14. St. Gianna Latin Mass Community -- For a number of years, the Latin Tridentine Mass has been celebrated in two places in our Diocese: Holy Family Parish and St. Ann's Convent Chapel at Sabino Canyon. Beginning next month, these two communities will come together and form the St. Gianna Latin Mass Community, an informal association, for one year ad experimentum. The community will be located at St. Ambrose Parish in Tucson, and the Mass will be celebrated in St. Ambrose Church. Effective Feb. 1, Father Richard Rego, who has been serving as pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Ajo, will serve as Chaplain of the community. I am grateful for his willingness to form this community in Christ.  Information about the schedule for Mass, the Sacrament of Reconciliation and devotions is available at the community's Web site, http://fatherrego.com.

    I have met on several occasions with Catholics who want to celebrate Mass in Latin according to the 1962 ritual, which is allowed through an indult from the Holy See with the approval of the local bishop. They are dedicated people who love the Church and its tradition. I have reminded them that the indult by the Holy See and my approval have been given with the understanding that those who prefer to celebrate the Mass in Latin according to the pre-Vatican II ritual must accept fully the teachings of the Vatican Council II and its liturgical guidelines and must remain in union with their bishop. I have every confidence that this community will further reflect the unity of the Church in all its diversity.

    It should be clear that St. Gianna Latin Mass Community is different than the Pius X Society and other groups that are not in union with Rome. The Community is in union with the local bishop and accepts all the teachings of the Church in the Second Vatican Council. It remains clear that the ordinary and encouraged ritual in our Diocese and throughout the world is that of the Second Vatican Council.
  It is my hope that the enhancement of liturgical life in each of our parishes will be one of our priorities this year. That means we work together to make our celebrations welcoming and reverent, that we provide beautiful and prayerful music and that our priests and deacons work hard to provide homilies that nourish us spiritually.

    I am grateful to Father John Arnold and the community of St. Ambrose Parish for welcoming the St. Gianna Latin Mass Community. Thanks to Father Joseph Baker and the community of Holy Family Parish and the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart for having provided space for the celebration of the Mass in Latin over the past years.

    St. Gianna Beretta Molla was canonized in 2004 by Pope John Paul II. A saint of our times, she was a physician and surgeon who had considered a call to religious life. Married to Pietro Molla in 1955 at Magenta, Italy, she became a mother of three and continued her medical career, treating it as a mission and gift from God. During her pregnancy with her fourth child, she was diagnosed with an ovarian cyst. Her surgeon recommended an abortion in order to save her life, but she refused and died a week after childbirth.