By Katherine Long
Sun associate editor

Retired teachers. National Honor Society members. CYO teammates. Grandmothers, teenagers, dads and young professionals. Young and old, city dwellers and suburbanites, they came together last weekend for a common purpose: bringing some Christmas cheer to clients of the St. Lucy’s food pantry.

On Dec. 10, St. Lucy’s Church on Syracuse’s Near West Side held its annual Food Pantry Christmas Gift-Giving day in the church auditorium. The unique holiday program allowed hundreds of food pantry clients in need to select new Christmas gifts for themselves and their families.

By Connie Berry
Sun editor

In the oft-locally repeated words of Pope John Paul II, it looks like “We will have a Saint for Syracuse.”

The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities revealed in an announcement made Dec. 6, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes for Saints confirmed the medical and theological decisions regarding the second miracle necessary for the canonization of Bl. Mother Marianne Cope. All that is necessary now is the Holy Father’s approval and a date to be set for the canonization.

The news came at a painful time for the sisters as the cause director for the past 37 years, Sister Mary Laurence Hanley, OSF, died just days before the decision from the Vatican. She was a Sister of St. Francis for 67 years. Sister Mary Laurence’s life’s work was Mother Marianne’s cause for sainthood. As a young girl she had read a biography of Mother Marianne and it was what led her to a vocation as a woman religious in the tradition of St. Francis.

Sister Patricia Burkard, OSF, current general minister of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, said the sisters were thrilled with the news from the Vatican.

“Some sisters went directly to the chapel to pray,” she explained. “It was bittersweet because of the passing of our Sister Mary Laurence on Dec. 2.”

By Katherine Long
Sun associate editor

It was standing room only at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Syracuse when Bishop Robert Cunningham presented lay volunteers from 73 parishes with the first-ever Immaculata Awards for Service Dec. 4.

The award was created by Bishop Cunningham as a way to recognize, on the occasion of the diocese’s 125th anniversary, the laymen and laywomen whose volunteer service is essential to building and strengthening their parish communities.

“I felt it important to honor the unsung heroes whose love of the Church has been shown through their devotion to the Holy Father, to our diocese and to their parish,” said Bishop Cunningham.

At Bishop Cunningham’s request, pastors and/or parish councils from across the diocese nominated an extraordinary lay volunteer — in some cases a married couple — from each of their parishes to receive the award.

Arthur and Sarah Bouchard, parishioners of St. Anthony of Padua Church in Syracuse, were nominated for the award in recognition of their 63 years of dedication to the parish. St. Anthony pastor Father Robert Chryst said both he and the parish council identified the Bouchards for the award in light of their numerous contributions to the parish, their longtime service at Masses and in the upkeep of the church.

Echoing the humble sentiments of many of the honorees, Arthur Bouchard said he and his wife simply “do what needs to be done,” and that they do it because they love serving their Church.

Bishop Cunningham, along with retired Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Costello, celebrated a solemn Vespers Service and awards ceremony at the Cathedral to honor the Bouchards and their fellow award recipients. The pews were filled to overflowing by the honorees, their nominating pastors, family and friends, prompting Bishop Cunningham to invite those standing at the back of the church to sit in empty pews near the front, joking that those already seated wouldn’t assume they had arrived late to the service.