Catholic Charities twofold approach to jail and prison ministry gives families and inmates hope, said Dave Capella

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Bella Young

Multimedia Correspondent

The jail and prison ministry at Catholic Charities is twofold, with volunteers going into the jails and ministering to inmates and with others leading a support group for families and friends of the incarcerated. Dave Capella, former jail ministry coordinator and current jail ministry volunteer at Catholic Charities, thinks the twofold approach is beneficial to both the families of the incarcerated, and the incarcerated themselves.

“Really both are, I think, equally important. I do like connecting with inmates because … they really are very appreciative of us coming in. Really the same goes for the people whose family members are incarcerated … The support group is important for them to be able to connect with people that are in similar situations,” said Mr. Capella.

Part of what makes Catholic Charities jail and prison ministry unique is the inclusion of the Catholic faith when speaking with the inmates.

“We do emphasis our faith … we are there to share our faith. There is usually a Scripture involved, a Scripture reading, some reflection on that Scripture. We have some discussion around that, and then usually there is some general discussion about how things are going. Sometimes the conversation talks about practical things, but we always start with faith and make sure we have that woven into the discussion,” said Mr. Capella.

The inclusion of faith woven into the conversation, Mr. Capella said, helps to give the inmates some kind of hope. “I think it does give them hope. I think it is important to let them know that while other people may have given up on them, while other people might judge them, God, Christ, is there for them. God’s mercy is unlimited. There’s always a second, or third, or fourth, however many chances you need, God’s there for you. I think it is important for them to hear that message because a lot of people have given up on them.”

While ministering to the incarcerated is an important part of jail ministry, and often what people first think of when they hear the term, Catholic Charities twofold approach also ministers to those affected by incarceration who aren’t behind bars. It is common, Mr. Capella said, for the family of those incarcerated to be shunned by their peers.

“A lot of times families or people whose relatives are incarcerated will lose their circle of friends because of that incarceration. So, the support group is important for them to be able to connect with people that are in similar situations and know that they are not alone. It’s a place for them to talk about their experiences without being judged,” said Mr. Capella.

Mr. Capella recalled a time where a guest of the support group said, “that the only other people they have ever talked to in their life who had a relative that was incarcerated were people in that group. That gave them an opportunity to talk about it and no one was going to judge them for it.”

If you are interested in joining jail ministry at Catholic Charities, Mr. Capella said not to be concerned if you do not feel like an expert in Scripture or Catholicism. Rather, you must have an open heart and mind.

“You just have to be able to go in and be willing to talk with them and if we read a passage from Scripture just talk about what it means for you. Really, we want the inmates to do most of the talking. You don’t have to be an expert in Scripture, you don’t have to be an expert in Catholicism, you just have to be willing to listen and talk to somebody who has been kind of pushed aside from society,” he said.

For some however, you may not feel a calling to jail ministry, if that is the case Mr. Capella says there is still a way to be involved. “Pray for those incarcerated, pray for them and pray for their families,” he said.

For information on Catholic Charities jail and prison ministry call Catholic Charities, (859) 581-8974

Seminary Ball returns for 2024 event with new location and video focusing on new ‘Propaedeutic Year’ of seminarian formation

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

The Seminary Ball — an annual soiree raising money for the Seminarian Education Fund — is preparing to return for its 2024 event the evening of Oct. 18.

This year, the event will be held at a new location, the Receptions event center in Erlanger, and will feature a full open bar for the entirety of the evening, and a tent-covered outdoors to enjoy during cocktail hour before and after the program. John Garvey, the emcee for last year’s event, will be returning to emcee at the 2024 Seminary Ball — and the seminarian “Q&A” with Bishop John Iffert, which allowed attendees to submit questions for the seminarians, will return as well.

Deacon Joshua Heskamp, who entered the transitional diaconate early this year and will be ordained in the upcoming spring, will be the seminarian speaker at the event.

In addition to these changes, the yearly video that releases for the Seminary Ball as promotion for the Seminarian Education Fund, will be focusing on a new aspect of seminarian formation in the United States — the Propaedeutic Year — with perspectives from seminarians William Fuller and Andrew Pugh, who entered seminary last year and were among the first to experience this additional year of “prayer, study and community.”

“We’ll be talking about the Propaedeutic Year and those new stages of formation, called the PPF, or Program of Priestly Formation,” said Jim Hess, director of the diocesan Office of Stewardship and Mission, which hosts the ball. “That’ll be a knowledge piece — we’re trying to make people more aware of where they are.”

With intention on teaching and sharing more about the process that seminarians go through, changes to both seminarian posters and pages on the diocesan website are being put into place as well. The new PPF is divided into four stages: the Propaedeutic Stage (Build the Basics), the Discipleship Stage (Deepen Faith), the Configuration Stage (Shepherd Like Christ) and the Transitional Diaconate (Unite and Ordain).

“It’s still very much worth looking into the Propaedeutic Year and applying for the seminary,” William Fuller says in the new video, “because here you’ll have more opportunity to pray than anywhere else — and prayer is really where discernment lives.”

Currently, there are five seminarians in the Diocese of Covington — and all the money raised the night of the Seminary Ball goes into funding their education, as well as the money raised in the collection the following weekend, said Mr. Hess. “The ball benefits the collection directly.”

For more information on the Seminary Ball, or to register for the event, visit https://covdio.org/seminaryball/.

‘Please, thank you and I’m sorry’ are the keys to a long marriage, Bishop Iffert quotes Pope Francis at wedding anniversary vespers

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Bella Young

Multimedia Correspondent

The Office of Catechesis and Evangelization hosted the annual wedding anniversary vespers, Sept. 15, Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington, where couples celebrating significant anniversaries are invited to meet and be blessed by Bishop Iffert. The couples join Bishop Iffert in celebrating solemn vespers and a vow renewal ceremony before being greeted and blessed individually.

“Congratulations to everyone that is here today,” said Bishop Iffert, “because this year you are celebrating a milestone anniversary. We have folks who are here, 70-plus years of married life together. We have folks that are still finishing their first year together and will be marking their first anniversary.”

In his homily, Bishop Iffert recalled some advice given to young couples by Pope Francis early in his papacy. “What Pope Francis told these young couples, who are newly married, he asked them to remember three words … really the first words that your parents taught you to share with others.” The words, Bishop Iffert said, are please, thank you and I’m sorry.

During his time as a parish priest, Bishop Iffert was often asked to work with couples who seemed to be having a hard time adjusting to married life. Though he had little experience with marital counseling, Bishop Iffert asked the couples to develop three habits.

“The first habit I would like you to develop is, I would like you to remember to talk to one another every day. Not to talk about who’s going to take out the trash, who’s going to pick up the kids … 10 minutes a day or more where you talk to one another the way you talked to one another when you were courting. Speak to one another about your dreams, speak to one another about your ideals, about your hopes, about what you long for, about the person you still want to be and want to become … share what we find beautiful, to find in one another still that you are discovering one another, that you are still a land of surprises to one another, that you can still surprise each other even after years and years and years of marriage,” said Bishop Iffert.

The habit of speaking to one another so deeply, reinforces the same message as saying please does, not taking one another for granted. “Saying please is an indication that we will not take one another for granted … say please, don’t take one another for granted, talk to one another about your ideas and dreams every day,” said Bishop Iffert.

The second habit Bishop Iffert asked the couples to develop is gratefulness for one another, reinforced by saying thank you. “Second Pope Francis says … remember every day to say thank you. Remembering to say thank you reminds us that we are grateful for one another, that we are gifts to one another,” said Bishop Iffert. “There is a second practice that I used to encourage couples to take part in every day, and that is every day to come up with … another reason to be grateful to your spouse. As I would walk through this exercise with people, I was amazed at the beautiful things people would say, sometimes extraordinarily ordinary but nonetheless fruitful, beautiful … Think of another reason to be grateful for one another, and as often as you can, to share a compliment, to compliment the other. So, that they know that you are grateful, that you are not taking them for granted.”

“The third is very simple … he [Pope Francis] said when you hurt one another, and you will hurt one another … be quick to say, ‘I’m sorry,’” Bishop Iffert said. “Those words remind us of the responsibility we have of one another. To draw one another towards Christ, to draw one another towards salvation, we all get harmed from time to time, we forget we all do some of the harming from time to time. Let us remember that we are reliant on the grace of God and that your marriage is one of the graces that God intends for you.”

As part of drawing each other towards salvation in the action of saying I’m sorry, Bishop Iffert said, is the third habit that he invites couples to develop. “The third practice that I always encourage people in their marriage is to pray with one another. I believe it is the most intimate thing we can do, to really be a child of God in front of one another. To be the person God calls us to be, and together to come before the Lord as his children.”

“The Pope asks those of you who are newly married, and he asks those of you who have been married for seven decades, don’t take one another for granted, say please, be grateful for one another, say thank you, and when you harm one another, be quick to say, ‘I’m sorry.’ To ask for forgiveness from the bottom of your heart and ask much as you can to give that forgiveness willingly and easily, knowing it is a reflection of the way we ask God for forgiveness each day. Let me propose alongside, please, thank you, and I’m sorry, let me propose these three little practices, no matter what stage of marriage you are in. Speak to one another about the things that are most important to your heart, and to yourself … Be grateful for one another, everyday think of something new about why you are so grateful for the gift of one another…Third, pray with one another. Every day, if you’re not already, invite the Lord into your marriage,” said Bishop Iffert to conclude his homily.

With over 4,700 cumulative years of marriage sitting in the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, both the Pope’s and Bishop Iffert’s advice did not fall on deaf ears. Husbands and wives shared glances at each other throughout the homily

Parish Missionary Disciples— Cohort one— flexing its missionary muscle at first quarterly gathering

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Laura Keener

Editor

The GYM is open! That was one of the major fruits coming out of the Parish Missionary Disciples training that was shared at the first quarterly follow-up meeting, Sept. 7.

Parish Missionary Disciples (PMD) is leadership development training for parishioners who are actively involved in ministry at their parish. It is one of three leadership development initiatives, led by the Catholic Leadership Institute, that are part of the With One Heart diocesan pastoral plan. The other two leadership development programs are Good Leaders, Good Shepherds, which is for priests and Tending the Talents, which is for parish and Curia staff.

PMD training for cohort one officially ended in April 2024. Cohort two will begin in February 2025. The over 60 participants of cohort one is so motivated by the Holy Spirit that they asked Deacon James Fortner, diocesan chief operating officer and Jamie Schroeder, chancellor, to bring the group back together quarterly. These quarterly meetings are a way for the group to share progress and offer support as they reimagine parish and personal relationships through the lens of evangelization.

Additionally, four members of cohort one — Bill and Kim Dehlinger, parishioners, Blessed Sacrament Parish, Ft. Mitchell and Gerry and Bridget Otto, parishioners, Mother of God Parish, Covington, have been leading monthly meetings for cohort one. They call these meetings the GYM — Growing Your Missionary Disciple Muscles. At the GYM, PMD members practice what they learn at training, especially how to share personal witness of how knowing Jesus has transformed their life and inviting and walking with others on a journey to Christ.

The reason for both the quarterly meetings and the GYM is obvious — community builds mission.

“We all know what happens to those books (referring to the PMD training manual) when we leave here,” said Mrs. Schroeder, acknowledging that often a person’s best intentions to start or complete anything can quickly disappear once he or she returns to the busyness of day-to-day life.

During the quarterly session, Mrs. Schroeder gave a 15-minute recap of the training. Small groups then discussed the progress and challenges as they work to implement what they have learned at home and the parish.

Anyone who has completed PMD training is welcome at the GYM. To get on the e-mail distribution list contact [email protected] or [email protected].

Signup for Parish Missionary Disciples Cohort 2 will open soon. Anyone who is actively involved in parish ministry is encouraged to attend. The training consists of six, all-day sessions spread out over about three months. PMD cohort 2 training begins in February. Watch your Messenger or visit covdio.org/withoneheart for information on when registration opens.

A matter of dignity: Jail ministry isa pro-life issue, says Benedictine

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

For the last few years, Benedictine Sister Dorothy Schuette corresponds regularly through letters with incarcerated inmates — nowadays, this is the primary way that Sister Dorothy serves the imprisoned, but her ministry began early on, in 1991.

Working at Mother of God Church, Covington, at the time, the Kenton County jail was on her route. She started visiting the jail, and there learned of the Exodus ministry.

“That was, at that time,” Sister Dorothy explained, “started through the Interfaith Commission of Northern Kentucky. That was a good training program for people who were interested in this ministry, and it was people from different denominations — another important feature I thought was good, because it meant that the churches cooperated with each other … it was a real ministry of Christ.”

At the time, Sister Dorothy said she had a “sense of reflection” on how we, as Christians, were called as ministers, “how God was working in us.”

This ministry in the early 90s was just the beginning of Sister Dorothy and the diocese’s involvement in jail ministry, when visitation was the “focus.”

It was when Bishop Emeritus Roger Foys became bishop of Covington that he asked Sister Dorothy to take part in developing a diocesan jail and prison ministry — as none existed through the diocese at the time.

“We were able to learn from other dioceses,” like the Archdiocese of Louisville, Sister Dorothy explained, “I believe the ministry expanded at that time, too, to come to understand that it was important to help people who are incarcerated to continue to come back and forth into jail — the revolving door kind of scenario — that was very obvious in many places, in our poorer areas, especially.”

So, that became part of diocese’s jail ministry, Sister Dorothy said, helping individuals who got out of jail reacclimate into society.

Nowadays, with her letters to a couple of inmates with whom she has a continued relationship, Sister Dorothy has found it important to support them “and the fact that they are valuable human beings. Although they may not ever have a change of residence besides the prison, they are loved and valued — and that counts for something,” Sister Dorothy said.

One woman whom Sister Dorothy corresponds with has become a lay minister, “because she does a lot of giving witness of her own life and encouraging other women there in their pursuit of a decent life … she was telling me in her last letter that there seems to be a decrease in the violence in that jail over the past several years,” said Sister Dorothy, proudly.

In 2009, the diocesan jail and prison ministry switched hands to Catholic Charities, whom Sister Dorothy encourages those interested in getting involved to contact, as they have “formalized” the ministry.

“They’ve brought people in who feel called to this ministry,” said Sister Dorothy, “and have discerned what they can do and what they see as needed or helpful. They’ve done many good things this way.”

However, Sister Dorothy also explains, that is only the “tip of the iceberg”— as with any ministry in the Catholic Church.

While some people are the “visible hands and feet of Christ,” all people need to have a heart that allows for recognizing the dignity of other people, she said — including the incarcerated and inmates on death row — a part of the institution Sister Dorothy believes firmly should be abolished.

“There is no pro-life unless we recognize the dignity of every life,” said Sister Dorothy, “and that is so essential as far as our underpinning.”

Amendment 2 is a ‘need’ not a ‘want,’ said diocesan superintendent

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Bella Young

Multimedia Correspondent

This coming November, next to presidential candidates and local races, will be ballot Issue 2, and the Diocese is urging for a “Yes” vote. Issue 2 proposes an amendment to the Kentucky constitution wherein the Kentucky “General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common schools,” reads the proposed amendment.

Should the amendment be passed, it will “allow people in Kentucky to work with legislators so that we can look at improving educational options for students in Kentucky,” said Kendra McGuire, superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Covington.

For Mrs. McGuire, the passage of this amendment is not a want, it is a need. “What we see is countless families who struggle to make the tuition payments. Families who are below the poverty threshold established by the government, or very close to it, that it is a great burden on them,” she said.

Currently, every state surrounding Kentucky and 48 out of 50 states, have some form of school choice for grades K12.

“We are kind of pigeonholing the students in K-12. Right now, school choice exists, and state funds can go and support students in preschool programs, it goes to private institutions at the college level in Kentucky. The only group that is not supported are students in the K-12 realm,” Mrs. McGuire continued saying, “We want to be able to help children from the time they are of school age, whether that be preschool all the way through college because it is a vested interest for everybody in Kentucky that every student is successful, that they come out of school well prepared to be contributing citizens of Kentucky.”

Part of what makes the proposed amendment necessary, Mrs. McGuire said, is because no two students are the same. Some students need a fastpaced learning environment, while others need a school more focused on support resources. Without the proposed amendment there is a lack of education opportunities for students and their families.

“As a mom of six children, I can look at each of my children and see the differences in every single child … We know from research that in order for children to be successful and be able to learn, that they have to be able to come into school and feel like they’re welcome, they’re part of the environment. They have to feel like they’re safe, they have to feel like they’re happy and ready for learning. Sometimes students need a different place,” Mrs. McGuire said.

It is important to remember that the amendment itself would not immediately cause change, but rather it would allow for Kentucky lawmakers to discuss potential school choice options. Mrs. McGuire hopes that with the passing of Issue 2, lawmakers will be able to put aside partisans and focus on what is best for the children of Kentucky.

“Hopefully we can set aside this difference between public and nonpublic, and instead we can focus on how we best serve the children in Kentucky,” said Mrs. McGuire. “The children in Kentucky, they all need to be successful, and I think, no matter which side of the issue we are on, we all have the same goal. But at the end of the day if we don’t pass Amendment 2 in November we’re not going to be able to have that conversation of what can be better and what can be improved.”

Title 1 Teacher – Prince of Peace School

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Prince of Peace School is seeking a dynamic individual to join our team as a part-time Title 1
Reading and Math specialist. Orton-Gillingham certification is preferred but not required. All
candidates must hold a current teaching certification through the state of Kentucky.
Interested candidates should send their cover letter and resume to Christina Rice, Principal at
[email protected].

Visiting the imprisoned:a work of mercy

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

The Diocese of Covington’s Campaign of Mercy encourages individuals to engage in acts of mercy within their community. One of the more challenging of the Corporal Works of Mercy is ‘visit the prisoners’, referring specifically to incarcerated individuals.

According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “people in prison are still people, made in the image and likeness of God. No matter what someone has done, they deserve the opportunity to hear the Word of God and find the Truth of the message of Christ.” The mission of this work of mercy is straightforward— we are called specifically to visit with and pray for those in the criminal justice system, and their families.

Deacon Bill Theis, from St. Therese Parish, Southgate, was involved in jail ministry for 15 years. “We used to go every Christmas. We would always give donations of candy or something to give to the inmates— we’d go around the whole jail,” he said, reflecting on his time participating in the ministry. Getting involved in ministering to the incarcerated can be as simple as giving a friend or family member in jail a phone call or writing them a letter— but, in the Diocese of Covington, jail outreach is a ministry of Catholic Charities, through which you can get involved.

“The Jail Ministry Program at Catholic Charities strives to meet the spiritual needs of all who are impacted by the criminal justice process,” according to Catholic Charities’ webpage on jail and prison ministry— which serves the incarcerated, recently released, family and friends and victims of crime. “We are concerned about the effects of crime and punishment in our society and advocate for justice in these areas, promoting responsibility, rehabilitation and restoration.”

Catholic Charities partners with agencies and facilities to create programs to assist impacted individuals “to develop and support appropriate programs for those who are impacted by the effects of crime and punishment.”

Individuals interested in getting involved in Jail and Prison ministry through Catholic Charities can learn more at https://www.covingtoncharities.org/services/community-outreach-services/jail-prison-ministry or contact Jill Walch, Volunteer Coordinator at 859-581-8974 ext. 119 or [email protected]

How can you do that?

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Most Rev. John Iffert

Bishop of Covington

Catholics Embracing All God’s Children (CEAGC) is a support group for parents and family members of gay, lesbian and transgender people. A local group, they are nurtured by and affiliated with a Lexington based group called Fortunate Families. After meeting with members of CEAGC on two prior occasions, I accepted an invitation to celebrate Mass with members of the group and their neighbors at St. Joseph Parish in Cold Spring on the Memorial of St. Augustine. That decision caused some to ask of me, “How can you do that?”

People ask the question naturally enough because the Catholic Church embraces the Scriptural foundations of sexuality and marriage. To be moral, every sexual act is to be both unitive (contributing to a permanent communion of life and love between spouses) and procreative (open to the creation of new human life). God created men and women in a way that complement one another, and their union leads to the continuation of the human family.

In this moral framework, homosexual acts — like every sexual act outside of marriage, and any sexual act between spouses that separates the unitive and procreative dimensions of sexuality — are grave matter for sin. If freely chosen and embraced, such acts can be an obstacle to our salvation. The Church, therefore, calls all her children to be chaste. Those who are married are to be monogamous within marriage, as a sign of God’s own faithfulness to God’s people. The rest of us are called to abstain from sex all together. In recognizing that adults can have a meaningful and fully human life without being sexually active, the Church is an almost unique and clarion voice in our society.

So then, how? First, the Church firmly asserts that all individuals, without regard to orientation, must be accepted with “respect, compassion and sensitivity” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2358). Pope Francis teaches, “The Church makes her own the attitude of the Lord Jesus, who offers his boundless love to each person without exception” (Amoris Laetitia, 250). This is to be the attitude of the Church’s ministers and all faithful Catholics. The principle is rooted in the belief that every person is made in the image of God and possesses inherent dignity.

The Church especially recognizes the complexities faced by families whose members identify as gay, lesbian or transgender. “Such families should be given respectful pastoral guidance, so that those who manifest a homosexual orientation can receive the assistance they need to understand and fully carry out God’s will in their lives” (AL, 250). This is precisely what I hoped to accomplish by offering this Mass with and for these CEAGC families and their neighbors.

Finally, the Church distinguishes between homosexual orientation and homosexual acts. As mentioned above, our attractions and urges do not define us. Before all else, we are children of God. We should look to our relationship with Christ in the Holy Spirit for our purpose and fulfillment.

Nevertheless, some of our brothers and sisters have an exclusive attraction to people of the same sex, and they experience this as an important aspect of who they are. “In so far as the homosexual orientation can lead to sexual activity which excludes openness to the generation of new human life and the essential sexual complementarity of man and woman, it is, in this particular and precise sense only, objectively disordered. However, it must be quite clear that a homosexual orientation must never be considered sinful or evil in itself” (Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, Cherishing Life, 111).

The presumption that our gay or lesbian brothers and sisters are guilty of unconfessed sin that would preclude them from receiving the Eucharist is discriminatory and never just.

I received letters and e-mails from about two dozen people urging me not to celebrate Mass with CEAGC. I took each one seriously and investigated each complaint about the group or Fortunate Families. In each case, I judged that the complainant failed to make this distinction between orientation and action, presumed sin that was not in evidence, or failed to make the distinction between supporting persons and endorsing an advocacy agenda. I am happy to report that the liturgy on the Memorial of St. Augustine was a solemn, joyous and prayerful moment. The Church was full. The ministries of hospitality, acolyte, word and music were beautifully and respectfully carried out. I recognized most of those in attendance. They are people who regularly attend our parishes and receive Holy Communion faithfully. I was especially impressed by the number of parents who were grateful that they and their children were welcomed by the Church with respect and warmth.

I called all present to remain prayerfully and studiously open to the teaching of the Church about sexuality and marriage. I also encouraged the congregation with a story of a gay man who once witnessed to me his great love for Christ and the Church. That witness had a lasting effect on my life. I invited all to be living witnesses to others. The full text of my homily is available at www.covdio.org.

Although I was glad to pray with this community and appreciated their invitation to walk with them, I was disturbed that such a simple and natural pastoral response resulted in conflict in this local Church. I asked all present to pray in love for one another, that God bring out of this moment a greater understanding of what the Church teaches and the divine gift of peace and unity. It remains my prayer.

Peace to you and to all who seek the truth with sincerity of heart.

Oil painting of St. Augustine continues a legacy of sacred art, beauty

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

In 1909, Cincinnati painter and devout Catholic Frank Duveneck put his finishing touches on murals to decorate the walls of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington. Restored by William Blank in 1920, these paintings still boldly decorate the Cathedral’s interior walls — just one example of sacred art that can be found in any number of the Diocese of Covington’s Catholic churches.

“In true beauty, we begin to experience the desire for God,” Pope Francis observed in an address to artists for the 50th anniversary of the Inauguration of the Vatican Museums’ Collection of Modern Art, 2023 — reminiscing on the long-standing friendship between artists and the Church.

St. Augustine also spoke often of beauty, famously lamenting “I have learnt to love you late, Beauty at once so ancient and so new!” in his work Confessions.

How fitting, then, that an oil painting done by an artist native to the diocese features the saint and philosopher — blessed on the feast of St. Augustine, Aug. 28, for St. Augustine Parish, Covington.

The four-and-a-half foot tall painting was commissioned for the church by pastor Father Daniel Schomaker, completed by painter Daniel Zalla during his residency year at the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy this past year.

Mr. Zalla grew up in Villa Hills, as a parishioner of St. Joseph Parish in Crescent Springs, and of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption during his high school studies at Covington Latin School. While a friend of the family, Mr. Zalla came to know Father Schomaker during his time at Covington Latin as a pontifical server — during which time Father Schomaker was serving as master of ceremonies for Bishop Emeritus (then Bishop) Roger Foys. After graduating from Covington Latin in 2016, Mr. Zalla received his undergraduate degree in Fine Arts from Xavier University, before continuing his studies and eventually graduating from the Florence Academy of Art. He learned about the school following a week-long trip to Venice with a former professor.

After receiving the commission in February 2023, Mr. Zalla’s painting of St. Augustine is now proudly displayed in its parish home.

“The most symbolic representation of St. Augustine is identifiable because he’s holding the restless heart,” depicted commonly as a heart ablaze, Mr. Zalla said about the artwork. “That was something that Father Daniel specifically wanted in the painting, and that comes from St. Augustine’s line, ‘our hearts are restless until they rest in you.’”

The painting itself depicts St. Augustine with deliberate detail — dressed in bishop’s vestments and a miter and carrying a crozier. Emotionally, Daniel Zalla hoped to convey a sense of being “illuminated by the light of God” in the work, which he deemed suited due to St. Augustine’s role as a prolific Doctor of the Church, and his “connection with the Divine and inspiration.”

Symbolically, Mr. Zalla depicts this notion through light. The face, the robes, and most of the figure stand illuminated against the dark, gloomy background of the piece — like the light of God bringing him out of darkness, as Mr. Zalla described. This also helps to contrast the illumination from the fire emitting from the restless heart held in St. Augustine’s hand, which points upward and connects additionally to the highlights in the figure’s eyes.

Daniel Zalla composed the painting so that all lines would point upward to the heavens — carrying through the drapery in St. Augustine’s clothing, to the gesture of his hands and the shape of the clouds. “It keeps the energy in the painting pointing upward,” he said, “and that was very important to me.”

To Mr. Zalla, there is an importance in beauty — this culture of beauty is the primary reason he chose a career in classical painting.

“All these little decorative elements in a city, like if you see a light post with a decoration instead of a stark, minimalistic light post; I think it shows that humans are built for more than just doing something as efficiently as possible to get that job done. Having that element of decoration that’s completely unnecessary … we all recognize it as beautiful,” he said.

“It shows that we’re built for more than just this utilitarian purpose, but that we have a higher calling, and we’re connected to something greater than ourselves,” Mr. Zalla said. “When I look at classical painting, it’s the same kind of thing. Maybe painting isn’t necessary for life, but having this beauty around us connects us to a higher level. Maybe that’s an ambitious goal to shoot for, but to use paintings to help people connect with that ideal — that’s why painting is important.”