holy Doors for a Year of Jubilee, which began on Christmas Eve when he opened the door of the Basilica of St. Peter, and he has continued to open holy doors. This year, the Jubilee is called a Pilgrimage of Hope, and we’re all invited to join in that great journey of hope to Christ the Lord.
The Magi themselves were the beginning of that great journey, which we commemorate tonight.” Bishop Beckman focused on the magi in his homily, sharing that these “mysterious travelers” have always fascinated him. “St. Matthew doesn’t tell us how many magi there were,” he said. “We know the gifts are threefold: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. So, later tradition
identified the number as three and eventually were given names and countries of origin. … Biblical commentators believe they may have come indeed from the area of the Middle East, what we would call Iran today, ancient Persia. A long tradition of astrologers who studied the heavens, the stars, looking for signs.” The bishop highlighted that these Magi were not a part of God’s people, not “faithful Jews.” “They were Gentiles, outsiders, people from way over yonder,” Bishop Beckman said. He compared them with the original pilgrim, a man who traveled from the area of what is known today as Iraq: Abraham. “Our father, Abraham, who was called by God to make a great journey with Sarah, his wife. And that first great journey, a great pilgrimage of its own, had something of trust and God in it. Someone once said Abraham had to be following God; we know that because he didn’t know where he was going. A pilgrim of hope, that God would be faithful to his call. That’s what Abraham was, and mysteriously these magi also become pilgrims of hope,” the bishop said. He pondered the question: what would inspire people to leave behind their own backgrounds, religions, families, and lives in order to follow a star? “If there was not something in their heart that was restless and empty, a longing for something that they had not yet experienced in life; it’s Jubilee Year on page A23