Maine’s Catholic bishop makes 1st visit to Aroostook County

Maine’s new bishop visited Aroostook County this week to see firsthand the work of Catholic Charities Maine.

The Most Rev. James Thomas Ruggieri was installed in May as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland’s 13th bishop. He replaced outgoing Bishop Robert Deeley.

The trip was Ruggieri’s first visit to Aroostook County. After spending some time in the St. John Valley, he traveled to Caribou to celebrate Tuesday morning Mass at Holy Rosary Church and tour the Catholic Charities Maine Food Bank . Later he stopped in Presque Isle to bless the newly relocated Threads of Hope Thrift Store and Book Nook at the Aroostook Centre Mall.

“It’s been quite an education [to see] what great work Catholic Charities Maine is doing up here in The County,” he said.

The Threads of Hope thrift store moved from Parsons Street to the mall, in the space formerly occupied by Staples and part of Porteous. It also incorporates the Hope Chest, an outlet for donated higher-end goods.

All proceeds benefit Catholic Charities programs, including Feed The County, which supports 30 food pantries throughout Aroostook.

Dixie Shaw, Catholic Charities Maine’s director of hunger and relief services, narrated a brief tour of the stores and explained some of the charity’s work.

The mission is simple: shoppers get a deal and someone in need gets a meal, she said. Catholic Charities also contributes clothing for people in other countries.

“We recycle clothing, we recycle shoes from our Monticello warehouse,” she said. “We ship 44,000 pounds of clothing to Canada that then goes overseas every six months.”

The bishop toured the store with Shaw and other Catholic Charities personnel, including Jon Blanchard, assistant director of hunger and relief services, and CEO Steve LeTourneau.

Ruggieri offered prayer before sprinkling holy water throughout the store. A blessing is really a reminder that God is present, he said.

“This place is not an ordinary store. It’s a place where holiness happens,” he said. “Lord, continue to pour out your graces here. Continue to make this place a holy place, because we recognize holiness is not something artificial, but real: charity into practice, faith into action.”

The group then stopped for a blessing at the Book Nook. The used book store is run by one volunteer, Shaw said, who organizes all the books by author and topic. People pay by depositing cash or checks into a locked box.

The concept of a used bookstore for charity is unique, particularly one run on the honor system, LeTourneau said.

While at the bookstore, Ruggieri spoke and prayed with a local family and then talked about his visit north. He was struck by the beauty of the landscape and the ripening fields of grain that were like a golden carpet, he said.

He is also recognizing some of the region’s needs. Poverty and The County’s aging population are at the top of the list, as well as the lack of workers to fill important jobs, particularly in municipal service, he said.

The need to find people to take jobs and augment the population is real, he said.

“We don’t have enough for the police force or the emergency personnel,” he said. “That’s a practical issue, because it does affect everything. Not only the municipality, it affects the church, it affects everything.”

But there is always great hope, he said. While in Aroostook he also discovered that people are committed to serving each other and love their church.

A Rhode Island native, Ruggieri most recently served as pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish in Providence, Rhode Island. He was named the bishop of Portland by Pope Francis in February.

The hospitality he encountered on his trip north was wonderful, he said. He visited Madawaska, Fort Kent and Frenchville before his stops in central Aroostook.

“It’s really a beautiful place and beautiful people,” he said.

Correction: An earlier version of this report misstated the state the Most Rev. James Thomas Ruggieri is a native of.