Denver Catholic

5 DENVER CATHOLIC | NOVEMBER 11-24, 2017 The Second Vatican Council, in its Decree Concerning the Pastoral Oce of Bishops in the Church, (CD, 32) provides that the diocesan bishop is responsible for the pastoral care of those living in the diocese. He is to see to their spiritual well-being by establishing parishes or, when neces- sary pursuant to universal and par- ticular law, quasi-parishes, when it is opportune to do so. In virtue of this mandate, and to serve the growing of the Denver/ Aurora area and the increasing number of parishioners at Ascension Catholic Parish, after having con- sulted the Presbyteral Council of the Archdiocese of Denver on the 13th day of September 2017 (Prot. N. 2017- 0567 AB-A) and the priests of the East Deanery, and in recognition of the community of Christian faithful already coming together to celebrate the Mass at Omar D. Blair Charter School, by this decree, I canonically establish a new territorial quasi-par- ish (CIC, canon 516 § 1), in the East Deanery, under the patronage of Saint Gianna Molla whose feast is cel- ebrated on the 28th day of April. Its specific location to be determined by the future acquisition of land that will house the parish church and oªces. The parochial administrator for Saint Gianna Molla quasi-parish shall be Rev. Jason Wunsch, in addition to his current assignment as Parochial Vicar of Ascension Catholic Parish. Saint Gianna Molla quasi-parish, shall have the following boundaries: Northern Boundary- East on East 96th Avenue from Buckley Road to West Cargo Road, then continue north on Picadilly Road to East 120th Avenue, then east to Manila Road. Eastern Boundary- South on Manila Road from East 120th Avenue to I- (Interstate) 70. Southern Boundary- West on I-70 from Manila Road to Peña Boulevard. Western Boundary- North on Peña Boulevard from I-70 to East 56th Avenue then west to Buckley Road, then north to East 96th Avenue. Saint Gianna Molla quasi-parish has Juridic personality ipso iure (CIC, canon 515 § 3), with all the rights, privileges, and obligations attached thereto. I also approve its statutes (CIC, canon 117), which are attached to this decree. The administration of its temporal goods is subject to the existing universal and diocesan norms, as well as any applicable civil laws. The banking and financial administration of Saint Gianna Molla quasi-parish shall remain an aspect of Ascension Catholic Parish, yet be accounted for separately, until such a time as a civil non-profit corporation is erected. After consultation with the pastor and parish finance council of Ascension Catholic Parish, it is hereby decreed that this parish shall, before the 1st of December 2017, pursuant to the provisions of CIC, canon 122, contribute/designate the sum of $5,000 to Saint Gianna Molla quasi-parish. Until a parish church is erected, liturgical functions will continue at Omar D. Blair Charter School, or another appropriate gathering space designated by the administrator. However, baptisms, weddings, and funerals may also be celebrated at Ascension Catholic Parish. In accord with the norms of CIC, canons 516, 536 and 537, a pastoral council and finance council shall be constituted in the Saint Gianna Molla quasi-parish, pursuant to the norms of universal and particular law. Saint Gianna Molla quasi-parish is to have its own parish registers (CIC, canon 535 §§ 1-2) with entries begin- ning on the Sunday, December 3, 2017; its own parish seal (CIC, canon 535 § 3); and its own parish archives (CIC, canon 535 § 4). All the Christian faithful who have a domicile or quasi-domicile in the territory defined above belong by law to Saint Gianna Molla quasi-parish. This present decree shall take e¡ect on the 3rd day of December 2017, the 1st Sunday of Advent. May Saint Gianna Molla, the heav- enly patron of this new quasi-parish, intercede with the Father for rich blessings to come upon this new community of the Christian faith- ful through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Given at the Curia Denveriensis on this 4th day of November 2017, on the Feast of St. Charles Borromeo, Denver, Colorado. Most Reverend Samuel J. Aquila, S.T.L. Archbishop of Denver Mr. David Uebbing Chancellor SAINT GIANNA MOLLA | DENVER, COLORADO What is a vocation? It is a gift from God, so it comes from God. If it is a gift from God, our concern must be to know God's will. We must enter that path: if God wants, when God wants, how God wants. Never force the door." ST. GIANNA MOLLA " G reat acts of love overflow from smaller, daily ones. Gianna was a "young mother… who, to give life to her daugh- ter, sacrificed her own, with conscious immolation," said Pope Paul VI – "refer- ring to Christ on Calvary and in the Eucharist." Born 1922 in Italy to a deeply Cath- olic family, she learned the importance of Mass and prayer at very a young age. Molla became a medical doctor in 1949. Her Catholic identity shone forth in her "mission," attending babies, mothers and the elderly. The Italian doctor married Pietro Molla in 1955 and gave birth to three children. "With simplicity and equi- librium, she harmonized the demands of mother, wife, doctor and her passion for life," said Pope John Paul II. Molla developed a fibroma in the uterus during her fourth pregnancy. She didn't only refuse to have an abor- tion. She also rejected a hysterectomy, which would have saved her, but would cause the indirect death of the child. Even though such action was mor- ally permissible, the loving mother chose to have a surgery that would not end the baby's life, yet would greatly endanger her own. Both survived. She spent the next seven months after surgery dedicated to her tasks as doctor and mother. Yet, foreseeing the danger of giving birth she told the doctors, "If you must decide between me and the child, do not hesitate: choose the child." Gianna Emmanuela was born in 1962. However, despite all e¡orts to save the 39-year-old mother, she died a week later, exclaiming, "Jesus, I love you." St. Gianna Molla

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