Kneelers given as ordination gifts June 27
Kneelers given as ordination gifts June 27CHARLOTTE — A chance meeting at the Eucharistic Congress a couple years ago prompted two women to start an organized prayer effort for priests.
Called "Mary's Sons," the prayer apostolate is the inspiration of Jackie Gallagher and Robyn Magyar. During a conversation at Gallagher's vendor booth at the Congress, they discovered that they both shared a love of supporting priests through prayer using a booklet entitled "Praying for our Priests." Magyar was using it with a prayer group at her parish, St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte.
Together, they hoped, "Mary's Sons" could help spread this prayer effort even further across the diocese. Their effort is still growing, and a unique outgrowth has been what they call the "Seminarian Kneeler Prayer Pilgrimage."
Pictured: Bishop Peter Jugis blessed two wooden kneelers made especially for each new priest, a gift of thanksgiving from the group Mary's Sons, which works to pray for priests and an increase of vocations in the diocese. Hundreds of faithful prayed before the Blessed Sacrament on the kneelers at churches throughout the Charlotte area in the weeks leading up to the ordinations. (Photos by Patricia L. Guilfoyle and SueAnn Howell | Catholic News Herald)
In this project, custom-made wooden kneelers were bought thanks to a local donation and given to the diocese's new priests at their ordinations in 2014 and this year. Before ordination, the kneelers were put on display at Charlotte-area parishes so that the faithful could offer prayers for the ordinands as well as future vocations.
"The vision was for the kneelers to travel to 'host' parishes throughout the diocese to give the parishioners an opportunity to kneel and pray for the soon-to-be ordained men," Gallagher says.
"The pastors graciously opened their doors to Mary's Sons and allowed the kneelers to be placed in a beautiful setting, such as before the Blessed Sacrament or a statue of Our Lady."
Magyar "is so energized and devoted to our apostolate," Gallagher says. "She has taken this kneeler program and developed it into what you see today. I cannot give enough credit to her!! She took this kneeler program and ran with it."
This year, two kneelers – one for Father Casey Coleman, another for Father Santiago Mariani – traveled to 13 parishes in May and June before they were blessed by Bishop Peter Jugis and presented to the two new priests at a reception following their ordination.
"Each kneeler is a gift to the new priest and has a personalized plaque that reads 'With our prayers for a joyful priesthood,' the new priest's name and date of his ordination," Gallagher says.
In addition, each newly-ordained priest receives a traveling stole handmade by a local parishioner, as well as journals filled with well wishes written by those who have prayed on the kneelers at each church along the way.
Plans are already in place to begin the 2016 Kneeler Pilgrimage in September, beginning with parishes outside the Charlotte area, Gallagher adds. She encourages people to get involved with praying for priests, either with the Mary's Sons group or in their own families.
"Our goal is to foster vocations but also, and especially, to pray for those priests out in the trenches doing God's work daily. We must shower them with prayer to protect them against the evils out there trying to devour them."
To learn more about Mary's Sons, go to www.maryssons.com or call 704-707-5070.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
After their ordination, Father Coleman and Father Mariani give their first blessings as priests to their parents, Keith and Caroline Coleman.
UPDATE: Father Albert J. Gondek died Aug. 16, 2022, in his 65th year of religious life as an Oblate of Saint Francis de Sales.
A funeral Mass was celebrated Aug. 25, 2022, at Our Lady of Light Chapel in Elkton, Md., followed by burial at the Oblate Cemetery in Elkton.
Father Gondek, a priest with the Wilmington-Philadelphia Province of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, served as pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Lexington for 17 years. In 2015, he was placed on administrative leave by his order following an allegation of child sexual abuse. An investigation by the order was inconclusive, and Father Gondek remained out of ministry living in an Oblate community in Maryland.
CHARLOTTE — Effective immediately, Oblate Father Albert J. Gondek has been temporarily removed from ministry following an accusation of child sexual abuse alleged to have occurred about five years ago.
Father Gondek, a priest with the Wilmington-Philadelphia Province of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales for nearly 50 years, served as pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary of Church in Lexington for the past 17 years. “In consultation with Bishop Peter J. Jugis,” head of the Diocese of Charlotte, his order placed him on administrative leave from his pastorate “in an abundance of caution” while an investigation of the allegation is conducted, a Dec. 19 statement from the province’s spokesman Father Kevin Nadolski said.
“The allegation was reported to the Oblates from an incarcerated man who claims Fr. Gondek touched him in a sexually inappropriate way about five years ago when he was 18. The man also claimed that this occurred with minors, who have not come forth,” the statement said.
“The Oblates and the (Charlotte) diocese will work with local law authorities to address this matter,” the Oblates’ statement continued.
Holy Rosary parishioners were informed of the allegation Dec. 19 by members of Father Gondek’s order who are staffing the parish this weekend.
During the investigation Father Gondek will not publicly celebrate Mass or the sacraments or exercise ministry. “He will live in an Oblate community, outside of North Carolina, that is not connected to a church property,” the Oblates’ statement said.
The move to place Father Gondek on administrative leave follows the U.S. bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, and does not imply guilt or innocence. The charter, adopted in 2002, codifies the Church's commitment to respond effectively, appropriately and compassionately to cases of abuse of young people by priests, deacons or other Church personnel.
“Our commitment to protect children and create safe environments impels us to have Fr. Gondek step back from his ministry until a thorough investigation is conducted,” said Oblate Father James J. Greenfield, the order’s provincial, in the statement. “We make no judgment on either the accuser or Fr. Gondek. We await the results of the investigation and remain committed to guaranteeing the safety of children and advancing the truth.”
In a separate statement, Bishop Jugis said, “The abundance of caution approach that is being taken in this matter is best for everyone. In the meantime my prayers are with Fr. Gondek and with all victims of sexual abuse.”
This abuse allegation is not the first one made against Father Gondek. In an unrelated case, in October 2007, a 59-year-old man claimed that when he was a teenager he was fondled by Father Gondek, then a seminarian, while both were swimming at a summer camp in Maryland in 1960.
In December 2007, Father Gondek returned to ministry in Lexington, after two independent review boards and an investigation led by a retired judge from Baltimore cleared him of any wrongdoing. The investigation included interviews, a polygraph examination and a review of documents. It found that the camp did not open until 1961, and Father Gondek was not assigned there until 1962. The investigation also confirmed Father Gondek’s statement that he did not know how to swim.
“During the 2007 investigation parishioners at Holy Rosary were likewise invited to come forth with any information they may have and to report observations of sexual misconduct to local authorities. None came forward,” the Oblates’ Dec. 19 statement noted.
Father Gondek has served as pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary Church since 1998.
He entered the Oblates in 1957 and was ordained to the priesthood on Oct. 1, 1966.
Besides Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Lexington, he served at Northeast Catholic High School in Philadelphia; at Father Lopez High School in Daytona Beach; as parochial vicar at St. Brendan Church in Daytona Beach; and pastor at Sacred Heart Church in Whiteville, N.C.
The Oblates’ Wilmington-Philadelphia Province works in schools, parishes and other ministries from Boston to southwest Florida, including staffing four parishes in the Charlotte diocese.
The province is accredited by Praesidium Inc., an independent agency that evaluates the personnel, policies and structures of organizations that work with children.
In their Dec. 19 statement, the Wilmington-Philadelphia Province asked that anyone with information that could be helpful to the investigation contact the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales at 302-656-8529 or local law authorities.
“The Oblates strongly encourage anyone who has been sexually exploited or abused by a priest, religious brother or sister, or any lay person employed by their community to seek help, and to report the abuse to law enforcement authorities and to the Oblates,” the Dec. 19 statement said. The Oblates reiterate their commitment to care for the emotional, pastoral, and spiritual well-being of those who have suffered abuse by their members.”
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor