Seven months into his tenure as bishop of Cleveland, Bishop Edward Malesic continues to learn about the Diocese of Cleveland and its many facets.
During an extraordinarily busy day on April 16, the bishop made time to meet with a cardinal, have lunch and a discussion with priests who were ordained in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and dinner with members of The Culture Project’s 2020-2021 Cleveland missionary team.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, who lives in Rome, happened to be visiting Cleveland and stopped by the cathedral rectory for coffee and a private conversation with the bishop in the morning.
At noon, Bishop Malesic was joined by a dozen members of the last three priestly ordination classes. On hand were Father Matthew Cortnik, Father Michael Feldtz and Father Richard Samide, ordained in 2018; Father Martin Dober, Father Kevin Fox, Father Andrew Gonzalez, Father Michael Petkosek, Father Daniel Samide, Father David Stavarz and Father Joshua Trefney, all ordained in 2019; and Father Joshua Cochrac and Father Joseph Robinson, who were ordained in 2020.
Also attending were Father Dan Schlegel, vicar for clergy and religious; Father Tom Dragga, pastor of Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in Solon and director of continuing education and formation of ministers for the diocese; and Father Don Oleksiak, vicar general and moderator of the curia.
In addition to enjoying a meal, the priests were able to get better acquainted and discuss a variety of topics with the bishop.
At dinnertime, members of the Cleveland Diocese Culture Project missionary team spent time with Bishop Malesic, introducing him to the program and sharing the importance of their work in the diocese and beyond.
The five diocesan missionaries – Parker Berthelot, Alex Ross, Cameron Bick, Caroline Anderson and Danielle (Dani) Kinney – are based at Assumption Parish in Broadview Heights. Three other missionaries – Johni Beeler, Alanis Vega and Sebastian Chavez – are members of the new virtual team who also live at Assumption. They make presentations to schools around the country that primarily are educating students remotely because of the pandemic. Vega represented the virtual team at the meeting with the bishop.
The Culture Project is in its second year in the diocese. The missionaries, young adults who are college graduates, are trained to collaborate with Catholic schools and parish youth ministry teams to speak about human dignity and sexual integrity. They offer students the opportunity to encounter young people who are a living witness and demonstrating a life of counter-cultural value. Each missionary makes a yearlong commitment to the program and they live in community.