Youth prepare for annual March for Life

By Katherine Long
Sun associate editor

When Bob Walters was hired as diocesan director of youth ministry in 2006, he figured he’d wait until the following year to put together his first youth pilgrimage for the diocese to the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. But Bishop James Moynihan had a better idea.

“He called me into his office and said, ‘I want you to put together a trip this year,’” Walters said. The march, held each January to coincide with the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the landmark Roe vs. Wade case, was just four months away.

With some quick work, Walters pulled together a busload of young adults and chaperones and pulled off a successful trip. The pilgrimage has grown in popularity and size each year since, attracting youth from across the diocese.

By Katherine Long
Sun associate editor


Father Joseph Phillips, executive director of the Office of Family Life Education, is quick to make a visitor to the department’s offices at Bishop Ludden Jr./Sr. High School in Syracuse feel comfortable, offering to whisk away a coat or bring a cup of coffee. It’s a perfect introduction to a department whose work is dedicated to supporting ministries that welcome and comfort the faithful of the diocese.
Family Life Education relies heavily on HOPE Appeal funding for its vital mission: to support parishes as they endeavor to educate, strengthen, heal and evangelize families. In Father Phillips’ words, the department offers “strong supportive services out of a central office” in the areas of marriage preparation, natural family planning, baptism and parenting, marriage and family enrichment and support for struggling couples and those who are separated and divorced.

“Marriage and family couldn’t be under more stress these days, from all directions. And the pope and bishops could not be more concerned about strengthening marriage and families in these difficult times. They understand that marriage and families are the building blocks of the church. Our department exists as an expression of their concerns. We do everything in our power to channel that concern into helpful programs and resources for parishes of the diocese,” said Father Phillips.

By Connie Berry
Sun editor

Father Joseph Champlin died Jan. 17, 2008 but his legacy remains alive and well in his Guardian Angel Society. It was Father Champlin’s vision that created the Society and it is still his dream that guides it today.

Fifteen years ago Father Champlin was rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and closely connected with Cathedral School. The school has since closed and merged with Our Lady of Pompei School to create Cathedral Academy at Pompei (CAP) on Syracuse’s north side. High school graduation rates for students leaving Cathedral School were low and Father Champlin recognized the need to not only help with tuition assistance, but to also find a way to encourage and inspire students so they would stay in school. To date, Father Champlin’s Guardian Angel Society has raised almost $2 million dollars with over $1.2 million dispersed in scholarship assistance for Cathedral School and now CAP, as well as $254,000 in tuition assistance to students continuing their Catholic education at Bishop Ludden, Bishop Grimes and Christian Brothers Academy.