DIOCESE OF TOLEDO TO CLOSE CENTENARY WITH PAPAL AND DIOCESAN HONOREES

June 8, 2011 – Toledo, OH – Bishop Leonard Blair will present both papal and diocesan honors to representatives from parishes and institutions throughout the Diocese of Toledo at a closing Centenary Vesper Service on Pentecost Sunday, June 12 at Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral 2535 Collingwood Blvd., Toledo at 5:00 p.m.  A reception for all awardees and their guests will follow.

In a statement Bishop Blair said: “As a community of faith it is important that we find ways of saying thank you to one another. After a hundred years as a diocese, it is impossible to thank everyone, but it is possible to identify representative lay individuals and couples, religious and deacons from each parish and institution who exemplify Christian service, and to express our gratitude.”
 At Bishop Blair’s request, Pope Benedict XVI has conferred the papal Benemerenti (“well deserved”)) Medal on eleven individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the wider Catholic community on the diocesan level. The first Benemerenti Medals were bestowed by Pope Pius VI in 1791.

The eleven awardees and their city of residence are as follows:
• Jack Altenburger, Toledo, Ohio
• Ruth Ann Bishop, Mansfield, Ohio
• Deacon Alfredo Diaz, Fremont, Ohio
• Deacon Floyd Hohman, New Reigel, Ohio
• Catherine Kruse, Toledo, Ohio
• Frank Link, Sandusky, Ohio
• Rosalyn Liston, Lima, Ohio
• Sister Nancy Mathias, OSU, Oregon, Ohio
• Patricia Oedy-Murray, Oregon, Ohio
• Sister Mary Thill, OSF, Sylvania, Ohio
• Michael Wasserman, Sylvania, Ohio    

At the Vesper Service a diocesan Centenary Award will also be conferred on 139 individuals and couples nominated by parishes and institutions throughout the diocese for outstanding local service. The long list of honorees is attached and also available at the diocesan website www.toledodiocese.org and will also be published in a special insert in the June 26 Catholic Chronicle  www.catholicchronicle.org.    
Contact Sally Oberski or Kelly O’Loughlin at 419-244-6711 or soberski@toledodiocese.org and koloughlin@toledodiocese.org. The Diocese of Toledo is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/diocesetoledo and Twitter @DioceseToledo.

The Diocese of Toledo, established April 15, 1910 encompasses 8222 square miles in a mixture of urban and rural areas that spans 19 counties across Northwest Ohio, serving 322,523 Catholics in 126 parishes. The diocese includes Allen, Crawford, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Henry, Huron, Lucas, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Van Wert, Williams, Wood and Wyandot counties.