Support Covenant Radio

Archbishop Robert J. Carlson recently expressed his support for Covenant Network Catholic Radio as the St. Louis area’ Catholic radio apostolate. Founded in 1997 and based in St. Louis, Covenant Network operates 40 radio stations, sharing information on the Catholic faith, including eight stations within the boundaries of the Archdiocese (AM 1460 and AM 1080 in St. Louis; 96.7 FM in south St. Louis and Jefferson counties; 92.7 FM in St. Louis and parts of north St. Louis County; 102.9 FM in St. Charles; 102.9 FM in Washington; 90.1 in Gray Summit; and 90.3 FM in Perryville and Franklin County).

The archbishop also shared his disappointment that a competitor, Relevant Radio, recently began operating in the St. Louis area. The Catholic radio network, based in Green Bay, Wis., had sought permission from the Archbishop to operate in St. Louis. “As our Archdiocese is already served by Covenant Network Catholic Radio, I denied them permission,” the archbishop wrote in his letter to parishes, offices and agencies. “I am disappointed that Relevant Radio has chosen to come to St. Louis after I denied them permission,” he wrote. “This will pose a significant challenge as two Catholic radio apostolates will be competing for the same donors.” The archbishop encouraged parishes to continue support for Covenant Network with bulletin announcements and inserts and yard signs. For more information on Covenant Network, visit ourcatholicradio.org.

New Vianney president

Richard P. Davis will serve at the next president of St. John Vianney High School in Kirkwood. He will begin work July 1. Mike Loyet retires at the end of the school year after leading Vianney as president since 2007. Davis completed his bachelor’s and master’s in business administration at Saint Louis University and worked at Anheuser-Busch for more than 20 years, including as vice president of mass merchandising. He later served as director of advancement at Covenant House Missouri and is currently an adjunct faculty member in the College of Business and Administration at University of Missouri-St. Louis. He is a member of Vianney’s Class of 1979 and serves on the school’s board of directors. He is a member of Assumption Parish in south St. Louis County. Loyet led the school in operating with a surplus budget and building its endowment while advancing the school’s mission to form young men for spiritual, academic and personal excellence in the Catholic, Marianist tradition.

Pitlyk named federal judge

The U.S. Senate confirmed Sarah Pitlyk Dec. 4 to a lifetime appointment to the federal judiciary for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. She will begin her new role Dec. 31. Pitlyk, 42, is a special counsel at the Thomas More Society, where her practice focuses on constitutional and civil rights litigation. She worked on cases including a defeat of St. Louis City’s “abortion sanctuary city” ordinance, an embryo custody appeal, amicus briefs in several landmark pro-life and religious liberty cases, in addition to contract, employment and tax disputes, according to her biography. She also is part of a team defending undercover journalists against civil lawsuits and criminal charges resulting from an investigation of illegal fetal tissue trafficking. Before joining the Thomas More Society, Pitlyk worked at Clark & Sauer LLC, a civil litigation firm in St. Louis, and was an associate at Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, D.C. Upon graduation from law school, she served as a law clerk to then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Pitlyk earned a bachelor’s degree from Boston College, master’s degrees from Georgetown University and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), where she studied as a Fulbright Scholar, and her law degree from Yale Law School. Pitlyk attended Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and resides in St. Louis with her husband, Mark, and four children.

Coat drive

Strait Realty is sponsoring CoatCheckSTL, a coat drive to benefit people served by Catholic Charities of St. Louis’ eight federated agencies: Cardinal Ritter Senior Services; Good Shepherd Children & Family Services; Marygrove; Queen of Peace Center; Saint Louis Counseling; Saint Martha’s Hall; St. Francis Community Services; and St. Patrick Center. New or gently used coats appropriate for children through senior adults can be dropped off through Dec. 14 at the Catholic Charities central office, 4445 Lindell Blvd., or at any area Carrollton Bank, Central Bank, or Great Southern Bank. For bank locations, to make an online donation, or to learn more, visit www.coatcheckstl.org. Catholic Charities of St. Louis Federation services impact more than 100,000 people annually, including those who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness; children who are dependent, abused and neglected; senior adults with economic challenges; and many others in need of assistance.

New SLU building

Saint Louis University held a topping-out ceremony on the new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering (ISE) Building being constructed on the Midtown campus. The $50 million, 90,000-square-foot, three-story building is slated to open in 2020. As part of the ceremony, students, faculty, staff and friends of the university signed the steel beam that will complete the topping-out.

New book from Bishop Hermann

Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Robert J. Hermann has published a new book, “Come Alive in Jesus,” a collection of nine homilies he gave at a solemn novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Beginning with a response to God’s call to Holiness, Bishop Hermann teaches the reader how to imitate Mary in allowing God to enrich the love affair He has with us. Proceeds from the sale of the book, which is available at Catholic Gifts and Books in Chesterfield, will benefit Carmel of St. Joseph in St. Louis. For more information, see enroutebooksandmedia.com/comealiveinjesus.

Rural health care

Residents of rural areas are more likely to be hospitalized and to die than those who live in cities primarily because they lack access to specialists, recent research found. The study, led by Kenton Johnston, assistant professor of health management and policy at Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice, looked at data from Medicare patients who have chronic health problems. The paper was published in the December 2019 issue of Health Affairs. Suggested strategies include expanding telemedicine in key areas such as cardiology; adding incentives such as loan forgiveness for physicians to practice in rural areas; offering incentives for rural and urban hospital partnerships; and bringing urban specialists into rural health systems on certain days of the week.