MCADENVILLE — Spruced Goose Station – a hybrid restaurant, gift shop and art studio – has opened in downtown McAdenville, just west of Charlotte.
Established by Holy Angels, Spruced Goose Station features an eclectic mix of local artwork and gifts as well as a restaurant that is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The business, one of four that Holy Angels operates in Gaston County and its first in McAdenville, will employ adults with intellectual developmental disabilities for a chance to develop real-life career skills.
“Founded in 1955, Holy Angels is dedicated to believing in the possibility that lies within everyone. The Holy Angels businesses such as Spruced Goose Station allow us to achieve our mission, helping each person reach their full potential. We also use this opportunity to share our story of loving, living and loving for the differently abled,” said Regina Moody, Holy Angels’ president and CEO.
Holy Angels is committed to providing educational and vocational opportunities to the individuals in its care with intellectual developmental disabilities and delicate medical conditions. As a non-profit organization, all proceeds from Spruced Goose Station will help fund Holy Angels’ programs and services.
The gift shop and art studio is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and features artwork, dog beds and accessories, jewelry, baby items, lotions, monogram decals, athletic wear and gift baskets made by the residents of Holy Angels and other North Carolina artisans.
The restaurant is open from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and offers breakfast, lunch and dinner along with ice cream, and it proudly serves Dilworth Coffee.
The new venture in McAdenville has received strong support from local business Pharr, a manufacturing and real estate company and the town’s largest employer.
“We wanted to bring to McAdenville a family friendly business, a gathering space serving ice cream and coffee. Holy Angels has a successful café in downtown Belmont and felt they would be a perfect match,” according to Bill Carstarphen, Pharr’s president and CEO.
Preston Wilson of Bower Traust Construction in Belmont brought his creativity to the project, with much of the wood throughout Spruced Goose repurposed from a mill in Spencer Mountain that was built more than 100 years ago.
Spruced Goose Station joins other recently opened businesses, including Belle Boutique, McAdenville Table and Market, William Henry Signature Salon and 115 Main Gifts and Provisions, as the latest tenant in the revitalization of downtown McAdenville.
Holy Angels also operates three businesses in Belmont: Cherubs Café, Cotton Candy Factory and Bliss Gallery.
Holy Angels was founded in 1955 by the Sisters of Mercy – beginning a much-needed specialized service for children from Gaston, Lincoln, Cleveland and Mecklenburg counties as well as children from throughout North Carolina. The private, nonprofit corporation in Belmont provides residential services and innovative programs for children and adults with intellectual developmental disabilities and delicate medical conditions.
The CARF-accredited programs include Holy Angels Morrow Center, the McAuley Residences (Fox Run ICF/IDD group homes (three six-bed), Belhaven ICF/IDD group home (15-bed), Moody Place ICF/IDD group home (15-bed), four community group homes, Great Adventures and Camp Hope.
To learn more about Holy Angels, make a donation or volunteer, call 704-825-4161 or go online to www.holyangelsnc.org.
— Mercy Sister Nancy Nance, Special to the Catholic News Herald. Mercy Sister Nancy Nance is vice president of community relations for Holy Angels.
Spruced Goose Station is located at 118 Wesleyan Dr. in downtown McAdenville. They are online at gotgoose.org.
VATICAN CITY — A new book accused the Vatican of hypocrisy, claiming that the majority of prelates working within its walls live active homosexual lifestyles.
The book, titled "In the Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy," by French author and journalist Frederic Martel, was scheduled for publication in eight languages Feb. 21, the same day leaders of the world's bishops' conference convened in Rome to reflect on the abuse crisis that has rocked the Catholic Church.
The author, who is openly gay, said he spent four years of "authoritative research" interviewing current and former Vatican officials, including priests, bishops and cardinals.
He also claimed that Pope Francis' homilies on those in the church who lead "double lives" refer to "the dizzying hypocrisy of those who advocate a rigid morality while at the same time having a companion, affairs and sometimes escorts."
Among Martel's sources is Italian journalist Francesco Lepore, a former priest who, according to the Annuario Pontificio -- the Vatican yearbook -- served as one of several secretaries at the Vatican Apostolic Library in 2006.
Speaking to Lepore about his experiences and the alleged sordid details of the secret lives of various prelates, Martel asked him to estimate what percentage of Vatican officials were gay.
"I think the percentage is very high. I'd put it at around 80 percent," Lepore told the author.
While Martel claimed to interview several cardinals and bishops, those who spoke frankly about their own homosexual orientations chose to remain anonymous.
The book, which often recounts salacious details of the sexual activity of prelates or musings on their lifestyles, offers little concrete evidence outside of testimony from unnamed sources. However, Martel said a 300-page document that includes sources, notes and unpublished chapters would be made available online on the book's publication day.
Martel also took aim at several prelates who have been outspoken opponents of same-sex marriage yet allegedly led double lives, including the late Colombian Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo.
Until his death in 2008, Cardinal Lopez served as president of the Pontifical Council for the Family under St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict.
The author claimed that he spoke to "dozens of witnesses" who confirmed that the Colombian prelate's homosexuality was "an open secret" both in the Vatican and in Medellin, where he served as archbishop from 1979 to 1990.
Martel also interviewed several notable Vatican figures about the allegations against Cardinal Lopez. Among them was Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, who served as apostolic nuncio in several Latin American countries, including Brazil and Paraguay.
"I knew (Cardinal) Lopez Trujillo when he was vicar general in Colombia. He was a very controversial figure. He had a split personality," Cardinal Baldisseri said.
Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, the former president of Pontifical Council for Social Communications, told Martel that Cardinal Lopez "was not a saint by any means."
Martel claimed that Pope Francis is currently engaged "in a ruthless battle against all those who use sexual morality" to conceal their own "double lives" and that "these secret homosexuals are in the majority, powerful and influential."
"Threatened and attacked on all sides and generally criticized, (Pope) Francis is said to be 'among the wolves,'" Martel wrote. "It's not quite true: He's among the queens."
— Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News Service