March 4, 2011

New director named for Gate of Heaven

ST. ANDREW DEANERY  – Debra K. Crane, an attorney and former member of the insurance industry, has been appointed director of Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Montgomery, the largest cemetery owned by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

Crane, a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and the Salmon P. Chase College of Law, joined Ohio Casualty Corp. in Fairfield as an investment analyst in 1987. When she left in 2007, she was senior vice president and general counsel, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer.

In 2004 she became treasurer of Vineyard Eastgate Community Church in Batavia, managing the financial assets of the church. In 2008 she went to work for the Vineyard as executive pastor, a lay position that involved aligning church finances and resources with strategies and initiatives. She was responsible for stewarding the financial and administrative operations of the church and overseeing proper use and maintenance of building and grounds. 

Ohio bishops issue statement on collective bargaining

COLUMBUS – As the Ohio General Assembly is currently debating legislation that seeks major changes in collective bargaining laws, the Catholic bishops of Ohio, led by Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr, have issued a statement encouraging leaders in government, labor and business to pursue changes that promote the common good without the elimination of collective bargaining.  

“We urge continued good faith in ongoing negotiations. Civility, open communication, mutual cooperation, and peaceful witness should characterize legislative actions and public discourse,” said the Feb. 28 statement.

“In our faith tradition, defending the human dignity of every person, born and unborn, includes promoting economic justice. This justice places the good of the person at the center of all economic activities. It stresses that the economy exists for the person, not the person for the economy. It challenges society to measure the moral effectiveness of our economic practices by how well they strengthen families and provide for the poor and vulnerable.

 “This social doctrine has long recognized that all people have the right to economic initiative, to productive work, to just wages and benefits, to decent working conditions, to organize and join unions or other associations, and to engage in collective bargaining,” the statement noted.

The statement concluded, “At the same time, this doctrine promotes mutual partnerships where both the needs of labor and the needs of management are freely and openly acknowledged and addressed. It challenges both unions and management to work for the common good, to make sacrifices when required, and to adjust to new economic realities.”

The statement was signed by Archbishop Schnurr, chairman of the Ohio Catholic Conference, and by Bishop Richard Lennon of Cleveland; Bishop Roger Gries, Auxiliary Bishop of Cleveland; Bishop Frederick Campbell of Columbus;  Bishop John Kudrick of the Byzantine Eparchy of Parma; Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of Steubenvllle; Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo; Bishop George Murry of Youngstown; Bishop Michael Botean of the Eparchy of Canton; and Most. Rev. John Bura, apostolic administrator of the St. Josaphat Ukrainian Eparchy.

As Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker attempted to take measures restricting unions’ rights last month, Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki noted in a statement that economic downturns do not justify restricting the rights of workers (see p. 3).