JUNE 19, 2026
mississippicatholic.com
Homegrown seminarian ordained priest for Diocese of Jackson BY JOANNA PUDDISTER KING
JACKSON – For Father Will Foggo, the path to priesthood has always been marked by the people and communities that helped shape his faith. On Saturday, May 16, those communities came together at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle as Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz ordained the lifelong Diocese of Jackson Catholic to the priesthood. Family members, friends, priests, deacons, seminarians and parishioners filled the cathedral to witness a moment years in the making for the St. Paul Flowood parishioner who attended St. Richard School in Jackson, graduated from St. Joseph School in Madison and later discerned his vocation while active in Catholic Campus Ministry at Mississippi State University. In his homily, Bishop Kopacz reflected on the gift of faith and the work of the Holy Spirit in calling men to serve the church. He noted that a vocation is never formed in isolation, but through families, parish communities and seminary communities that help discern and affirm God’s call.
“We continue the work of the Lord,” Bishop Kopacz said, pointing to Christ’s mission of teaching, proclaiming the Gospel, healing, blessing and gathering people into communities of faith. Addressing the newly ordained priest, the bishop referenced St. Paul’s encouragement to Timothy: “Let no one have contempt for your youth.” “Today is not contempt,” the bishop said. “There’s great joy.” That joy became especially evident near the end of Mass when Bishop Kopacz announced Father Foggo’s first assignments. As is customary, the bishop explained that newly ordained priests enter a period of “vocational synthesis,” integrating priestly ministry into daily life after years of seminary formation. For the next few months, Father Foggo will serve as parochial vicar pro tempore at St. Joseph Parish in Starkville, the same parish community where he served as a transitional deacon following his ordination to the diaconate in JACKSON – Surrounded by the prayers of the church, ordinand Will Foggo November. lies prostrate before the altar during the Litany of Supplication, one of the The announcement drew enthusiasmost solemn moments of the Rite of Ordination to the Priesthood on Sat- tic applause from the congregation.
urday, May 16 at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle. (Photo by Joanna King)
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Sacred Heart reconciles divisions and transforms hardened hearts BY JEAN GONZALEZ
ORLANDO, Fla. (OSV News) – A sea of white robes and zucchettos of pink and magenta in the pews. A statue of Jesus welcoming the faithful with his exposed Sacred Heart upon the foot of the altar. A setting fit for a June 11 Mass that united U.S. bishops gathered for their spring plenary June 10-12. They left the second of two days of public sessions at Omni Resort in Champions-
Gate for a half-hour drive up Interstate 4 for the spiritual refuge that is the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe in Orlando. And the Mass was a momentous one as it served to formally consecrate the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City incensed the altar after processing in from the thick humidity and cloudy skies of a typical Orlando afternoon outside the shrine. The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was joined on the altar by bishops and deacons of the Orlando Diocese.
“Clothe us, Lord God, with the virtues of the heart of your son, and set us aflame with his love,” the archbishop prayed in opening the Mass. More than 200 bishops present, along with about 150 observers, mostly benefactors and staff of the Diocese of Orlando. The monstrance used ahead of Mass for Eucharistic adoration was from the Servants of the Pierced Hearts, a Miami-based religious institute. The relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque – the French Visitation sister who experienced visions of Jesus revealing his Sacred Heart – were also present at the Mass, on loan for the consecration from the Knights of Columbus.
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