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I actually thought I would be able to tell the tale of two stories. I actually thought that Catholic News Service was interested in the news around the Catholic world. Instead I was disappointed, but that is ok. I will just publish the two stories here and let you decide. The first one is the story I turned in and then the second one is as it appears in all the Catholic Newspapers. I was trying to tell the story of basically how a person may think he is honoring a saint but actually is being disrespectful at the same time. See if you see this. The first story is the original and the second is how it appeared.
TECOPA, Calif. (CNS) -- Magnificat Ventures, a large corporation that regularly builds Catholic churches in the Philippines, is erecting a 17-acre cemetery dedicated to St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Tecopa, on the California side of the state’s border with Nevada.
Randy Dizon, the corporation’s owner, and his family are devout followers of the 19th-century Carmelite saint, better known to many as St. Therese of Lisieux, or the “Little Flower.” She was known in her order as Therese of the Child Jesus.
Randolph Dizon the patriarch credits Saint Therese with extending the life of his father by ten years as he explains in his own words, “Later on in their life, in the year 2000 my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer. The surgery was deemed a success, so they had sent him home 3 -4 days after surgery. Unfortunately as I recall, on the 4th or 5th day the connection of my dad's colon fell apart (in part due to his diabetes), and he bled internally, I had to personally rush my dad with my mom to the nearest hospital (we were still living in Glendale CA at this point - I was finishing up my business degree), while at the hospital my dad flat lined for about 8 minutes, before the doctors were able to revive him. My dad was lying in a coma at this point, and the doctors said that there would be some brain damage due to the lack of oxygen to the brain for such a long period of time.
My family and I, like we always did in time of turmoil turned to prayer, and to the intercession of St. Therese. All of my siblings and I (and my mom) prayed the novena and asked that our prayers be answered and for her to send us a sign in the form of flowers. During the days we did the novena we had all received flowers.
My dad would fully recover from that ordeal without any ill effects and continued to live on for almost another 10 years before he passed away.” His age was never stated but I think people get the picture with Randolph explaining the situation.
Despite being dedicated to St. Therese, it will not be a Catholic facility because as a private project it has no connection to the Diocese of Fresno, where Tecopa is located. It is being billed as a nondenominational Christian cemetery.
The facility will house 20,000 niches for cremated remains, a chapel, a small statue of St. Therese, scenic gardens and a visitor center.
According to Luis, the Dizon family is using the sale of the niches to pay for the shrine and the chapel.
Plans call the statue to be made into a shrine upon receipt of “a first-class relic,” which would be installed at the base of the statue, with the hope it will become a pilgrimage site for Catholics and other Christians.
In the Catholic
Church, relics fall into one of three categories: a first-class relic is the
physical bodily remains of a saint or blessed like bones, blood and hair; a
second-class relic is a personal possession, such as clothing, devotional
objects, handwritten letters or even furniture; and a third-class relic is an
object that has touched a first-class relic. These -- usually small snips of
cloth that have touched a blessed or saint's tomb -- often end up in public
distribution fixed onto prayer cards.
Today most first-class relics of modern-day blesseds and saints are now just a snippet of hair or a vial of blood.
But questions
are being raised as to how the Dizons acquired a first-class relic and the fact
their plan to sell niches includes the sale of niches near where the relic is
to be installed.
The sale of a
relic itself is staunchly prohibited in the church. A local priest who did not want to be identified
called the idea selling niches near a relic “tacky”.
Luis said, “once they put the first class relic of St. Therese, a first class relic is part of her body, there will be a number of people who would want to be in that area. (around the statue or shrine of St. Therese.) Luis was vague though on the body part. All he knew was that the relic is a first class relic and he did not know where it came from.
St.
Therese Mission expects this to be in place sometime in the coming year and
Luis expects it to draw thousands of visitors. (Vern: DID Luis say what the relic is?)(answered it in above
sentence.
Luis
remarked, “St. Joseph,
Husband of Mary Catholic Church in Las Vegas
had a relic of St. Therese come to the church not too long ago and attracted
6,000 people in a weekend. When our relic is installed ,we anticipate we will
attract 12,000 people,” He continued,
Lisa Holleman, a Catholic who is a local business owner, is among those who have concerns about the project. She said, “I love the idea of having a cemetery dedicated to St. Therese. My concern is the proper treatment of Catholics and I am highly concerned with treatment of the relic that is coming in. I have no problem with them making money on the niches.” She adds,
“I have the feeling their heart is in the right place. I hope that there are stipulations in the contract that if you buy a niche near the relic that you can get your money back if the relic does not come.”
Dizon said his family believes they “are helping spread devotion to St. Therese, and this is a vehicle for us to do so. You may compare us to any other type of business, like a car dealership, a retail store, etc. We are selling something that people truly need and the same time helping spread devotion and helping the church. Why not do a business that helps the church as well?” Dizon feels the cemetery will honor St. Therese and explains, “St. Therese is honored because of her teachings, her little way of expressing love for god and for others is very reachable and attainable for everyday people. Doing simple things with great love was her motto, and in our own little way we hope to be able to touch people’s lives with the Shrine of St. Therese and now the St. Therese Mission.”
According to the Diocese of Fresno, the project was approved by the late Bishop John T. Steinbock, who said the mission “will serve as a
center of devotion to our great saint.” The bishop died Dec. 5, 2010; he had headed
the diocese since 1991.
(On Dec. 1,
2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Armando X. Ochoa of El Paso, Texas, as his
successor. He will be installed Feb. 2.)
Ground was broken on the cemetery project six months ago.
The first phase of construction includes the chapel and eight columbaria to
house niches and will be finished the end of 2012. Then construction will begin
on the visitor center.
Luis said Magnificat Ventures plans to donate the chapel to the Catholic Church after the niches are sold. The corporation already has an agreement with the Fresno Diocese.
Besides the chapel, Dizon said, the diocese will receive “the priests’ living quarters and a portion of the property, as they had requested right of way into the property and parking. We will also be turning over a trust fund to ensure that the chapel facilities are maintained.”
He added, “We would like the diocese to focus on the ‘business’ of running the chapel and all the activities associated with this, and let us concentrate on the running of the columbarium/cemetery. That way we both focus on our own core competencies.”
END
Here is the story that went into the network:
Vern Paul Hee
Catholic News Service
TECOPA, Calif. -- Magnificat Ventures, a large corporation that regularly builds Catholic churches in the Philippines, is developing a 17-acre cemetery dedicated to St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Tecopa.
Randy Dizon, the corporation's owner, and his family have a deep devotion to the 19th-century Carmelite saint, better known to many as St. Therese of Lisieux, or the "Little Flower."
Anthony Luis, executive director of training and sales for the project, called St. Therese Mission, said the cemetery will not be a Catholic facility. It is a private project and has no connection to the Diocese of Fresno, where Tecopa is located. It will be a nondenominational Christian cemetery.
In an interview, Dizon said his family credits the saint for his father, Rafael Dizon Jr., living 10 years longer than anyone expected. In 2000, the elder Dizon underwent successful surgery for colon cancer and was sent home, but he later suffered complications and was rushed back to the hospital.
"My dad flat-lined for about eight minutes before the doctors were able to revive him," Randy Dizon said, adding that the doctors said he'd have some brain damage as a result.
"My family and I, like we always did in time of turmoil, turned to prayer, and to the intercession of St. Therese. All of my siblings and I (and my mom) prayed the novena," he said. "My dad would fully recover from that ordeal without any ill effects and continued to live on for almost another 10 years before he passed away" three years ago.
The cemetery will have a structure with 20,000 niches for cremated remains, a chapel, a small statue of St. Therese, scenic gardens and a visitor center. According to Luis, the sale of the niches will pay for the shrine and the chapel.
Plans call for the statue to be made into a shrine upon receipt of "a first-class relic" of the saint. It would be installed at the base of the statue, with the hope that it will become a pilgrimage site for Catholics and other Christians. The shrine will be near the niches, and "people will pay a lot of money to be close to this relic," Luis stated.
Once the relic is in place sometime in the coming year, he expects it to draw thousands of visitors. He did not say what the relic is.
In the Catholic Church, relics fall into one of three categories: a first-class relic is the physical bodily remains of a saint or blessed like bones, blood and hair; a second-class relic is a personal possession, such as clothing, devotional objects, handwritten letters or even furniture; and a third-class relic is an object that has touched a first-class relic. These -- usually small snips of cloth that have touched a blessed or saint's tomb -- often end up in public distribution fixed onto prayer cards.
Today, most first-class relics of modern-day blesseds and saints are now just a snippet of hair or a vial of blood.
The sale of a relic itself is staunchly prohibited in the church. A local priest who did not want to be identified called the idea of selling niches near a relic "tacky."
Lisa Holleman, a Catholic who is a local business owner, is among those who have some concerns about the project.
"I love the idea of having a cemetery dedicated to St. Therese. My concern is the proper treatment of Catholics and I am highly concerned with treatment of the relic that is coming in. I have no problem with them making money on the niches," she said.
"I have the feeling their heart is in the right place. I just hope that there are stipulations in the contract that if you buy a niche near the relic that you can get your money back if the relic does not come." Dizon said his family believes they "are helping spread devotion to St. Therese, and this is a vehicle for us to do so. ... We are selling something that people truly need and the same time helping spread devotion and helping the church. Why not do a business that helps the church as well?"
According to the Diocese of Fresno, the project was approved by the late Bishop John T. Steinbock, who said the mission "will serve as a center of devotion to our great saint." The bishop died Dec. 5, 2010; he had headed the diocese since 1991. (His successor, Bishop Armando X. Ochoa, will be installed Feb. 2.)
Ground was broken on the cemetery project about eight months ago. The chapel and columbaria to house the niches are to be built by the end of 2012. Construction then will begin on the visitor center.
Luis said Magnificat Ventures plans to donate the chapel to the Catholic Church after the niches are sold.
Dizon said the Fresno Diocese also will receive "the priests' living quarters and a portion of the property, as they had requested right of way into the property and parking. We will also be turning over a trust fund to ensure that the chapel facilities are maintained."
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