{"id":1854,"date":"2007-09-17T11:47:00","date_gmt":"2007-09-17T11:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2007\/09\/divorced-and-catholic-a-ministry-to-help-the-healing.html"},"modified":"2007-09-17T11:47:00","modified_gmt":"2007-09-17T11:47:00","slug":"divorced-and-catholic-a-ministry-to-help-the-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/09\/divorced-and-catholic-a-ministry-to-help-the-healing.html","title":{"rendered":"Divorced and Catholic: a ministry to help the healing"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Divorced Catholics face unique challenges — and often stigmas — coping with their new status. And the Catholic Review<\/a> in Baltimore just published news about a remarkable ministry that has been there to help them over the hurdles: <\/p>\n

When Claire Lotz of Fullerton received her divorce decree in the 1970s, the Catholic mother of two felt like a pariah in society and disconnected from her religion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know any other divorced people and I felt like I was excommunicated from the Church,\u201d said Ms. Lotz, now a 65-year-old parishioner of St. Joseph, Fullerton. \u201cIn my generation, we were raised to believe that divorce was a big no-no.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shame kept her from taking Communion for years. <\/p>\n

However, after moving from Howard County to the Baltimore area in the late 1980s, she was referred to the Friends of Mercy \u2013 a support group for people who are separated, divorced and widowed launched by a nun from Mercy High School, Baltimore \u2013 and the humiliation she felt about her divorce was replaced with confidence and a re-energized religious bearing.<\/p>\n

As the group prepared to celebrate its 20th anniversary Sept. 16, Ms. Lotz reflected on the vital part it has played in her life \u2013 which includes a strong network of friends and the place where she met the man she married three years ago.<\/p>\n

The anniversary celebration will include a liturgy celebrated by Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, eastern vicar, and a buffet dinner at the Sheppard Pratt Conference Center in Towson.<\/p>\n

Though wheelchair-bound these days, 81-year-old Friends of Mercy founder Sister Joannes Clifford, R.S.M., has maintained her passion for the group throughout the past 20 years and has served as a steadfast champion of its more than 50 constituents.<\/p>\n

The origin of the group \u2013 which regularly meets at Mercy High School\u2019s Northeast Baltimore campus and other venues 2 p.m. on the third Sunday of each month \u2013 can be traced to Sister Joannes, who took a course on ministering to the newly single in 1979, after receiving letters from Mercy High alums seeking advice following the collapse of their marriages. <\/p>\n

Break-ups are never easy for those who go through it, but Catholics suffer unique guilt over the end of a marriage because of the Church\u2019s opposition to remarriage without an annulment, Sister Joannes said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey feel like they are divorced from their spouse and the Church,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted to find a way to help provide some support for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortified with a grant, Sister Joannes began holding periodic lectures for the newly single featuring top speakers to help separated, divorced and widowed citizens deal with their new status.<\/p>\n

In 1987. a group of people attending one of these lectures approached her about starting a monthly support group and the Friends of Mercy held its first meeting later that year. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The link above has much more about how the Friends of Mercy operates. It sounds like it’s been a welcome source of healing and help to many.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Divorced Catholics face unique challenges — and often stigmas — coping with their new status. And the Catholic Review in Baltimore just published news about a remarkable ministry that has been there to help them over the hurdles: When Claire Lotz of Fullerton received her divorce decree in the 1970s, the Catholic mother of two…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDivorced and Catholic: a ministry to help the healing - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/09\/divorced-and-catholic-a-ministry-to-help-the-healing.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Divorced and Catholic: a ministry to help the healing - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Divorced Catholics face unique challenges — and often stigmas — coping with their new status. 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