A parishioner at St. Mary Church in Oak Ridge will be converting her interest in a Catholic outreach program for college students into a fulltime stint as a collegiate missionary. Deidre Merrill, a graduate of Maryville College, will begin the new school year as a FOCUS missionary at Georgia Tech …
‘Humble, prayerful, obedient servant of the Church’
Bishops Beckman, Spalding lead funeral Mass for Father John Kirk By Jim Casey Nashville Catholic Father John Kirk, a priest of the Diocese of Nashville for more than 55 years, died on Jan. 18 in Knoxville. He was 84. A funeral Mass was celebrated by Bishop Mark Beckman of Knoxville on Jan. 23 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Bishop J. Mark Spalding of Nashville served as concelebrant and presided over the final commendation. Father John Hammond, vicar general and judicial vicar for the Diocese of Nashville and rector of the Cathedral of the Incarnation, and Father Andy Bulso, vicar for priests for the Diocese of Nashville and pastor of St. Edward Church, served as concelebrants, as did several priests of the Diocese of Knoxville, including Father Peter Iorio, pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Alcoa and vicar general for the Diocese of Knoxville,... Read more →