December 25, 2024

Editor’s Note: As we prepare for a new year, we take this opportunity to look back at some of the highlights and notable moments of 2024.
Jan. 1 – Seven paintings created by artist Shana Kaminski are hung below the choir loft at Sacred Heart Church in Massena. Four of the paintings depict patron saints of Massena-area Catholic churches, and the other three depict Catholics who ministered in the region and attained sainthood.

Jan. 19 – March for Life is held in Washington, DC, and college students from the diocese participated.

Jan. 28 – Three statues that had been damaged in an act of vandalism are blessed and returned to their home at St. Mary’s in Canton, the culmination of a process of “restorative justice” and reconciliation involving the perpetrators of the vandalism.

Feb 8 – Father Normand C. Coté, a retired priest of the diocese, dies at age 95.

Feb. 18 – The Rite of Election and Call to Conversion is held, bringing individuals who were entering the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil to St. Mary’s Cathedral, Ogdensburg.

Feb. 24 – Linda Gifford receives the Bishop Edgar P. Wadhams Award from Bishop Terry R. LaValley. Gifford provided “compassionate care as a nursing assistant” at the Sisters of St. Joseph Motherhouse for 35 years.

Feb. 26 – Sister Bernadette Marie Lalonde, GNSH, dies at age 84.

Feb. 28 – Sister Patricia A. Murtagh, RSM, dies at age 95.

March 2 – Sister Mary Christine Morkovsky, CDP, Ph.D., dies at age 92.

March 3 – Sisters of St. Joseph, collaborating with other local churches, community organizations and schools, present two panel discussions on human trafficking – one in Watertown and one in Plattsburgh.

March 4 – Cub Scout Pack 8061, affiliated with St. André Bessette Parish in Malone, celebrates 75 years of scouting and 68 years of service from Leader Pat Sauther.

March 6 – Bishop Terry R. LaValley announces that the 2023 Bishop’s Fund Appeal reached its goal of $1.3 million.

March 8  – The  Catholic Community of Saint Alexander, Saint Augustine and Saint James, with a mission at Mother Cabrini Shrine and Saint Patrick’s Oratory, holds a screening of the Angel Studios movie “Cabrini” to a packed house at Regal Cinemas in Plattsburgh.

March 9 – Speaker Leticia Ramirez leads a discussion about creating a culture of vocations at the Father Amyot Parish Center in Norfolk, an event sponsored by the diocesan Vocations Office and LEAD.

March 13 – Father Joseph N. Sestito, a retired priest of the diocese, dies at age 95.

March 15 – Sister Joyce Frances Nfodzo, Sister Martha Duawome and Sister Justine Agbeko, Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church, come to the Diocese of Ogdensburg to serve at St. Joseph’s Home in Ogdensburg.

March 21 – The diocesan Chrism Mass is held at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

April 7 – Bishop Terry R. LaValley celebrates a Healing Mass for those hurt by the Church at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

April 8 – Deacon John Murray of Ogdensburg dies at age 89.

April 11 – Father Daniel T. Keefe, a retired priest of the diocese, dies at age 95.

April 20 – Teens from around the diocese gather at Trinity Catholic School in Massena for the annual Youth Rally.

April 22 – The Sisters of St. Joseph announce that their motherhouse in Watertown will be listed for sale and the sisters will be moving to smaller homes in locations around the diocese.

April 24 – Sister Mary Virginita Tarnacki, CSSF, dies at age 87.

May 14 – Priests from around the diocese gather at Wadhams Hall for the annual Jubilee Mass, held as part of the Presbyteral assembly. Honored at the Mass are Father Andrew Amyot (60 years), Msgr. Leeward Poissant (60 years), Father Raymond Diesbourg, MSC (50 years), Father Paul Kelly (50 years), Father Donald Kramberg (50 years), Father Howard Venette (40 years) and Father Scott Seymour (25 years). Father Bill Muench celebrated 65 years.

May 21 – Father Leo A. Wiley, a retired priest of the diocese, dies at age 93.

May 25 – Bishop Terry R. LaValley ordains Father Carter G. Pierce and Father Douglas A. Schirmer at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Ogdensburg.

May 29 – Bishop Terry R. LaValley announces changes in priest assignments, including the retirement of Father Steven M. Murray.

May 31 - Bishop Terry R. LaValley installs six candidates for the permanent diaconate, Garry Stevens (Castorland), Nicholas Tsibulski (Massena), Francis 5czerzenie (Piseco), Gordon Burdo (Plattsburgh}, James Law (Rainbow Lake) and James Kavanaugh (Clayton), as lectors.

June 5 – Trinity Catholic School in Massena announces that it will close at the conclusion of the academic year.

June 12 – Aiden Pearl and Gabriella Conti are named Seton Catholic valedictorian and salutatorian, while Jack Charlebois (valedictorian), Morgan Waite (salutatorian) and Bria Larrabee (outstanding vocational student) take top honors at Immaculate Heart Central.

June 17 – a 14-foot steeple and 8-foot cross are added to St. Agnes Church in Lake Placid. Both were part of the church’s original blueprints but were removed from the construction project due to cost constraints. The renovation took place almost exactly 100 years after ground was broken for the original construction.

June 19 – Trinity Catholic School student Aubrie Cameron is named a winner of the Christ is Alive! national essay contest.

June 21 – The North Country Catholic is awarded a third place Catholic Media Association Award for editor Darcy Fargo’s column.

June 22 – Sister Lucille Beaulieu, OSM, dies at age 94.

July 2 – Ashley Barr, a teacher at St. James School in Gouverneur, is awarded the Distinguished Teacher Award during a luncheon at Bishop Terry R. LaValley’s residence.

July 13 – Sisters of St. Joseph Sister Mary Christine Taylor (75 years), Sister James Marie Kelly (70 years), Sister Mary Anne Croitz (65 years), Sister Mary Rita Kempney (65 years), Sister Annunciata Collins (60 years), Sister Mary Helen Hermann (60 years) and Sister Mary Eamon Lyng (60 years) celebrate jubilees.

July 17-21 – Bishop Terry R. LaValley and residents of the diocese attend the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana.

July 23 – Seminarian Michelet Boncoeur is admitted to candidacy for Holy Orders in a rite celebrated by Bishop Terry R. LaValley.

Aug. 12 – Youth altar servers, lectors, greets and catechetical assistants gather at Camp Guggenheim for the server picnic.

Aug. 23 – Over 120 people from around the diocese – priests, deacons, consecrated religious and lay people, gather at St. Agnes Parish in Lake Placid to learn about Divine Renovation.

Aug. 26 – Father Clyde Lewis, pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Champlain and St. Patrick’s Church in Rouses Point, retires.

Sept. 1 – Father Donald A. Robinson is named dean of the Jefferson-Lewis Deanery, replacing Father Arthur J. LaBaff.

Sept. 8 – Marries couples from around the diocese gather to celebrate the annual Marriage Jubilee.

Sept. 8 – Sister Mary Alisette, CSSF, dies at age 92.

Sept. 14 – The 2024 Bishop’s Fund Appeal, Living Stories of Our Faith, kicks off.

Sept. 17 – St. Mary’s Church in Ticonderoga and Mercy Care of the Adirondacks host the first Friendship Volunteer training, part of an effort to support older adults in that community and surrounding areas.

Sept. 20-22 – Teens gather at Camp Guggenheim for the annual diocesan Leadership Weekend.

Sept. 25 – Seminarian Kevin McCullouch is installed as an acolyte at Saint Vincent’s Seminary in Latrobe.

Sept. 27 – Father Jose John Kanyiankunnel, a priest of the Heralds of Good News, arrives in Malone, where he will serve as parochial vicar.

Sept. 28 – St. James Church, Gouverneur, celebrates its 150th anniversary.

Sept. 29 – Representatives of local law enforcement, emergency services, corrections and emergency communications gathered at St. Mary’s in Canton for the annual Blue Mass.

Sept. 29 – St. Regis Mission Church dedicates a memorial honoring all who spent time at residential schools.

Oct. 6 – Life Chain, a prayerful demonstration advocating for the protection of life from conception to natural death, is held in Plattsburgh, Massena, Potsdam, Saranac Lake and Watertown.

Oct. 16 – Father Gerald A. Cerank, a retired priest of the diocese, dies at age 81.

Oct. 21 – Diocesan Catholic school educators gather at the Cambria Hotel and St. Agnes Church in Lake Placid for the annual superintendent’s conference.

Oct. 22 – Sister Joseph Marie Marczak, CSSF, dies at age 77.

Oct. 26 – Sister Paula Marie Skalski, CSSF, dies at age 84.

Oct. 31 – Father Clyde A. Lewis, a retired priest of the diocese, dies at age 85.

Nov. 6 – A time capsule is placed at Sacred Heart Church in Massena, part of the church’s 100th anniversary celebration.

Nov. 14 – Sister Kathryn Healy, GNSH, dies at age 92.

Nov. 27 – Youth artists from Catholic Schools and religious education programs win a contest to design Bishop LaValley’s Christmas cards. Winners include Ella Fitzgerald, St. Bernard’s School, Saranac Lake, Ruthie Joyner, St. Bernard’s School, Emilia Gradis, Seton Catholic, Plattsburgh, Minerva Herina, Immaculate Heart Central, Watertown, and Mary Curtis, Immaculate Heart Central.

Nov. 28 – Sister Anne Hogan, SSJ, dies at age 91.

Dec. 5 – Sister Judy Adams, SSJ, dies at age 82.

Dec. 7 – The diocesan cross for the Jubilee Year 2025 began its trek across the diocese, stopping first in Plattsburgh, then Tupper Lake and then Watertown before making its way to St. Mary’s Cathedral for the opening of the jubilee year on Dec. 29.