Catholic Transcript Online

Loren Davis, a member of Manchester Pack 47 of Cub Scouts, Webelos and Boy Scouts, places a flag near the military marker of the late Army Maj. Henry E. Brooks at St. Bridget Cemetery in Manchester on May 30 in observance of Memorial Day. The pack also marched in Manchester’s Memorial Day parade the same day. (Photo submitted)

HARTFORD – A mathematics instructor, sales account representative, retired banker and retired state police lieutenant are among the nine men Archbishop Henry J. Mansell will ordain to the permanent diaconate on June 5.

The ordination will take place at 11 a.m. June 5 at the Cathedral of St. Joseph.

The nine will join 165 active and 50 retired permanent deacons currently serving throughout the Archdiocese of Hartford this year, the 37 th anniversary of the diaconate in the Archdiocese.

SURVIVORS – Real-life survivors join with former contestants of TV’s "Survivor" during a fund-raiser for refugees May 15 at St. Mary Parish Center in Simsbury. In front row, from left, are Peh Htoo, a Karen refugee; and Gillian Larson, former contestant on "Survivor." In back row are Terry Deitz, former "Survivor" contestant; Daniel Trust, Rwandan genocide survivor; Dut Tong, genocide survivor from southern Sudan; and David Blanks, who survived being shot five times in Hartford while being mugged. (Photo by Jack Sheedy)

SIMSBURY – For Terry Deitz and Gillian Larson, "Survivor" was a game they played on televi-sion. On May 15, these celebrities swapped stories with Peh Htoo, Daniel Trust and Dut Tong, real-life survivors of genocide, war and slavery. By the end of the evening, the celebrity survivors would bow to the real survivors, and about 100 spectators would give generously so that other refugees can persevere.

"Mine was a game," said Mrs. Larson, a contestant on "Survivor: Gabon – Earth’s Last Eden" in 2008. "Mine was something I wanted to do. But the people that we’re fund-raising for had no choice. It was nothing that they asked for. It was done for them."

BLOOMFIELD – For 26 men and women, May 7 was a special night, as Archbishop Henry J. Mansell presented certificates of commission to new lay ministers. But for the family of one man who died before he could complete the formation program, the ceremonies at the Archdiocesan Center at St. Thomas Seminary were bittersweet.

Francis Revay, a parishioner at St. Catherine Parish in Broad Brook, died on Holy Thursday, April 1, at age 78. His children, Kathleen Hart, Michelle Simmons and John Revay, received their father’s certificate of commission from Archbishop Mansell, who whispered words of condolence to each of them.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) has presented its second Lily Gutierrez Memorial Award to Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Hartford.

The award, presented at CLINIC’s annual convention May 19-21, confers a monetary grant to an affiliate of the network that has demonstrated outstanding services to immigrants within its first two years of existence.

'WAR' REQUIEM PERFORMED – The Cathedral of St. Joseph is filled to capacity May 2 for a performance of Benjamin Britten’s "War Requiem," op. 66, by the University of Hartford’s Hartt School – including the Hartt Symphony Orchestra, Hartt Camerata, Hartt Chamber Choir, Hartt Choir and Hartt Chorale – and the choir of the Cathedral of St Joseph, Hartford Chorale, Connecticut Children’s Choir, organist Dr. Ezequiel Menéndez, soprano Jonita Lattimore, tenor William Hite, and baritone David Murray. Christopher Zimmerman conducted. More than 300 singers and musicians participated in the performance. Mr. Zimmerman is the Hartt School’s Mary Primrose Fuller Chair of Orchestral Conducting. Photo by Bob Mullen

NORTH HAVEN – The Catholic Transcript won three first-place awards and one second place award at the Connecticut Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists annual meeting and dinner on May 27.

Msgr. David Q. Liptak, executive editor, won first-place for his editorial recounting the fundamental role of religion in our country's observance of Thanksgiving. Columnist Dr. Donald DeMarco took the top honor for an opinion column titled "When Ethics Has Nothing to Say." Graphic artist Leslie DiVenere garnered the first-place award for her design of a front page. Photographer Bob Mullen took second place in the feature photo category with a photograph taken at the Archdiocese of Hartford's inaugural Blue Mass in 2009.