Month: June 2026

By Dan Russo
The Catholic Messenger

DAVENPORT — Kelly Kunz Rivas first met Father Alfonso Pizano Jr. in Southern California decades ago at the “happiest place on earth.” She knew even then that he was meant to help people find an even greater happiness through Christ.

“We used to work together at Disneyland,” she said. “We worked in retail.”

Over time, Kunz Rivas learned that Pizano felt called to the priesthood. After many years of discernment, which involved time in and out of seminary and a period as a teacher in Catholic Schools, Father Pizano completed his education and formation and was ordained a priest for the Davenport Diocese June 6 at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Kunz Rivas and her husband were among a group of friends and family that traveled long distances to attend Father Pizano’s ordination in Iowa.

She served as a lector at the Mass and said it has been a privilege “just watching him grow.” Also in attendance was Gabriel Rivas, who met Father Pizano through his now wife when the two were dating.

“He actually said prayers at the reception for our wedding in 2018,” said Gabriel Rivas.

Watching his wife do the Scripture reading at the ordination from above, Rivas sang in the choir. He saw his friend receive the sacrament of Holy Orders from the loft that overlooks the main worship space. He was particularly moved by the piece sung during the portion of the ceremony where Father Pizano was vested.

“He wants to give to the community,” said Rivas. “The song is all about that.”

The couple now lives in the Diocese of Orange in Garden Grove California “across the street from” Christ Cathedral. The unique building, made famous after it was built in 1980 by an evangelical Christian evangelist, is now a Catholic Church. The Orange Diocese purchased the building in 2011. The renovation was completed in 2024.

Kunz Rivas closely examined the art and stone work at the rear of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport before Father Pizano’s ordination began. She made note of the stark differences between her home cathedral and the more traditional decoration and architecture of Davenport Diocese’s mother church. She had a positive first impression of Iowa, noticing that both the pace of life and driving speeds are “slower than California.”

The couple said they are elated to see their friend begin his priestly ministry. On July 1, he will begin his first priestly assignments in Iowa City, Columbus Junction and West Liberty.

Candidates in formation for the permanent diaconate and their wives assisted as volunteer greeters and performed other functions at the ordination. Paul Alagna, a deacon candidate from Our Lady of Lourdes in Bettendorf was “delighted to be able to do it.”

“(Father Pizano) spent six months at the parish in Burlington,” said Alagna. “(About) 250 people from Burlington attended his (transitional) diaconate ordination. He is incredibly friendly.”

Seminarians for the diocese assisted in roles on the altar during the Mass, including Mason Heath, who carried the crucifix in the processions. He said he was inspired by Father Pizano’s ordination and lined up with others to receive first blessings from the new priest following the liturgy.

“It’s an amazing thing,” said Heath, who spoke while waiting with other members of his family. “St. Catherine of Siena said, ‘Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.’ “

Seminarian Alex TeBockhorst and his father Larry of Holy Family-Riverside also came to support Father Pizano. “He’s always been a big brother figure (to me),” said TeBockhorst. “Father Alfonso is being sent into a world that badly needs the Gospel and I know he will be a servant to the people.”

By Barb Arland-Fye
For The Catholic Messenger

DAVENPORT — Sacred Heart Cathedral’s Red Dinner bore the flavor of a family reunion with Bishop Thom Hennen, its former pastor, presiding at Mass and delivering a heartfelt speech emphasizing faith, family, community and the cathedral as the connecting point. Now the Bishop of the Diocese of Baker, Oregon, Bishop Hennen made the 1,700-mile trip to return to his home diocese to celebrate Mass and the Red Dinner on June 4.

“I have been a bishop for a little over eight months. I am still very much in the listening and learning phase,” Bishop Hennen said during his dinner presentation that blended insights and humor, grace and humility and imparted lessons applicable to all Catholics.

Prior to the sold-out Red Dinner, an annual fundraiser for Sacred Heart Cathedral, the Davenport Diocese’s mother church, Bishop Hennen presided at Mass in the cathedral where he served as pastor for four years before his appointment to the episcopacy. Bishop Dennis Walsh, Bishop of the Davenport Diocese, attended in choir, meaning he was present, but did not celebrate or concelebrate. Eight priests concelebrated and two deacons assisted.

Afterwards, lay and clergy lined up informally to talk with Bishop Hennen during the cocktail hour and silent auction before dinner in the Rogalski Center at St. Ambrose University in Davenport. The bishop also circulated among the many tables, chatting and laughing with guests, which delayed his talk but no one seemed to mind. His speech inspired and delighted the audience, which laughed knowingly at the humor he sprinkled into it.

Bishop Hennen recounted the shock he experienced receiving the call from the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States asking if he would accept his appointment as the next Bishop of Baker. “I told the Nuncio I felt that I was too young. He told me to ‘trust in the Lord.’”

The new bishop took that advice and is beginning to feel more at home in his vast diocese of 67,000 square miles in eastern Oregon. He has completed his first confirmation season, with visits to 42 of the 57 parishes and missions in his diocese and plans to complete the circuit by the end of his first year.

He shared with the audience “a few of the things I have learned (or learned in a new way) as a bishop that I think might be helpful for everyone.” These are excerpts from his insights:

1. “There are good people everywhere … To be sure, I miss you all dearly. I miss Iowa and the Quad Cities. I miss my family and friends, my brother priests of the Diocese of Davenport, my former coworkers, colleagues and partners in ministry. I miss the regular interaction with people I have known, in some cases, my whole life or relationships that I have developed over years and decades. But, there are many very good people in Oregon too, and I am coming to know them better and to truly love them.”
2. “There are difficult people everywhere.” He joked that people wanting to share their complaints with him “assume there is some kind of ‘divine download’ that takes place at ordination and that I know the entire history and context of the issue.”

However, he has to remind himself, “Their fear may be overblown, but it is a real fear. Their anger may be misplaced, but it is real anger. Their expectations may be unreasonable, but there is almost always something that can be done. Just listening, releasing that ‘pressure valve,’ is already the beginning of healing and often the first step toward a realistic solution… I have to remember that the person in front of me is a beloved child of God. This is a good thing for all of us to remember in the Church, not just priests and bishops.”

3. “As a bishop, the worries are amplified, but so are the joys. Many of the same concerns I had in parish ministry are the same in this ministry, only there are many more of them,” he said. The stakes may be higher, “quite literally souls, maybe generations of souls are on the line,” but “not everything depends on us. Thank God!”

Bishop Hennen gave examples of what brings him joy — confirming young people, presiding at his first Chrism Mass as a bishop, visiting men in two large prisons, bringing them the hope that comes from a loving, forgiving God.

4. “Grace finds a way.” Bishop Hennen still wonders why he was chosen to serve as a bishop when other priests, in his opinion, are better qualified. “They are older, smarter, wiser, more experienced, taller,” he joked, referring to his stature.

“I often feel like Peter, who after the miraculous catch of fish fell at the feet of Jesus and said, ‘Lord, depart from me for I am a sinful man.’ And yet, Jesus told him, ‘I will make you a fisher of men.’ … I know, as Peter and all the Apostles learned, that it is not about me. It never was. It is about Jesus and what he is able to do in his Church.” Grace finds a way, Bishop Hennen said, “because this is and always has been about what God is doing.”

5. “Community is important at all levels. We do this ‘Church thing’ together or not at all,” Bishop Hennen said. “We need each other, and this starts at that first, almost cellular level of the family, whatever that may look like.” Families, the bishop said, “need to be supported, certainly at the societal level, but especially within the Church. And this happens best at the parish level … where the people of God are nourished in word and sacrament …”

A diocese’s cathedral provides the connecting point, he said. “I knew this well from the four truly blessed years I spent at Sacred Heart Cathedral. I know this even more now in my new diocese.” The cathedral should be the model for parish life, he said. It is “where we celebrate such things as the Rite of Election for those entering the Church. It is where we gather for the Chrism Mass. It is where ordinations are celebrated. The cathedral is the home of every Catholic in the diocese and a welcoming oasis for passing pilgrims. It is a welcoming mother, a shining beacon, and an instrument of that community that brings about true communion. Yes, community at all levels, but especially within the Church.”

Those gathered for the dinner — from different parishes in and outside the diocese — embrace Sacred Heart Cathedral as the connecting point and its ability to foster community.

“The cathedral is a vibrant community,” said Father Jason Crossen, Bishop Hennen’s successor at the cathedral, and a close friend. “In many ways, the cathedral exemplifies a lot of the ministries that you find in the parishes throughout the diocese. The Red Dinner started out as a fundraiser but it’s become a community builder.”

Sacred Heart parishioner Jim Tiedje needed convincing in the early years that the Red Dinner would become a successful fundraising event. “But look at what it’s become – a true welcoming of all parishes.”

Mary Jo Dopson of Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace Parish in Clinton, was attending her first Red Dinner. “We love to see Father Thom; I mean Bishop Thom, and catch up with him. (In his early priesthood he served in Clinton). And we’re very proud of the cathedral.”

By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger

BETTENDORF — Catholic members of the Fil-Am Association of the Quad Cities Area processed through the parking lot of St. John Vianney Parish to celebrate Santacruzan on May 31. Four women, dressed in formal dresses, wore tiaras to represent different queens related to the Church. They also symbolized the association’s journey from its foundations laid by previous generations to the promise and opportunities that await the future generations, said Chris Kellner, Fil-Am Association president.

“Santacruzan is a living expression of Filipino values of faith in God, respect for history, love for beauty and strength in community,” said Kellner.

The procession also had children carrying letters to spell out Ave Maria, a statue of Mary on a float surrounded by flowers and pulled by members of the community. The group also recited the rosary and between decades, sang the hymn “Dios Salva,” which means “God Saves” in Spanish.

Following the processions, the Catholic community celebrated Mass in the church, then attended a reception in the hall with authentic Filipino food.

Father Rudolph Juarez, pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Davenport, presided at the Mass and was assisted by Deacon Daryl Fortin of St. John Vianney Parish.

During his homily, Father Juarez said, “Well, it happened again. Just this week I was asked if I was Filipino. My stock answer is no — but I wish I were.”

He said recently he saw a young girl, about 12-year-old, wearing a shirt that said, “I have issues.” That reminded him of the story of Elizabeth from France, who became St. Elizabeth of the Trinity.

Elizabeth had a temper as a child. A priest told her mother that Elizabeth would be a devil or an angel.

At around age 11, Elizabeth received her first Communion. Some religious Carmelite sisters ran into her. One told Elizabeth that her name meant “honor of God.”

Father Juarez said Elizabeth was moved by the words of the sister. The accomplished pianist and catechist later entered the Carmelite order at age 21. “She died five years later of kidney disease,” he said.

Elizabeth had a desire to be holy, he said. She had a relationship of love for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Her way of life followed the Latin phrase: lex oremus, lex credimu, lex vivimu — which is how we pray, how we believe and how we live.

“We should never give up on ourselves,” Father Juarez said. “God has never given up on us.”

During the reception that followed, the royal court was introduced: Reyna (Queen) Elena was Alexis Ciel who represented the mother of Constantine the Great, the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. Reyna Emperatriz was Cecilia Bernas who represented the Queen Mother and is a past Fil-Am President; Reyna Fe was Lachic Bernas who represented the Queen of Faith and Reyna Esperanza was Carmen Floro who represented the Queen of Hope and was a past president.

Entertainment at the reception included singing by the choir and individuals and dancing.

Flores de Mayo: A Floral Journey of Faith and Heritage

In May, the Fil-Am Association of the Quad Cities gathers in a strong tradition, to celebrate the culmination of a month- long devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Kellner said. “Rooted in deep Catholic devotion and richly woven into Filipino heritage, Santacruzan is a religious commemoration of the finding of the Holy Cross during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land led by Queen Helena of Constantinople.”

A Festival of Flowers and Faith

Flores de Mayo or “Flowers of May” is observed throughout the Philippines as a tribute to the Blessed Virgin Mary. For the entire month, devotees gather to offer flowers, recite the rosary and sing hymns. This tradition, introduced during the Spanish colonial era, remains a vibrant symbol of the Filipinos’ enduring Marian devotion.

The Highlight: The Santacruzan

The crowning event of Flores de Mayo is the Santacruzan, typically held on the last day of May. This grand procession commemorates of Queen Helena (Reyna Elena) and her son, Emperor Constantine.

This year marks a golden anniversary for the association, Kellner said. This year’s Santacruzan theme was to honor the legacy of those who helped build the association.

A Celebration of Faith

During Mass, children presented flowers to the Blessed Virgin Mary (statue) in an expression of devotion and reverence, Kellner said. The crowning of Mary, during Mass, was performed by Amy Sales, past Fil-Am Association president, alongside the current honored Reyna Elena, Ciel; the first Elena Reyna was Noemi Marilim.

“Together, we celebrate our past, strengthen our present, and build a future rooted in faith, hope, unity, and Filipino pride,” Kellner said.