Denver Catholic

14 DECEMBER 8-21, 2018 | DENVER CATHOLIC Around the Archdiocese P L E A S E R E S P O N D B Y : D E C E M B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 8 A LIGHT TO FOLLOW This Advent, shelter the homeless. Feed the hungry. Support Catholic Charities. Donate at ccdenver.org/ADVENT *Colorado Children's Campaign, 2016 KIDS COUNT in Colorado!, March 2016. *Colorado Children's Campaign, 2016 KIDS COUNT in Colorado!, March 2016. *Colorado Children's Campaign, 2016 KIDS COUNT in Colorado!, March 2016. *Colorado Children's Campaign, 1 IN 5 COLORADO KIDS don't know when or where they will get their next meal.* Support Catholic Charities. D I D Y O U K N O W ? This Advent, please consider a gift to help those in need. Recognizing the dignity of each life, your gift will help feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless. That includes pregnant women in poverty, veterans experiencing homelessness, and vulnerable seniors. Last year, with the generous and kind support of people like you, we: • cared for 110,144 women, children and men • provided 1.33 million nights of affordable housing, transitional shelter and emergency shelter • served 581,308 meals Your donation will make it possible to bring the Light of Christ to thousands more. P L E A S E R E S P O N D B Y : D E C E M B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 8 BY AARON LAMBERT W hen the news of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick broke and thus opened another wave of scandals within the Church, one thought went through Father Bert Chilson's mind: "Not again." "When I heard this, my heart just sank," Father Chilson, pastor of St. Ste- phen's Parish in Glenwood Springs, told the Denver Catholic. Father Chilson was ordained a priest in 1978 and recalls living through the Church scandals that broke in 1992 and then again in 2002. "[It] really gets you down and has you looking over your shoulder a little bit, because you don't know how people are going to react or respond," he said. With the current crisis in the Church unfolding more and more every day, it's clear that the lay faithful are hurt- ing and looking for answers from the Church's leadership.± But how are our priests holding up? For priests like Father Chilson, it hasn't changed who they are as priests, or what they do in being Christ to their people. And the same can be said for the majority of priests. "It might get me down for a day or two, but then [I'm] refocusing on what I've always done," he said. "Who I am as a person, who I am as a priest…ada- lante, as they say in Spanish: moving forward, being who you are, being your authentic self." Of course, that doesn't mean that priests aren't hurt by it. Ordained in 2016, Father Mason Fraley, parochial vicar at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, told the Denver Catholic that this scandal evokes a few di¨ erent reac- tions in him simultaneously. "On the one hand, I am a baptized Catholic too — another son of the Church, and seeing priests betray Christ and the Church by betraying their voca- tion causes sadness," Father Fraley said. "On the other hand, I am a fellow priest, and these men are my brothers. I must admit I feel more anger in this respect. "Their betrayal of their vocation is also their betrayal of my vocation. I love my priesthood, and so naturally I am inclined to see someone who brings shame upon it as a threat." Priests are hurt by crisis, but remain resilient and faithful PHOTO BY GRANT WHITTY | UNSPLASH

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