Whiteheads Honored at Brent Society Dinner

By Linda Busetti
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the issue of 6/6/02)

Former career diplomat and author Ken Whitehead, introduced as "one of the most gifted Catholic laymen," and his wife Margaret, a longtime catechist, were honored during the Brent Society’s 26th Annual Awards Dinner with its Distinguished Service Award. The dinner was held at the Fairview Park Marriott Hotel in Falls Church on May 29.

In welcoming remarks, Brent Society President Charles Molineaux reminded 175 dinner guests, "We are all charged to be evangelizers wherever we are." Father James Gould, Brent Society moderator and pastor of St. Raymond of Penafort Parish in Fairfax Station, provided the invocation.

The Whiteheads’ longtime friend Msgr. Michael J. Wrenn of the Institute of Religious Studies in Yonkers, N.Y., introduced the honorees. Msgr. Wrenn praised Whitehead’s dedication to his "vocation of a layman."

As a career diplomat, Whitehead served in Rome and the Middle East. He was chief of Arabic Service of the Voice of America and became U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Postsecondary Education during the Reagan administration. Whitehead authored eight books and numerous articles, co-authored "Flawed Expectations: The Reception of the Catechism of the Catholic Church," with Msgr. Wrenn and translated 22 books from the original French, German or Italian. Whitehead has served on the boards of directors of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars and the Christus Magister Foundation. For nine years he was chairman of the board of the Notre Dame Institute, now Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College.

Msgr. Wrenn extolled Margaret Whitehead’s long service as a Catholic educator, faithful wife and devoted mother. Beginning in Tripoli, Libya, she regularly volunteered as a CCD teacher. During the 1985-86 school year she taught religion at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington. She has been director of religious education at Holy Spirit Parish in Annandale since 1994. From 1987-91, she was co-founder and president of the Educational Guidance Institute, an organization established to promote and carry out programs on abstinence-based education in human sexuality for teenagers. She co-managed such programs in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, including in black and Hispanic communities. She serves on the national board of directors of Women for Faith and Family.

In thanking the Brent Society, Margaret Whitehead said she was surprised to receive the award because she does not see herself as a public person. "What I have had is a life with opportunities to live out my baptism … If an opportunity comes up, I’ll take it. Remember we need to look for the opportunities that God gives us." She advised the assembly, "Get a life; get a supernatural life."

The Whiteheads, who are members of St. James Parish in Falls Church, have four sons.

Ken Whitehead served as the evening’s keynote speaker, putting a different spin on the announced "Reflections on Church Crises" with a scholarly address, "Crisis in the Church 200 Years Ago." Whitehead recounted Pope Pius VI’s his refusal to submit to Napoleon Bonaparte’s dictates on the clergy, which resulted in the pontiff’s imprisonment in France and "death as a prisoner" in 1799.

Although the Church was not expected to survive the French Revolution — at the time, Pope Pius VI was called "the last pope" — it did indeed survive, Whitehead explained, with the election of Pius VII after a 14-week conclave. "The Catholic Church has the power of resurrection," Whitehead said. "Do not think the Church or the papacy is down for the count."

After Ken Whitehead’s address, Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde presented the Brent Society Distinguished Service Award to the Whiteheads.

Bishop Ireton senior Bridget Faherty was honored as the 2002 Brent Society Youth Awardee. Faherty is student body vice president, a Salesian Spirituality group leader and cantor/soloist and member of two adult church choirs. She was recognized for her "enthusiasm, ability and maturity as a student leader." Brent Society board member Valerie Brown read a letter of thanks from Faherty, who was attending Bishop Ireton’s Baccalaureate Mass.

After a final blessing, Bishop Loverde encouraged the dinner guests to "Go forth into the deep" as evangelists in the spirit of the Brent Society.

The Brent Society is a lay Catholic group in the diocese that holds educational programs for members and interested guests. For information on the Brent Society go to their Web site at http://www.petersvoice.com/brentsociety.htm.

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