Author Bernice Mooney receives highest honor

Intermountain Catholic

+ Enlarge

Vicar General Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald (left) presents Bernice Maher Mooney with the Equestrian Order of Saint Gregory the Great for Women Award given to her by Pope Benedict XVI. Jay Mooney (right) looks on in honor of his wife's accomplishments. Msgr. Fitzgerald and Bernice Mooney coauthored the third edition of ?Salt of the Earth,? which was published by the University of Utah Press. IC photo by Christine Young

SALT LAKE CITY — "I speak on behalf of all of us in the Diocese of Salt Lake City, when I say how very grateful we are, Bernice to you and to Msgr. Fitzgerald for this third edition of "Salt of the Earth," said the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City at the Pastoral Center Christmas luncheon Dec. 12 at the bishop's residence.

Bernice Maher Mooney and Vicar General Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald collaborated so closely on this project, they decided they would coauthor this third edition.

"It is a tremendous legacy to our diocese to have in writing this very wonderful publication, and history of our diocese and our local church. It is of the Holy Spirit at work in the Church through so many people. And, of course, all of us are beneficiaries of those who have gone before us. It is our prayer that we will leave a legacy for those who will come after us.

"Bernice, you and Msgr. Fitzgerald have given us this rich gift, and there is no way we can ever repay you," said Bishop Wester as he presented Bernice with the highest award a lay person can receive. Bernice received from Pope Benedict XVI, the Equestrian Order of Saint Gregory the Great for Women Award. "You certainly deserve this award for your great work, your dedication to the Church, and for the gift your have given the Church for generations to come. I want you to hear in my humble words, echoes of gratitude from generation to generation. You will always be somebody in our local Church who is very special. Congratulations, and may God always bless you."

Bishop Wester said we would have had an award for Msgr. Fitzgerald, but he has already received every award you can have.

"He has received the Notary Apostolic, which could actually make him more important than me if I were important," said Bishop Wester jokingly.

"My personal gratitude for Msgr. Fitzgerald is not only for what he does, but for being such a dear friend," said Bishop Wester. "I was installed March 14, 2007, and he has been a constant support day-in and day-out. Also, on a professional level, he is so tireless in his service to the church and in his service to me. I am very grateful for that. I want to thank Msgr. Fitzgerald for his collaboration with Bernice on this very important work.

"I have been a priest for 46 years since 1962," said Msgr. Fitzgerald. "During that time I personally experienced nearly half of the history since the dedication of the Cathedral of the Madeleine (in 1909). I grew up in Utah, so as a young boy going through Catholic school and the parishes, I knew a lot of the people in ‘Salt of the Earth.' I knew many of the priests, religious women, and lay people. So as a result, I was able to add the perspective of my experience of them into the story of the book. Because I was here and lived so many of the events, I was able to reflect back on the historic significance of those events as they related in history.

"Working with Bernice was a privilege," said Msgr. Fitzgerald. "She is extremely knowledgeable as a researcher and is extremely knowledgeable in terms of journalistic and editorial requirements that go into publishing a book. We were really responding to the University of Utah Press when we worked on the book because the director of the University Press, approached us and asked if we would publish the book because the University wants to reflect the diversity of Utah's culture in their various publications. They felt it would be good to have Salt of the Earth as one of their publications. We were certainly inspired by that. The University Press provided a financial backing for the publication of the third edition of the book. "

"Bringing this work up-to-date, up to the beginning of 2008, and Bishop Wester's presence in the Diocese of Salt Lake City, was really a wonderful opportunity for us to archive and document the marvelous things that have happened to our church as we are growing here in the state of Utah."

"The previous two editions were published by the diocese," said Bernice who was the archivist for the Diocese of Salt Lake City for 18 years. In 1979, after living in California for 25 years and upon finishing my Master's Degree, we returned to Utah. My first book was "The Story of the Cathedral of the Madeleine," which I wrote in 1981. Having done that, I thought we could write a book using Msgr. Jerome Stoffel's research, much of which we used for the first edition of "Salt of the Earth." That was how it all began.

The full title of the third edition is "Salt of the Earth – The History of the Catholic Church in Utah, 1776-2007," and it begins when Catholicism first entered into the State of Utah," said Bernice. "We wrote the third edition working with the second edition, with the intention of making it more of a narrative with less schedules and tables.

When Msgr. Fitzgerald entered into the writing of the book as the coauthor, he brought a great deal of extensive information and experience he had with the dioceses," said Bernice. "He was able to enrich a great deal that was already in the manuscript, and add additional material and insight or a few additional words from his memory. It was difficult at times, and he was the guiding light that pulled us through."

Bernice said the book required careful research when working with specific dates. The longest chapter discusses the 15 parishes Bishop Duane G. Hunt (1937-1960) founded. The book mentions all 49 parishes.

"We not only had the planning, forming the notes, and the appendix, but we also completed the index, which is usually done by the publisher," said Bernice.

"The third edition follows the same method that it had in the second edition, but the highlight of the book is the very exquisite pictures," said Bernice. "There is a group of color pictures that begin on page 171, that are very unusual. There are also black and white photos throughout the entire manuscript."

Bernice said one of the most interesting items Msgr. Fitzgerald added to the book was the history of Catholic Community Services, which, when it was founded during the 1940s, was called Catholic Charities. When Msgr. Fitzgerald was a young priest, he became interested in social services, an interest he has maintained throughout his life, and to which he has contributed a great deal. He saw Catholic Charities grow so that by 1981, it was renamed Catholic Community Services. Msgr. Fitzgerald was the executive director from 1994 to 1996.

"We tried to bring the book up-to-date to when Bishop Wester was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on January 7, 2007," said Bernice. "He arrived in the diocese shortly thereafter. Bishop Wester has come to understand us to beautifully and to serve us so well. He travels so extensively with not only his responsibilities in Utah, but his responsibilities nationally and internationally.

"This book covers the lives of all of our bishops from our first Bishop Lawrence Scanlan (1891-1915) through Bishop Wester," said Bernice. "It tells the main efforts they made to forward and develop our Church in Utah."