The Immigration Issue from a Bishop’s Perspective

Bishop Stika shares his thoughts with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network The Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) has asked Bishop Richard F. Stika to share his and the Diocese of Knoxville’s experiences when federal agents raided a Grainger County meatpacking plant and detained scores of Hispanic workers in 2018. In …

One Family’s Exodus

Rwandan couple giving back to East Tennessee, which welcomed them as refugees Story by Bill Brewer Photography by Stephanie Richer and Michael Patrick Drocella Mugorewera is a woman of faith. Her name even says so. She sees God in action everywhere she goes. And she sees the face of Jesus …

Working to keep a community together

St. Patrick Parish leader finds herself on the front line of the immigration issue in East Tennessee By Bill Brewer This is a busy time of year for Veronica Galvan. The director of religious education and adult faith formation coordinator at St. Patrick Church in Morristown has been registering families …

A Crisis with a Captial C

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann is calling for Congress and the country to solve a humanitarian crisis By Bill Brewer Rep. Chuck Fleischmann understands the U.S. immigration crisis inside the halls of Congress and out at the border crossings. He has visited on more than one occasion the U.S. border with Mexico, …

Praying for perspective: Ain’t life ‘grand’

Parenting never grows old, especially when you add the titles ‘Grumpy’ and ‘BB’ to the job description By George Valadie It doesn’t happen all that often. It certainly hasn’t been typical for our family. But remarkably, one of our longed-for dreams has come true. Katy, our oldest, her husband, Clint, …

He dwells among us: Rights of migrant and country

In considering the issue of immigration, we need to keep two basic rights in perspective By Bishop Richard F. Stika “They took hold of a certain Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country; and after laying the cross on him, they made him carry it behind Jesus” …

A Catholic pastor responds to immigration questions

By Father Steve Pawelk, a Glenmary Home Missioner and pastor of St. Teresa of Kolkata Parish in Maynardville and St. John Paul II Catholic Mission in Rutledge “Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt.” (Matthew 2:14) “For I was hungry and you …

Knoxville Catholic’s Jake Renfree adds to his state running championship total

Jake Renfree concluded his stellar running career at Knoxville Catholic High School with two more state titles in the TSSAA Large School Track & Field Championships on May 23 at Middle Tennessee State University. The senior, a University of Notre Dame signee with multiple track and cross country titles on …

Thoughts and Prayers for the Faithful: A study of the cynical Book of Qoheleth

Also known as Ecclesiastes, the book is among the wisdom books of the Old Testament By Bob Hunt I’ve been reading the Book of Qoheleth, also known as Ecclesiastes, attributed to Solomon because of the opening line, “The words of David’s son, Qoheleth, king in Jerusalem” (Ecclesiastes 1:1). It is …

CCETN’s Paul Ritter trains to be stronger leader

By Emily Booker Catholic Charities is rooted in love, but it can take a lot of business savvy to coordinate nine different programs helping thousands of clients all over the region. So when Paul Ritter, director of programs for Catholic Charities of East Tennessee, had the opportunity to further develop …

All Saints Parish participates in Enthronement

‘It’s just taking the love you already have for Jesus in your heart and going one step further . . .’ By Emily Booker Jesus is King! All Saints Parish in Knoxville made a public proclamation of this truth June 30 as the parish participated in the Enthronement to the …