Of the 62 individuals in the Diocese of Erie receiving papal
honors from Pope Benedict XVI, five people from the local area will
be honored, including a Bradford man who will receive the
Knighthood of St. Gregory the Great – the highest honor a layman
can obtain from the Roman Catholic Church.
At a Mass at 7 p.m. Monday at St. Peter Cathedral in Erie,
Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop of Philadelphia, will confer
honors with assistance from Bishop Donald Trautman to 36 lay
people, 15 women religious and one priest. Of those honorees, Peter
J. Buchheit of St. Bernard’s Parish will be honored as a Knight of
St. Gregory the Great.
Buchheit said he was notified on Sept. 11 that he would receive
the honor, for which he had no idea he was nominated.
“It was really a nice surprise to be honored,” Buchheit said.
“I’m very appreciative. It’s been a very long time since anyone in
the Bradford area has received this honor. It’s nice for the bishop
and the people here, the people from the parish. I feel kind of
guilty accepting the honor, in fact. Some people are more deserving
than I am.
“It’s a very nice honor. It really is all the people that work
with me. We have a lot of people at the church, the school, the
finance council … and Father Leo. I work with all of them. I’m also
a member of the Diocesan Finance Council up in Erie. I work with
the Bishop on a couple committees.”
“I was very happy for him,” the Rev. Leo Gallina, pastor of St.
Bernard Church, said when he found out Buchheit was receiving the
honor. “He’s very instrumental in the school and its functions.
He’s just helpful around the parish in so many ways. The way he’s
helped with St. Bernard Parish, St. Bernard School and the Diocesan
of Erie Finance Committee.”
Knights and Ladies of St. Gregory the Great are given to lay men
and women who have made outstanding contributions to the church and
community. Knighthood of St. Gregory the Great was established by
Pope Gregory XV in 1831 as the “Order of the Knights of St. Gregory
the Great.”
Gallina said the last time there were other Bradfordian honorees
was a couple years ago. He also said the last Bradfordian to
receive the Knight of St. Gregory the Great papal honor was Hugh
Grant.
“He’s an outstanding, giving man to the community,” Gallina said
of Buchheit. “He’s carrying on a family tradition. He’s following
his folks in helping the church and community. He’s a good, caring
person.”
Gallina said it’s probably the same for the others in the area
who are receiving honors.
Also at the ceremony Monday, Joseph J. Maljovec and his wife M.
Joyce Maljovec of St. Callistus Parish in Kane will be honored as
Knight and Lady of Pope St. Sylvester, given to lay men and women
in recognition of some service rendered to the church; and
Benedictine Sisters Mary William Hoffman, OSB, and Phyllis
Schleicher, OSB, who staff the Catholic Rural Ministry for the
Diocese of Erie, will be honored with the Papal Cross Pro Ecclesia
et Pontifice.
Schleicher and Hoffman said they were not sure who nominated
them, but the letter from Bishop Trautman read, “It is with great
joy that I write to you today to inform you that upon my
recommendation as Bishop of Erie, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
has conferred on you the Papal Cross ‘Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice,’
i.e., ‘for the Church and the Pontiff.’ This is a great honor.”
“Of course, receiving a letter from the Office of the Bishop
caused some consternation,” they said. “Then when we each opened
our letter and read it, our first response was that this is not
just for us, but it honors our ministry and all the people whom we
serve.”
Eight years ago, the sisters accepted the challenge of bringing
a permanent presence of women religious to rural McKean and Potter
counties. They offer retreats, visit hospitals, offer support by
fielding crisis phone calls and make sure that any food left over
after a funeral dinner is delivered to homes in need, among various
other tasks.
They have sponsored nearly two dozen of the popular days of
reflection for women in the area.
“I think it has made a great difference having the sisters in
our area,” Ramona Mallison of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish in
Smethport and participant in the days of reflection the Catholic
Rural Ministry coordinates, said in a November article in “Faith”
magazine. “The whole area really appreciates their presence and
being able to rely on them for things you wouldn’t even think about
if they weren’t here.”
“The sisters have helped us to become more reverent and to
understand what it means to be Catholic,” Judy Castano, a member of
St. Eulalia Parish in Coudersport who has attended several days of
reflection, said in the article. “We’re such a small area you’d
think we’d know people from other churches but that isn’t
necessarily the case. Now, that’s beginning to change.”
First given by Pope Leo XIII in 1888, the Papal Cross Pro
Ecclesia et Pontifice is given to clergy, religious and lay persons
who have given exemplary service for the Church and for the Pope.
Since the reign of Pope Paul VI, the Papal Cross pro Ecclesia et
Pontifice has been in the form of a gold cross of modern design,
suspended from a yellow and white ribbon.
The papal honors are given in the name of Pope Benedict XVI on
the recommendation of Bishop Trautman and not only honor the
recipients but also those who share in their ministry. A bishop may
nominate candidates to the pope at any time he wishes, and the last
papal honors were given in the Erie Diocese in 2000.
Trautman asked pastors throughout the diocese to recommend
people who have provided exemplary service and spoke to the
diocesan priests’ council and executive cabinet members, vicars and
other groups in search of nominees.
