Bishop William F. Medley embraces a man while at St. Jerome Parish in Fancy Farm on Dec. 12, 2021, where the parish had opened its doors for the tornado-displaced St. Joseph Parish in Mayfield community to celebrate Mass. St. Joseph Parish was one of many buildings in western Kentucky critically damaged in the tornadoes and storms during the night of Dec. 10. COURTESY OF SUSAN MONTALVO-GESSER
For tornado-stricken Kentucky communities, ‘God is not in the disaster – but God is in the response’
BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
Early in the morning of Saturday, Dec. 11, following a tornado warning for Daviess County the night before, Bishop William F. Medley found that his cell phone service was down – and that Gov. Andy Beshear had made an announcement about lives lost in a sudden tragedy.
The tornado damage at Resurrection Parish in Dawson Springs. COURTESY OF FR. CARL MCCARTHY
The bishop became horrified and heartbroken as he realized the Kentucky governor was addressing a tragedy close to home: intense storms and tornadoes that had ripped across the southern part of the Diocese of Owensboro the night of Friday, Dec. 10.
But that morning, with massive cell phone and internet outages across Daviess County – where Owensboro, the seat of the diocese, is located – Bishop Medley could not initially communicate with anyone by phone.
“I was doing a lot of texting,” Bishop Medley told The Western Kentucky Catholic on Dec. 13.
News began to trickle in about the destruction, which would later be confirmed as the worst tornado event in state history. Multiple parishes across the diocese had been impacted in one way or another. The effects were also being felt in Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri and Illinois.
The bishop heard about the impact on St. Joseph Parish in Mayfield – which, though seriously damaged, was spared some of the force when the former school building next door was destroyed instead.
Some of the tornado damage at St. Joseph Parish in Mayfield. St. Joseph Parish was one of many buildings in western Kentucky critically damaged in the tornadoes and storms during the night of Dec. 10, 2021. COURTESY OF DCN. CHRIS GUTIÉRREZ
Then he heard about destruction of Resurrection Parish in Dawson Springs: the roof was gone, windows shattered, and the building already guessed to be a total loss. The parish’s Dcn. Mike Marsili had later gone in to rescue the Blessed Sacrament from the miraculously-spared tabernacle amid the rubble of his church.
“Saturday was very emotional,” said the bishop. For a while he tried unsuccessfully to call Fr. Eric Riley, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Mayfield, and Fr. David Kennedy, pastor of the three parishes of Immaculate Conception in Earlington, Holy Cross in Providence and the damaged Resurrection in Dawson Springs.
He was finally able to get in touch with both pastors via phone later that Saturday, as emotionally difficult as it was to speak to each other.
The following day, in the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 12, Bishop Medley traveled to St. Jerome Parish in Fancy Farm, where the parish there had opened its doors for a special 2 p.m. Mass celebrated by Fr. Eric Riley for his displaced flock.
Bishop William F. Medley greets a family while at St. Jerome Parish in Fancy Farm on Dec. 12, 2021, where the parish had opened its doors for the tornado-displaced St. Joseph Parish in Mayfield community to celebrate Mass. St. Joseph Parish was one of many buildings in western Kentucky critically damaged in the tornadoes and storms during the night of Dec. 10, 2021. COURTESY OF SUSAN MONTALVO-GESSER
It is estimated that 175-200 people attended.
Since St. Joseph in Mayfield is a significantly Hispanic/Latino parish, the Mass was bittersweet since not only was this Gaudete Sunday, but this year the day coincided with the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. A large statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe graced the sanctuary, and Fr. Riley’s vestments depicted Our Lady’s apparition to St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin.
There, Bishop Medley shared a message of condolence from Cardinal Pietro Parolin, apostolic nuncio to the United States, on behalf of Pope Francis. (They also learned that the pope had prayed that morning at his Angelus for “the victims of the tornadoes that hit Kentucky and other areas of the United States.”)
Susan Montalvo-Gesser, director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Owensboro, attended that Mass at St. Jerome with Dcn. Chris Gutiérrez, director of the diocese’s Office of Hispanic/Latino Ministry.
Montalvo-Gesser encountered a woman and her children who were present at the Mass and had lost their home. The woman fell into Montalvo-Gesser’s arms, weeping.
Montalvo-Gesser had brought her small statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and handed it to one of the woman’s daughters.
“You will put this in your new house, which we will help you with,” she said.
Besides supporting the community as a whole, Montalvo-Gesser was particularly concerned for four of her Catholic Charities clients from that area – whom she had not yet heard were all right. She found three of them at the Mass, and the fourth she encountered later, helping to assist those who had been affected by the storms.
The tabernacle, containing the Blessed Sacrament, was miraculously spared when a tornado hit Resurrection Parish in Dawson Springs during the night of Dec. 10, 2021. COURTESY OF FR. CARL MCCARTHY
“There is a beauty of people who have lost everything, going out to see those whom they can help,” she said.
That weekend, Bishop Medley requested that parishes hold a second collection for the efforts of Catholic Charities as they began serving the suffering members of the impacted communities. The diocese also set up a specific fund for Catholic Charities Tornado Relief, accessible at https://owensborodiocese.org/give.
Montalvo-Gesser said monetary donations are preferred at the present time, so that Catholic Charities can allot the money to obtain what is needed, on the ground, in each uniquely affected area.
Bishop Medley told the WKC that speaking on Dec. 13, “even today the immensity continues to expand.”
Gov. Andy Beshear confirmed that day that at least four tornadoes had touched down in Kentucky, with one on the ground for more than 200 miles in Kentucky alone, and that lives were lost in eight counties. It is currently believed that 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, there is significant damage in 18 counties, and ages of those lost range from 5 months to 86 years old.
But the response has been powerful. In the morning of Dec. 13, the switchboard phone was ringing nonstop at the McRaith Catholic Center (the pastoral center office of the Diocese of Owensboro) with calls from people across the United States wanting to send assistance.
The diocese even received a message from Archbishop Fabio Martínez Castilla of the Archdiocese of Tuxtla Gutiérrez in Chiapas, Mexico – hometown of Diocese of Owensboro priest Fr. Carmelo Jimenez of St. Michael Parish in Sebree.
At the end of the Mass in Fancy Farm, Bishop Medley told the congregation that in a few days, many had planned to have a nativity set decorating their homes in celebration of Christmas.
“But the wood of the manger gives way to the wood of the cross. And the cross is in our churches year-round,” said the bishop. “We can make our sufferings one in communion with Christ on the cross.”
He pointed out that the parish church that had suffered the most damage was named after the Resurrection.
“The theme of the Resurrection will be core to our thoughts during this very difficult process,” he said.
Montalvo-Gesser agreed: “God is not in the disaster. But God is in the response.”
Following the disastrous tornadoes during the night of Dec. 10, 2021, volunteers carry water bottles and other supplies into the parish hall at St. Joseph Parish in Mayfield. The hall was originally without power, but later on a generator was provided. COURTESY OF SUSAN MONTALVO-GESSER
How to help
Monetary donations may be given digitally via https://owensborodiocese.org/give/. Checks may be mailed, with “Tornado Disaster Relief” written in the memo, to Catholic Charities, 600 Locust St., Owensboro, KY, 42301. To learn more about ways to help, call the McRaith Catholic Center at (270) 683-1545.
