September 5, 2024 // Diocese

Around the Diocese: September 8, 2024

Todays Catholic

Support A Mother’s Hope at Annual Diamond Gala

The 7th Annual Diamond Gala fundraiser to support A Mother’s Hope is set for Thursday, September 19, at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with a cocktail hour. The night also includes games, chances to win gift cards, wine, whiskey, and of course, diamonds. Dinner will then be served, followed by a live auction.

Operations Director Natalie Kohrman said, “The gala is not only an incredible event where we get to see hundreds of our loyal supporters, but it’s also our biggest fundraiser of the year. Without the funds raised at the gala, we wouldn’t be able to accomplish our mission of serving some of the most vulnerable members of our community. The money raised at the gala represents approximately 20 percent of our operating budget and directly impacts the lives of those we serve by allowing us to provide necessary services designed specifically for pregnant women experiencing homelessness and their babies.”

A Mother’s Hope, located in Fort Wayne, is grounded in Christian love and is the only shelter in the area that exclusively serves pregnant homeless women and provides them with life-changing learning opportunities to set them on the path to success. Since opening in 2018, more than 90 women have been provided with housing and support services to strengthen their opportunities for stability, including intensive daily and weekly services that include structured therapeutic sessions, case management, educational opportunities, employment coaching, community connections, and individualized action plans. Women are also able to stay for up to one year after the birth of their babies, where they receive continued support during the most vulnerable time of the baby’s life. There have also been more than 300 women who have received support from A Mother’s Hope.

To learn more, purchase tickets, or make a donation, visit amothershopefw.org.

Diocesan Museum to Take Part in ‘Be a Tourist’ Event

On Sunday, September 8, the Diocesan Museum in downtown Fort Wayne will once again take part in the annual “Be a Tourist in Your Own Hometown” event hosted by Visit Fort Wayne – an organization aimed at promoting tourism in the Summit City. The event gives hometown tourists free admission to dozens of local attractions throughout the city.

Cathy Imler, Diocesan Museum Director, told Today’s Catholic about what visitors can expect at the museum.

“We have a handwritten Bible that’s from the 1200s, and it’s portable,” Imler said. “It’s all in Latin and beautifully preserved.”
The museum also contains artifacts from previous bishops. Archbishop John Francis Noll brought over stained-glass windows from Germany that are now housed in the museum.

“There are stained-glass windows that he had made and brought from Germany that highlight different bishops and the founding of Our Sunday Visitor,” Imler said. 

She attributed the attention to detail at the museum to its founder, Philip Whitman, whom Imler said “was not only inspired by … loving history and loving Church history and artifacts, but there was a commission by the pope in the 1990s that encouraged Catholics all over the world to save their patrimony, to hang on to their history.”

The museum enriches all those who love history, whether they are Catholic or not.

“In terms of both local history and Church history, there is much here.”

The Diocesan Museum is located at 1103 S. Calhoun St. next to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. It will be open from noon to 5 p.m. during the “Be a Tourist” event on September 8. Regular hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. To learn more about the museum, visit diocesefwsb.org/museum. To learn more about “Be a Tourist in Your Own Hometown,” including printable passports and other participating organizations, go to visitfortwayne.org.

Blessing the Brew

Provided by Tom Centlivre
Father Jake Schneider, Parochial Vicar at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Fort Wayne, performs a blessing over Centlivre beer at 2Toms Brewing. Pictured are members of the Centlivre family and Tom Carpenter, owner of 2Toms. On Saturday, August 24, the Centlivre family, longtime Catholics in Fort Wayne, began selling Centlivre beer for the first time in more than half a century. Brothers Tom and John Centlivre, along with their children, Anthony, Andre, and Henry, in cooperation with 2Toms Brewing, resumed production. Centlivre Brewery was founded in Fort Wayne in 1862 and continued brewing until the 1970s. The Centlivre family told Today’s Catholic that they are aware that one of the most important ingredients for success is to have God’s blessing on their endeavor.