BROOKFIELD, Wis. — Father Frank Malloy was simply looking for a way to raise money to improve the school library and build a new playground.
The pastor of St. Luke parish in Brookfield, Wis., Father Malloy approached American Girl doll company about a fashion show fund-raiser. But when the parish of 1,200 families discovered American Girl was supporting an organization which promotes abortion and “sexual experimentation” and opposes abstinence training, they decided to pull out.
They gave up the prospect of raising $10,000 to $30,000 for their school.
Father Malloy called American Girl — character dolls and accompanying books from U.S. history — “a wonderful product.”
“Lots of girls have bought them, learned a lot and enjoyed them,” he told the Register. “I'm the one that approached American Girl looking for fund-raising help, but now that I know what their values are it seems hypocritical for me to finish off the church construction projects with money from a company that has values different than ours.” He said he has no ill will toward Wisconsin-based American Girl or its parent company, Mattel, nor does he regret losing a potentially lucrative fund-raising opportunity.
“We can find another way: we'll do more bake sales, spaghetti dinners or fish fries. We'll raise the funds the right way. We're willing to do that,” Father Malloy said.
On Sept. 19, American Girl launched its new “I Can” project to raise money for Girls Inc. — formerly known as the Girls Club of America — pledging to give 70 cents for every dollar of “I Can” bracelet sales, plus a $50,000 donation.
What the girls — or their parents — who buy the bracelet aren't told up front is that Girls Inc. is pro-abortion and pro-contraception, lobbies against abstinence-only sex education, and encourages young girls to explore their “sexuality” and be open to lesbianism.
Neither presidents for Girls Inc. or American Girl were available for comment, but each company released statements in response to the controversy.
The Girls Inc. statement said, “Recently, our mission to help girls develop their self-esteem and self-reliance has become the target of false, inflammatory statements from people who are pursuing a narrow political agenda. Girls Incorporated stands on its long positive history. The millions of lives we have touched speak for who we are and our values.”
In American Girl's statement, the company does not back down from its association with Girls Inc. and claims to be true to its value of wholesomeness.
“We are profoundly disappointed that certain groups have chosen to misconstrue American Girl's purely altruistic efforts and turn them into a broader political statement on issues that we, as a corporation, have no position. The American Girl brand exemplifies the values of wholesomeness and responsibility that we would expect any organization to commend.”
The Girls Inc. website declares in a pro-abortion advocacy statement:
“Girls Incorporated affirms that girls and young women should make responsible decisions about sexuality, pregnancy and parenthood. We recognize the right of all women to choose whether, when, and under what circumstances to bear children. … Girls Incorporated supports a woman's freedom of choice, a constitutional right established by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 in Roe vs. Wade.”
“Freedom of choice” was not mentioned in the Supreme Court decision; but what it established was the legality of abortion.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person — among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life” (No. 2270).
The advocacy statement continues: “To make responsible decisions about sexuality, pregnancy and parenthood, girls need and have a right to sensitive, truthful sexuality education; convenient access to safe, effective methods of contraception and protection from disease; and referral to comprehensive information, counseling, clinical and other services that support their responsible decisions.”
The site also promotes books on investigating sexual orientation, bi-sexuality and lesbianism. The American Girl website describes Girls Inc. as “a national organization dedicated to inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold.”
The Catechism teaches that chastity is the only way to be strong, smart, bold — and happy, saying “Either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy” (No. 2339).
Concerned Citizens
Eileen Peterson of Stony Brook, N.Y., used to buy American Girl dolls for her daughters, who are now young adults. But the 48-year-old mother of seven says her future granddaughters won't be getting them.
“I cannot believe this organization that promotes wholesomeness and family values is supporting abortion and what we believe is against God's teachings,” Peterson told the Register.
Peterson, who volunteers her time to serve women who have had abortions, has fought the public funding of Planned Parenthood for decades, said she has seen how money talks and boycotts work.
If pro-lifers “used their purchase power,” she said, “you would see those alliances drop like flies.”
One group calling for a boycott of American Girl is the Pro-Life Action League of Chicago. President Ann Scheidler says she's always liked American Girl dolls and has taken her granddaughters to American Girl Place, its local store. But now she is hoping consumers will refrain from buying the products.
“American Girl invites girls to be interested in reading and history and has a wholesome image,” she said. “But to connect with a pro-abortion outlet seems to be a real betrayal; little girls buying bracelets have no idea where the money is going.”
LetGirlsBeGirls.org, a grassroots organization established by a small group of concerned mothers in Peoria, Ill., in response to the controversy, is asking parents to write letters rather than boycott the company.
“I think we're trying to be ‘in the world but not of it’ — trying to engage the culture in a non-toxic way,” organizer Nancy Piccione said. “We want to meet these challenges and concerns in a pro-active, positive way.”
The mother of three acknowledged that the controversy is frustrating because American Girl has had a long record of wholesomeness.
“For them to associate with Girls Inc. just didn't fit,” she said. “I thought, there has got to be a way to get the message to the company without being condemning or making an ultimatum. … It's easy to see how perhaps people at American Girl could have been misled or made this mistaken decision without realizing that so many of their customers would be so deeply offended,” Piccione said.
Scheidler said she tried that approach. She says she contacted American Girl to make sure they knew Girls Inc. was pro-abortion, and they confirmed that they knew. Scheidler's multiple attempts to speak with American Girl President Ellen Brothers were fruitless, so she and her group are asking concerned individuals to sign an online boycott. The Register's attempt to get answers also failed.
“I tried appealing to their concern for the customer,” said Scheidler, “but they have not backed down. The only way you can make an impact is in the pocketbook.”
So what's a concerned parent to do?
“A Life of Faith” Dolls from Mission City Press in Franklin, Tenn., may be one alternative. The non-denominational Christian company publishes books on four fictional Christian young girls, and has a line of 18-inch, soft-vinyl character dolls.
“We started our brand for girls because we want to help them develop a lifestyle of faith, ignite passion in them for Jesus Christ and the Word of God, and help them learn and understand how to live out their faith in daily situations,” Sandi Shelton, president of Mission City Press, told the Register.
American Girls publishes book series of historical fiction as well as doll collecting supplies.
For a Catholic alternative to the books, a small start is the Polish American Girls series of books which have recently been reprinted. Anne Pellowski's novels about a Polish-American frontier immigrant family are often called a “Catholic Little House on the Prairie.”
Annamarie Adkins is based in St. Paul, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: American Girl Dolls Boycott ----- EXTENDED BODY: Annamarie Adkins ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Music Fit for a Pope DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:Displaying German punctuality, Pope Benedict XVI entered Paul VI Hall Oct. 20 at 6 p.m., as scheduled. Waiting for him were 7,000 people, ready to enjoy an evening of splendid Bavarian musicianship.
Only a few of us could stand alongside the hall's main corridor to greet and touch the Pope. I saw three college students — Elisabeth from France, Paola from Mexico, and Verónica from Venezuela — silently weeping after they shook hands with the Holy Father.
The Pope looked happy and at ease. Together with the bishops participating in the Synod on the Eucharist, we were attending a concert in his honor given by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.
For Benedict it was, undoubtedly, a welcome break from his intense agenda. He loves classical music.
The concert began with two pieces from the Mass — a Kyrie (Lord, Have Mercy), composed by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, and a Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) by Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, the Pope's brother, who sat next to him in the middle of the hall.
An eight-voice song by Mendelssohn was interpreted by the renowned Regensburger Domspatzen — the oldest cathedral choir in the world, founded by bishop Wolfgang in 975 and led by Msgr. Ratzinger for 30 years.
Then came Mozart's famous Ave verum corpus (Hail, True Body) and Franz Liszt's Tu es Petrus (You Are Peter).
The black color of the suits and dresses of the men and women of the orchestra and the Athestis Choir stood out beautifully against the purple color of the stage.
The musicians were masterfully conducted by Director Christian Thielemann in the last three pieces of the program: selections of Hans Pftizner's Palestrina, Giuseppe Verdi's Te Deum and Richard Wagner's Tannhäusser.
Simple and Sweet
Characteristically, the eight pieces inspired calm, serenity, recollection and awe. The voices and musical sounds formed like a mellifluous, peaceful stream of artistic and prayerful contemplation.
Maybe the German performers knew some of the Pope's favorite compositions. The music certainly matched Benedict's meek, humble, simple, sweet character.
I thought the music matched God's style, too. God likes best to reveal himself in a sweet breeze rather than in a great wind, an earthquake or a fire (see 1 Kings 19:11-12).
Behind the orchestra and the choir stood the large and lively statue of the risen Christ with its mystifying show of bluish lights and shadows. The all-powerful Son of God likes to be hidden in the simple species of bread and wine, so as to inspire love, not fear.
“With this concert,” Benedict said in his final remarks in German, “we have experienced how high-class music purifies us and elevates us, making us feel the greatness and beauty of God.”
The Pope then greeted the organizers of the concert as well as the directors of the orchestra and choirs. He told Thielemann that he particularly enjoyed one of the pieces from Pftizner's Palestrina, and so the director took the initiative to perform it again for all of us.
“May the harmony of singing and music, that disregards social and religious barriers, be a constant invitation for believers and people of good will,” said the Holy Father, “so as to seek together for the universal language of love, that enables men to build a world of justice and solidarity, of hope and peace.”
Legionary Father Alfonso
Aguilar teaches philosophy at Rome's Regina
Apostolorum University.
aaguilar@legionaries.org
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: FR. Alfonso Aguilar, LC ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Don't Let Violence Stop The Debate DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:Parisian suburbs aren't the only trouble spots in Europe. The church where I was married, in a London suburb, was attacked by vandals recently. They scribbled a large swastika on its main wall.
Was this a deliberate anti-Catholic attack? I doubt it. The church stands on a main road, near a car park and bus stop where the local drunken youth gather to shout, leer, vomit and hit each other on Saturday nights.
I daresay the graffiti was simply part of their normal Saturday evening's entertainment. They may not even have recognized the building as a church: It is of extraordinary ugliness, even by the standards of 1970s ecclesiastical architecture, and its one redeeming feature, a statue of the patron saint placed in a niche in the wall, was ripped out and destroyed by other vandals some while ago.
The Government is planning to bring in new legislation to curb “religious hatred.” So that ought to cover things like the damage done to this suburban church, right? Wrong. The legislation does not suggest special penalties for defiling places of worship or interrupting people engaged in sacred worship. Instead, it concentrates specifically and entirely on banning statements, publications and activities that might be seen or heard by people “in whom it is likely to stir up racial or religious hatred.”
The push for this has come largely from Islamic lobbyists who want to see an end to public criticism of Islam, and who argue that they are in need of special protection in a largely non-Islamic Britain. It is being opposed by many Christian groups, because they believe it will restrict them in announcing the Christian Gospel. An essential part of Christianity is its claims to uniqueness. Under the proposed law, making such a claim could be deemed to might “stir up religious hatred.”
A straw in the wind is the difficulty already being faced by Premier Radio, a small Christian radio station operating in London and the South East. In 2001 the Radio Authority — which is supposed to control all radio broadcasting in Britain — received a number of complaints from a small obscure group called the “Mysticism and Occultism Federation.”
This group complained that its members were hurt and offended by the repeated statements of preachers on air that salvation can only come through Jesus Christ. The Radio Authority upheld their complaints on several occasions. Premier Radio — concerned that it might lose its license — has received the message that preaching a strong traditional Christian message is unacceptable.
But so far, the Radio Authority's strictures are not part of a wider law. If the “religious hatred” legislation now being proposed by the Government — through the Home Secretary David Blunket, who has vigorously defended them — the whole notion of freedom to evangelize will be altered.
The chief concern among Christian groups is that churches will start to practice “self-censorship” — much as some already do on the subject of homosexuality for fear of being called “homophobic.” Rather than risk prosecution, clergy and others will soft-pedal on the idea that Christ is our Savior and that through Him — and not through any other gods — we can find forgiveness and hope for eternal life.
Government spokesmen have so far pooh-poohed the idea that there is any risk to religious freedom under the proposed new law. And Church leaders do not, so far, seem to be unduly worried — they await the full details of the legislation and in general have indicated that they will not offer outright opposition. Some may believe that the law will actually be helpful in protecting Christians from criticism — after all, the stated aim is to reduce religious hatred.
But do Christians really mind their religion being challenged and criticized?
We already have laws against libel and slander. For Catholics, engaging in religious debate and dialogue can often open up paths to conversion. Historically, groups such as the Catholic Evidence Guild, founded by the late Frank Sheed, and the Catholic Truth Society — still producing excellent booklets and other material, more than 150 years since it first came into existence in Queen Victoria's reign — have thrived in an atmosphere of lively and sometimes downright acrimonious debate.
While we may urge each other to be charitable, we accept that sometimes those who disagree with us may express themselves rudely and angrily, and thus offend us — but free speech is important, and it would be wrong to attempt to crush it merely in order to protect our own sensibilities.
What, then, about things like vandalism of Church property, thefts from churches and deliberate damage done to sacred vessels or other items? We already have laws against vandalism and theft — what we must demand is that these are enforced. Why has it taken so long for a scribbled swastika to be removed from the wall of a suburban church? Why do we have to keep our churches locked so that people cannot drop in to pray?
Ordinary people in Britain are asking questions like this about all sorts of crimes — vandalism, theft and burglaries increase year after year, the police seemed swamped with paperwork, and, increasingly, when criminals are caught they receive mild punishments that prove no deterrent to further crime.
Graffiti and litter dominate our cities, and vandalism of trains and public buildings is routine. Commentators speak with envy of American cities where “zero-tolerance” inner-city crime policies have produced good results. Britain seems to be sinking into a morass of crime.
Into this scene, a law banning incitement to religious hatred means yet one more politically correct piece of sloganeering slotted into a government timetable already overloaded with plans for same-sex unions and a form of euthanasia aimed at the mentally incapacitated.
A number of groups, led by an evangelical organization, the Barnabas Trust, which helps people in different parts of the world who are suffering for their Christian beliefs, have joined together in a coalition to oppose the planned legislation. The Barnabas Trust has a particular interest in the matter, as it works with Christians in Islamic countries who have been imprisoned for their faith.
Under the proposed new law, it may be that describing such incidents, or drawing attention to them by means of booklets and publicity material, will be deemed to “stir up religious hatred” — because Muslims in Britain will object — and thus be illegal.
Britain does not need a law on religious hatred. There is no evidence that most ordinary Muslims in Britain want it — they are in fact much more offended by gratuitous displays of nudity and explicit sexual activity on TV and in advertising, than they are by open religious debate. And Catholics — the only religious group in Britain still officially restricted by law — we cannot hold certain public offices of state, nor marry into the Royal Family without special permission — do not want it either.
We can live with criticism and even with insults to our faith. But we do need freedom — and we believe that freedom of religious freedom is a precious right, which we do not want taken away.
Joanna Bogle writes from London.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joanna Bogle ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: A Hard Look at a Work of God DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:OPUS DEI
by John L. Allen Jr.
Doubleday, 2005
416 pages, $24.95
Available in bookstores
Readers of Dan Brown's chart-busting novel The Da Vinci Code — and the multitudes who will likely flood multiplexes to see the upcoming movie — are being introduced to a group known as Opus Dei.
Or, at least, a myth-monger's caricature thereof: Brown portrays the group as a dark and dangerous cabal secretly wielding great wealth and power within the Catholic Church. So John Allen's look at Opus Dei, aptly subtitled An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church, could hardly have come at a better time.
Allen is the Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter — a fact that might lead some to expect a thorough trashing of a “right-wing” movement in the Church by a writer at a “left-wing” newspaper. Not so. Allen has assembled a fair, well-researched analysis of Opus Dei, an organization whose Latin name means Work of God. Allen gives ample voice to critics, devotees and the organization's leaders. If anything, he may have ended up toeing the group's “official line” a little too agreeably.
But, then, defining Opus Dei has never been easy. It's not a religious order. It can't even be classified as one of the “new movements” in the Church. Canonically, it's a personal prelature — a term often defined as a “diocese without borders” for the pastoral care of a particular group of people.
Allen does a superb job laying out the vision of Opus Dei's founder, St. Josemaría Escrivá, in the process detailing members’ spirituality and responsibilities. He also introduces us to some of Opus Dei's “corporate works,” such as a study center in Chicago's inner city. But the most important thing about belonging to Opus Dei, Allen tells us, is learning how to become a saint through the ordinary circumstances of one's life and work.
“At its core,” Allen writes, “the message of Opus Dei is that the redemption of the world will come in large part through laywomen and men sanctifying their daily work, transforming secularity from within. … It is an explosive concept, with the potential for unleashing creative Christian energy in many areas of endeavor.”
Whether Opus Dei is the “most controversial force in the Church,” as Allen claims, is open to debate. (Call to Action, anyone?) But the author makes good on his promise to go behind the many myths that have grown up around Opus Dei. He interviews scores of stakeholders, including members, ex-members, critics and members of the hierarchy. He pores over reams of official documents and analyzes Opus Dei's finances. And he formulates a balanced perspective based on logic and common sense.
For example, there's an impression in some circles that Opus Dei has undue influence at the Vatican. But Allen does the numbers. And the veteran Rome observer finds that only about 3.6% of the 500 or so policy-level positions at the Vatican are held by Opus Dei members.
Allen ends his study with proposals for how Opus Dei can go forward in a less feather-ruffling fashion. For one thing, in order for people to better understand the group, he suggests that it collaborate formally with other Church entities, particularly religious orders, in corporal works of mercy and education. But Allen fails to show how this can be done without Opus Dei compromising its singular approach to lay spirituality.
On balance, though, Opus Dei succeeds admirably. It leaves its reader with a new appreciation for a spirituality that is open to all Christians — one that can sanctify the ordinary events of daily life and work.
The “unity of life” that Opus Dei tries to engender in its members “leads to an attitude of taking everything one does seriously,” Allen tells us, “whether it's a corporate deal involving billions of dollars … or taking the garbage out at night.”
If there's darkness or danger in that, bring it on.
John Burger is the Register's news editor.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: John Burger ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:‘Pruning’ Colleges
CATHOLIC WORLD NEWS, Nov. 3 — Archbishop Michael Miller, the secretary of the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education, predicted recently that Pope Benedict XVI might favor “evangelical pruning” of Catholic colleges that are not upholding the faith.
He told an audience at the University of Notre Dame that “the measure of an institution can be judged by its Catholic integrity.”
Once a school compromises its Catholic identity, the archbishop continued, “the burden of proof falls” on it to demonstrate a commitment to the faith by “making positive changes.”
Is it Plagiarism?
Both priests are presidents of their respective Jesuit institutions, and they have standing permission to borrow from each other's homilies, which are posted on their respective university websites.
Father Privett took no offense to the use of his work, which was first reported on by St. Louis's undergraduate newspaper “without any sense of outrage on campus,” reported the Post-Dispatch in its lengthy follow-up.
“There's no canon law about this,” said Catholic University of America's Father Donald Heet, president of the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics. “But, at best, it's irresponsible … and lousy preaching.”
Christianity 101
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, Oct. 25 — In what is believed to be a first at a public university in the United States, the university branch at Chapel Hill has launched an interdisciplinary academic minor in the study of Christianity and culture.
The curriculum “is designed not to influence or change students’ religious faith … but to enhance their knowledge of the role of Christianity over time in the context,” of many disciplines.
A distinguished speakers series will bring six scholars to campus each year to speak on Christianity on society.
Doctrine Degree
MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY, Oct. 31 — In an effort to provide a stronger preparation for parochial school teachers and catechists, the Jesuit university in Milwaukee introduced this fall a new master of arts in Christian doctrine (MACD).
The degree is designed to prepare religion teachers for Catholic grade schools and high schools and for catechists.
The MACD curriculum takes a “creedal form,” starting with God “and ending with eternal life,” said Patrick Carey, professor of theology at Marquette.
Kennedy & Vouchers
The bill — part of a larger recovery bill — calls for both public and private schools already hosting displaced students to be reimbursed $6,000 for each student they have taken in. Most private schools in Louisiana are Catholic.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: The Dean of Dialogue: Orthodox Rabbi, Papal Knight DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:Rabbi David Rosen is at the forefront of the Catholic-Jewish dialogue.
On Nov. 3, Rabbi Rosen was awarded a Papal Knighthood for his “outstanding contributions to promoting Catholic-Jewish dialogue, mutual understanding and reconciliation.” He is the first Israeli citizen and the first Orthodox rabbi to receive this honor.
The same day, the British-born rabbi was presented with the Mount Zion Award from the Benedictine Order for his efforts, in honor of the 40th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, in which the Vatican declared that the Jewish people were not guilty of the murder of Jesus.
Rosen, 54, is the president of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations, the umbrella organization that represents world Jewry to other religions, and that is an official partner with the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews. He spoke with the Register's Middle East correspondent Michele Chabin.
Apartheid helped spark your career focus, but you were also the chief rabbi of Ireland.
It evolved out of my commitment to social justice. In the late '70s and early '80s, when I was a rabbi in South Africa at the beginning of my career, bringing the religious communities together at the height of apartheid was one of the few ways to break through racial barriers. Together with leaders of the major denominations in Cape Town, I founded the Interfaith Forum Council of Christians, Muslims and Jews. I discovered that the interaction was enormously important not only for the image and values of the Jewish community, but also for its contribution to society at large.
When I was appointed chief rabbi of Ireland, Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits, who once held the same position, quipped, “Ninety-five percent of Ireland is Catholic, 5% is Protestant, and you're chief rabbi of the rest.” It's certainly true that if you don't relate to Catholic society, you can't do your job properly.
Are Jews and Catholics on friendlier terms in America than elsewhere? Why?
The key to the internalization of the transformation brought about by Nostra Aetate is the interaction between living and vibrant Catholic and Jewish communities that live alongside one another and who are engaged in society at large. In this regard, there is nothing parallel to the situation in the U.S., where Catholics and Jews — though both minorities that have experienced prejudice within their society — feel they are total equals in society. People who feel secure in their society at large are able to interact with their counterparts in other religions.
I'll give you an example: The American Jewish Committee has a program called the Catholic Jewish Educational Enrichment Project, in which priests and nuns go into Jewish schools and talk about Christianity and its relationship to Judaism, and rabbis go into Catholic parochial schools and talk about Judaism and its relationship to Christianity. This would be virtually impossible in any other part of the world.
What was it like meeting Pope John Paul II?
I met Pope John Paul II 15 or 16 times, but my longest conversation with him was in Assisi at the beginning of 1993, during his Prayer for Peace for the Balkans. I headed a small Jewish delegation to the event, and will never forget the moment he told us, “You know you are our dearly beloved elder brother of the original covenant, a covenant never broken and never to be broken.” It was, to my knowledge, the first time that Pope John Paul had articulated this formulation of the Church's radically new theological approach to Jews and Judaism. This statement sums up Nostra Aetate, the document that changed Catholic teaching.
It is important to note that during such interreligious meetings, the Pope had representatives from different religions pray separately, according to our own traditions, and then come together in some assembly. This showed remarkable sensitivity on his part and was a model of how you can have unity and respect for difference at the same time.
Have you met Pope Benedict XVI?
I met Pope Benedict twice, both times in June (2005). The first meeting was a Christian-Jewish conference organized by the Focolare Movement, the second an official private audience of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations. It has been said that Pope Benedict is not as charismatic and demonstrative as his predecessor, but during our meeting Pope Benedict came over to each one of us to talk to us individually and to express his firm commitment to continue the path of his predecessor. He is a great man.
The controversy over the alleged failure of Pope Pius XII to give sufficient help to Jews during the Holocaust continues to trouble Catholic-Jewish relations. Is a resolution in sight?
For better or for worse, history is not an objective science, and I don't believe that any evidence is going to convince those on either side of this controversy that its position is incorrect. Pope Pius’ defenders say he genuinely believed that directly challenging the Nazi regime would have been counterproductive. The Jewish side would say that at the very least, he could have done more to give us hope during our time of greatest distress.
Jews and Catholics will need to agree to disagree on this matter and not allow it to disturb the remarkable positive relations achieved between the two communities during the past 40 years.
Holy Land Christians are in a precarious position these days, with many leaving the region. Why is their continued presence important, and what can be done to encourage this?
The well-being of the Christian minority is in the interests of Israeli and Palestinian society. The well-being of the Christian communities in the Holy Land is the real litmus test of the genuine democratic nature of the governments under which they live. If Christians feel forced to leave and don't feel they have a stake in the land of their origins, it a reflection of a profound failure.
In Bethlehem and environs [which are in the West bank, under Palestinian rule], Christians are caught between the hammer and the anvil. As long as there is no resolution to the political conflict, their situation will only get worse. The solution is one in which two states, one Palestinian and one Israeli, live peacefully alongside one another. This is of crucial importance to everyone, most especially Christians.
What role do you see for the Vatican in securing a lasting and equitable peace between Israel and the Palestinians?
The Vatican, like any outside institution that has a profound stake in the Holy Land, can contribute to peace and reconciliation by supporting initiatives that promote bilateral, interfaith initiatives. However, when an institution is involved exclusively in assisting one side of the conflict, its ability to promote reconciliation is limited.
Catholic welfare organizations make great contributions within Palestinian society, but to the best of my knowledge there are no similar efforts within Israeli society, which has its needy, its traumatized, its victims of terror and violence. Were that to be initiated in both communities, in parallel and jointly, not only would this give the Catholic Church credibility within both societies; it would enable it to be a source of reconciliation.
As you are an Orthodox Jew, how does it feel to be made a Papal Knight?
I'm extremely moved by it. I feel this recognition is much greater than me personally. I feel it is an expression of Pope Benedict's appreciation of and commitment to the Jewish people and Israel, as well as to Catholic-Jewish dialogue.
When Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Vatican's ambassador to Israel, phoned me with the news, I was a bit shocked and even amused to think that a Jewish boy could receive a Papal Knighthood. Above all, I am extremely honored.”
Michele Chabin writes from Jeruselem.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Michele Chabin ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Christmas Wins at Wal-Mart DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:NEW YORK —Thanksgiving isn't even here yet, but that didn't stop the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights from wrangling with mega-retailer Wal-Mart over Christmas.
At issue was a Wal-Mart employee's attempt to debunk Christmas in response to a customer, and a corporate policy that unapologetically promoted winter holidays like Hanukkah and Kwanzaa but not Christmas.
Catholic League president Bill Donohue called for a boycott of the retail giant Nov. 1 because of its de-emphasis of Christmas. After a week of rebuttals, Wal-Mart relented.
Wal-Mart's actions are not the first time a retailer has caught heat for slighting Christmas. Last year, Target banned the longtime Christmas tradition of Salvation Army bell-ringers soliciting outside their stores before Christmas. The Federated Department Stores, which includes Macy's, was criticized for removing “Merry Christmas” signs from their stores and using the generic “Happy Holidays” greetings with customers.
One popular author calls these skirmishes a “War on Christmas.”
“What goes on in this war on Christmas is often instigated by someone in a school, city hall or library who has just left a diversity meeting, and they start issuing orders that look a lot like what the Wal-Mart e-mail looked like,” said John Gibson, host of The Big Story on Fox News and the author of The War on Christmas.
In Gibson's book, he examines the impact of government and quasi-government organizations pushing Christmas aside.
“When it happens in a school, a student comes away wondering, ‘Why does my religion offend people?’” said Gibson. “It discourages the free expression of religion and is unconstitutional.”
Manuel Zammarano of Orangevale, Calif. formed the Committee to Save Merry Christmas in an effort to preserve the culture and tradition of Christmas, and to put pressure on retailers such as Macy's owner.
That company responded, “Phrases such as ‘seasons greetings’ and ‘happy holidays’ embrace all the various religious, secular and ethnic celebrations that take place in the November/December period. Because these expressions of good will are more reflective of the multi-cultural society in which we live today, they tend to be used more and more frequently across all segments of society.”
Gibson pointed out, though, that, “the most authoritative polls suggest that around 85% of Americans self-identify as Christians, with the second largest group being those with no religion. And 90% of Americans practice Christmas and do Christmas shopping. Why tell them that there's something wrong with what they are doing and that we can't mention Christmas? That seems self-destructive.”
Triumph at Wal-Mart
The Wal-Mart controversy started when a female customer e-mailed Wal-Mart complaining about the corporation's decision to use the greeting “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas.” She received this e-mailed response from a Wal-Mart associate named Kirby:
“Wal-Mart is a world-wide organization and must remain conscious of this. The majority of the world still has different practices other than ‘christmas’ which is an ancient tradition that has its roots in Siberian shamanism. The colors associated with ‘christmas’ red and white are actually a representation of the aminita mascera mushroom. Santa is also borrowed from the Caucuses (sic), mistletoe from the Celts, yule log from the Goths, the time from the Visigoths and the tree from the worship of Baal. It is a wide, wide world.”
When Donohue sent Kirby's response to Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., Dan Fogleman, senior manager, public relations, responded:
“As a retailer, we recognize some of our customers may be shopping for Chanukah or Kwanza (sic) gifts during this time of year, and we certainly want these customers in our stores and to feel welcome, just as we do those buying for Christmas,” wrote Fogleman. ”As an employer, we recognize the significance of the Christmas holiday among our family of associates … and close our stores in observance, the only day during the year that we are closed.”
That's when the Catholic League announced its boycott, sending a letter to 126 religious organizations asking them to refrain from doing their Christmas shopping at the corporation's 3,000 stores.
“We're asking for an apology for the e-mail response from Kirby, and we're also asking Wal-Mart to change their website,” said Kieran McCaffrey, director of communications for the Catholic League.
On Wal-Mart's website, when customers typed “Christmas” into the search engine they were brought to a generic “Holiday” page rather than a Christmas section, while those searching for Hanukkah or Kwanzaa items were taken directly to a page featuring such items. The Catholic League described this as “discriminatory.”
“It is unfortunate that this issue has been taken out of context,” Fogleman originally told the Register via e-mail. “This year hundreds of thousands of customers will buy Christmas decorations, gifts and thousands of items to celebrate the Christmas holiday at Wal-Mart.”
However, two hours later Fogleman issued an apology, and Wal-Mart altered its website.
“We at Wal-Mart believe this e-mail between a temporary associate and one of our valued customers was entirely inappropriate. Its contents in no way represent the policies, practices or views of our company,” said the statement. “This associate, who was hired less than three weeks ago, is no longer employed by our company. We sincerely apologize to any person or organization that was offended by the inappropriate and inflammatory comments made by this former associate.”
“This is a sweet victory for the Catholic League, Christians in general, and people of all faiths,” Donohue said in a press statement made after Wal-Mart's apology, announcing the end of the Catholic League's boycott. “It means that Wal-Mart can now enter the Christmas season without this cloud hanging over it.”
Tim Drake is based in St. Joseph, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: God's Chosen People DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:EDITORIAL
Dialoguing with the Jewish people is harder than you think.
It has looked easy recently. The Church is still basking in the glow of the 40th anniversary of the day Pope Paul VI signed a document of the Second Vatican Council that transformed relations between Catholics and Jews. It was the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate.
But don't just take a Catholic newspaper's word for it. Listen to Washington Jewish Week. It quoted Al Vorspan, a longtime Jewish Reform movement activist. He's 81 now, and remembers what happened 40 years ago. “I think it's been revolutionary,” he said. “Of all the revolutions [of the 1960s], this may have had as profound an impact as any of them.”
Catholics and Jews regarded each other with deep suspicion before. Conservative Rabbi Stanley Rabinowitz describes the time since then as “an era of good feelings,” in which, “to the extent we had issues, at least we could talk about them with ease.”
So, what's the difficulty?
We saw it when the Holy See observed the 40th anniversary of Nostra Aetate in late October. Rome's chief rabbi, Riccardo di Segna, boycotted the event. The reason: One of the speakers was the retired archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, a former Jew who became a Catholic as a youth. According to the paper, the rabbi thought the cardinal's presence clashed with the document's message of respect for Jewish identity.
It reminded us of a PBS tribute to Pope John Paul II that praised his respect for the Jewish people, but regretted that he didn't go further.
Jewish journalist Neal Acherson was at Auschwitz when the Pope visited in 1979 and blessed the Carmelites there. A line of nuns passed before the Pope's encouraging eyes, but then one stopped. She told the Pope, “I want you to know that I am a Russian Jew who converted.” The Holy Father's mood changed; he was “immensely moved,” said Acherson. “Tears ran down his face, and he embraced her. I think that's very significant. Because he isn't free, to put it mildly, of Catholic triumphalism.”
For Jewish critics, said the PBS piece, “Edith Stein is emblematic of an imperial Catholic impulse to celebrate those who have ‘seen the light.’”
Indeed, Catholics do celebrate when a Jewish person — or any person — joins our family. We don't consider it a slight to what they were when they take that step. In fact, we hope they will bring the best of what they were into the Church.
And here lies an inherent tension between the Catholic and the Jewish side of the dialogue — a tension that is no less keenly felt for being subtle.
Jewish dialoguers expect increased respect and acceptance, but they would be shocked and not necessarily enthusiastic if their Catholic dialogue partner suddenly declared his intention to become Jewish. That's because the Jewish people consider themselves a race, a bloodline, as well as a confession.
In its dialogue with Judaism, the Church isn't looking to convert Jews (more on that in a moment). But when anyone converts, we are overjoyed. That's because Christianity is a confession and a different kind of bloodline — one established by Christ for all people.
That's not to say that the Catholic should use dialogue as a pretense for proselytizing Jews. At his inaugural Mass homily, Pope Benedict XVI greeted “the Jewish people, to whom we are joined by a great shared spiritual heritage, one rooted in God's irrevocable promises.”
It's a reference to the fact that the Jews’ relationship with God is unique. When Peter Seewald asked Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, three years before he became Pope Benedict, “Are the Jews still God's chosen people?” Cardinal Ratzinger answered, “God has not abandoned them.” He quoted St. Paul in the Letter to the Romans, saying, “In the end all of Israel will be brought home.” God hasn't retracted his word to the chosen people. Why not? “Because he is faithful.”
In a nice turn of phrase, Cardinal Ratzinger said of the Jews, “they stand within the patience of God in which we, too, place our trust.”
We, too, are glad 40 years later at the progress made in Catholic-Jewish relations. They are our elder brothers in the faith, as Pope John Paul II put it. “Nor can we forget,” as Nostra Aetate put it, that we have been grafted as “wild shoots” to the tree of Judaism, and draw sustenance from the same root.
We acknowledge the unique place of the Jewish people in God's heart. But, meaning no disrespect, we long for the day when all races will be united under the One Messiah.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Let Kids Be Kids DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:FACTS OF LIFE
Parents who enroll their young children in highly organized activities at an early age — tennis and piano lessons for 3-year-olds, for example — could actually be stunting their children's development, according to researchers at London University. Parents think they are getting a jump on improving their youngsters’ competitiveness in school and job markets, said the study. Yet prep-school headmasters say too much adult-led, organized activity slows the development of a child's creativity, independence and imagination — the very qualities they look for in admissions applications.
Source: Daily Telegraph (London), Oct. 29
Illustration by Tim Rauch
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: We Need a Hero. Can Harry Fill the Bill? DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:To date, J. K. Rowling has completed six Harry Potter books, with the projected seventh, according to Rowling, intended as the climax to the series. Thus, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, book four — and now film four — represents the series’ midpoint.
It's his fourth year at Hogwarts School for Wizardry and Witchcraft, and Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is now 14 years old. He's wearing his hair quite a bit shaggier these days, as is his buddy Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and several of the other guys. Longtime pal Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) is poised on the verge of becoming a lovely young woman — along with half of their classmates. And, of course, they're all starting to notice one another.
The magic of childhood is over, and Harry and his friends must master a new, infinitely more daunting kind of magic. Halfway through the story, Harry has faced down possibly the most dangerous breed of dragon on earth, yet he still hasn't worked up the nerve to face up to a girl and ask her to the Yule Ball. Ron is incredulous: If Harry of all people can't speak to a pretty girl, what hope is there for Ron? “I think I'd rather face the dragon,” Harry sighs.
As Harry grows up, the series continues to grow darker. Previous installments have featured bad wizards as well as monsters; here for the first time we meet an evil wizard cult, the hooded Death-Eaters, secret disciples of the devilish Lord Voldemort. In the past, Harry's Defense Against the Dark Arts training has covered scary and evil creatures. But this year the class's newest teacher, Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson), ups the ante to an even more sinister form of evil: the three Unforgivable Curses, punishable by life in Azkaban prison.
In the climax, like Luke Skywalker crossing light sabers with Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back, Harry finally goes wand to wand with Voldemort himself. There is also a nasty ritual to restore Voldemort (who has lost his corporeal form, like Sauron in The Lord of the Rings) to bodily existence. And, for the first time, Harry faces the death of a character he knew and liked — though not one of the recurring characters, a hurdle he faces in a later story. (In keeping with the heightened stakes, Goblet of Fire is the first film in the series to carry a PG-13 rating.)
As the series has progressed, Rowling's books have increasingly become a victim of her success. The author (and her editors) has grown more and more unable or unwilling to edit her work. The first book was only 300 pages, but the next few books grew at a rate that doubled or even nearly trebled with each passing volume — 100 pages here, 300 pages there — until book five hit a series high approaching 900 pages, close to three times the length of the original. This will make for a rather ungraceful boxed edition one day.
Thankfully, the exigencies of popular moviemaking have impelled Hollywood to do what Rowling and her editors wouldn't do. For the first two films, director Chris Columbus and series screenwriter Steven Kloves reverentially sought to cram in absolutely everything they could from the first two books, but by the third installment there was no way for Kloves and one-time director Alfonso Cuarón to avoid making significant cuts. Unfortunately, they cut some of the wrong threads, and the story fell apart somewhat, making the third film the shortest and the most watchable, but also the least coherent.
With Goblet of Fire, Kloves and incoming director Mike Newell (Into the West, Four Weddings and a Funeral) have done the best job so far trimming the fat from the story. Gone is the obligatory introductory ritual humiliation of Harry's horrible Muggle relatives, the Dursleys, the plight of the house-elves and Hagrid's history and interests. Even the Quidditch World Cup is over before it begins.
The story races to Hogwarts and the Tri-Wizard Tournament, a prestigious but controversial academic triathlon pitting a single champion from each of three wizard schools against one another in a series of highly dangerous challenges.
The story moves efficiently from one set piece to another, slowing down only for the Yule Ball. Alas, with so much territory to cover, some characters get short shrift: Hermione's scenes are too often shrill and indignant, and Ron is demoted from comic relief to just plain whiner. On the other hand, Goblet offers some of the series’ most magical imagery, such as the wonderful arrivals of delegations of students from the two other schools.
Concerns relating to Harry's study of magic and the lure of the occult are, arguably, increasingly remote. (For an in-depth discussion of moral issues relating to real-world and imaginary magic, see my booklet-length essay “Harry Potter vs. Gandalf” at www.decentfilms.com/commentary/magic.html.)
There's plenty of fantasy or fairy-tale magic in Goblet of Fire — dragons and winged horses and mermaids, flying broomsticks and magic wands, teleportations and transformations. Yet, interestingly, the only elements that in any way resembles real-world occult practices are unambiguously evil, from the Unforgivable Curses to the quasi-sacrificial ritual used to restore Voldemort. The secret Death-Eater cult, which resembles a satanic coven, is also thoroughly evil; there is no such thing as a “good” coven. Lawful magic in Goblet of Fire bears no resemblance to so-called “white” magic as practiced by occultists; there is no divination, no invocation of spirits, no summoning of the dead, and no reliance on amulets or charms.
As Harry's adventures become more involved and urgent, the films have less time to spare on Harry's classes or his petty rivalry with odious Draco Malfoy. At the same time, the challenges Harry faces reveal more of his character than we've seen in previous films, as Harry slowly starts to earn the hero status thrust upon him at the outset of the series.
Content advisory: Much fantasy action and violence; strong menace and frightening images; fantasy presentation of magic; some sexually charged content (nothing offensive). Teens and up.
Steven D. Greydanus is editor and chief critic of DecentFilms.com.
----- EXCERPT: Goblet of Fire leaps to the top of the box office ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: 'Higher Law,' 60 Years After Nuremberg DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — This Nov. 20 marks 60 years since the Nuremberg trials began their work of redefining human rights — by appealing to a “higher law.”
Benjamin Ferencz remembers. He had been sent to several newly liberated concentration camps to help collect evidence of the horrors inflicted by Nazi Germany.
He describes what he saw there as vividly as if he had completed his gruesome task yesterday.
“We knew that Hitler had passed all kinds of discriminatory laws and that there was a program to annihilate the Jews, but how exactly that was being done was only visible when you entered the camps and saw the grounds covered with dead bodies lined up at the crematorium waiting to be burned,” he said.
Ferencz and his colleagues moved from camp to camp, seizing documents and gathering survivor testimony.
An international military tribunal, comprised of representatives from the United States, France, the Soviet Union and Great Britain, used the information to indict 24 individuals, including Hermann Goering and Rudolph Hess. Among the charges were crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The trial would redefine human rights and crimes against humanity in ways that speak to our time.
The trial began Nov. 20, 1945 in Nuremberg's Palace of Justice, chosen because it was one of the largest buildings in the region still intact, according to Norbert Ehrenfreund, who at the time was a reporter for the military newspaper Stars and Stripes.
The gas chambers weren't the only killing machines on the court's docket.
The Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal indicted and convicted 10 Nazi leaders for “encouraging and compelling abortions,” an act which the Tribunal characterized as “a crime against humanity.” As with their other crimes against humanity, the Nazis protested that “we were just following orders.”
Lieutenant General Richard Hildebrandt, the SS (Schutzstaffel) Chief of the Race and Settlement Office in Berlin, stated that “Up to now nobody had the idea to see in this interruption of pregnancy a crime against humanity.”
But abortion was another aspect of Nazi's Master Race ideology that is often overlooked today.
Ehrenfreund, who later became a superior court judge in California, said, “The defendants certainly did not look like supermen. They did not look like monsters. They were human beings and they looked so ordinary.”
Of the 22 individuals who actually were tried (one committed suicide, one was unfit), 12 were sentenced to death, three were acquitted, three received life sentences and four received 10 to 20 years. American military tribunals oversaw 12 subsequent trials. Ferencz was the chief prosecutor in the Einsatzgruppen case, which dealt with the special action squads that killed over 1 million people.
“There was no remorse whatsoever,” Ferencz said. “They not only did not regret what they had done, they said specifically that they would do it again. … What I was hearing for the first time was the attempt of justification of mass murder on the excuse that it was anticipatory self-defense and a preemptive strike.”
Many pro-lifers insist that the legacy of Nuremberg reaches closer to home in the United States with respect to abortion and euthanasia.
Unfortunately, the violent anti-abortion website “The Nuremberg Files” has made it difficult for pro-lifers to draw comparisons between the World War II Germany's disregard for life and modern America's.
But the Ohio Right to Life website argues that abortion today shares many characteristics with the holocaust. It's carried out in a brutal way, dismembering its victims. Those who carry it out know very well what they are doing — doctors know that life starts at conception — but have numbed themselves to the procedure. Language is carefully controlled to prevent the public from rejecting abortion: Unborn children are called “fetuses” and the dismemberment of the unborn is called “termination of a pregnancy.”
But there are legal parallels with the trial, as well.
At Nuremberg, a small number were actually tried compared to the estimated 300,000 individuals who probably committed equally heinous crimes. Michael Berenbaum, director of the Sigi Ziering Institute at the University of Judaism in Bel-Air, Calif., initially dismissed Nuremberg's importance.
“I was wrong,” Berenbaum said. “The reality is that in the aftermath of massive inhumanity, the world has to come up with restorative measures.”
While trials may have been inadequate, they, in some measure, did help society come to terms with what had occurred. The Nuremberg tribunals declared that aggressive war is wrong and set precedent for holding individuals accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity — including abortion.
“Prior to Nuremberg, you could hide behind the skirt of the state,” said Rolland Kidder, executive director of the Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown, N.Y., dedicated to advancing the legacy of Nuremberg's chief American prosecutor.
The justification for the charges was based in natural law, which in essence means there are standards of justice and human rights that transcend written law
At Nuremberg, the defendants’ crimes included denying the personhood of entire groups of people, Charles Rice, professor emeritus of law at the University of Notre Dame, said. The Nazis “depersonalized the Jews. … They took away legal rights. There is an obvious parallel there to what the Supreme Court did in Roe v. Wade.”
Robert George, the McCormick professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University, said Nuremberg “is an affirmation of a moral reality to which human positive law should aspire, and which always stands potentially, at least, in judgment over the law of any particular nation.”
Under natural law, “the human being has inherent dignity, and because human dignity is inherent, we have it from the point which we come into being and retain it until the point at which we cease to be,” George said, adding that it is an “undeniable” fact of embryology that a new human being comes into existence at conception.
Monta Monaco Hernon is based in La Grange Park, lll.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Monta Monaco Hernon ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Mom Heard the Mission Bell - and Answered DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:Earlier this year, I packed my mini-van full of kids — mostly mine — and set out on the 90-minute drive from Phoenix to Tucson.
More specifically, we headed for San Xavier del Bac Mission, located on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation.
We've visited this beautiful shrine several times before, yet were excited for new spiritual experiences. As we were pulling into the dirt parking lot, my 8-year-old, Rebecca, said, “What happened to the second tower?”
“It's still there,” I said. “It's behind the scaffolding.” In fact, the mission has been undergoing repair and restoration for the past 10 years. When all the work is done, the results will have been worth the wait. The desert weather is harsh year in and year out; the shrine would not stand long without human intervention.
On this visit we learned that a lime-based, 18th-century plaster recipe is being applied to the façade. Juice extracted from the prickly pear cactus acts as the binder. The plaster bakes to a bright white in the Arizona sun.
“The White Dove of the Desert,” as the mission is affectionately called, took 14 years to build. It went up in spurts between 1783 and 1797, under the direction of Franciscan Fathers Juan Bautista Velderrain and Jaun Bautista Llorenz. The architects, laborers and artisans known only to God may have been the Tohono O'odham (Desert) people.
Many acclaim the structure as the finest example of mission architecture in the United States. Its Moorish, Byzantine and late Mexican Renaissance styles blend gracefully together. The main church forms the Latin cross when viewed from above and the top border forms the rope belt worn by Franciscans.
Since we were unable to visit the church immediately — a private Mass was being said — we followed the signs to the shrine museum. Nicole, my 6-year-old, rushed to the bronze statue of Father Kino wearing a wide-brimmed hat. “Who's that riding a horse?” she wanted to know.
“That's the priest who started this church,” I began. Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, Jesuit missionary and explorer, first visited Bac (which means “the place where the water appears”) in 1692. Bac reminded the villagers of the Santa Cruz River, which reveals itself only after running underground for some distance.
In 1700, Father Kino built the first church two miles north of the current mission. He named it after his chosen patron, St. Francis Xavier — feast day Dec. 3 — and began ministering to the desert people.
Today, close to 2,000 people living within the Indian reservation district are members of the mission parish.
San Xavier has the challenge of ministering to the parishioners and welcoming the many tourists. “We continue to try to focus on this as a parish for the people of the village and a shrine for everyone else,” Father Stephen Barnufsky, the pastor, told the Register.
Walking through arched doorways into brick-floored rooms, our little group learned more. Paul, my altar-server son, and his friend noticed an old wooden wheel resting on a stand with a crank attached to the center. Four dull, gray bells were fastened to the outside of the wheel.
“Look, Mom,” he said. “That's what the altar servers turned to ring the bells at the consecration.”
In another display case, the children stared at a monstrance woven from straw by the natives. Michael, my 3-year-old, said, “That's the star like on the altar at our church.”
We wandered into another room to watch a 25-minute video about the history of the shrine. The children enjoyed watching the artisans meticulously change the worn and broken statues into fresh works of art. They were ready to see them for real.
Quietly the children walked through the solid wood doors, located the burning sanctuary lamp behind the altar and genuflected. They knew Jesus was present there and so did all the tourists and pilgrims. Only soft whispers and Gregorian chant from the speaker above could be heard.
“Even non-Catholics come and receive peace in the mission,” said Father Barnufsky.
The children pointed to the commanding lion statues guarding the sanctuary's access points. They give tribute to the house of Castile, the reigning family in Spain during the 1780s and 1790s.
During daily and four weekend Masses, the 200-person congregation views a radiant statue of St. Francis Xavier above the tabernacle. He wears a dazzling white alb over a bright red robe, dons a red miter and holds a crucifix. Above him a beautiful image of Our Lady looks upon her sons and daughters. Mary watches as God's children marvel at the artwork covering every wall, dome and corner of the sacred place.
Missionary Mary
Inside the church, we found several murals and statues of the Blessed Mother. In one, she holds the baby Jesus in her arms. Another shows her as Queen of Heaven and Earth, extending her arms to all. And there she is, Our Lady of Guadalupe, interceding for the Americas.
My eyes wandered up, down, left and right as I contemplated something new each second. It's that rich. People who lived as Christ taught, changing their ways to live up to God's level of perfection, are depicted at every turn.
Outside the church we climbed the dirt hill to the grotto, a replica of St. Bernadette Soubirous kneeling before Our Lady of Lourdes. The hill does not belong to the mission, but many still walk up to view the mission from higher ground.
For the past 35 years, a school conducted by the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet has served the Tohono O'odham children. Generations past took great pride in the church — even from 1828 to 1858, when no priest was present.
There's a diary entry, scrawled by a visitor from Ohio in 1858, explaining that the door to San Xavier was always open, allowing it to be taken over by birds. Despite the disrepair, the Indians respected the place too much to vandalize it. They took church furnishings into their homes as a way of preserving what they could.
As we walked back outside, two Tohono O'odham men used shakers to keep rhythm while they chanted in their native language in the outside atrium. They were there as part of a Mission Congress that was taking place that week.
The San Xavier del Bac Mission, I explained to my “tour group,” brings many cultures together to unite in the glory of God's Church. But the most important thing here, I stressed, is Jesus really present in the Eucharist.
Lynanne Lasota writes from Queen Creek, Arizona.
Planning Your Visit
The mission is open every day of the year from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mass is offered daily at 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., except Monday. Saturday Vigil Mass is at 5:30 p.m. and the scheduling of three Sunday Masses varies by season. For more, call the mission at (520) 294-2624 or visit sanxaviermission.org on the Internet.
Getting There
San Xavier del Bac is about nine miles south of Tucson off Interstate 19. From the Tucson airport, take Interstate 10 east to Interstate 19 south to the San Xavier Road exit. The large white mission is visible on the right before the exit. Follow the signs to the mission. Please note: Visitors must remain on the marked roads out of respect for the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation land.
----- EXCERPT: San Xavier del Bac Mission, Tucson, Ariz. ----- EXTENDED BODY: Lynanne Lasota ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Letters to the Editor DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:Let's Be Intelligent About Design
I frequently read the Register online, so I haven't read the article I'm going to comment on. The problem is in the title, “Design or Dumb Luck?” I strongly hope that the article makes the point I am about to make.
Intelligent design is not a theory. While I believe the Lord created the universe and it certainly has an intelligent design, the use of the word theory here is incorrect. A theory must do two things: It must explain what has been observed and it must be useful in predicting the results of experiments. This second one is sometimes simplified by saying it must be testable.
While intelligent design certainly fills the first criteria, it absolutely fails the second. This means intelligent design has no place in a science classroom. It is not a theory in the way science uses the term.
This does not disturb or disappoint me, as life is supposed to test our faith. If intelligent design could meet the criteria of a theory, that would be prima facie evidence of the existence of the Almighty, which would remove the need for faith.
PAUL A. NEVINS
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Regarding “Design or Dumb Luck?” (Oct. 30 -Nov. 5):
I wish this were only an issue for ninth-grade students! Just take a look at the “science” books available for children of all ages, even the very young. Most are tainted with evolution theory. If I want a book on insects, all I want are the observable facts. I don't need or want evolution referenced in so many places. I don't need “pro-wings” or “billions of years” or “developed over time” or “became able” or “grew.” I am just sick of seeing evolution nonsense explaining things that do not even need to be said at all.
If evolution is taught and required, I think intelligent design should also be, as well as any other explanation of creation. All these things cannot be proved. (Although evolution is said to be proved, it is not even a good explanation of the actual facts.) They should be taught as “beliefs,” just like world religions are. What is fair for one should be fair for all.
When our school systems, museums, libraries, books, televisions, computers, movies and all of culture brainwash our children with approval and funding by our government, some serious freedoms are being denied.
HELEN DICKEY
Reston, Virginia
Regarding the controversy on intelligent design and the court case in Pennsylvania (“Design or Dumb Luck?” Oct 30 - Nov 5):
Some in our Christian family are apparently advocates of intelligent design, the attractive but flawed concept proposing that the sheer complexity of creation “scientifically hypothesizes” a higher power. But creation's complexity and diversity may be accounted for by evolution alone, which postulates a primitive Earth teeming with single-cell life forms. From this elemental base of ever-multiplying cells, where else could the life processes go except toward increasing complexity? This, however, misses the key point to be made.
Only a weak, insecure, and potentially abusive spirituality demands belief in physical phenomena that are demonstrably false (such as a seven-day creation). On the contrary, legitimate Christian faith — the belief that a loving, eternal being lived historically with us in an otherwise indifferent universe — tells us both that we are loved and that our lives and relationships have meaning.
True spirituality neither overpowers nor lies subjugated before rational science, but compliments and tempers it in our lives with the qualities of compassion, love, drama and virtue: subjective qualities beyond the tests and conjectures of the scientific method.
Science may explain life, but only the Spirit makes life worth living.
DANIEL J. BIEZAD
San Luis Obispo, California
“How can we decide whether Darwinian natural selection can account for the amazing complexity that exists at the molecular level? Darwin himself set the standard when he acknowledged, ‘If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.'
“Some systems seem very difficult to form by such successive modifications — I call them irreducibly complex. An everyday example of an irreducibly complex system is the humble mousetrap. It consists of (1) a flat wooden platform or base; (2) a metal hammer, which crushes the mouse; (3) a spring with extended ends to power the hammer; (4) a catch that releases the spring; and (5) a metal bar that connects to the catch and holds the hammer back. You can't catch a mouse with just a platform, then add a spring and catch a few more mice, then add a holding bar and catch a few more. All the pieces have to be in place before you catch any mice.”
The Faith vs. The Force
I greatly appreciate the fact that Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith made your list. However, I take issue with your review of it (Video Picks & Passes, Oct. 30-Nov. 5).
Steven G. Greydanus insists on comparing Palpatine to a “modernist theologian” because of his references to the “narrow dogmatic views of the Jedi.” The Jedi, Greydanus observes, make a rather weak parallel to Christianity. This should not be a surprise or a disappointment. George Lucas is not a Christian, much less a Catholic, and his Star Wars films are not meant to be religious allegories.
The Jedi are emphatically not Christians; the Force is emphatically not God. Yoda makes reference in Episode III to the dead as those “who have transformed into the Force.” This, obviously, is not Christian theology. If you try to apply Christian theology to the entire Star Wars saga, you will find yourself running in circles.
The virgin gives birth to a chosen one and the chosen one turns to the dark side. The Force is explained by the scientific reasoning of midi-Chlorians, or Force-cells.
What I am trying to establish is that, by insisting that a story take on a religious analogy, you weaken its initial worth. As a religious analogy, The Revenge of the Sith is weak and flawed, but as the fantastic epic it was meant to be, it shines as a masterpiece. Don't debase it by trying to make it something it isn't.
BECKY PANAYIOTOU
Fort Pierce, Florida
Alito and Abortion
The record of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito does not justify the hysterical charge by Planned Parenthood, echoed by others, that he “would undermine basic reproductive rights” (“Alito's Way,” Editorial, Nov. 6-12).
In 1991's Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Judge Alito expressed the opinion that Pennsylvania's law requiring spousal notification of abortion was constitutional because it posed no more of an “undue burden” than some of the restrictions Sandra Day O'Connor had upheld, such as parental-notification requirements and regulations that raised the price of abortions.
Alito said No, it didn't impose an undue burden, because the vast majority of abortion-seekers informed their husbands anyway; the requirement didn't apply to unmarried women; the husband's consent was not necessary; and women fearing physical abuse were exempted by the law.
Isn't it carrying the right to privacy a tad too far to say it includes not telling your husband you are aborting his child?
Alito, the judge who allegedly threatens women's “reproductive rights,” concurred in the Third Circuit's Planned Parenthood v. Farmer decision to overturn New Jersey's partial-birth abortion ban as unconstitutional, noting: “Our responsibility as a lower court is to follow and apply controlling Supreme Court precedent.”
Clearly, Judge Alito, the most experienced Supreme Court nominee in 70 years, is no ideologue. And what those who fear the overturning of Roe v. Wade seem to forget is that such an event would not ban abortion but return the matter to the states and the elected representatives of the people, where it resided prior to 1973. Doesn't the Constitution begin with the words “We the People”?
DANIEL JOHN SOBIESKI
Chicago
Schumer's Sadness
Sen. Charles Schumer's reaction to President Bush's nomination of Judge Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court — “It is sad that the president felt he had to pick a nominee likely to divide America instead of choosing a nominee in the mold of Sandra Day O'Connor, who would unify us” — would be laughable were it not so serious.
The only nominee Schumer would accept would be one who believes, as he does, that the Constitution provides for the murder of innocent, unborn babies and the old and infirm, which it does not. Democrats lost the last presidential election because of people who believe in what the Constitution and the Bill of Rights actually provide: that everyone has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
GERARD P. MCEVOY
Coram, New York
Really Present, But How So?
In “Do Catholics Understand the Real Presence?” (Oct. 30-Nov. 5), there is a statement that needs some clarifying.
I have felt that the Register not only brings Catholic news but also educates, except for rare occasions. In this case there is a statement that I cannot accept because it is not true. I quote: “Nigerian Bishop Joseph Bagobiri of Kafanchan called on the synod to develop a ‘theology of presence’ so that the faithful are not confused and know that Christ is present sacramentally but not physically in the Eucharist.”
Don't ask me to explain it, but a theology expert, Jesus himself, said, “This is my body, which will be given up for you.” It was not a “representation” that hung on the cross and died for us and it was not a “representation” that we had adoration for today.
Please do not allow errors like this to go unchallenged or unexplained because any confusion that is present over this issue will only become worse.
DOROTHY HALEY
Tracy, California
Luigi Moneta remembers his senior prom as fairly tame. “It was a gathering of friends together to say goodbye,” he recalls. There were no wild after-prom parties devoid of adult supervision, no alcohol consumption in Hummer H2 limos, no “booze cruise” sponsored by parents.
A letter this March from Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale, N.Y., told him that it's a different story for his son, a Kellenberg senior. The letter, sent by Kellenberg's principal, Marianist Brother Kenneth Hoagland, and signed by 10 other school administrators, detailed a days-long celebration of debauchery and promiscuity that costs thousands of dollars.
“What started out as a formal senior dance has become a recreational institution that has taken a life of its own,” the letter read. “It has expanded in time and money, but more importantly, it has taken on a sophistication that is far from what is expected in a Christian educational institution.”
Brother Hoagland wrote the letter after discovering that a group of students had leased a house in the Hamptons for the after-prom hours. What bothered him wasn't just the price of $20,000 for 36 hours, which he called “outrageous,” but the fact that there would be no adult supervision and that many of the students were underage.
Those factors put the Marianist-owned school in a dangerous position of legal liability, so in the letter Brother Hoagland announced that the school was eschewing any responsibility for post-prom activities.
Nothing changed. Students still spent thousands of dollars on dresses, tuxes, limos and after-prom parties. Parents still rented homes in the Hamptons. Brother Hoagland heard the same stories about sexual laxity and parental indulgence.
So this school year, Kellenberg canceled the prom altogether for the 489 seniors.
Moneta, for one, is glad.
“I didn't know stuff like that was going on, and I was glad they were taking action on it,” he said. “That's not why I send my kid to Kellenberg.”
A September letter, written in response to a parent who noticed that the school calendar lacked a date for the senior prom, elaborated on the problems mentioned in the first one.
Among them were pre-prom cocktail parties hosted by parents that commence the “three day drug/sex/alcohol bash,” parents making motel reservations or engaging “booze cruises” for their children and the general flaunting of affluence in the Long Island area.
“Each year it gets worse — becomes more exaggerated, more expensive, more emotionally traumatic,” wrote Brother Hoagland of the prom. “It would not have gotten this far if a significant portion of parents, either implicitly or tacitly, did not accept it or tolerate it. We are withdrawing from the battle and allowing parents full responsibility. KMHS is willing to sponsor a prom, but not an orgy.”
Prom Peccadilloes
Senior Chris Laine and his friends once totaled up what their classmates must spend on all the prom “necessities”: limos (usually Hummer H2s or Cadillac Escalades), tuxes, dresses, alcohol, tickets to comedy clubs and payments for rental homes. They arrived at a figure of $1.9 million. And it's not worth it, he said.
“Anyone who's gone before will tell you that it's overrated and it's all about the after-prom,” says Laine, who attended last year's prom and believes that the after-prom activities render the actual dance unnecessary.
Of this year's cancellation he says, “It's certainly unfortunate and we're all disappointed, but you can't argue with the facts.”
Not everyone has the same opinion. “A lot of my friends are really pretty angry about it,” says senior Kate Breen. “It's not the after-prom stuff that's important. Most girls just want to have the experience of going out and getting a dress and getting ready for it.”
Still, she said she understands why the principal had to cancel the event. She only wishes there had been more discussion and perhaps some sort of compromise before the decision was made.
Brother Hoagland brought up the issue of compromise in his September letter, asking, “What is there to compromise? Sanity, proportion, modesty, common sense?”
He's not immune to the students’ desire for a memorable senior-year experience, and points out that the senior class has a four-day trip to Disney World planned for the spring.
But the root problem, he says, is affluence and how the culture of Long Island encourages decadence — a lifestyle antithetical to that promoted by Christian education. He uses Jesus’ example of the rich man trying to enter heaven and singles out prom as the apex of decadence for students — “the occasion of conspicuous consumption,” he calls it.
“The current culture of the prom on Long Island,” he says, “does not represent to us a proper Christian use of wealth.”
Eye Opener
Kellenberg parent Bob Morris knew prom night was expensive, but he didn't know just how expensive.
“I had no idea people were throwing around that kind of money,” he told the Register. “I think it's a very positive thing that Brother Kenneth did this. I chose Catholic education for a reason, and I know from being an involved parent at Kellenberg that Brother Kenneth and the staff have our children's best interest in mind.”
Morris said his son was “not at all disappointed” with the prom cancellation.
Most parents and students, Brother Hoagland says, have been supportive.
“What particularly surprised me was a father who thanked me because he said he was a father under pressure from his student to support everything that went on with prom,” he adds. “Not only were the students under pressure, but some of the parents were feeling that way, too.”
Based on correspondence from around the world, Brother Hoagland said he knows prom-fueled excess isn't just an issue at Kellenberg. Administrators everywhere struggle with similar problems.
Which is one good reason why he wrote the letter, says Moneta.
“Part of his motivation, I think, was to open the eyes of not just parents but the eyes of the nation to what was going on, and to start talking about what we could do to change it.”
Dana Lorelle writes from Cary, North Carolina.
----- EXCERPT: Why a Catholic high-school principal canceled the prom ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dana Lorelle ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Dare to Be Civil This Thanksgiving DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:The pilgrims and the American Indians considered the first Thanksgiving a big success.
They saw it as a big success not because of the scrumptious food they shared but because people of two very different cultures chose civility over hostility.
They didn't use bows and arrows, tomahawks or muskets to settle differences. Instead, they chose a fraternal meal to understand one another. Mutual respect and courtesy made the first Thanksgiving meal special. It defined the true spirit of Thanksgiving as civility among people.
Today, Thanksgiving means many things: family, food, rest and a good football game, to name a few. But it doesn't necessarily mean civility.
In fact, many accept these days’ incivility or rudeness as something almost normal. No one seems surprised anymore by frequent outbursts of anger or impatience on the highway, in the workplace or even at home with our families. We find it nearly impossible to disagree with anyone in a civil manner. We take almost everything personally. Talk radio, news editorials and cable news often spins the news in the most acrimonious way. Sarcasm now characterizes our culture.
Some could argue that this highlights a culture that values frankness and sincerity over hypocrisy. Why act one way when you feel another? For this reason, we shouldn't regret our bluntness.
Yet a closer look at our incivility doesn't reveal a culture imbued with strength or courage, but moral decay. From an ethical standpoint, incivility denotes a lack of self-mastery or personal-domination. It originates from a lack of virtue. The Founding Fathers believed that incivility unchecked would dismantle our democracy. They often pointed out that democracy rises and falls on the virtue of self-government or self-mastery. Civility epitomizes self-control.
The great Samuel Adams explained it this way:
“A general dissolution of Principles and Manners will more surely overthrow the Liberties of America than the whole Force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader. … If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security.”
To win the fight against incivility, Christians need to rediscover the spiritual and cultural value of Christian chivalry. This term invokes for some an idealization of medieval mores, long gone with the Crusades.
Christian chivalry, in the modern sense, refers to the practice of those key virtues that ensure civility. The late Pope John Paul II stands out as one of the great examples of our times. He practiced the four key virtues of Christian chivalry. For example, John Paul practiced magnanimity, which means greatness of soul. It expressed itself in benevolence and disinterested service. Magnanimous souls keep themselves above pettiness or meanness by overlooking injury or insult.
John Paul also lived the virtue of munificence, or generosity. This virtue moves us to imitate God's liberality by undertaking enterprises for the common good of all at our own expense. Using our means to support hospitals, schools, retirement homes and the like comes from munificence. In short, it helps us overcome our natural attachment to money.
We all recall how much John Paul suffered the last years of his life.
His tired body became small and frail. It often trembled uncontrollably. The great hiker, skier and athlete lost his ability to walk. His once expressive loving face became pale, swollen, immobile and mask like. His strong, commanding, deep and articulate voice became no more than an unintelligible slur.
In spite of all of this, John Paul remained a very patient man. He practiced patience as a Christian virtue that makes the soul withstand with serenity the trails and hardships that God permits in our lives. The virtue of patience allows us to face hardships of all types with a mature faith in God's providence. Today, we want everything now. We wish to suffer nothing nor lack nothing. Yet patience takes us beyond instant gratification to strength of character. This explains why civil people remain calm and professional under pressure.
Over John Paul's long pontificate, he showed the world the meaning of fortitude. His fortitude, or strength of character, came from a resolute and powerful will. Christian chivalry requires fortitude of the highest degree.
As a virtue, fortitude consists primarily in undertaking and carrying out difficult resolutions. Many of us make difficult resolutions but few of us keep them. Why? The answer lies in weakness of will, the No. 1 enemy of fortitude.
To overcome weakness of will, Christians should keep in mind three things: First, perseverance in any resolution is a gift from God. Consequently, we need to insist constantly in prayer for the grace to persevere in any undertaking in life. After that, we need to take into account each day a few basic truths: the shortness of life, the need to live well and our ultimate accountability to God for our behavior.
These basic truths keep things in perspective for us. And finally, when we do suffer a setback in our resolutions, we must start again immediately, pushing aside any self-pity and trust more in God's grace.
At the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims and the American Indians showed their honor. We can do the same around the table this Thanksgiving.
Legionary Father Andrew McNair is a theology professor at Mater Ecclesiae College in Greenville, Rhode Island.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Andrew Mcnair, LC ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: National Media Watch DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:Former President Regrets Party's Stance on Abortion
“I have never felt that any abortion should be committed,” said Carter. “I think each abortion is the result of a series of errors.”
Carter added that his party lost the 2004 presidential elections because Democrats failed to connect with religious voters.
City Won't Seize Land for Catholic School
ASSOCIATED PRESS, Nov. 4 — The Associated Press reported that Jersey City, N.J., has decided not to use the power of eminent domain to seize a local bar so that the land can be used for a Catholic high school's football field.
While the school built a new field last year, officials said that it needs to lengthen it. The bar owner had rejected offers from the school to purchase his property.
The New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union objected to the prospect.
Ed Barocas, ACLU legal director, said, “It's inappropriate for government to take land from one person … to benefit a particular religion.”
Hotels Promote ‘Procreation Vacation'
The promotion includes a three-night getaway, romantic dinners, spa treatments, and food, such as pumpkin soup, believed to promote fertility. The packages cost between $1,600 and $3,500.
Bill Thompson, marketing executive for Starwood, said, “We're simply enhancing the baby-making process by offering island remedies that have been passed down for generations.”
Wisconsin Bishop Apologizes to His Flock
Bishop Fliss told the parishioners that he was mistaken when he assumed that the system in place to prevent problematic priests worked.
A judge recently found that Father Erickson likely killed funeral home director Dan O'Connell and intern James Ellison because O'Connell had confronted the priest with sexual abuse allegations. Father Erickson committed suicide after being questioned by police regarding the murders.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: New Agency Perseveres With a Missionary Spirit DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:Father Bernardo Cervellera is the founder and director of the news outlet Asia News, which celebrated its second anniversary earlier this month.
The news agency's audience figures have skyrocketed since its founding, and its stories are picked up by all kinds of interest groups and media outlets. It is most renowned for its focus on China, Israel and Saudi Arabia. The agency belongs to the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME). Father Cervellera spoke with the Register's Edward Pentin.
Where are you from originally?
Puglia, the south of Italy, but when I was 11 my family moved to Milan — near Milan — then I moved to Hong Kong.
Did you live in China for a while?
Yes. I was first in Taiwan where I studied Mandarin, then in Hong Kong for 5 years, studying and working as journalist for the Asia News bulletin. Then I did some traveling which was wonderful as every month I could travel to some country in Asia, and above all in China, so I learn much more about different parts of this big country and this Church. Then I was invited to Beijing to work there, first as teacher of Italian and English, and then as professor of the history of Western civilization at Beijing University.
Apart from the agency's obvious focus on news from Asia, what would you say is Asia News’ real
It has a missionary purpose, first of all because Asia, as the late Pope [John Paul II] said, is our common aim for the third millennium. He repeated this many times — in Manila in 1995 and in many documents. And this is also one aim of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions — my institute which has, as one of its principal aims, evangelization among non-Christians. Now Asia is the continent where most of the non-Christians live — around 85%. Our tradition as a missionary institute is that in Asia we have most of our missions, from India to Japan. That's why we agreed that I complete a master's in journalism, and then three years ago we started this website, which is a faster and more effective way to give information. The communication is linked to evangelization.
Before that, Asia News was simply a pre-Internet news agency?
Yes, it was a fortnightly bulletin, written on paper.
Whose idea was it to start the website?
Mine. I had experience at Fides, the Vatican news agency, and because I came from Hong Kong in 1997 where I'd spent time as a missionary. It was quite normal there to have a website at that time. Fides started its own website just a few months after the Vatican website.
You've seen quite a phenomenal growth in audience figures for Asia News.
Yes, the website has become one of the main sources among media productions, also university students, managers and businessmen who are interested in Asia for different reasons — businessmen who are wanting to invest money and work in Asia, and media people who want to have information about Asia. Students are interested in service because they want to study from a cultural point of view religion, freedom of religion — embassies and politicians, too. So these are the main readers. We started with 150,000 hits, and now we have more that 3 or 4 million per month.
Was that rapid growth a surprise to you?
It was a surprise because our content goes against the current. Our news is about people in Asia, religion and freedom of religion, political topics and economical topics. But they are all from the human point of view, the justice point of view, and from the point of view of freedom. It is not the sort of common news you can find in other agencies, in “fashionable” news — we run against the prevailing worldview. But perhaps also because people trust us. They have started to trust us because we have local correspondents; we have missionaries there, so we have people who look at the situation without any ideological, political or economic interest. They are just interested in truth.
What distinguishes Asia News from, say, the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN), a Thailand-based Church news agency also on the Web?
UCAN has very good news and information about the Church but not too much about society. Our aim is to have a wider perspective, to stress this understanding of the Asian situation from a Christian point of view, looking at culture, politics, the environment, health and so on. UCAN is more restricted to only Church topics. … We missionaries believe that a Christian doesn't have ideological attachments, interests and so on, but instead has a deeper and wider understanding of the situation. So in a way this information we give is about society, but also a deeper Christian understanding — an original perspective.
Is the Vatican connected with Asia News in any way?
Not officially. We have a very good relationship with some personalities in the Vatican. Of course the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions has allegiance to the Vatican. Sometimes we cooperate with some offices of the Secretary of State.
A large part of your outreach is to China, isn't it?
Some of it — one third of our site is devoted to China; it's in the Chinese language.
Is that your main goal — to target China in that way?
Our main goal, first of all, is to inform Christians in China about the situation there. It's a very important fact because even people in China do not know what is going on there, what is going on regarding human rights, freedom of religion and the freedom of the Church. It's also about the feeling of the Church. Asia News, and Fides, when I was there, have become important instruments. I have received an important letter from the ‘official’ Catholic church in [Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association], saying that your website has become very important because it is a trustworthy source of information, and this, he wrote, makes official and unofficial Catholics have a better understanding of the Church — we can have a common vision of the situation. So it helps reconcile these two branches of the church and this is happening through Asia News. Also there is interest from other quarters; for example, the Falun Gong people like our site very much, and dissidents, labor union representatives — they cooperate with us.
Buddhists, too?
Yes, they are interested in freedom for the people of Tibet — they read a lot. This helps different people to have the same perspective, to be able to make judgments on events in China. At the same time, because we produce things in Italian and English, we help the rest of the world become interested in the situation in China. So sometimes we have campaigned to free bishops and priests, for human rights in China or for an arms embargo and so on. And we have, thank God, been successful sometimes. The European Parliament has accepted a request; the bishops’ conference in the United States has done the same, also bishops in Italy and Korea. It's a way of putting pressure on China from a political point of view.
What would you like for the future of Asia News; what is your vision for the agency?
One aim of Asia News is not only to inform but also to warm the hearts and wills of the people so they can be missionaries in Asia. We moved many people to help after the tsunami, the earthquake in Kashmir, and now we're moving them to be missionaries towards Vietnam and China. For this we need people who can listen carefully and be a co-operator of Asia News and a supporter.
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Military Chaplains Find New Anti-Discrimination Policies Discriminatory DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — An old military saying suggests that there are no atheists in foxholes. Now, some members of Congress seem to think that the U.S. Department of Defense doesn't want Christians there either.
On Oct. 21, a group of congressmen sent a letter to President Bush calling on him to overturn new Air Force guidelines which, they say, discriminate against and violate the First Amendment rights of Christian chaplains.
The issue was largely sparked by Mikey Weinstein, a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and father of a current cadet. In a recent lawsuit against the Academy, Weinstein criticized the proselytizing of his Jewish son and called for the removal of a so-called chaplain “code of ethics.”
The “code of ethics,” which had reportedly been circulated unofficially throughout the Air Force, suggested that chaplains could not proselytize people from other religious bodies, but “retain the right to evangelize those who are not affiliated.”
The code, which has since been dropped, was written by the National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces and, as Air Force officials stress, had never been an officially recognized document.
Discrimination
The issue of religious discrimination in the Air Force first made headlines last spring when the Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, came under fire for charges of proselytizing and discrimination against non-Christians.
In April, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State released a 14-page document outlining what they called a “systematic problem” of proselytizing “and a clear preference for Christianity” at the Academy.
A government investigation turned up only a small amount of evidence, and the Air Force reported that proper steps had been taken.
Now, some members of Congress are calling new guidelines, recently adopted by the Air Force, which ban all but what they call nonsectarian prayers, “a euphemism declaring that prayers will be acceptable so long as they censor Christian beliefs.”
Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., who spearheaded the letter to President Bush, told the Register that, above all, “this is a First Amendment issue.”
The letter, signed by both Republicans and Democrats, states: “We are disappointed and gravely concerned to learn that the Christian military chaplains are under direct attack and that their right to pray according to their faith is in jeopardy.”
It adds that “current surveys in the military indicate that upwards of 80% of soldiers identify themselves as Christians, and such censorship of Christian beliefs is a disservice not only to Christian chaplains but also to hundreds of thousands of Christian soldiers.”
Opponents of the new guidelines say that the Air Force's move is merely a precursor to a future Pentagon-wide set of norms.
Jones, a Catholic convert, said it's sad that “military chaplains, who are willing to lay down their lives for their country, are having their First Amendment rights challenged.”
He shared a letter he had received from an unnamed Army chaplain who recalled a Chaplain Officer Basic Course, in which he was told that “it is offensive to pray in the name of Jesus, and is against Army policy to do so.”
“Overall,” the anonymous chaplain said, “it was made very clear to everyone in the class that chaplains must refrain from invoking the name of Christ in prayer.”
Balancing Act
Msgr. Stewart Swetland is head of the Newman Foundation at the University of Illinois and a former Lutheran who became Catholic during his time as a U.S. Naval officer. He told the Register that military chaplains often find themselves in the midst of a precarious balancing act.
“A chaplain”, he said, “has to play a double role in the military. …They have to serve the needs of all troops, no matter what faith, while ministering within their particular tradition as well.”
Msgr. Swetland, who also serves as chaplain to the Champaign, Ill., American Legion, observed that “Catholics don't seem to have as hard a time” with the new norms as Protestants.
Many Catholic liturgical prayers, he pointed out, are done in the name of “God” or “Father,” so “we don't necessarily think we're compromising our faith by not always praying in the name of Jesus.”
While some speculate that the policy could set a dangerous precedent, Catholic ministry at the Air Force Academy seems, at least for now, to be largely unfazed.
In fact, Archbishop Edwin O'Brien of the Archdiocese for Military Services, a former Army chaplain in Vietnam, told the Register that he was largely unaware of any major problem among Catholic chaplains.
At least on paper, the military's new guidelines seem somewhat benign. The Air Force policy states that “public prayer should not usually be included in official settings” such as staff meetings, classes or sporting events.
This is a change from a formerly common practice in which many of these types of events were commenced with prayer.
In addition, the new guidelines state that “a brief, non-sectarian prayer may be included in non-routine military ceremonies … where the purpose of the prayer is to add a heightened sense of seriousness or solemnity, not to advance specific religious beliefs.”
While it has yet to be seen how the new guidelines will play out in the long term, many — both Catholics and Protestants — are worried about what they see as an increasingly hostile environment in the ranks of the military.
Another letter from an unnamed Army chaplain, cited by Jones, closes with fearful tension: “Much to my great shame, there have been times when I did not pray in my Savior's name and I know that I must face my Lord one day and give an accounting of my cowardice.”
The chaplain concluded, “Have mercy on me, sweet Jesus.”
Scott Powell is based in Denver.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Scott Powell ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: GIVING THANKS BY 'GIVING BACK' DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:Come Thursday, most Catholic American families will, like the rest of the country, gather around a steaming table of food straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. God will be thanked. Bonds will be strengthened. It will be good.
Meanwhile, some hardy Catholic souls will exchange the family kitchen for the soup kitchen, serving the poor as a way to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to places where people might otherwise go hungry in more ways than one.
In Arlington, Va., the Knights of Columbus in the Edward Douglass White Council do corporal works of mercy on a grand scale. Before celebrating with their own turkey dinners at home, these Knights prepare and serve 350 Thanksgiving dinners in their hall to families and individuals, and deliver another 1,150 to shut-ins and people in senior homes and low-income housing. They even drive vans to the highways and byways to bring the poor, like the area's migrant workers, back to the council hall for this dinner.
Knights and their families do everything from cooking the meals to serving them, says past Grand Knight Jerry Garren. The day before Thanksgiving, he explains, the Garren family prepares three turkeys at home.
“As a mother, cooking is a way I show my love for my family,” says wife and mom KaCee. “So cooking these turkeys for members of God's family who I don't even see eating them gives me fulfillment that I'm able to share my love with them.”
Come 5:30 a.m. Thanksgiving morning, the council's big kitchen is abuzz with volunteers prepping all the trimmings.
“We've been doing it so long,” says Jerry, “we get people who are non-members of the Knights walk in that day to help prepare the salad, box dinners or serve. It's almost a community charity event.”
High school sophomore Will Douthitt will help to deliver meals and wait on tables again this year. Once he learned about this meal for the poor while in eighth grade, he began volunteering to cook turkeys plus deliver and serve meals.
“I remember particularly this one family with eight kids in a rundown apartment with the mother and an older sister taking care of them,” Will recalls. “It opens your eyes and make you more thankful for your own Thanksgiving dinner, a really extravagant meal my mom puts together.”
Another volunteer, retired physician Dr. Robert Kling, delivers the dinners to the homebound, then returns to wait on tables. He well remembers one stop at an apartment house that he describes, probably euphemistically, as “not an elegant place.” He hoped for a prompt response to his knock on the door. Instead, it took a long time to answer.
“I felt a little bit impatient,” recalls Kling. Then he met the resident. “She was a poor soul in a wheelchair and had no legs at all,” he says. “She had a hard time even unbolting the door.
“She was very grateful for the Thanksgiving dinner I brought her,” he continues. “There are lots of people who throw away more food than I am bringing this poor soul, I thought, and here is a person who would not have a Thanksgiving dinner if I hadn't brought it.”
He felt grateful for the opportunity.
“This does more for the bringers, the deliverers, and the servers,” he says, “than for those who are getting it.”
Third Order Regular Franciscan Father James Gigliotti, a pastor in Arlington, Texas, points out that Americans have always had an instinctive sense of appreciation for the bounty most of us enjoy — and often take for granted.
“Because I'm aware how I am blessed, I share with those who have less,” he says. “That's embroidered into our culture.”
He also points out the evangelical aspects of tending to the poor in a special way on special days: You can't very well bring Jesus to someone who's hungry for basic sustenance. But, just by showing up with food and a caring hand, you feed a person two ways — physically and spiritually.
In Atlantic City, St. Nicholas of Tolentine Catholic Church gives all the fixings for an average 500 Thanksgiving dinners on the Monday before the holiday. There's enough food for a week. And there's more.
“We live in a very needy neighborhood in the shadow of the casinos,” explains the pastor, Father William Hodge.
Here, Thanksgiving stretches yearlong because, every month, from the church doors, the Legion of Mary feeds 2,000. Among them are the homeless, the addicted and the mentally ill. Some are otherwise stable but for being seniors on fixed incomes and fatherless families on welfare.
The Legion of Mary distributes holy articles, religious pictures, rosaries and brown scapulars with the food to anyone who wants them, explains Father Hodge.
“Often,” he says, “the people in the lines say of the religious articles: ‘We need this more than we need the food.’ So were evangelizing at the same time as we're feeding, encouraging people to go to church.”
Legion of Mary President Donna Gerace, along with her husband, Joe, started helping here after she was walking to church and saw people picking food out of trash cans. Now these people come to St. Nicholas's regularly.
“They say, ‘God bless you,’” Donna says of the Thanksgiving meals. “They're evangelizing me.”
New Traditionalists
Such volunteer efforts also give families a chance to help each other. Franciscan Friar of the Renewal Father Glenn Sudano reminds that parents have to teach children generosity and gratitude — not just by words but by example.
“To do some kind of hands-on work with the poor is certainly an invitation of Our Lord, who fed the hungry,” he says. “As a family-affair activity, I can't think of anything more nourishing spiritually than to serve the needs of others. It's a wonderful witness of faith.”
Take the Timoney family. Margaret and Larry were founders of the Thanksgiving meal deliveries to shut-ins through Catholic Charities St. John's Breadline in Springfield, Ill. Although Larry died five years ago, Margaret keeps the family tradition alive with her six adult sons and daughters, who come home for the holidays and who, as children, helped with their parents. On Thanksgiving morning, after prayer, all pile into cars to deliver turkey dinners to up to 50 elderly people.
“You're an extension of God's hands when you do that,” reflects Margaret modestly. “We're grateful that we're capable of going on and helping someone else that day. We're only a little part of all the servers there. Everybody is a little piece in God's puzzle.”
Newer pieces include the three Timoney grandsons, ages 9 to 17, who began helping at just 5 years old. They fill out an unfolding picture of a family Thanksgiving tradition that looks to keep the New Evangelization new for years to come.
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: TURKEY DAY ACTS OF MERCY ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: About That Box DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:During The Year of the Eucharist just completed, I was involved in the building of our new Saint Joseph The Worker Monastery here in Englewood, Fla. This put me in close contact with quite a few construction workers. At one point, a supervisor asked what “that box” was for — the one embedded in our chapel's back wall.
He wasn't Catholic, but, he was quick to point out, his wife is — and she is very active in her parish.
Now I was happy to explain to him what “that box” is. I told him we call it a tabernacle. And within this tabernacle Jesus dwells. He is inside there — body and blood, soul and divinity — under the appearance of bread. He looked at me and said very sincerely, “You really believe that?” I answered, “I do.” Then the conversation moved on to more mundane construction talk.
Now this isn't the first time I have talked to a non-Catholic about the Holy Eucharist. On another occasion, Brother Craig here was interviewed by a television crew for a national show and, once again, I was asked about “that box.” The Jewish director was married to a Catholic. I explained the Real Presence to him, also.
In both these instances, I puzzled over how a Catholic could be married to a non-Catholic and not once explain to them what we believe about “that box” in all our churches. Should we not be answering the question before it's even asked?
The skepticism of non-Catholics should not deter us. Recall what happened to Our Lord when he declared himself the “Bread of Life” (John 6:48). Many of his disciples “no longer accompanied him.” “This saying is hard,” they said. “Who can accept it?” We, too, may be rejected — but at least we will have witnessed to the truth and not hidden our light under a basket.
The sixth chapter of St. John's Gospel, of course, is perfect for discussing the Real Presence with non-Catholic Christians. Everywhere else in the Gospels, Jesus always corrects or explains the parables and metaphors the apostles do not understand. Jesus does not do so here. Instead, he further challenges them: “Do you also want to leave?” He makes it evident he is not talking symbolically.
I recently heard a talk about something I hadn't noticed in the Bread of Life Discourse. John 6 begins with the multiplication of the loaves and fish for the multitude. Then we have the account of Jesus walking on the water. The first incident shows that Jesus has power over bread; the second, that he has power over the physical properties of nature. These two incidents lead us into the exposition on the Bread of Life.
Clearly, St. John wanted his readers to know that Jesus has the power to do what he said — transform bread and wine into himself. Jesus is truly “the living bread that came down from heaven” (John 6:51).
Recently I met a man who was wearing a monstrance pin on his lapel. He told me it opened up opportunities to tell the curious about the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. In this simple way he witnessed to Jesus.
Perhaps we, too, can be ever on the lookout to lead others to our Eucharistic Lord? Like the man with the monstrance pin, we might even try thinking outside the box.
Brother John Raymond is co-founder of the Monks of Adoration (monksofadoration.org).
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Brother John Raymond ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Religion Class Is Hit or Miss Cincinnati DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:CINCINNATI — Until recently, Teresa Steinmetz didn't know that the bishops of the United States evaluate her children's religion textbooks for conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
“I think it's a good thing, though,” Steinmetz, the mother of a kindergartener, a fourth-grader, and an eighth-grader, said. “They have to coincide with the Catechism. If they don't, it's just a mockery to our faith.”
Although the books her children use in their religious-education program at Sacred Heart Parish in Fairfield — Resources for Christian Living's Faith First series — bear a declaration from the bishops saying they are in conformity with the Catechism, the Cincinnati Archdiocese does not require parishes and schools to use only books with that declaration.
The archdiocese, led by Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk, instructs catechists to choose a book from its own preferred list of textbooks. However, that list includes more than 30 elementary and junior high texts, sacramental preparation materials, and family life education books that have not been found in conformity with the Catechism.
Kenneth Gleason, director of the archdiocese's office of evangelization and catechesis, said the out-of-conformity books were added before the bishops’ review process started, and that any new books added are those that have been reviewed by the bishops. Books not on the conformity list will remain on the archdiocese's preferred list until they are no longer available from the publisher, Gleason said.
He said that although most parishes and schools choose books from the preferred list, the archdiocese allows any book to be used as long as it has an imprimatur and a “nihil obstat,” which ensure the text is free from doctrinal error. The bishops’ conformity review assesses books not only for error, but completeness of presentation.
In spite of Cincinnati's flexible policy, a random check of parishes and schools in the archdiocese found many to be using texts in conformity with the Catechism. In cases where out-of-conformity texts were in use, they often were supplementary materials for sacramental preparation or a text for a particular grade. A number of catechists, in fact, expressed a commitment to using texts in conformity with the Catechism.
At Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Cincinnati, for example, Leisa Anslinger, pastoral associate for evangelization, catechesis and stewardship, is using Harcourt Religion Publishers’ Call to Faith series for Grades 1-6 and Sadlier's Faith and Witness series for Grades 7-8. Both series are on the bishops’ conformity listing.
Anslinger said in addition to consulting the archdiocese's preferred textbook list, she looks at the bishops’ conformity list when choosing books.
“We want textbooks that are going to be clearly giving a systematic and intentional presentation of the faith, and the best way to know they're doing that is to know they're in conformity with the Catechism,” Anslinger said.
She added, “I've met so many parents who are uncertain about what the Church teaches because either they weren't catechized well themselves or don't remember. So I feel very strongly that the materials we use need to be good, solid materials for this generation of children and for their parents.”
Elsewhere in the country, a Register investigation has found that other dioceses have responded to the bishops’ efforts to make sure religious-education textbooks are in conformity with the Catechism by instructing religious educators to choose only books bearing the bishops’ declaration of conformity.
A third of all dioceses are estimated to have such requirements and include Miami, headed by Archbishop John Favalora; Baltimore, where Cardinal William Keeler is archbishop; New Orleans, led by Archbishop Alfred Hughes, and St. Louis, headed by Archbishop Raymond Burke. The Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y., headed by Bishop Edward Kmiec, directs catechists to use textbooks in conformity, but finds it difficult to enforce the policy because of limited staff.
Even where strong policies are in place, the Register has found some schools and parishes use materials that have not been reviewed by the bishops. In many instances, educators who selected the books did not know the texts failed to meet the bishops’ standards for conformity with the Catechism. Diocesan officials in turn were unaware such materials were being used.
When such cases are discovered, many dioceses follow up and let religious educators know that better materials are available.
The U.S. Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee to Oversee the Use of the Catechism has been reviewing textbooks for conformity with the Catechism since 1996 in cooperation with publishers, who submit texts voluntarily and agree to make changes needed for a conformity declaration. The ad hoc committee also cites “recommended” and “suggested” changes, and in 90% of the cases, publishers make all the changes, according to Archbishop Hughes of New Orleans, the current chairman of the committee.
At the start of the review process, the ad hoc committee, which then was headed by Archbishop Daniel Buechlein, OSB, of Indianapolis, identified 10 areas in which textbooks were lacking: the Trinity and the Trinitarian structure of Catholic beliefs, the centrality of Christ in salvation history and his divinity, the ecclesial context of Catholic beliefs and magisterial teachings, a distinctively Christian anthropology, God's initiative in the world with an overemphasis on human action, the transforming effects of grace, presentation of the sacraments, original sin and sin in general, the Christian moral life, and eschatology.
As a result of the bishops’ efforts, 95 texts and series now bear the declaration of conformity with the Catechism, giving religious educators multiple choices of materials that teach the fundamentals of the faith and make learning interesting as well. A list of such texts is updated quarterly and available on the U.S. Bishops’ website (usccb.org).
In Cincinnati, one of 20 dioceses being examined in the Register's investigation, the preferred textbook list is developed by reviewing books to see if they match the archdiocese's graded course of study and for age-appropriateness and adequacy of the teachers’ manuals.
Kristina Krimm, assistant director of the archdiocese's office of evangelization and catechesis, said even though catechists are told to choose books from the preferred list, there is no mechanism in place to enforce the policy. The archdiocese leaves the ultimate choice to the pastor, Krimm said.
Debbie Muskopf, who has three children in the parish school at Sacred Heart in Fairfield, said she thinks the textbooks they use are generally good, but that the presentation is sometimes “sugar-coated.”
“It's kind of a feel-good thing, but not a have-to thing,” she said. For example, she said that the requirement of fasting for one hour before receiving the Eucharist was never mentioned in her child's preparation for first Communion text. And while the option of receiving Communion in the hand is presented, there is no mention of the traditional way of receiving — on the tongue.
“I'm thinking of some of the things I was taught 30 years ago that are still in place, but these kids haven't a clue they exist,” she said. “They're good as far as incorporating faith into your life, but not overly good at rules.”
Jeanne Hunt, director of faith formation at Sacred Heart, chooses the books for both the parish school of religion and the elementary school. She said she has observed an improvement in doctrinal presentation in religion textbooks since the bishops’ review process began.
“I have noticed a much more disciplined approach to teaching religion, where before, anything kind of went,” she said. “It was supposed to be a thoughtful, reflective experience, but there was not a lot of content. The bishops truly brought that up a notch because we've got a whole generation of Catholics that don't know a lot about doctrine.”
Hunt said, however, that even as the pendulum swings back to a more traditional method of teaching religion, catechesis has to be combined with evangelization.
“There has to be a combination of both because no Catechism is going to convert if you don't open someone's heart,” she said. “The bishops are right to do this, but it has to go hand in hand with evangelizing folks.”
Judy Roberts writes from Graytown, Ohio.
----- EXCERPT: CATECHISM INVESTIGATIVE SERIES ----- EXTENDED BODY: Judy Roberts ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Fired Pro-Abortion Teacher Files Complaints DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Catholic high school student whose mother exposed the school drama teacher as an abortion clinic escort has been expelled.
The action came just weeks after the bishop of Sacramento, Calif., ordered the teacher fired.
The teacher, in turn, has filed complaints with the state against the school, the religious order that sponsors it, and Bishop William Weigand and the Diocese of Sacramento.
The chancellor of the diocese said the bishop cannot intervene in this dispute between Loretto High School and expelled sophomore Katelyn Sills, 15, and her family.
“We don't have jurisdiction,” said Father Charles McDermott, the chancellor. “Bishops aren't absolute monarchs to just jump in whenever they want.”
However, Father McDermott said the diocese would be willing to help Katelyn find a place in one of several Catholic high schools directly under the bishop's control.
The teacher, Marie Bain, 50, was dismissed by the all girls’ college preparatory school on Oct. 14 after Bishop Weigand sent the school a “clarifying canonical directive.”
In his Oct. 5 letter to the school, Bishop Weigand wrote, “Obviously, the very public nature of Ms. Bain's previous volunteer activity at a Planned Parenthood Clinic is inconsistent with her position as a teacher at a Catholic high school and as a collaborator in the formation of Catholic women.”
A “clinic escort” typically stands outside an abortion business and ensures that a woman coming for an abortion gets inside without interference from people who seek to change her mind about killing her unborn baby.
The bishop was able to order the dismissal of Bain because her history of volunteering as a Planned Parenthood escort showed “full formal active cooperation with abortion,” and that is a matter of faith and morals, which is in the bishop's purview, Father McDermott said.
Sills’ mother brought a photo of Bain working as an escort to the attention of the bishop after first quietly bringing it to the attention of Loretto High School, Father McDermott said.
Because the Loretto Sisters — the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the order that runs the school — are a religious order under the Vatican, they are independent of the bishop in matters of internal governance. Sills’ expulsion falls into the category of internal governance, Father McDermott said.
School's Reputation
The student was notified of her expulsion in an express mail letter delivered Oct. 29. A statement from Loretto High School president Sister Helen Timothy said the behavior of the Sills family made it necessary to expel Katelyn. In a statement released Oct. 28, the school cited unnamed taunts, veiled threats and verbal abuse as well as “a mass e-mail campaign slandering the school's reputation as a Catholic institution.”
Sister Timothy told the Register she could make no further comment.
“We cannot allow members of a single family to disrupt our ability to serve all Loretto families and provide their daughters with a safe and stable campus environment conducive to learning,” the statement said.
The affair drew a firestorm of local and national attention partly because Sills had begun a very articulate weblog earlier this year that became a magnet for hundreds of comments on both sides of the matter. Comments on the blog (standupandspeakout.blogspot.com) intensified after Sills acknowledged Oct. 22 that her mother was the one who gave the teacher's photo to the bishop. The Sacramento Bee ran several stories, including the first story identifying Katelyn's relationship to the firing of the teacher.
Father McDermott said a local radio show devoted two three-hour shows to Sills’ expulsion on the Monday and Tuesday following her ouster from the school.
The Sills family answered the school's statement attacking them, posting a Nov. 1 press release on Katelyn's blog that said: “These charges are categorically false and defamatory. In actual fact, our family has at all times acted respectfully in attempting to resolve a difficult situation for the good of all members of the Loretto community, continuously seeking reconciliation.”
Sills’ mother had also complained this year about a Teen Wire handout by a teacher in a Social Studies class on domestic violence. Teen Wire is a website sponsored for adolescents by Planned Parenthood.
A telephone call to Sills’ father was not returned after the statement was posted. Earlier, Edward Sills, an organic farmer, said the family was not ready to comment.
The drama teacher, Bain, also did not return a phone call from the Register. But the Sacramento Bee reported Nov. 4 that she filed two employment complaints with the state. One, with the Department of Labor, calls for an investigation of the employment practices of the diocese. The other, with the Department of Fair Employment, is a first step toward a lawsuit.
Bain alleges that her firing was a case of sexual and religious discrimination and violated her free-speech rights.
James Sweeney, an attorney for the diocese, said he was confident the diocese handled the case appropriately, according to the Bee. “It's purely an internal matter of Church discipline and is protected by the First Amendment,” he said.
National Attention
Katelyn Sills notified the blogosphere of her plight in a post Oct. 31.
“As of Saturday, October 29th, I was given official notice by express mail that I am expelled from Loretto High School. This was given completely without forewarning, without a meeting, and without a chance to say goodbye. My family is now seeking legal advice, and more details will follow,” she wrote.
Sills’ blog and her story were linked and commented upon by detractors at her school and elsewhere and by supporters, including some of the most trafficked blogs run by faithful Catholics, such as JimmyAkin.org and Amy Welborn's OpenBook. Akin recommended that the Sills sue.
The Sacramento Bee in its first story had quoted the school's president, Sister Timothy, saying after Bain's dismissal that she was “exceptional” and “the students thought very highly of her.”
Sills herself apparently had no idea what was looming. On Oct. 26, three days before she was expelled, she wrote on her blog: “After the initial uproar and confusion over Ms. Bain's dismisal, things are now pretty much the same as always at Loretto, from my point of view. My friends are still my friends and, for the most part, people treat me as they did before.”
Valerie Schmalz writes from San Francisco.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Valerie Schmalz ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Don't Curse The Religious Peacemakers DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:As car fires (and nursery school fires, hospital fires and parish fires) still blaze in France, I'm reminded that recently, Pope Benedict XVI asked Muslim leaders to do something that many in the West have been clamoring for Muslim leaders to do: Make it very publicly clear that the kind of violence so prominent in the Islamic world is to be condemned and repudiated.
One person to respond to the Pope's call was King Abdullah of Jordan, who issued a strong statement condemning the Bronze-Age fanaticism of so many of his co-religionists, and calling for Muslims of good will to actively oppose it. It was a real step forward, and in remarks of gratitude for the king's willingness to work for peace, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, D.C., said:
“A few months ago, when I was privileged to pray for you on another occasion in this capital city, I asked Allah, the compassionate and merciful Lord of all the world, to bless you, and to help you make your country a bridge across which all nations might walk in unity, fellowship and love. As I listened to your words today, I believe my prayer is being answered.”
He then briefly thanked the king for being a courageous voice of reform in the Islamic world and closed with this brief prayer.
“Your Majesty's call and that of the Holy Father are in so many ways the same. May Allah, the merciful and compassionate, continue to guide your steps along this noble path. May he guide and protect you, your family and your beloved country and may peace and justice come to all lands and all peoples through your efforts, your vision and your courage. In the name of Allah, the merciful and compassionate God, we pray. Amen.”
The Catholic blogsophere (commonly known as “St. Blog's parish”) promptly went nuts over this. Several members of St. Blog's took it for granted that Cardinal McCarrick is an “apostate and hypocrite” and the worshipper of a “moon god.” “Diogenes,” a frequent poster on the Catholic World News “Off the Record” blog, took it as a foregone conclusion that this is grounds for dismissing the cardinal from office, and the baying hounds in the comment box growled their threats of excommunication, not only at the cardinal, but at the Holy Father himself.
Questions: Why would a successor to the apostles hide the fullness of the faith by praying as a non-Christian? In the Name of God the Father, Son & Holy Spirit, why has the Holy Father not accepted Cardinal McCarrick's resignation?
As one member of St. Blog's aptly summed up the mind of the tribunal:
“I don't buy … the Lumen Gentium version of things. We worship the Triune God, Moslems don't. And the adherents of Islam refer to non-Moslems as ‘infidels.’ (See a good dictionary here; if one isn't a Moslem, one is an infidel.) If I am an infidel, then I don't share the same faith with these folks. How, then, can anyone say we worship the same God? And, please, don't try that ‘God of Abraham’ stuff on me. That's ecumenistic tripe (in my humble opinion).”
Here are a number of basic problems with this “Fire … Aim … Ready” approach to the Church's teaching.
First, the “moon god” charge is what is known as the “genetic fallacy.” Catholics have to put up with this every time we are told “Easter” is a “pagan holiday” (because the word derives from Eostre, a pagan goddess). The reality is, whatever the obscure etymology of a word may be, the important thing is, “What does the word mean now?” Try it with the word “gay” and you'll see what I mean.
In Arabic, “Allah” does not mean “moon god.” It means, “the one God of Abraham, merciful and compassionate Creator and judge of the world.” If it was idolatrous for Cardinal McCarrick to pray to Allah, then the entire Maronite Catholic Church is likewise idolatrous, because they have prayed to Allah in Arabic for centuries.
“But McCarrick was living out the ecumenical tripe of Vatican II, which tries to pretend that all religions are the same. It's a complete departure with Tradition!”
As to Tradition, here is modernist indifferentist heretic Pope St. Gregory VII, burbling stupid ecumenical Vatican II tripe to the Muslim Sultan of Bougie in North Africa in 1076:
“Most certainly you and we ought to love each other in this way more than other races of men, because we believe and confess one God, albeit in different ways, who each day we praise and reverence as the Creator of all ages and the governor of this world.”
How could the good saint sound so much like Lumen Gentium? Because all he is doing, all St. Thomas does when he cites Muslims and pagans with approval, all the Church has ever done, is affirm what can be affirmed in common with non-Catholic religious and philosophical tradition, while being careful not to affirm what cannot be affirmed in common.
As Vatican II puts it, “The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions.” It does not therefore follow that the Church thinks all religions are alike.
“But Muslims deny that Jesus is Allah's son!” And right here's the problem.
For not just Muslims deny that God has a Son. Jews deny that Adonai has a Son too. So if we grab at the “Allah has no Son” trope to insist that Muslims worship a “false god,” we inevitably must also commit ourselves to the proposition that the Jews, too, are idolaters.
Now the vast majority of conservative Catholics retain enough sanity to reject this latter-day Marcionite theology. Most are cognizant of the long miserable history of anti-Semitism in the Church. Indeed, not a few of them say that Israel must be supported at all costs, precisely because they are allies in the war against radical Islamic terror. But because many Catholics view their faith through the lens of American politics, they find themselves in an acutely uncomfortable bind when they declare that Muslims, but not Jews, worship “another god” due to their rejection of Jesus as God's Son.
For, of course, what really drives this discussion is the simple fact that Jews did not fly airplanes into the World Trade Center. Nor did they light up the suburbs of Paris with car fires. Muslims did.
So we would very much like the Church to please stop saying that monotheists who make us angry have something in common with us, but we grant the Church our permission to say, “Monotheists who do not make us angry are fellow worshippers of the one God.”
The obvious and overwhelming danger of this approach is that, in addition to being false, this keeps Jews safe from the charge of idolatry for exactly as long as Jews do not anger Christians. Basing our theology on a mood is a very bad way to proceed. And the proof of this is precisely the sorry history of Christian persecution of Jews, which not infrequently found false justification in the charge that Jews, in not believing in Jesus, could legitimately be called the worshipers of a false god.
All Vatican II (or Pope St. Gregory VII or Cardinal McCarrick) are doing is affirming what can be affirmed in common with Muslims. To say, “We have something in common,” is not to say, “We have everything in common.” However, to cry, “Apostate! Heretic!” at one who rightly affirms such commonality is to commit a sin of rash judgment.
Mark Shea is senior content editor for www.CatholicExchange.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mark Shea ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Terrorists Target Catholics Worldwide DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:SANGLA HILL, Pakistan — The rioting youths from the Muslim suburbs of Paris who burned churches, schools and cars made headlines. But terrorists’ attacks on churches and Christian believers have flared around the globe this fall.
In Pakistan, hundreds of Catholics worshipped in the open air Nov. 13, the day after 1,500 Muslims rioted, burning down their churches in what seemed like organized attacks.
On Nov. 12, the Muslim mob shouted insults at the Christians, calling them kafirs and chucha, the abusive term for non-Muslims and untouchables, and kuta (dogs).
Local police and the Catholic community agreed on how the violence began: A Catholic man had spent several days gambling with Muslim men and had won a small fortune.
Embittered, his opponents spread the rumor that he had set fire to the koran mahal (a box for preserving torn pages of the Koran). Soon the alleged deed was broadcast by mullahs from mosques.
Muslim mobs set ablaze three churches, a convent and a priest's house in the Punjab province on Nov. 12.
Catholic protesters gathered the next day, and dispersed only after Catholic Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha, 69, advised them not to retaliate.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, Police said Nov. 14 that they uncovered and possible foiled a terrorist plot to bomb churches during Christmas. Indonesia is the world's most populous Moslem nation, but Central Sulawesi has roughly equal numbers of Moslems and Christians.
Indonesia has deployed more military troops to the plagued province of Central Sulawesi. That's where a recent spate of violence included the beheading of three teenage Christian schoolgirls.
(From combined wire dispatches)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:WEDS. & SAT.
Bugtime Adventures
EWTN
At 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays and 10 a.m. Saturdays, these cartoons feature cute bug characters who learn life lessons as they witness Bible incidents unfolding. The series also airs on FamilyNet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays and 9:30 a.m. Saturdays.
SUNDAY, NOV. 20
Thanksgiving in Beaver Run
Familyland TV, 6 p.m.
In this 1953 episode of her TV drama series “Letter to Loretta,” Catholic actress Loretta Young (1913-2000) is a mom who comes upon a burglary and sees her invalid son kidnapped.
SUNDAY, NOV. 20
Extreme Makeover:
Home Edition
ABC, 8 p.m.
Boston Red Sox stars Kevin Millar, Curt Schilling and Jason Varitek help the Makeover team build a new home for melanoma survivor Heidi Johnson, her husband Tripp and their kids, Abby and Will. They also play with baseball-loving Will, 5, a spinal muscular atrophy patient who “runs” the bases in a motorized scooter.
MONDAY, NOV. 21
The 1918 Flu Epidemic
PBS
American Experience: Influenza 1918, at 9 p.m., recounts the Spanish Grippe (flu) epidemic, spread by World War I soldiers coming home. The disease killed more than 600,000 Americans, including 195,000 in October alone. Secrets of the Dead: Killer Flu, at 10 p.m., a re-air from 2004, shows Dr. Jeffrey Taubenberger and his team creating a genetic sequencing of the 1918 virus and finding it originated as a bird flu. A current update calls that virus similar to the H5N1 bird-flu virus of today.
THURSDAY, NOV. 24
Macy's Thanksgiving Parade
NBC, 9 a.m., live
This beloved parade features marching bands, songs, dance and floats, but its biggest (pun intended) stars are always the gigantic cartoon character balloons.
THURSDAY, NOV. 24
A Charlie Brown
Thanksgiving
ABC, 8 p.m.
Charles M. Schulz (1922-2000), creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip, wrote this half-hour 1973 special in which problems arise yet all ends well for the kids, Snoopy and Woodstock.
FRIDAY, NOV. 25
A Christmas Carol
Turner Classic Movies, 8 p.m.
This 1938 film well captures the spirit of Charles Dickens’ 1843 novel, in which tight-fisted, cruel boss Ebenezer Scrooge repents and makes amends at Christmastime after his deceased partner and ghosts make plain to him the eternal consequences of his sins.
SATURDAY, NOV. 26
WTC: Stories from the Ruins
Discovery Channel, 8 p.m.
Hangar 17 in New York's JFK International Airport became a shrine filled with items retrieved from the debris of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dan Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Vatican Media Watch DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:Vatican Radio's ‘Podcasts’ Hugely Successful
MAIL & GUARDIAN ONLINE, Nov. 8 — The Vatican Radio's “podcasting” service, launched with little fanfare during the summer, has proved unexpectedly popular, according to Mail & Guardian Online.
“It has been a success right from the start,” said Jean-Charles Putzolu of the Vatican Radio's web team.
Vatican Radio began its podcasting — an automated way of making audio files, such as radio shows, available for download over the Internet — in mid-August by making available for download an interview given to Polish television in which Pope Benedict remembers his predecessor, John Paul II.
“I have just come back from a conference abroad on international radio and I can assure you that Vatican Radio, like the BBC, is at the forefront in the podcasting world,” said Putzolu. “Our long-term aim is to expand the service to comprise all of the 39 languages in which Vatican radio broadcasts.”
Archbishop: Relations With Russia Not Yet Possible
ASSOCIATED PRESS, Nov. 8 — Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, the Vatican's foreign minister, said after returning from Moscow that an upgrade in relations is not yet possible, Associated Press reported.
Archbishop Lajolo had said at the start of his Oct. 26-30 Russian visit that the Vatican was hoping to establish full-scale diplomatic relations with Moscow, telling Russian media that the current ties don't correspond to the weight each wields in the world.
The head of the Russian church, Patriarch Alexy II, maintains that a papal visit to Russia would be possible only after the Catholic Church stops its alleged poaching for converts in Russia and other ex-Soviet lands and ends alleged discrimination against the Orthodox in western Ukraine. The Vatican has denied the allegations.
“I am convinced that like the Holy See, the Patriarchate wants our reciprocal relations to be more fraternal, open and trusting,” he said. “There are objective reciprocal differences that require a more profound study.”
German Theologian Is Not Catholic, Vatican States
SPERO NEWS, Nov. 8 — Despite claims otherwise, the Vatican said Protestant theologian Klaus Berger is not a Catholic, and reemphasized the Church's teaching excluding dual membership, Spero News reported.
“In the discussion concerning the confessional identity of the exegete Klaus Berger of Heidelberg, who claims to be a Catholic and — according to what has now been made public — in 1968, participating in the Protestant supper, became a ‘member of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church,’ the assertion has been made that ‘Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope,’ had precise knowledge of ‘the matter in its formal aspects’ and ‘raised no objections,’” the Vatican said in a statement issued Nov. 8 by Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls.
“This assertion is false,” the declaration continued. “Until the current discussion arose, no information beyond what was commonly known reached the cardinal, now Pope; there was no knowledge of a dual confessional identity. Thus, the cardinal had no reason to take up a position on the question of Mr. Berger's confessional identity and, indeed, he never pronounced himself on the subject.”
The Vatican statement concluded, “Obviously, the norms of Catholic canon law, which exclude dual membership of the Catholic Church and of a Protestant Landeskirche, remain in full force without exception, and are therefore also valid in this case. The Church cannot obtain any dispensation from this rule, not even in the sacrament of penance.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Video Picks & Passes DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:CONFESSION: PICK
(2005)
WAR OF THER WORLDS: PASS
(2005)
THE POLAR EXPRESS: PASS
(1997)
Who would dare to remake a film from the Master of Suspense? Seven years ago Gus Van Sant drew jeers for his shot-for-shot recreation of Hitchcock's Psycho. Now a young Catholic filmmaker named Jonathan Meyers makes his writing-directing debut with Confession, a loose, direct-to-DVD remake of I Confess, a wrong-man crime drama about a priest suspected of murder who is prevented from implicating the real killer by the seal of confession.
Reverent, smartly directed and well acted by a respectable cast, Confession's weakness is also its promotional gimmick: Meyers directed the film at 24, but wrote the screenplay 10 years earlier as a freshman in a Catholic boarding school.
Unsurprisingly, the screenplay makes all the mistakes you would expect from a 14-year-old. The characters are flat and act out of character or make implausible decisions as required. The priest's dilemma is undermined by inconsistent treatment of what he can or can't reveal about the confessions he heard. Most seriously, the killer rather than the priest has become the protagonist, undermining the wrong-man dilemma central to the original film.
That said, as a collaboration across time between Meyers the 24-year-old director and Meyers the 14-year-old high-school freshman, Confession is an intriguing record of the development of a promising talent. Catholics interested in positive portrayals of the Church in film may find it worth their while.
Confession isn't this week's only DVD release of a loose 2005 remake that weakens the logic of the classic film it's based on. Hollywood giant Steven Spielberg does the same on a vastly huger scale in War of the Worlds, an alien-invasion story that finds the aliens coming a lot farther, working a lot harder and being a lot better prepared than their counterparts from the 1953 film and the H.G. Wells original story — all of which makes their downfall less plausible.
Like James Cameron's Titanic, War of the Worlds highlights the ugly side of human nature under pressure, largely ignoring man's capacity for heroism. Nor is there any room in this relentless story for any spiritual searching or reflection. Spielberg's efficient, assured direction makes for consistently gripping, even riveting excitement. Yet it's grim, joyless excitement, not satisfying in the end.
Like current theatrical release Zathura and 1995 hit Jumanji, Robert Zemekis’ computer-animated The Polar Express is based on the work of writer-illustrator Chris Van Allsburg. Like all Van Allsburg's books, The Polar Express is long on imagination and imagery, but short on plot and characterization. The film version, too, is long on eye candy but short on heart and wonder. Santa's home is neither magical nor picturesque, only a quaint European-style city with cobblestone streets and canned Christmas muzak. (Alas, even at the North Pole, where everyone celebrates Christmas, only “inoffensive” secular tunes are allowed.)
The sentiment is at the level of a Hallmark card. It probably won't do youngsters any great harm, but platitudes like, “It doesn't matter where the train is going; the important thing is to get on board” and, “The meaning of Christmas is in your heart” aren't lessons I care to reinforce for my children.
CONTENT ADVISORY: Confession contains brief murderous violence and gunplay and brief objectionable language, and is fine for teens and up. War of the Worlds contains intense sci-fi mayhem and carnage, violence and menace, an offscreen killing, and some profanity and crude language, and is mature viewing. The Polar Express contains mild action peril and brief unnerving imagery, and is okay for kids.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Creation Is a Revelation of God's Presence DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:Register Summary
Psalm 136, also known as “The Great Hallel,” a solemn hymn of praise that the Jewish people sang during Passover, was the central theme of Pope Benedict's catechesis during his general audience in St. Peter's Square on Nov.9. More than 25,000 people were present.
Focusing the refrain, “God's love endures forever,” the Holy Father pointed out that the key word is love.
“The word ‘love’ resounds at the heart of this refrain, which is a legitimate but rather limited translation of the original Hebrew word hesed, he said. “The word attempts to describe the attitudes found within this relationship: faithfulness, loyalty, love and God's mercy.” Pope Benedict emphasized that God is not a cold and distant God but a God who loves his creatures and suffers when they are unfaithful to him and reject his fatherly love.
The Holy Father pointed out that the psalmist recognizes the first signs of God's love in the wonders of creation.
“Even before discovering the God who reveals himself in the history of his people, there is a cosmic revelation that everyone can see, which the one and only Creator, the ‘God of gods’ and the ‘Lord of lords,’ offers to all mankind,” he said. “There exists, therefore, a divine message secretly inscribed in creation as a sign of the hesed (loving faithfulness of God).”
Quoting St. Basil the Great, Pope Benedict XVI noted that the Fathers of the Church teach us to recognize the greatness of God in creation and his merciful love towards us. Setting aside his prepared text, he encouraged all Christians to open their hearts to God's Word “so that we might perceive the message of creation, which is also inscribed in our hearts, that the beginning of everything is creative Wisdom and that this Wisdom is love and goodness: ‘His mercy endures forever!’”
Psalm 136 has been called “The Great Hallel,” a solemn and majestic hymn of praise that the Jewish people would sing during the Passover liturgy. We have just listened to the first part of the psalm, according to the division used in the Liturgy of the Hours’ evening prayer.
Let us reflect first of all on the refrain, “God's love endures forever.” The word “love” resounds at the heart of this refrain, which is a legitimate but rather limited translation of the original Hebrew word hesed. It is part of the language that is typically used in the Bible to express the covenant that exists between the Lord and his people. The word attempts to describe the attitudes found within this relationship: faithfulness, loyalty, love and God's mercy.
A God of Love
We have here a concise portrayal of the deep and interpersonal bond that the Creator has established with his creatures. Within this relationship, God does not appear in the Bible as some emotionless and merciless Lord, nor as some obscure and incomprehensible being, similar to fate — a mysterious force against which it is useless to fight. Rather, he manifests himself as a person who loves his creatures, watches over them, follows them throughout the course of history, and suffers because of the unfaithfulness with which his people often oppose his hesed, his merciful and fatherly love.
The first visible sign of God's love, the psalmist says, is to be found within creation. At this point, history enters the scene. Full of admiration and awe, he first pauses to cast his gaze on creation: the heavens, the earth, the waters, the sun, the moon and the stars.
Even before discovering the God who reveals himself in the history of his people, there is a cosmic revelation that everyone can see, which the one and only Creator, the “God of gods” and the “Lord of lords,” offers to all mankind (see verses 2-3).
As Psalm 19 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder's craft. One day to the next conveys that message; one night to the next imparts that knowledge” (verses 2-3). There exists, therefore, a divine message secretly inscribed in creation as a sign of the hesed (loving faithfulness of God), who gives life, water, food, light and time to his creatures.
We need clear vision in order to contemplate this revelation of God, keeping in mind the admonition from the Book of Wisdom that reminds us that “from the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen” (Wisdom 13:5; see Romans 1:20). Therefore, prayerful praise flows from contemplating God's “great wonders” (see Psalm 136:4), which are found throughout creation, and is transformed into a joyful hymn of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord.
God's Loving Mercy
Thus, we ascend from the works of creation to the greatness of God and to his loving mercy. This is what the Fathers of the Church taught us, whose voices echo the continuity of Christian tradition.
St. Basil the Great, in one of the opening pages of his first homily on the Hexameron where he provides a commentary on the account of creation found in the first chapter of Genesis, pauses to meditate on the wisdom of God's work and is led to recognize God's goodness as creation's driving force. Here are some comments from the lengthy meditation of this holy bishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia:
“‘In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.’ My word surrenders, overcome by the awe of this thought” (1, 2, 1: Sulla Genesi [Omelie sull'Esamerone], Milan, 1990, pp. 9, 11). Even though some people, “deceived by the atheism they bear within them, imagined that the universe was deprived of any guidance and order, as though it were at the mercy of fate,” this sacred writer, instead, “has immediately enlightened our minds with the name of God at the beginning of his account, saying: ‘In the beginning God created.’ And what beauty this order has!” (1, 2, 4: ibid, page 11).
“If, then, the world had a beginning and was created, seek out the one who began it and the one who is its Creator. … Moses has prepared you with his teaching, inscribing on our souls the most holy name of God as a seal or phylactery when he says: ‘In the beginning God created.’ The blessed nature, goodness free from envy, he who is the object of the love of all reasoning beings, beauty greater than any that can be desired, the beginning of all beings, the source of life, the light of understanding, inaccessible wisdom, He, in a word, ‘in the beginning created the heavens and the earth’” (1, 2, 6-7: ibid, page 13).
I find that when this Father from the fourth century says that some people, “deceived by the atheism they bear within them, imagined that the universe was deprived of any guidance and order, as though it were at the mercy of fate,” his words are surprisingly relevant today. Who are these people today, who, deceived by atheism, hold onto and try to prove that it is scientific to think that everything is deprived of any guidance and order, as though it were at the mercy of fate?
The Lord, through sacred Scripture, awakens the reasoning that is asleep within us and tells us: In the beginning was the creative Word — the Word that created everything, that created this intelligent design that is the universe — and also love.
Therefore, allow this Word of God to awaken us. Let us pray that it will also enlighten our minds so that we might perceive the message of creation, which is also inscribed in our hearts, that the beginning of everything is creative Wisdom and that this Wisdom is love and goodness: “His mercy endures forever!”
(Register translation)
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Eleven years ago in France, a mother approached Father Antoine Thomas of the Community of St. John and asked him to teach her young children how to adore Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Little did she know that her request would plant the seed for an international movement of children's Holy Hours — a movement now known as Children of Hope.
Children of Hope is an apostolate of the Brothers, Sisters and Oblates of the Community of St. John. According to their website (childrenofhope.org ), they are ”dedicated to leading children into the mystery of the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, so as to realize how much he loves them.”
In order to accomplish this mission, they have developed a Holy Hour program for children that combines prayer, singing, silence and catechetics. They also offer videos, leader manuals, prayer books and musical CDs to accompany the Holy Hours. Children are exposed to traditional prayers such as the Rosary, acts of faith, hope and charity, the Fatima prayers, and prayers for the souls in purgatory.
“When I arrived in America the following year (after meeting the young mother), I was surprised that there were no children at Holy Hours,” Father Antoine recalls. “So, although this started in France, I really developed the structure of the Holy Hour here in the United States. Things really started to take off five years ago when I was invited to be on ‘Mother Angelica Live.’ Things just exploded. I received over 1,500 letters after that show.”
In 1996, he points out, Pope John Paul II urged priests, religious and lay people to redouble their efforts to teach the younger generations the meaning and value of Eucharistic adoration and devotion. “How else can we respond,” he asks, “if not by bringing children to the Eucharistic heart of Jesus?”
Children of Hope children are invited to come before, but not on, the altar. The idea is to let them know that they are physically close to Christ. The priest or deacon then leads the children through the Holy Hour.
Father Antoine explains: “When I ask the children what things they really like in this special time of prayer with Jesus, they often have two answers. One, they feel closer to Jesus and, two, they like the quiet. This last point is to be made to catechists and parents who don't believe that their children are able to be quiet.”
Justine Schmiesing agrees. A member of Holy Family Parish in Steubenville, Ohio, she and her family helped found a Children of Hope chapter there.
“What I really love about this program is that it breaks the Holy Hour up into manageable chunks,” she says. “It has a little teaching time, a little singing time, but also quiet time. Father will start with a minute of silence, followed by singing. Eventually he works the children up to several minutes of silence at a time. It really helps ease the kids into the idea of praying silently before Our Lord.
“I really appreciate that it doesn't dumb things down for the kids,” she adds. “It raises them up.”
Flexible Format
For his part, Holy Family's pastor, Father Rich Tuttle, appreciates the fruit that the Holy Hours are bearing.
“I think the more we devote time to praying with our youth at even a young age, particularly in front of the Holy Eucharist, the more they develop a sincere faith,” he says. “As they grow in that faith, they are able to see that Jesus is with them all of the time. It gets them started into what we hope is a lifelong habit.”
Father Tuttle also sees an easily overlooked benefit to the Holy Hours. Although the program is designed for children, parents come along with them.
“It's really catechesis and prayer for the whole family,” he says. “We tell the kids not to come by themselves, but with their family. I would really encourage other pastors out there who are thinking of starting this to do it.”
Although the Holy Hour is structured, its format is not so rigid that it doesn't lend itself to adaptation. Sister John Dominic, a Dominican Sister of Mary Mother of the Eucharist, is principal of Spiritus Sanctus Academy in Ann Arbor, Mich. She adapted the Children of Hope Holy Hour to fit the needs and schedule of her school.
“Our community is friends with Father Antoine, and he used to come to our school and give talks to the children from time to time,” she says. “Once he formalized the Holy Hours, I went to their website and figured out what I needed to do to adapt it.
“We have daily Mass here, and every Thursday we have an hour of adoration following Mass,” adds the nun. “This allows parents to spend time in adoration, but the teachers can also bring their class back to adore Our Lord. I lead them in a meditation before the Blessed Sacrament and focus their attention on Jesus present there before them. This is part of our effort to teach the children the proper reverence, disposition and prayers necessary so that adoration can become a part of their life.”
Veronica Wendt writes from Steubenville, Ohio.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Veronica Wendt ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- *************************** Missing text Word Work File D_1454 and Word Work File D_4 *************************** TITLE: World Media Watch DATE: 11/20/2005 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 20-26, 2005 ----- BODY:‘Oldest Church in the World’ Unearthed?
Photographs of three Greek inscriptions in the mosaic were sent to Hebrew University expert professor Leah Di Segni. “I was told these were Byzantine,” Di Segni said, “but they seem much earlier than anything I have seen so far from the Byzantine period. It could be from the third or the beginning of the fourth century.”
Christian rituals were prohibited in the Roman Empire prior to the year 313 A.D., and Christians had to pray in secret in catacombs or private homes. The earliest churches, dating from around 330 A.D., are the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the Nativity in Bethlehem, and Alonei Mamre near Hebron, which were built by Emperor Constantine I.
A pottery vessel discovered at the site confirmed Di Segni's dating; she said, however, that the church's age can only be determined with certainty after excavators reach the level below the floor. She said, “The problem is that in Israel we have no mosaic inscriptions from this period, and they will have to be compared with inscriptions from Antioch or Rome.”
Democracy Movement Seeks New Showdown
Bishop Zen and the Protestant leaders also urged lawmakers to block the plan in the legislature, saying that the government's proposal would not bring Hong Kong any closer to electing its leaders through a fully democratic process.
The government's proposal calls for expanding the Legislative Council to 70 members, with five of the new members to be chosen by general elections and the other five to be selected by the city's 529 district councilors. Tsang, a daily communicant, appoints 102 of these district councilors, and the rest are chosen in neighborhood elections.
Bishop Zen's criticism represents his most public opposition to Tsang, a personal friend, since Tsang became acting chief executive in March and then chief executive in July. But that didn't stop the bishop for calling for a democratic vote.
Universal suffrage “is just like climbing up a mountain — our goal is to reach the peak,” Bishop Zen told The Times. “This proposal is just guiding us round and round making pleasure jaunts rather than moving towards the peak. It is a waste of time.”
Czech Bishops Protest Stem-Cell Legislation
“We express our serious worries over the currently debated draft concerning the use of human embryonic stem cells in research,” the Czech Bishops’ Conference said in a statement placed on its Web site. Last month, the lower chamber of the parliament agreed to discuss the legislation, sending the draft bill for a second reading.
The Czech Republic currently has no laws addressing the issue.
If approved by both chambers of the Czech parliament and by the president, the bill would allow the use of embryonic stem cells for research purposes, but would ban cloning. Violations would be punishable by up to eight years in prison.
In their statement, the bishops also called on all Czech citizens to closely watch “the work of their elected representatives … and to remind them of their moral obligations.”
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