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September 16, 2025By Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas
My Brother and Sisters in Christ Jesus,
What a wonderful gathering for this year’s Cornerstone Gala at Westin La Paloma. Sr. Lois Paha, O.P. and Sr. Charlotte Anne Swift, O.P., our honorees, were feted with well deserved praise and gratitude for lives given in the service of others. One could sense the enthusiasm and excitement of all who attended for the gift these two women have been and have brought to our Diocese.
Kudos to Donal Drayne and his Cornerstone Gala committee for a delightful evening. There was a banner attendance for the event coupled with a very successful silent auction, delicious food and a good time for all.
Clearly Sr. Lois and Sr. Charlotte were thrilled by the due recognition they received. These two women have touched the lives of countless others through their selfless love and care. Their lives of service encourage us all to be more attentive to the needs of others.
Endowments have been established for Sr. Lois to help fund Adult Faith Formation Programs throughout the Diocese and for Santa Cruz School in the name of Sr. Charlotte. Gifts can be made to either or both endowments through the Catholic Foundation.
Elizabeth Bollinger and her dedicated Catholic Foundation staff, Suzanne, Kathryn, Carla, and Samuel hit another home run with another highly successful Cornerstone Gala. They did us proud.
Last week, the Bishop Jose Luis Cerra Luna for the Diocese of Nogales in Sonora was ordained as a bishop. Bishop Cerra Luna was the Vicar General in Matamoros-Reynosa. We welcome Bishop Cerra Luna and look forward to working with our neighbor in Ambos Nogales in the various ministries of our Dioceses. He plans to join us in San Luis, Rio Colorado, for the Bi-National Pilgrimage and Mass on October 12, 2025, where I will join Bishop Enrique Sanchez from the Diocese of Mexicali and a number of other bishops from Mexico and the U.S. in support of migrants and asylum seekers.
Frs. Manuel Fragoso, Jorge Farias-Saucedo, Abundio Colazo-Lopez, Cayetano Cabrera, Viliulfo Valderrama and Edson Elizarraras represented our Diocese at the Ordination. I understand it was a delightful celebration as the Diocese welcomed its new bishop. He replaces Bishop Jose Leopoldo Gonzalez-Gonzalez, the founding bishop of the Diocese, who was transferred to San Juan de los Lagos.
We welcome Canon Andrew Bredemann ICRSS from the Institute of Christ the Sovereign King who will be assisting Canon Jonathan Fehrenbacher, ICRSS at St. Gianna and Holy Family in Tucson. He was ordained on July 3, 2025.
Canon Bryan Silvey ICRSS who has been with the Diocese for three years will be transferred to another Diocese. We are grateful for Canon Bryan's service among us. He will be missed.
Catholic Baseball Night is an evening for people in our Diocese and in the Diocese of Phoenix to enjoy a Diamondback Game in Phoenix. I joined Bishop John Dolan of Phoenix in inviting especially young people to attend the game at the Diamondbacks’ Stadium on Friday, September 19. Hopefully the Diamondbacks will win for Pope Leo XIV even though he is a White Sox fan. Tickets are still available; you can purchase them here.
Catholic Community Services will host its annual Above and Beyond Employee Recognition Evening at the Bishop Kicanas Pastoral Center on September 19 beginning at 5:00 p.m. We cannot do enough to thank those who serve our community with such dedication and commitment. Elena Dwyer, Director of Catholic Community Services, will recognize those employees who have gone above and beyond in their service.
I have asked each of our parishes to take up a second collection for Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to assist the suffering people in Gaza and Sudan. We have all seen the tragic photos of starving infants, children and adults grasping for food. One feels helpless in the face of these awful reports of suffering. CRS is engaged in both countries and does its best to respond to the needs for food, medicine and life-giving responses. Your response to the second collection to be held on the weekend of October 18-19, 2025 will be of great assistance to CRS and those suffering in Gaza and Sudan, especially at this time when our administration and other countries have withdrawn or severely restricted US AID and other foreign aid funds which were used by CRS to help ameliorate the horrible situation happening in these two countries.
Last week I attended the CRS Foundation Board meeting in Baltimore. We heard the drastic cutbacks worldwide that have been made affecting the world’s most vulnerable. CRS revenues are being reduced from $1.58 billion to 900 million serving now 142 million people down from 198 million last year. Lives are unraveling in real time. These cuts mean the loss of access to food, clean water, shelter, maternal care, vaccinations, and treatment for diseases like malaria and HIV for countless people around the world, Private funds are needed to allow CRS to carry on its life saving work.
At the meeting we heard of CRS’ efforts in Ukraine explained by Tatiana Stawnychy, director of Caritas Ukraine, a CRS partner. Escalation of the war continues. CRS is helping people to be relocated. They are helping to serve the most vulnerable to have their houses secured from damage. They are responding to the varied needs of different communities. In some areas they are providing psychosocial support especially to those traumatized by the war. Many people are being served and cared for by a wide variety of programs. Caritas Ukraine with the assistance of CRS has developed 71 resilience centers throughout the country that are designed to help people stabilize, dealing with emotional issues and trauma situations.
People in Ukraine are tired and fatigued. They had hopes for a ceasefire only to have another failure to resolve the situation. But they can’t give up hope. In the occupied areas of Ukraine, there is no possibility for Caritas Ukraine to help people in need. There is limited freedom of religion and access to services. But Caritas Ukraine is most grateful to CRS for the help and support they provide for the needs in Ukraine.
With regard to Gaza, CRS now has approval to bring in supplies like tents and dry foods to Gaza but with some restrictions that slow down the amount that gets into Gaza. There are three entry points into Gaza, but each entry has different restrictions on what can be brought in at that location. CRS is advocating for each entry point to have the same items able to be admitted. There is still a lot of desperation among the people and self-survival going on when supplies come in that has led to the loss of life with people scrambling for food.
CRS is getting funding for Gaza from other Caritas agencies across the world as well as some US government funding. But private funding is still critical. Almost 10 million in private funds has been raised since the crisis began. Even though there are challenges to getting in resources, it is happening.
CRS staff in Gaza, like the population, is moving all the time as well as CRS distribution sites. Obviously, staff are trying to keep their own families safe, but staff are still coming in to work every day. CRS provides CRS staff with assistance so they can carry on their work. CRS also provides a housing alliance to staff since they are moving so often. There are 60 staff in the area of which 43 are in Gaza itself as well as revolving staff who come in to Gaza from time to time.
Now there is a full evacuation of people in Gaza City which is where CRS staff is living. There was a warning from the Israeli Government that they intended to bomb a high rise next to CRS’ staff offices. Despite the challenges, CRS is still providing assistance but entry into Gaza may be closed at any time. Gaza staff, like the people, are in constant danger.
Sudan’s situation is also desperate. CRS work is robust, and it has a great deal of access to provide aid. CRS brings in food supplies as well as health and nutrition resources and access to clean water. The biggest operation is in Darfur, where the situation is desperate. Agricultural livelihood is another program CRS is engaged in Sudan. CRS has partnered with World Bank in providing assistance.
CRS is not an organization involved in political advocacy in any country, but its intent is simply to provide humanitarian assistance to those in need be that Gaza or Sudan or in any of the other 80+ countries where CRS works.
Parishes are asked to send whatever is collected on the weekend of October 18-19, or whenever the collection is taken up, to the finance office of the Diocese so it can be accumulated and directed to CRS.
This week the Chancery bids farewell to two employees. Angelica Lozier served in our Chancellor's office for 13 years. We are grateful to Angelica for her service to the Church.
And Caitlin Burm, our media administrator, resigned so she could be more available to her young children. We thank them both for their service and send many blessings for their future endeavors.
Plans are underway for the welcome and events related to the appointment of the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Tucson. While we do not know when the announcement will come, a lot of preparation is necessary. We have begun inviting members of the Diocese to consider giving a contribution to offset the cost of the events involved in welcoming a new bishop, that includes a luncheon, receptions, housing of guests, liturgies. Anyone interested in giving a gift can contact Elizabeth Bollinger at the Catholic Foundation, e[email protected].
We don’t know if the Holy Father will appoint a priest or a bishop as our next Ordinary. If a priest, there will be an episcopal ordination celebration and if a bishop an installation ceremony.
We continue to pray that the Lord will bless our Diocese with a holy, pastoral, caring, listening, and dedicated shepherd for us.
People keep asking when we will hear. No one knows the answer to that question but perhaps in October or November. After the announcement there will be a period of time before the new bishop arrives and is installed as our eighth bishop. Lots of work will have to be done during that period as we prepare for the event. Once we are able to share in the joyous news you will be notified via text or email. Please be sure you, along with your friends and family are signed up to receive Diocesan news by clicking here.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Rev. Gerald F. Kicanas
Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Tucson