Historic moment for both dioceses

With this month of August, we resume the regular publication of our Diocesan Newspaper and I hope and pray that all of you are having a holy, happy and safe summer.
 
This month we celebrate several important feasts and solemnities in our church year and two, in particular, I remind you of and urge you to take the time for Mass and the worthy reception of Holy Communion. The first, of course, is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and this is a Holy Day of Obligation. All Catholics of the age of reason are obliged to attend and participate at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. If you are legitimately prevented from Mass on Aug. 15 then the obligation does not bind you but if you simply do not make the time for Mass or just forget, as the Church has always taught, that person commits a mortal sin which must be confessed as soon as possible in the sacrament of reconciliation and before receiving Holy Communion. All of our pastors are very good about publishing their holy day Mass schedules in the bulletins and on their parish websites, so this is always a great help.
 
The second feast is the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, eight days after the Assumption and, while this feast is not a Holy Day of Obligation, it is the last day of the Octave of the Assumption and reminds us of the singular place Our Blessed Lady has in the life of the Church as well as in eternity in Heaven. If you are able, please do make Mass and Holy Communion on this day also.
 
As you will note in this issue, a portion of it is devoted to an important and rare occurrence for our diocese and the Diocese of Fargo. In fact, this has not happened since our Diocese of Bismarck was officially erected and separated from the Diocese of Fargo in 1910. Not only has the Holy See and more specifically, the Congregation for Bishops, formally and canonically placed the Parish of St. John, Lansford, under the immediate and permanent care of the Diocese of Bismarck and its diocesan bishop, but it has approved the request of Bishop John Folda and me to alter our official boundaries to reflect this change. 
 
Thus, after 108 years, the boundaries of both dioceses have been officially altered by the Holy See and after 69 years of giving pastoral care to the Parish of St. John, Lansford, on behalf of the Bishops of Fargo, the parish is now, in fact, a parish of the Diocese of Bismarck and no longer a parish of the Diocese of Fargo. Please read of this historic moment for both dioceses in this issue of the Dakota Catholic Action and, as a matter of further interest, our seminarian, Ben Wanner, did the actual translation into English of the official Latin rescript from the Congregation for Bishops. 
 
It is important to note that Bishop Folda and I agreed that all of this would go into effect this last May 20, the Solemnity of Pentecost. We also agreed that we would both meet at St. John Parish on Sunday, Aug. 19 for a Mass of Thanksgiving to mark, in a more solemn way, this historic moment and to reaffirm our mutual love and respect for every Catholic in North Dakota. In the August 2018 issue of the Dakota Catholic Action, you can read the history of how we came to provide pastoral care to St. John, Lansford, during the Episcopate of Bishop Vincent Ryan.