CHICAGO — In one busy late-July week, Mel Gibson promoted his film The Passion to Catholic leaders and journalists in New York, Washington and Chicago. But none of the audiences he assembled matched his July 18 appearance at the Regnum Christi Youth and Family Encounter on Chicago's Navy Pier.
The July 17-20 event, a combination apostolic convention and pep rally, was attended by nearly 5,000 Catholics. On the second evening of the four-day event, Legionary Father Owen Kearns, publisher of the Register, announced a “surprise” guest and Mel Gibson came to the podium.
Pulling a rosary from his pocket, Gibson said, “Nothing is more powerful than prayer.”
The passion of Christ was one of the themes of the Youth and Family Encounter that included concerts, how-to talks on evangelization and separate events for children.
Immediately following Gibson, keynote speaker Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., spoke of policy issues regarding family and culture.
On abortion, he said the American rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness must come in that order.” He said Americans should oppose abortion not on a religious basis but because the “right to abortion” distorts this country's founding principles “by putting the mother's right to liberty ahead of her baby's right to life, which is never justified. The right to life must always be primary,” he said.
“There is nothing quite like seeing so many Catholic families who are so committed to their faith that they feel they ‘must’ do something more for Christ,” said Mary Ann Yep, a mother of eight and one of the key organizers of the Chicago event. “It was a challenge, but ever so worth it, knowing that thousands of people will return to their cities and parishes ready and motivated to continue serving the Church.”
Regnum Christi, Latin for “Kingdom of Christ,” is one of the new ecclesial movements Pope John Paul II has hailed as a “sign of the springtime of evangelization foretold by Vatican II.” In the United States and Canada, the movement currently numbers more than 8,000 lay members.
The weekend culminated in a Mass celebrated by Bishop Thomas Paprocki, auxiliary bishop of Chicago, who said he hopes to see Regnum Christi spread throughout the archdiocese and the world.
The Chicago encounter took as its theme Christ's words to Peter in a similar lakeside setting: “Cast your nets.” Evan Lemoine, a Regnum Christi member from Louisiana now beginning a year of service to the Church as a co-worker, shared his testimony and said, “If every single one of us casts out our nets at our schools, our workplaces, our families, our neighborhoods … we would change the world for Christ.”
The Youth and Family Encounter began with a focus on the Passion. The audience was given an eight-minute peek at a video being produced by Dr. Thomas McGovern, a physician from Indiana. The video, When God Died, explains the medical reality of Christ's passion and puts it in its spiritual context.
“It leads us to appreciate more and more just what Christ went through for us,” said Gregg Backstrom, a Regnum Christi member from the Minnesota who is involved in ConQuest clubs and camps for boys.
The video was fallowed by an appearance from Steve McEveety, producer of several Gibson films, including The Passion, who explained what filming the story of the last hours of Christ's life has meant to him. “Everyone involved has come away a different person, myself included,” he said. “I don't care if the movie doesn't make a penny. It had to be done.”
He played an extended trailer of the movie.
Other highlights of the weekend included a talk by Rev. Jerry Kirk on the dangers of pornography. Kirk is a Presbyterian minister from Cincinnati and the co-founder with the late Cardinals John O'Connor and Joseph Bernardin of the Religious Alliance Against Pornography.
In Catholic circles Kirk is widely known as the father of Kimberly Hahn and father-in-law of theologian Dr. Scott Hahn. Kirk began his presentation on the scourge of pornography in society by quoting several inspirational passages from Christ Is My Life, the new book-length interview of Father Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi. Kirk, who had received the book only the day before, said he stayed up into the wee hours reading it. “This book is a blessing to me,” the noted Protestant leader said.
Past Youth and Family Encounter events have featured Father Maciel. He was unable to attend the Chicago event, but in his place the event featured a presentation by Jesus Colina, director of Zenit news agency and the interviewer of Father Maciel for the biographical book, Christ is My Life.
In one extended session, Father Anthony Bannon, territorial director of the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi in North America, then announced the most ambitious apostolate yet undertaken by the Legionaries and Regnum Christi in this territory: the University of Sacramento. The crowd cheered on the new university, waving pompoms and singing the school's fight song.
But the biggest cheer of the evening came when Father Kearns returned to introduce Mel Gibson. The actor spoke briefly about how he met the Legionaries while filming The Passion in Italy.
“I'm not a preacher, and I'm not a pastor,” Gibson said. “But I really feel my career was leading me to make this. The Holy Ghost was working through me on this film, and I was just directing traffic. I hope the film has the power to evangelize. “
He then offered to take questions from the audience, including a 10-year-old boy's question: “Can I shake your hand?” Gibson agreed, and the crowd cheered as the boy made his triumphant return to his seat, both fists raised high above his head.
Another questioner asked why The Passion “ is spoken in dead languages instead of English.” Gibson answered with a pointed question: “Have you seen the versions done in English?”
Jay Dunlap contributed to this article.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Register Staff ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:Catholic Pastor Embattled By Picketers
The paper reported that a group of some 30 discontented parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Newark, N.J., have begun to picket the church's Sunday Mass — to protest Father John Perricone's use of traditional liturgical options.
These include facing the altar, rather than the congregants, while saying the Mass, whispering the words of consecration, declining to use extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist and employing Latin phrases at certain points in the Mass.
The Times did not point out that all these practices are legitimate under the liturgical guidelines of the Novus Ordo Missae, the Vatican II reform of the liturgy. The story received very prominent coverage, leading the Metropolitan section of the paper.
While Father Perricone was using options permitted by Vatican II, certain parishioners are suspicious. They know by reputation that the priest, who served for several years in the neighboring Archdiocese of New York, is an advocate of the wider use of the traditional Latin liturgy, as codified at the Council of Trent.
Pro-Life Democrats Not Welcome on Web
Shields cited language in the Democratic Party platform that says: “We also recognize that members of our party have deeply held and sometimes differing views on issues of personal conscience like abortion and capital punishment. We view this diversity as a source of strength, not a sign of weakness.”
In their letter to Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe, the House members protested that their exclusion from the party's site meant that “members of the Democratic Party who are opposed to abortion and capital punishment are being denied their right to be heard.”
Study Connects Daycare to Aggression in Kids
Researchers found that the small percentage of children who exhibit violent behavior are typically those who have spent unusually long hours at day care centers.
The report cited is the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, which surveyed 1,200 families during 12 years.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Hope Who 'Gave Hope' Converted to Catholic Faith a Few Years Ago DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:TOLUCA LAKE, Calif. — He brought hope and happiness to troops from World War II to the Persian Gulf War as well as laughs to audiences everywhere, but he kept much of his philanthropy and even his conversion to the Catholic faith quiet. Few knew the Catholic side of comedian Bob Hope, who died July 27 at age 100.
According to published reports, Hope died at home near North Hollywood surrounded by his family, including his wife of more than 69 years, Dolores, and a priest at his bedside. After an early morning memorial service attended by the family at the Hopes’ parish church, St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood, he was buried July 30 at San Fernando Mission cemetery near Los Angeles.
An invitation-only memorial Mass will be held Aug. 27 at St. Charles, and a public service will be held the same day at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in Hollywood, according to eonline. com, a Web site about celebrities.
“There is a side of [Bob Hope] not many people know,” said Father Maurice Chase, whose ministry to the homeless Hope supported for decades. “He helped many thousands of people here on skid row in Los Angeles.”
The 83-year-old Father Chase, also known as Father Dollar Bill, can be found every Sunday giving cash, rosaries, smiles, blessings and hope to the residents of the streets of Los Angeles.
“Bob has supported my work [financially] for the past 25 to 30 years,” he said, and “all that time nobody's ever heard about it — he never asked me to publicize it as some [other supporters] have.”
Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles — like Father Chase — said few knew of the extent of Bob and Dolores Hope's support of the Catholic Church.
In a statement provided to the Register, the cardinal said: “The Hopes have also contributed to the faith life of our Catholic community through donations to so many Catholic causes, so often quietly and without public notice.”
The cardinal specifically cited their support of the new Cathedral in Los Angeles and their funding of the Our Lady of Hope Chapel at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., as “another testament to their faith and devotion.”
The cardinal grew up in St. Charles Borromeo parish in North Hollywood — near Bob and Dolores’ home in Toluca Lake, a suburb of Los Angeles — and he recalled how Bob Hope opened up his backyard to the students when the school playground was paved over for a parking lot as well as the fund raisers for the construction of the parish school Hope supported with his talents.
The cardinal also confirmed that Hope became Catholic a few years ago — something very few people knew. The archdiocese was unable to provide a specific date for the conversion.
“One of my greatest joys is knowing that Bob Hope died as a Catholic,” Cardinal Mahony said. “Over the years I would invite him to join the Church, but he would respond with his typical humor: 'My wife, Dolores, does enough praying to take care of both of us.’ But eventually her prayers prevailed and he was baptized into the Catholic Church and was strengthened these past years through the regular reception of holy Communion.”
Despite their three decades of communication, it was news to Father Chase that Hope had become Catholic a few years ago, but he was hardly shocked by the news.
Dolores Hope, a lifelong Catholic, is a daily communicant, Father Chase said, and Bob Hope was made a Knight Commander of St. Gregory the Great, a papal honor. So he said he was “not surprised to hear that [Hope] became Catholic.”
Holy Cross Father Thomas Feeley, vice postulator for the cause of the Servant of God Father Patrick Peyton, was one of the few who knew of Hope's conversion.
“I interviewed Mrs. Hope a couple of years ago for Father Peyton's cause, and while I was there, she asked if I would go upstairs and bless Bob, who was sleeping — she told me Bob had become Catholic and she wanted me to bless him,” Father Feeley explained.
Father Feeley explained that Bob and Dolores had long been supporters of Father Peyton's work in Hollywood.
“Dolores Hope and Loretta Young were the most important people to back Father Peyton's work [in Hollywood],” explained Father Feeley, adding that Bob had helped by donating his talent to make several of the radio dramas — designed to provide a positive moral message — for Family Theater, the Sunset Boulevard-based company Father Peyton founded.
Dan Pitre, a spokesman for Family Theater, said Bob Hope helped on several radio dramas both as host and as an actor.
Hope was heard on at least 10 of the shows between 1947 and 1958.
Family Theater of the Air — the program Hope collaborated on — was designed to bring radio dramas with a moral lesson. It was the longest-running radio show in American history and ran for 22 years between the 1940s and 1960s.
Fifty-two of the dramas from the radio shows are set to be released in a digitally remastered format soon, with more to follow — though Family Theater is unsure whether any of those featuring Hope will be among the initial batch released.
Father Chase said he agreed with Archbishop Fulton Sheen's characterization of Bob Hope at a dinner years ago.
“Archbishop Sheen introduced him as Hope, a man of hope,” Father Chase said, because “he was not only named Hope, he gave others hope.”
Andrew Walther writes from Los Angeles.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Andrew Walther ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:Did U.S. Violate International Law With Corpse Pics?
In a lead article titled “Once Again the Tragic Face of War,” the paper said that regardless of the cruel crimes of which both men have been plausibly accused, the use of the photos is an offense against “the dignity of man.”
The Hussein sons were killed July 22 in Mosul during an attack carried out by the U.S. military.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who had protested against Iraq's use of photos of American prisoners and casualties, defended his decision to release the photos, saying it was necessary to prove that the two men were indeed dead in order to reduce continued guerilla attacks against American troops in Iraq.
Pope Right on Celibacy, Says Advice Columnist
ABS-CBN International, Aug. 1 — The Philippino news service defended Pope John Paul II's stance on celibacy. Citing the Holy Father, the news service's advice columnist, Bob Garon wrote:
“The key to being a good and faithful priest is holiness. Nothing is more important than holiness. If priests were allowed to marry and lacked holiness, they would still fall and scandalize our people. The calling of the priest is to be holy.
“That says it all. He can be a lousy preacher, a poor manager, but if he's holy, he's doing his job. There is absolutely no substitute for holiness. None whatsoever.
“Lastly, we don't make the rules. When you join any organization, you must follow its rules. There's no denying that. If one cannot or will not live by the rules, he should not join. Nobody says you must become a priest.
“It's a call and you don't have to answer the call if you cannot or will not live by the rules that govern that call.”
Pope Peppers Irish With Text Messages
BLOOMBERG NEWS, July 24 — Irish mobile phone users can now get daily text messages straight from Pope John Paul II, Bloomberg news service has reported.
The “Papal Thought of the Day” is now available to Irish subscribers to Vodafone Group Plc, Meteor and MMO2 Plc, each day at noon, for 23 cents per day.
Ciaran Carey, general manager in Ireland of the Italy-based Acotel Group SpA, explained why he instituted the service: “We approached the Vatican and suggested they do this because mobile communications is now very much entrenched in Irish life.”
More than 80% of the overwhelmingly Catholic Irish use cell phones, Bloomberg reported, noting that the Pope “made history on Nov. 22, 2001, when he sent the first papal message via the Internet.”
The daily broadcast includes excerpts from the Holy Father's homilies and talks.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: In New Document, Vatican Clarifies Issues Regarding Homosexual Unions DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — The Vatican issued a strongly worded document July 31 giving guidelines to bishops and politicians on how to counter the growing trend of legalization of homosexual unions. (Read the complete text on page 16)
In the document, titled “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons,” Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, restates and clarifies the sanctity of marriage between man and woman and calls homosexual unions “gravely immoral.”
“There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage,” the statement reads. “Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural law.”
The document, requested by bishops, has been two years in the making and comes on the heels of legislation passed recently in Holland and Belgium — and pending in Canada — to permit homosexual “marriage.”
It reminds Catholic politicians they have a “moral duty” to publicly oppose such legislation and to vote against it in legislative bodies.
“To vote in favor of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral,” the document says. It urges non-Catholics to join the campaign to “defend the common good of society.”
The issuance of the guidelines was met by a small protest in St. Peter's Square by Italy's Radical Party, where demonstrators held up banners reading “No Vatican, No Taliban.”
Italian parliamentarian and homosexual-rights activist Franco Grillini said the document was part of a “homophobic crusade” by the Vatican. A senior official in Germany's Green Party, Volker Beck, called it “a sad document of closed-minded fanaticism.”
But its release came a day after President Bush, at a White House press conference, upheld the sanctity of marriage, suggesting it be codified in some way.
Vermont is the only state to recognize civil unions that give homosexual couples the full benefits and responsibilities of marriage but are separate from legal marriage. A Massachusetts court is expected to rule soon on the legality of homosexual marriage in that state.
Dominican Father J. Augustine DiNoia, undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the body responsible for upholding sound Church doctrine, told the Register the document is “in line with the magisterium and the teachings of Pope John Paul II, where he argues the importance of democratic societies coming to some consensus about the truth of what it means to be human and for human beings to be in a society that fosters the common good.”
“If the consensus is not argued through in a rational manner and some convictions about truth are not presented, then the consensus is going to have to be imposed,” he said. “It's not instruction or notification. It's directed toward helping people direct arguments in different cultural, political and legal contexts from country to country and where there are different kinds of proposals.”
“Marriage is not something created by the state,” Father DiNoia continued. “It's a natural institution. The state acknowledges its existence but it cannot alter or destroy what marriage is.”
However, the state can differentiate between persons in society by granting benefits to married rather than unmarried persons. By recognizing homosexual unions in this regard, therefore, Father DiNoia argued they are being put “on a par with marriage, and that's what this document is arguing against.”
Father John Harvey, director of Courage, an international organization that works with people who have same-sex attractions and desire to live a chaste life, very much welcomed the document, saying it is importantly based on natural law arguments as much as on Scripture.
“Most people don't understand there's actually such a thing as natural moral law because they're so obscured by relativism, subjectivism and other forms of moral theology that are not rooted in objective reality,” Father Harvey said.
“From natural moral law you can point out that God created man and woman as complementary to one another, which leads to sexual physical union out of love, out of which come children and family,” he added. “Fruitfulness and complementarity belong to the very nature of marriage.”
“By its very nature homosexual activity is objectively disordered, and there's no way it can ever be tolerated,” he continued. “Governments that allow such conditions to exist through the recognition of homosexual unions are therefore weakening the common good.”
Although the document makes a particularly strong demand on Catholic politicians to oppose the legal recognition of homosexual unions, it is essentially aimed at all lawmakers.
“It's time we challenged these politicians no matter what their religion and get them to recognize marriage and the goodness of marriage,” Father Harvey said.
Catholic journalist and author Russell Shaw also welcomed the document for being “clear, forceful and timely,” but added he was “very anxious” about the impact it will have on public opinion.
“Unfortunately the sex-abuse scandal has put the bishops under a dark cloud among many Catholics,” he said. He said he was not sure if it would “hurt or help” the Church.
Msgr. Peter Fleetwood, deputy general secretary of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, praised the clarification the document brings for those whose task it is to instruct the Catholic faith. He also applauded its “tone of sensitivity” but said it “won't help people to deal with the awfully delicate situations that are bound to arise.”
But could the Church be responding too late? “The Church has by implication already condemned this,” Father Harvey said. “It's late, but not too late.”
“Who could have anticipated how this might have appeared as little as five years ago?” Father DiNoia said. ‘It's a bit surprising it's gone so far and so fast.”
Although he criticized a “lack of leadership” from bishops opposing homosexual-rights legislation, Father Harvey said he is “hopeful that by God's power things will begin to change.”
But he was under no illusion about the challenge the issue poses not just to Catholics but to all Christians.
“The battle is on,” he said, “the battle for our culture.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: God Upholds the Humble of Heart (July 23) DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:The psalm that was just sung is the first part of a composition that the original Hebrew version of the Bible preserves in its unity. The ancient Greek and Latin versions divide the song in two different psalms.
The psalm begins with an invitation to praise God and then lists a long series of reasons for praising him, all of which are expressed in the present tense. These are God's activities that are considered to be characteristic of him and that he still carries out at this time. However, they vary in nature. Some refer to God's interventions in the life of mankind (see Psalm 147:3, 6, 11), particularly for the benefit of Jerusalem and Israel (see verse 2); others concern the universe he has created (see verse 4), especially the earth with its plants and animals (see verses 8-9).
Finally, when describing those in whom the Lord takes pleasure, the psalm invites us to adopt a twofold attitude: one of devout fear and one of trust (see verse 11). We have not been abandoned to our own devices or to cosmic energy; we are always in the hands of the Lord for his plan of salvation.
Creator of the Universe
After a festive call to praise (see verse 1), the psalm unfolds in two poetic and spiritual movements. The first movement (see verses 2-6) presents, first of all, God's work in history, using the image of a builder who is rebuilding Jerusalem, which has returned to life after the Babylonian exile (see verse 2). However, this great architect, who is the Lord, also reveals himself as a father who bends down to help those who are wounded interiorly and physically — those who are present in the midst of his people who have been humiliated and oppressed (see verse 3).
In his Exposition of Psalm 147, which he delivered at Carthage in 412, St. Augustine commented on the phrase, “The Lord heals the brokenhearted,” in the following words: “Whoever does not have a broken heart cannot be healed … Who are the brokenhearted? The humble. Who are those who are not brokenhearted? The proud. Therefore, the broken heart is healed, and the heart swollen with pride is abased. Moreover, in all probability, if it is abased, it is precisely so that once it is broken, it can be straightened out and healed … ‘He heals the brokenhearted, binds up their wounds’ … In other words, he heals the humble of heart, those who confess, those who expiate, those who judge themselves with severity so that they will be able to experience his mercy. Behold the one he heals. Perfect health, however, will only be reached at the end of the present mortal state when our corruptible being will be clothed with incorruptibility and our mortal being will be clothed in immortality” (5-8: Esposizioni sui Salmi, IV, Rome, 1977, p. 772-779).
A Loving Father
But God's work is not only manifested when he heals his people of their suffering. He who surrounds the poor with his tenderness and care manifests himself as a severe judge when confronting the wicked (see verse 6). The Lord of history does not remain indifferent to the raging storms of the arrogant, who think that they are the only arbitrators of human affairs: God flings down into the dust of the earth those who defy heaven with their pride (see 1 Samuel 2:7-8; Luke 1:51-53).
God's work, however, is not exhausted in his lordship over history; he is also the king of creation and the whole universe responds to his cry as its Creator. Not only can he number all the limitless series of stars; he is also able to give each one its name, thus defining its nature and its characteristics (see Psalm 147:4).
As the prophet Isaiah already sang: “Lift up your eyes on high and see: who has created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name …” (Isaiah 40:26). The “armies” of the Lord, then, are the stars. The prophet Baruch added: “The stars shone in their watches and were glad; he called them, and they said, ‘Here we are!’ They shone with gladness for him who made them” (Baruch 3:34-35).
After a new joyful invitation to praise (see Psalm 147:7), the second movement of Psalm 147 unfolds (see verses 7-11). God's creative work in the universe is still at the center of the stage. In a land that is often arid, as is the land of the East, the first sign of God's love is the rain that makes the earth fertile (see verse 8). In this way, the Creator prepares a banquet for the animals. Moreover, he takes care to give food to the smallest living being, such as the young ravens that cry out with hunger (see verse 9). Jesus later invites us to look at “the birds in the sky — they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them” (Matthew 6:26; see also Luke 12:24, where there is an explicit reference to the “ravens“).
God Loves the Humble
But once again our attention shifts from creation to human existence. Thus the psalm ends by showing us the Lord bending down to those who are righteous and humble (see Psalm 147:10-11), as was already stated in the first part of the hymn (see verse 6). Through two symbols of strength, the horse and the legs of a runner, God's attitude emerges: He does not allow itself to be conquered or intimidated by force. Once again, the Lord, in his logic, ignores the pride and arrogance of the powerful and takes the side of those who are faithful, “those who hope in his steadfast love” (verse 11) — those who have abandoned themselves to God's guidance in their way of acting, thinking, planning and living out their daily life.
It is among these faithful ones that people of prayer must place themselves, basing their hope on the Lord's grace, with the certainty of being enveloped in the mantle of God's love: “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death, and keep them alive in famine … Yea, our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name” (Psalm 33: 18-19, 21).
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: God Forgives Us in His Mercy (July 30) DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:This is the fourth time during our reflections on morning prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours that we have heard the proclamation of Psalm 51, the famous Miserere. In fact, it is repeated every Friday, thereby becoming an oasis for meditation where we discover the evil that we harbor in our conscience and ask the Lord to purify and forgive us. Indeed, as the psalmist confesses in another prayer of petition, “Before you no living being can be just” (Psalm 143:2). In the Book of Job we read: “How can a man be just in God's sight, or how can a woman's child be innocent? Behold, even the moon is not bright and the stars are not clear in his sight. How much less man, who is but a maggot, the son of man, who is only a worm?” (Job 25:4-6).
These are strong and dramatic words that attempt to convey in all seriousness and gravity the limitations and the fragility of human beings and their perverse capacity to sow evil, violence, impurity and lies. However, the message of hope contained in the Miserere, which the Book of Psalms attributes to David, a repentant sinner, is this: God can “blot out, wash away and cleanse” any guilt that we confess with a contrite heart (see Psalm 51:2-3). As the Lord says through Isaiah, “Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).
A Message of Hope
On this occasion, we will reflect briefly on the conclusion of Psalm 51, an ending that is full of hope because the psalmist is aware that God has forgiven him (see verses 17-21). At this point, his mouth is about to proclaim the praises of the Lord to the world, thereby attesting to the joy that he feels in his soul, which has been purified of evil and, consequently, freed from remorse (see verse 17).
The psalmist gives witness in a clear way to another conviction, which is related to a teaching that the prophets reiterated (see Isaiah 1:10-17; Amos 5:21-25; Hosea 6:6): The most pleasing sacrifice that rises up to the Lord like a perfume and a sweet fragrance (see Genesis 8:21) is not a holocaust of bulls and lambs but rather a “broken, humbled heart” (Psalm 51:19).
The Imitation of Christ, a text so beloved in our Christian spiritual tradition, repeats the same admonition as the psalmist: “The humble contrition of sins is for you the pleasing sacrifice, a perfume sweeter than the smoke of incense … In it, every iniquity is purified and washed away” (III, 52:4).
Christ Our Mediator
The psalm ends unexpectedly, giving us a completely different perspective, which even seems to contain a contradiction (see verses 20-21). From the final plea of an individual sinner, a transition is made to a prayer for rebuilding the entire city of Jerusalem, transporting us from David's era to the era when the city was destroyed several centuries later. Moreover, after having expressed God's rejection of animal sacrifices in verse 18, verse 21 of the psalm proclaims that God will be pleased with these very same sacrifices.
It is clear that this last passage is a later addition that was made during the time of the exile. In a certain sense, it was an attempt to correct or at least to complete the viewpoint in David's psalm. It does so in two ways. On one hand, it did not want the psalm to be restricted to an individual prayer; there was also a need to reflect on the pitiful situation of the entire city. On the other hand, there was a desire to reappraise God's rejection of ritual sacrifices; this rejection could neither be a blanket rejection nor a definitive rejection since it concerned a form of worship that God himself prescribed in the Torah. The person who completed the psalm had a valid intuition: He understood the need that sinners experience — the need for sacrificial mediation. Sinners are not capable of purifying themselves through their own efforts; good intentions are not enough. An external yet effective mediation is needed. The New Testament later revealed the full meaning of his intuition, showing us that Christ has brought about the perfect sacrificial mediation by offering up his life.
Communion of Saints
In his Homilies on Ezekiel, St. Gregory the Great understood very well the difference in perspective between verses 19 and 21 of the Miserere. He proposed an interpretation of these verses that we can receive as our own, thereby concluding our meditation. St. Gregory applies verse 19, which speaks about a contrite spirit, to the Church's earthly existence, and verse 21, which speaks about holocausts, to the Church in heaven.
Here is what this great pontiff had to say: “The holy Church has two lives: one in time, the other in eternity; one of labor on earth, the other of reward in heaven; one in which merits are gained, the other in which merits gained are enjoyed. Both in one life as well as in the other life, it offers sacrifice: here the sacrifice of remorse and on high the sacrifice of praise. About the first sacrifice it has been said: ‘My sacrifice, God, is a broken spirit’ (Psalm 51:19); about the second it has been written: 'Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifice, burnt offerings and holocausts’ (Psalm 51:21). … In both flesh is offered, since here on earth the offering of flesh is the mortification of the body, while on high the offering of flesh is the glory of the resurrection in praise of God. On high flesh will be offered as a holocaust, when it will be transformed in eternal incorruptibility, and there will no longer be any conflict or anything mortal, because it will remain wholly burning with love for him in endless praise” (Omelie su Ezechiele/2, Rome, 1993, p. 271).
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Church in Sri Lanka Takes Peacemaker Role DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — For nearly two decades, Sri Lanka has been ravaged by a bloody conflict between the country's Buddhist Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists. The ethnic conflict has killed tens of thousands and forced hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians to take refuge in India and the West.
A peace process has been in limbo since April, when Tamil rebels walked away from the negotiating table. The process began at Christmas 2001 when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam — controlling Tamil minority areas in northern and eastern parts of the island nation — declared a truce that led to a cease-fire agreement in February 2002.
Archbishop Oswald Gomis of Colombo, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka and secretary-general of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences, has been actively involved in the Church's bid to promote peace and unity.
Catholics make up 6.7% of Sri Lanka's population of 19.5 million.
In an exclusive interview at his office in Colombo, Archbishop Gomis briefed Register correspondent Anto Akkara about the Church's attempts to foster peace and unity.
How is the Church trying to intervene to meet this challenge?
Our aim is to ensure that the people are not misled.
All the Christian leaders in Sri Lanka met June 3 and discussed ways to promote fresh programs to support the peace process. There will be a united Christian peace rally Aug. 22 in Colombo and other places.
The Catholic Church has been carrying out special peace-education programs targeting children. We have also been arranging exposure programs for the Tamil and Sinhala people to meet and understand each other. Unless we bring the divided people together, there will be no peace.
The Church has always made it a point to ensure that our [peace] programs include all communities. There is no point in confining our peace campaigns to the Christians alone.
Even if the whole Church agrees, as long as the majority Sinhala Buddhists and Hindu Tamils are not prepared for peace, there can be no peace. So the Church is acting as “matchmaker” to make the divided communities come together.
Do you face opposition in such ventures?
Initially our peace programs had only a nominal non-Christian presence. But now most of the participants of our peace programs are Buddhists in the South and Hindus in the North.
Recently, we held a peace rally at Polonnoruwa. The majority of the 5,000 people who attended were Buddhists, and many monks participated.
We have held several rallies like this besides holding village-level programs to build support for the peace process, especially after the cease-fire began.
What is the focus of the Church's peace initiatives?
We think the Christian message of forgiveness and reconciliation is very crucial for the success of the peace process. In the exposure programs, we take Sinhala people from the South and lodge them with Tamil families in the North and vice versa. Now we find that these families have become so friendly to each other that they forget their differences and prejudices.
Gradually, the number of those opposed to the peaceful solution is steadily declining.
Since the peace process began, more and more Buddhist clergy are actively participating in our peace programs. Many of them are now more open to visit Tamil areas and are encouraging their people to visit the Tamil areas in exposure programs.
What is the stand the Church has taken on the ethnic conflict?
We have always adopted a united stand on the conflict based on human values.
Though the ethnic division runs deep in this country, Christians are the only religious community with members from both ethnic groups. You can hardly find a Tamil Buddhist or a Sinhala Hindu in this country.
We have three Tamil majority dioceses and eight Sinhala majority dioceses. The bishops’ conference, despite differences of opinions, has always spoken in one voice. As much as I love Sinhala people, as I am a Sinhala man, I cannot deny the rights of the Tamils.
We have always stood for a peaceful solution of the conflict, reiterating that “war is no solution.”
With this demand, the bishops have gone to the government and to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam. Recently, all the bishops went to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam headquarters and told them frankly things they should not have done.
We are firm on this: It should be one country only but certainly it must recognize the right of the Tamil minority. So, the Church has always preached “peace with dignity.”
The Tamil rebels have demanded interim administration in Tamil areas under their control as a precondition to resuming the peace talks. But that demand would be outside the constitution. Do you think the peace process is in a deadlock now?
It is not a hopeless situation. A solution to the present imbroglio is very much possible. The government is offering different proposals. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam has not accepted these. Both sides can arrive at a formula soon to resume the negotiations. We are hopeful this stalemate will end soon.
The constitution is not an impregnable rock. It is man-made and if there is consensus, any constitution can be changed. The only thing is that the people have to be educated for this change.
Has the present stalemate doused the optimism of the people?
No, the support for the peace process is quite a bit stronger now. There has been no bloodshed or violence for more than a year. The people have tasted peace after years of suffering. At the moment, the civil society here is committed to peace more than ever before.
At the same time, there are small groups that want to destroy the widespread optimism in the ordinary people. In a conflict situation, there are always warmongers who have their own personal and financial interests. They are vociferous in their opposition to peace because their aim is to fish in troubled waters.
Anto Akkara is
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Anto Akkara ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:Double Standard for Anti-Catholic Movie?
THE CATHOLIC LEAGUE, Aug. 1 — Catholic League president William Donohue criticized the Scottish movie “The Magdalene Sisters” — and its reception by critics —-in a press release. The film is highly critical of homes for mothers the Church once ran in Ireland.
“Imagine an anti-Semitic director who admits he packed into one movie every anti-Semitic theme he could draw on and then gets an anti-Semitic duo to distribute it,” he said. “Next imagine film critics taking the anti-Semitic propaganda at face value and then offering anti-Semitic remarks in their reviews. Fat chance.”
He continued: “For example, there will never be a movie about Jewish slumlords in Harlem or Jewish managers of black entertainers in the 20th century. If there were, and if it were to present a wholly one-sided portrait of the worst excesses of how some Jews exploited blacks, the ADL would be up in arms. And rightly so. But luckily for Jews, this is not likely to happen. Catholics are not so lucky-they have to endure Catholic-bashing directors like Peter Mullan shopping his anti-Catholic script to anti-Catholic distributors like Harvey and Bob Weinstein, only to have it reviewed by anti-Catholic critics.”
James Ossuary's Dealer Arrested
ASSOCIATED PRESS, July 24 — The ossuary he had for sale might have called the Blessed Mother's perpetual virginity into question, but now Oded Golan's reputation has suffered a serious blow.
The Israeli antiquities dealer was arrested July 22 on suspicion of creating two relics forgeries — including the burial box that purported to be that of Jesus’ brother James.
Golan was picked up in Israel and is also suspected in connection with a tablet inscribed with forged instructions for caring for the Jewish Temple, the wire service reported.
The Israel Antiquities Authority had already declared both artifacts forgeries. The ossuary bore the inscription, “James, the brother of Jesus.” The artifact had been valued at $1 million to $2 million, based on the claimed link with Jesus Christ.
Golan continued to insist the artifacts were authentic.
Europeans to Follow Dinosaurs?
It noted that European fertility rates have declined so precipitously that population across the continent is likely to fall by 28 million in the next 50 years.
By the year 2050, Italy is likely to shrink from 57.5 million in 2000 to only 45 million, while Spain may drop from 40 to 37 million; Germany, it warned, will decline from 80 million today to 50 million.
Given generous public retirement pensions, this will prove economically unsustainable, the magazine noted, triggering a “struggle for resources between generations.”
The Economist noted ironically that a recent meeting of the Friends of Europe was chaired by 77-year-old former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and held in the dinosaurs’ hall of the local natural history museum.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Catholics Need Not Apply DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:Since May, we have reported on how the Senate excludes Catholics from federal judgeships. We couldn't say it any better than Denver's Archbishop Charles Chaput did July 30 in his archdiocesan newspaper:
Some things change, and some things don't.
In the summer of 1963, a friend of mine — she was just 11 at the time — drove with her family to visit her sister, who had married and moved away to Birmingham, Ala. Stopping for gas in a small Alabama town on a Sunday morning, her father asked where they could find the local Catholic church.
The attendant just shrugged and said, “We don't have any of them here.”
The family finished gassing up, pulled out of the station — and less than two blocks away, they passed the local Catholic church.
Most people my age remember the ‘60s in the South as a time of intense struggle for civil rights. Along with pervasive racial discrimination, Southern culture often harbored a suspicion of Catholics, Jews and other minorities. Catholics were few and scattered. In the Deep South, like Alabama, being Catholic often meant being locked out of political and social leadership.
Today, much of the old South is gone. Cities like Atlanta and Raleigh-Durham are major cosmopolitan centers. Time, social reform and migration have transformed the economy along with the political system. The South today is a tribute both to the courage of civil-rights activists 40 years ago and to the goodness of the people of the South themselves.
Most people, most of the time, want to do the right thing. And when they change, they also change the world they inhabit, which is one of the reasons why the Archdiocese of Atlanta can now draw thousands of enthusiastic Catholic participants to its Eucharistic Congress each year in a state where Catholics were once second-class citizens. It also explains how a practicing Catholic, William Pryor, can become Alabama's attorney general — something that was close to inconceivable just four decades ago.
I've never met Mr. Pryor, but his political life is a matter of public record. He has served the state of Alabama with distinction, enforcing its laws and court decisions fairly and consistently. This is why President Bush nominated him to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and why the Senate Judiciary Committee approved him last Wednesday for consideration by the full Senate.
But the committee debate on Pryor was ugly, and the vote to advance his nomination split exactly along party lines. Why? Because Mr. Pryor believes that Catholic teaching about the sanctity of life is true; that the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision was a poorly reasoned mistake; and that abortion is wrong in all cases, even rape and incest. As a result, Americans were treated to the bizarre spectacle of non-Catholic Sens. Orrin Hatch and Jeff Sessions defending Mr. Pryor's constitutionally protected religious rights to Mr. Pryor's critics, including Sen. Richard Durbin, an “abortion-rights” Catholic.
According to Sen. Durbin (as reported by EWTN), “Many Catholics who oppose abortion personally do not believe the laws of the land should prohibit abortion for all others in extreme cases involving rape, incest and the life and the health of the mother.”
This kind of propaganda makes the abortion lobby proud, but it should humiliate any serious Catholic. At a minimum, Catholic members of Congress like Sen. Durbin should actually read and pray over the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the encyclical Evangelium Vitae before they explain the Catholic faith to anyone.
They might even try doing something about their “personal opposition” to abortion by supporting competent pro-life judicial appointments. Otherwise, they simply prove what many people already believe — that a new kind of religious discrimination is very welcome at the Capitol, even among elected officials who claim to be Catholic.
Some things change, and some things don't. The bias against “papism” is alive and well in America. It just has a different address. But at least some people in Alabama now know where the local Catholic church is — and where she stands — even if some people in Washington apparently don't.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: LETTER DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:In Defense of Ave Maria
I should like to respond to Dr. John Hittinger's letter (titled “Ave Maria Fallout“) in your July 20-26 issue.
It is correct that the only campus that Ave Maria University of Michigan operated was that of St. Mary's College. However, parents and friends should be aware that this is a distinct entity from Ave Maria University of Florida, which begins operations this fall at a site in Naples with a projected enrollment of some 100 students, including students from Ave Maria College.
Over our three-year period of operation, Ave Maria invested $150,000 in new books and periodicals, which met or exceeded any commitments we made to St. Mary's library.
Dr. Hittinger's statement that the expenses of St. Mary's “were never over budget” is simply not accurate. In fact, during the two years Dr. Hittinger served as dean, actual operating and capital expenditures exceeded the budgeted amounts by more than $1.1 million. Indeed, the total ongoing deficits (averaging more than $1.5 million per year) were far beyond what a development effort could be expected to cover.
Regarding Dr. Hittinger's implication that St. Mary's employees were mistreated, all faculty members were on contracts for one year or longer, and all have had their contracts honored. Therefore, we did not treat these faculty as “at will” employees.
Furthermore, North Central Association accredited St. Mary's College (and has given candidacy status to Ave Maria College), implicitly approving our approach to faculty status and governance. In fact, when Ave Maria University of Michigan took over operations of St. Mary's College, a retirement plan was added, which previously did not exist, and salaries for faculty and staff were raised significantly.
Thomas S. Monaghan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
The writer is chairman of the board of Ave Maria University.
Secret Meeting ‘Outed'
Thank you for reporting on the so-called “confidential” meeting of some bishops and others (“Dissenters’ Secret Bishops Meeting,” July 27-Aug. 9).
My good sense-tells me that secret meetings have something to hide. Secret meetings cannot be called to accountability.-This must not be allowed to become a precedent to build “alternate” or-unaccountable “powerbases.”
At a time when our Church in America is suffering from collapsed leadership, some bishops entertain meetings under cover with-peo-ple of-unknown agenda and notable hostility to Church doctrine and Catholic life, while the intent of our faithful is to preserve-the Catholic faith and their fidelity to Christ, both of which are-now under relentless assault.-Our faithful-do not need-distracting, confusing-or let alone-secret controllers fragmenting, sidetracking our bishops’ conference.
What we are for is-unifying and-strength-ening-the Church's-hand, as we-all-need the true voice of Christ, who calls us to union with himself and [who calls] strangers to repentance.-Our own faithful people in the pews, at home and in the workplace need confirmation in the faith and in their true witness to Christ,-whose divine authority-gives clear and sure direction-by our true bishops and in union with the lawful successor-of Peter in Rome.
Gratitude and prayers for your work. Your continued fidelity and vigil are commendable. We ask you to-remain alert and continue to help us to keep “watching and praying” with-the suffering Christ in his Mystical Body, our Church.
FATHER L. STEPHEN GALAMBOS, O.F.M.
New Brunswick, New Jersey
Vocations to Sanctity
Two articles in the July 27-Aug. 9 issue — “Mom Prayed and God 'Turned the Lights On,’” and “A Small Football Player with Big Faith” — are incredible witnesses to family life. Both guys come from solid families.
St. Thomas teaches that grace builds on nature, and-there is no-better place to nurture Christian and human formation than in the Christian family. When our Holy Father came to St. Louis in 1999 he said, “As the family goes, so goes the nation.”
It seems safe to say, after reading proof of this, that solid families produce solid heroes, and one can safely add-and-solid vocations to sanctity, whether as priests, religious or laity.
FATHER WILLIAM C. KEEBLER JR.
Penfield, Illinois
Imitation Love
In you editorial “Massachusetts’ Marriage Mess” (July 20-26), it was fair for you to write that we shouldn't dismiss all homosexuals as pariahs. We should treat homosexuals the same as we treat those who masturbate or couples who use contraception and all others who by their disordered acts destroy their capacity to love. They need to be loved and helped to repent so that they can learn to love and live chaste lives in keeping with their human dignity.
But my problem with your editorial is that you affirmed the lie that some homosexual relationships are based on love. Christ and his Church aren't against homosexual acts because love is “rarely” found in them, but rather because those acts are totally antithetical to love.
If you truly love a person, then you don't lead that person to violate the natural law just so that you can selfishly satisfy your lustful desires. When you say that people who do that “love” each other, you blaspheme, because sacred Scripture says that God is love.
On the other hand, there was some good in your editorial. Thank you for bravely telling of the evils in the homosexual lifestyle and for calling the voters to action. For that I commend you.
LAWRENCE MARTIN
Chicago, Illinois
Abortion Amplifications
Just two clarifications from the article “Pro-Lifers Press on With Agenda After Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Victory” (July 20-26). The article mentioned the educational efforts of Priests for Life in showing what abortion looks like and then spoke about the Silent No More awareness campaign, which shows the harm abortion does to women.
Lest anyone think these two efforts are in any way in opposition, I'd like to point out that Silent No More (www. SilentNoMoreAwareness.org) is a project of two organizations, Priests for Life and the National Organization of Episcopalians for Life. Moreover, Priests for Life has, from the beginning, joined with the many other groups who have insisted that society must understand that what harms the baby harms the mother, too.
On another point, the article mentioned that we have commissioned medical diagrams of two abortion procedures. For accuracy, may I point out that those procedures are the dilation and evacuation (D&E), the most common second-trimester procedure, and also the suction-curettage method, the most common procedure overall. The article inadvertently misquoted me on that.
I would also add that while I used to say that we had won the argument with the public about the humanity of the child, a closer look at the situation will reveal that the public is still largely confused about how well-developed the child is in the first 10 weeks, when most abortions occur, and even more confused about the violence abortion inflicts on that child.
FATHER FRANK PAVONE
Staten Island, New York
The writer is national director of Priests for Life.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Video-Store Values DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:I was quite interested to see the-headline “Are Video Stores Safe for Kids?” in the July 20-26 issue, thinking that finally someone was going to address a topic that had been on my mind lately: the sleazy video/DVD covers-displaying nearly naked men and women in all-varieties of suggestive poses.
The first few paragraphs of the article seemed to be heading in the right direction, but I was completely amazed to then read that Blockbuster Video was-being hailed-as a “conspicuous example” of a “large video chain [setting] up safeguards to protect children from being exposed to these temptations.” Since when?
Okay, they may have “youth-restricted viewing” and they may help children pick appropriate titles, but there's nothing to keep kids from seeing the aforementioned sleazy pictures all over the store. If Blockbuster really wanted to get serious about making their business “family-friendly,” they would stop carrying so many of those trashy direct-to-video movies, have plain covers with only the title shown to replace the soft-porn-ones and bring back more of the old, truly family-friendly movies, like the vintage Disney films of the ‘60s and black-and-white classics like Arsenic and Old Lace (which my husband and I discovered was unavailable-from Blockbuster).
Until video stores really clean up their act, I would suggest that any-parents wanting to-rent movies for the family should leave the kids at home.
CELINE MCCOY
San Diego
“Are Video Stores Safe for Kids?” addressed an important issue of interest to all parents. Unfortunately, your reporter gave a clean bill of health to Blockbuster, the national chain, quoting them as being a “family-friendly destination.” Nothing could be further from the truth, at least in our neighborhood.
The local Blockbuster has taken on an insidious policy of seeding the regular displays with soft porn from B-grade producers. Cover photos of naked bodies in bed, or in various stages of the act of undressing, from non-Hollywood production companies are interspersed with the regular drama, action and recent releases that we would all recognize from the major studios. The situation at the local Blockbuster is so bad that some parents have considered a boycott. Complaints to he manager and, by writing, to the national headquarters have not been responded to.
How ironic, then, that the Register would publicly provide such a ringing endorsement of Blockbuster. I wish you had dug a little deeper before issuing such a glowing report on this media chain.
KEVIN PARKER
Rochester, New York
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: What's in a Name? Ask the Groups That Push Abortion DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:Like any other businesses in a sales slump, organizations that sell the culture of death have reacted to the waning popularity of their products with marketing makeovers.
In fact, during the past year, four seminal organizations of the culture of death have changed their names, hoping to widen their appeal by softening their public presence.
In the most publicized move, the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League changed its name to NARAL Pro-Choice America. The reason for this decision fooled no one, on the left or on the right. As a generation of women has now witnessed the undeniable humanity of their unborn children through ever-more-stunning sonogram images, “pro-choice” has simply become more palatable than “pro-abortion.”
Kate Michelman, the organization's president, said the new name “is the right name for this moment in history.”
She is correct; this point in history appears to be the point in which the nature of the unborn child — whether it is a clump of cells or a human being — has been largely resolved, and not in her organization's favor. And so the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League did what it had to do: It “re-branded” its product — abortion on demand — to reflect the new realities of the marketplace. The group now seeks to create a “generation pro-choice,” to use its own words, just like a long-running soft-drink campaign sought to create a “Pepsi generation.”
The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League even claims that “NARAL is no longer an acronym for the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League.” Its very name is now a word without a meaning; we are supposed to believe that the initials stand for nothing, especially that first, increasingly troublesome “A.” But this is, of course, a fraud. The organization remains in the business of promoting abortion on demand, just like Marlboro ads are meant to sell cigarettes, not horses and weekends at dude ranches.
Another name change is under way at the Hemlock Society, the group spearheading the assisted-sui-cide movement. Hemlock selected its original name because Socrates took hemlock to commit suicide; the organization sought to link itself, and the cause it espouses, with one of Western civilization's intellectual giants. Then why change? It appears that suicide has become too unpopular to advocate explicitly, so the Hemlock Society is now using focus groups to help it select a more ambiguous name.
Zero Population Growth, the organization responsible for scaring 30 years worth of schoolchildren into thinking that the human race is breeding itself into oblivion, has changed its name to Population Connection. The organization abandoned a name that perfectly captures the goal of its advocacy and replaced it with one as appropriate for a dating service as it is for a group of strident political activists.
Finally, the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, an organization that uses legal challenges to attack abortion restrictions all over the world, has changed its name to the Center for Reproductive Rights. Why? The group does not want to draw unnecessary attention to the fact that it seeks to defeat the will of democratic majorities — most notably the Catholic majorities of Latin America that recognize life from the moment of conception — through legal maneuvering.
Of course, these groups plan to change nothing but appearances, the marketing equivalent of a label on a box of cereal that reads, “Bold new package, same great taste!” The organization admits that nothing else will change: “The name change does not alter the way in which the center functions nor does it change the mission that has driven us for the past 10 years. We will continue to pursue legal remedies in the courts … to promote and defend the reproductive rights of women worldwide.”
Zero Population Growth also admits nothing else will change: “We are changing our name, but our mission remains exactly the same.”
Once renamed, the Hemlock Society will continue to give desperate people suicide recipes — what it calls “advice and tips on hastening death” — on its Web site. And, of course, NARAL Pro-Choice America continues to fight for one choice and one choice only — a woman's choice to kill her unborn, and sometimes partially born, child.
But, even so, the renaming of these four organizations seems to mark an important moment in the struggle between the culture of death and the culture of life, a moment in which important elements of the culture of death felt the debate begin to slip away from them and responded by disguising both their methods and their ultimate goals.
Douglas A. Sylva is vice president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Douglas A. Sylva ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Married Priest Backs Celibacy DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:On June 14, Father Steven Anderson was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Lansing, Mich., by Bishop Carl Mengeling. What made him unusual among his classmates was that his wife and three children were with him in the cathedral, participating in the ordination liturgy.
Father Anderson is a former clergyman of the Charismatic Episcopal Church and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood under the “pastoral provision,” a series of norms and criteria for accepting former Protestant clergy as candidates for the priesthood.
The pastoral provision was established by Pope John Paul II in 1980 to deal with the growing number of Anglican (Episcopalian) clergy who were becoming Catholic and inquiring about the possibility of becoming Catholic priests. Approximately 70 men have been ordained in the United States under the pastoral provision since its inception.
Father Anderson's journey into the Catholic Church began in the early 1980s while he was attending a Presbyterian seminary. He had the good fortune to take a systematic theology course with an Eastern Orthodox priest.
Rather than getting the reformed approach to theology he was expecting, the professor's lectures and readings were a deep and thorough introduction to the early Church Fathers, such as Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, Irenaeus and the Cappadocians. The real eye-opener for Father Anderson was reading Justin Martyr: “I thought, this will be great, since Justin gives the first historically recorded Church service. But when I read it, my face dropped, my heart dropped, because what he described was a Catholic Mass.”
“From then on,” he said, “the Holy Spirit was working in my heart to show me that from the beginning the Church was Catholic.”
But perhaps even more important for Father Anderson was St. Irenaeus.
“Irenaeus writes, 'Don't take my word for it, go to the bishop.’ And then he gives a whole list of churches, like Ephesus, Smyrna and Rome, and describes the glorious history of these churches and how they were founded by apostles. He talks about how the bishops of these churches are all united, and he says that he and these bishops are ‘all teaching the same thing.’”
Father Anderson described how tears came to his eyes when he read that, and he said, “Not anymore, Irenaeus. There are 30,000 denominations and they're all teaching their own thing.”
So Father Anderson resolved to find out what was this “same thing” that the early Fathers were teaching. He said, quoting Cardinal Newman, “to read history is to cease being Protestant.”
After completing his seminary degree, Father Anderson realized that with the growing Catholicity of his faith he would be “contentious” and “wouldn't fit in” at the Presbyterian Church. So he joined the Episcopal Church and worked “in the world” for 10 years.
Then he felt the tug of vocation once again and began exploring the possibility of ordination for the Episcopal Church. But after moving to Michigan, he became acquainted with the Charismatic Episcopal Church.
He felt very much of “one heart and one mind” with the canon missioner, and later bishop, of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, Fred Fick. “We had a love of the early Church Fathers, of recovering Catholic tradition: all of the glorious Catholic sacraments and rites.”
“We were recovering those things that, it seemed, many American Catholics were ready to let go of,” he continued. “These things brought us great joy and great meaning. It was a time of recovering things old, but with the Holy Spirit making them new for us.”
Father Anderson was ordained for the Charismatic Episcopal Church in 1995 and served at a congregation in Brighton, Mich.
Why Am I Not Catholic?
Father Anderson married his wife, Cindy, while in college. “She's been with me on this whole journey,” he said. “It's been great that we've been able to do this together.”
Cindy describes herself as being “just a few steps behind him.”
“I learned so much from what he was studying,” she said.
For Cindy, it was St. Francis of Assisi who “cemented” her desire to become Catholic: “He was so charismatic but also very obedient to the Church,” she said. “He really helped solidify my faith.”
After serving in the Charismatic Episcopal Church for four years, Father Anderson became convinced that he should become Catholic.
“After all that study and all that rediscovery of things Catholic, I understood that if there was such a thing as a line in the sand between being Catholic on one side and being Protestant on the other, when I looked down, I was on the Catholic side,” he said. “I just realized, ‘I'm Catholic; why I am not Catholic?’”
After making initial inquiries with the Diocese of Lansing, he met with Bishop Mengeling, who would receive him into the Church at Easter 1999. A year later, Bishop Mengeling informed him that his petition to become a candidate for the priesthood had been accepted by Rome.
Seminary and Family
Father Anderson was sent to Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. Though he understood the need for further preparation, he describes himself as reacting “stoically” to the news that he was going back to seminary. “Seminary was,” he said, “a powerful time of God working in me. But I would rather have been in a church.”
Father Anderson was dispensed from the normal weekend obligations of the seminary to be with his family, and they occasionally came to visit him at the seminary as well. But the arrangement did place additional strain on his family. Cindy felt the challenge as God calling her “to step up a level, and God made me stronger for that.”
During his years of formation, Father Anderson lived side by side with seminarians who were preparing to embrace the call to celibacy and doesn't recall any instance of meeting hostility or resistance. He can relate a number of occasions in parishes where priests expressed their gratitude for what he was doing and that they “were glad the Church was going to allow me to be a priest.”
If any priest was resistant or hostile to him and his unusual situation, he never expressed it to Father Anderson.
Occasionally, he encountered lay people who were skeptical of him.
He attributes this to their love of the priesthood and their desire to protect and cherish the tradition of clerical celibacy.
He believes such people initially saw him as a potential threat to the celibate priesthood. But he found that as people got to know him and what he stood for, they “became very generous and gracious toward me and felt very comfortable around me and with what was happening for me.”
He characterized a married priesthood as the “badge of a movement” and reported that some advocates of that movement have from time to time attempted to “co-opt” him into supporting them but that he has no interest in being part of their agenda.
“I'm willing to be everybody's priest,” he explained. “But I'm not willing to speak for this cause or that cause. I'll speak for the Church.”
Father Anderson's ordination attracted interest not only in Michigan but also across the country. Outspoken “conservative” homosexual and Catholic Andrew Sullivan was combative in his commentary. In his Internet Web log “The Daily Dish” on May 25, he asserted that Father Anderson's ordination was “proof that there is no good reason that married men cannot be good Catholic priests” and that “the mandatory celibacy policy … has led to … a collapse in vocations in our current world.”
He attributed the Church's failure to drop clerical celibacy to “bloody-mind-edness from reactionaries and institutional inertia.”
Father Anderson is unhappy with Sullivan's attempt to make him an object lesson for abandoning the tradition of a celibate priesthood. “Activists of all kinds are looking for prophets, mouthpieces or poster boys for their cause,” he said.
He also told of occasions where, being interviewed by other journalists, they assumed because he was going to be a married priest he must be an advocate of a more “progressive” agenda.
“They'd ask me all kinds of questions about whether I was in favor of women priests and all the other stuff,” he said.
But Father Anderson, in responding to them, reiterated his refusal to be identified with such causes and his resolution to “speak for the Church.”
Indeed, Father Anderson doesn't see his ordination, or the ordinations of other married men under the pastoral provision, as having any real impact on the Church's discipline of priestly celibacy. He regards the Church's decision to ordain him as a mercy extended to him.
He recalled an article by Bishop Mengeling in which the bishop quoted the Holy Father: “Fellowships of mercy are more profoundly human than societies of justice.”
Father Anderson also compared himself to the Prodigal Son, who “got it wrong, who didn't do it right.” He sees Pope John Paul II as “in that long tradition of mercy,” and he sees the Pope as saying, in effect, “We are a people of mercy.” Father Anderson describes the Pope as choosing, “through mercy, and not just bare justice, to allow me to be a priest in the Roman Catholic Church.”
Some might think that, by being married, Father Anderson might have an advantage over celibate priests in dealing with pastoral issues involving family or marriage.
But he doesn't see it that way.
“Every priest has an advantage over every other priest in what he uniquely brings to his priesthood,” he said. “We each have our own way of being in the world.” He has great admiration and respect for celibate priests and for the wonderful things he sees so many of them doing for their people.
But he doesn't see things dividing along married vs. celibate lines.
“I think that each individual priest who happens to be married brings things and each celibate priest brings things,” he said. Ultimately, he said, “there's only one priest in the Catholic Church: Jesus Christ. And we all share in that one priesthood.”
Father Robert Johansen is a priest of the Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan,
----- EXCERPT: Father Steven Anderson's Story ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Robert Johansen ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Why God Made Bob Hope DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:On the passing of Bob Hope, President Bush offered this succinct and fitting tribute: “Today America has lost a great citizen … Bob Hope made us laugh. He lifted our spirits.”
Sir Robert Hope, who held an honorary knighthood in Britain, was honored four times by the U.S. Congress and by every branch of the military. But it is the latter part of his presidential encomium that I want to elaborate on.
Comedy runs the gamut from Bozo the Clown to Dante's Divina Commedia, from the jester to the visionary. In thanking Mr. Hope for lifting our spirits, President Bush correctly located America's most honored comedian somewhere in the vicinity of the visionary.
It is a law of anthropology, as inexorable as the law of gravity, that we cannot lift our spirits. We can bow our heads, confess our sins, repent and amend our lives. And no one else can do any of these things for us. But we are entirely reliant on others to be gracious, thoughtful and hopeful enough to lift our sagging spirits.
Humor at its best has its eye on a higher plane. Otherwise, it could not elevate. It was the genius of Bob Hope never to allow us to remain glum or gloomy. He was bright, energetic and, as his name suggests, a man of hope. “Golf is my real profession,” he once quipped. “Show business pays my green fees.”
Hope was a visionary because he knew something about greener pastures. We know of another man, one who has earned the nickname “His Polishness the Hope,” who also knows the secret of combining humor with vision.
Once, when the Holy Father slipped and fell several steps on newly installed carpeting in St. Peter's Basilica, he had the presence of mind and readiness of wit to say: “Sono caduto ma non sono scadutto” (I have fallen, but I have not been demoted). Even when he falls (though not like a fallen angel), he lifts our spirits. He assures us that a fall merely recedes a rise. The very best of all humor is an anticipation of the Resurrection.
When he was the butt of his own jokes, Bob Hope made himself appear to be even more invincible.
Though a star of the silver screen, Hope never won an Academy Award. Yet he superlatively emceed the Academy Awards 18 times.
“Welcome to award night! In my house it's known as Passover.”
“This is envy time in the valley and I'm the Jolly Green Emcee.”
Losing apparently never really got him down. It merely armed him with better jokes. His message to us was that though we are all down, we are not necessarily lost.
A fall is not perdition. We can get up and go on.
He joked that he had so many movies rerunning on TV that he could change the dial and watch his hairline recede. He could laugh at his own failures and imperfections (especially his ski-jump nose), and all the while use his humor to enhance his image as both a human being as well as a humanitarian. He saw something, as does John Paul, that is larger than life. Don't let the bumps in the road get you down; the prize ahead still awaits us. Have hope.
G.K. Chesterton ended his Orthodoxy with a curious rhyming couplet: “There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when he walked upon the earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was his mirth.”
Bishop Fulton Sheen thought that Christ was exhibiting a pretty good sense of humor when he renamed the man who thrice denied him, Peter, and then established his Church on the “Rock.” Biographer Henri Daniel-Rops found it easy to imagine Christ laughing mirthfully as he dandled children on his knee while they pulled and tugged at his beard.
God has given us the Pope and a man named Hope, both gifted with the genius of appealing to the sunny spots in the human heart. The best humor presupposes hope, lifts the spirits and gets us back again on the road of life (to Singapore, Zanzibar, Morocco, Rio, Bali, Hong Kong or Utopia — sometimes known as Paradise).
Thanks for the memories, but even more for rejuvenating our hope in better things to come.
Donald DeMarco teaches philosophy at Holy Apostles College in Cromwell, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Donald Demarco ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: The Wisdom of the Church Is in Her Silence, Too DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:Discussions about the timing of embryonic ensoulment have generated intense discussion among Catholics for centuries. My letter on this subject in the June 1-7 issue of the Register has likewise resulted in intense discussion in a number of follow-up letters.
I pointed out that the Church has not defined when ensoulment/personhood of the early embryo occurs. This is clearly a disconcerting thought to some Catholics, who had supposed that the Church must have declared that the embryo receives its immortal soul from God right at fertilization.
Some of the letters attempt to shore up this uncomfortable situation by suggesting that ensoulment is likely to occur at fertilization even if the Church hasn’ t made up her mind on the matter.
Some go further and argue that the Church actually has made up her mind on the issue quite recently, in just the last few years. In reply to these letters, I would like to offer a few observations, which I hope will help clarify the discussion.
What Documents Say …
Several recent Church documents explicitly state that the question has not been definitively resolved. In addition to the critical passage from the “Declaration on Procured Abortion” of 1974, which I quoted in my first letter, we find further confirmation in the “Instruction on Respect for Human Life in Its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation,” which took up the matter in 1987:
“Certainly no experimental datum can be in itself sufficient to bring us to the recognition of a spiritual soul; nevertheless, the conclusions of science regarding the human embryo provide a valuable indication for discerning by the use of reason a personal presence at the moment of this first appearance of a human life: How could a human individual not be a human person? The magisterium has not expressly committed itself to an affirmation of a philosophical nature, but it constantly reaffirms the moral condemnation of any kind of procured abortion. This teaching has not been changed and is unchangeable.”
This passage is important because it reveals the Church's great caution and nuanced language in addressing the question of the timing of personhood/ensoulment, coupled with her resolute firmness regarding the moral condemnation of any violation of embryonic human life.
Notice the phrasing: “… the conclusions of science … provide a valuable indication.” The Church is quite cognizant of how good biology will dovetail with the philosophical discussion of personhood and even impinge on the theological question of ensoulment.
The document sees in the findings of science a “valuable indication” (not a definitive indication, not a proof) that a personal presence might exist from the beginning. Refusing, however, to say outright that it is so, the document instead ventures to muse further on the matter by offering a reflective question: “How could a human individual not be a human person?”
Even after such a leading question, however, the document is quickly circumspect as it homes in on the essential bottom line: “The magisterium has not expressly committed itself to an affirmation of a philosophical nature …” This fundamental statement directly reiterates the opening point of my letter, which stressed that “the Church has never definitively stated when the ensoulment of the human embryo takes place. It remains an open question.”
… and Don't Say
Father Anthony Zimmerman suggests in his letter that somewhere between 1974 and 2003 the Church made up her mind about the timing of ensoulment. He states, “In his letter, Father Tadeusz cites correctly the Church document of 1974; but this is 2003!” He goes on to argue: “The Church, not yet sure of itself in 1974, is now certain.”
He suggests the Catechism of the Catholic Church addresses the issue in section 364. This is not correct. Section 364 discusses neither embryos, ensoulment nor the latter's timing explicitly but rather discusses only the reality that exists (“body and soul but truly one“) after ensoulment has already transpired. Section 364 prescinds entirely from the details of the timing of ensoulment of the human embryo. Moreover, if we were to glance ahead just a few paragraphs to section 366, where the action of ensoulment is explicitly discussed, we would see that although God's activity of creating the spiritual soul is briefly mentioned, once again there is no specification of the particulars of the timing.
Think how simple it would have been to put in just three words: “God ensouls zygotes.” But the Catechism never does so, nor has any authoritative magisterial teaching in the Roman Catholic tradition ever done so anywhere in 2,000 years of her history.
In fact, if we examine a different section of the Catechism, section 2270, we find once again a very precise and carefully nuanced formulation, reminiscent of the various other Church documents I have already referred to:
“From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person.” Again, the moral affirmation about rights is firmly stated without ever declaring that the human being at the first moment of his existence is already a person.
The rights of the person accrue to the embryonic human because if he is not yet one, he is about to become one, in virtue of the core biological truth that he is a being that is already human. That is to say, he already possesses an internal code for self-actualization and is an organism with an independent and inherent teleology to develop into a human adult, and is physiologically alive and genetically human.
What the Pope Says …
But it doesn't stop there. Even more recently, in 1995 (two years after the Catechism was issued), the Holy Father, writing in the encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) stated the following:
“Furthermore, what is at stake is so important that, from the standpoint of moral obligation, the mere probability that a human person is involved would suffice to justify an absolutely clear prohibition of any intervention aimed at killing a human embryo. Precisely for this reason, over and above all scientific debates and those philosophical affirmations to which the magisterium has not expressly committed itself, the Church has always taught and continues to teach that the result of human procreation, from the first moment of its existence, must be guaranteed that unconditional respect that is morally due to the human being in his or her totality and unity as body and spirit: 'The human being is to be respected and treated as a person from the moment of conception'; and therefore from that same moment his rights as a person must be recognized, among which in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life.”
It is significant how careful and precise the Holy Father is here, writing in an encyclical, an instrument intended for widespread dissemination throughout the Church and, indeed, to “all people of good will.”
He again notes: “[O]ver and above all scientific debates and those philosophical affirmations to which the magisterium has not expressly committed itself.” The Church in one document after another has explicitly refused to commit herself to the particulars of the timing of personhood/ensoulment of the embryo. Yet she has never hesitated to promulgate the firm and unalterable ethical and moral teaching that specifies how zygotes and embryos are to be respected and treated, with the respect that is due to persons, even if they might possibly not yet be persons.
Hence Father Zimmerman's attempt to close the door on the possibility of non-personal human beings is premature. He suggests that between 1974 and 2003 there was some shift in the way the Church evaluates the question of when ensoulment occurs. At least as of 1995, the date of Evangelium Vitae, there was not any monumental shift of this sort. Father Zimmerman surely realizes how, in the arena of large and disputed questions in the history and development of dogma, the Church thinks in terms of centuries, not years or even decades. The Church invariably moves slowly and with great care in deciding these matters.
… and Doesn't Say
What about the comments addressed by the Holy Father to the scientists of the Pontifical Academy of Life? Father Zimmerman refers to an address by the Pope to the academy on March 1, 2002 (which was actually delivered Feb. 27). By quoting only pieces of the passage, and by making rather liberal use of ellipses, Father Zimmerman ends up leaving out several important modifiers that become crucial to a proper understanding of the meaning of the passage. The full and uncut text of what the Holy Father stated is as follows:
“The Church affirms the right to life of every innocent human being and at every moment of his existence. The distinction sometimes implied in international documents between ‘human being’ and ‘human person,’ so as to limit the right to life and to physical integrity to persons already born, is an artificial distinction, without any scientific or philosophical foundation: Every human being, from the moment of his conception until the moment of his natural death, possesses an inviolable right to life and deserves all the respect owed to the-human-person.”
In this passage the Holy Father is stressing precisely what I stressed as the central point of my letter — namely, that the distinction between human being and human person may never be used in such a manner as to justify the violation of prenatal human life. In other words, there is no philosophical or scientific basis for making a distinction between rights that accrue to the human being and those that accrue to the human person, primary among which is the right to life.
What the Holy Father does not do here is to make a pronouncement that human beings and human persons are always absolutely coterminous.
Rather, he again shifts the discussion to focus on the key ethical affirmation that every human being “deserves all the respect owed to the human person.” Clearly, the Pope could have chosen to phrase it differently, e.g.: “Every embryonic human being is a person, and therefore deserves respect,” but he didn't, and in no official Church teaching that I am aware of has the Church ever phrased it that way, because that is not how she typically reasons about this complex and important matter.
Pro-Life Error?
It can be tempting to ignore these subtle nuances in what the Church is teaching when she makes declarations on the subject of the ensoulment/personhood of the embryo. I think many of us in the pro-life movement are guilty of having done just that in the interests of strengthening our own arguments on behalf of protecting embryos and fetuses.
While the intention here might be good, it is never truthful to suggest to others that the Church has formally defined something that she in fact has not.
I am convinced there is enormous wisdom in the Church's hesitancy to declare that zygotes are ensouled with an immortal, rational soul. She is deeply sensitive to the complexities of human embryonic development, not to mention the conceptual conundrums raised by strikingly novel methods of making embryos, including parthenogenesis, cloning, twinning and chimerization.
The Church is also quite aware of the challenges involved in trying to philosophically explicate the primordial reality of personhood. She always insists, nevertheless, in an absolute way on the moral and ethical affirmation, without trying to oversimplify the reasons for that affirmation. She refuses to jump to quick and easy conclusions about zygotic or embryonic ensoulment. I think it was Einstein who once remarked that, “Everything should be made as simple as possible — but no simpler!”
Above all, it is important that we as pro-life Catholics not put words into the mouth of the Church. Since she has never definitively declared the exact moment when God infuses the immortal soul into the early embryo, we should not misrepresent the state of affairs to others in a way that makes it appear that she might have defined this question.
The Church's nuanced and careful approach to the matter must be our own as we submit in obedience to her patient and attentive consideration of the matter. One day in the future, it may in fact be the case that the Church will declare that zygotes are ensouled by God, but for the moment it is not so, and it would not be honest for us to suppose or otherwise give the impression that she really does teach in this way.
Rev. Dr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk writes from Fall River, Massachusetts.
Father Pacholczyk holds a doctorate in neuroscience from Yale University and worked as a molecular biologist at Massachusetts General Hospital before becoming a priest.
----- EXCERPT: The Embryonic Ensoulment Debate: Father Pacholczyk Responds ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: 'Just' Fiction? DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:Spirit & Life
It's just fiction!” I've heard I this remark quite often I over the past few years, referring to the Left Behind series and the Harry Potter novels, and now to the latest fiction sensation, The Da Vinci Code.
It seems that fiction, for many people, is simply entertainment and escapism that can have only a positive effect. So, the Left Behind books explain Scripture but never misinterpret it. The Harry Potter books inspire children to read but never to explore the occult. The Da Vinci Code explains the true history of Christianity but never misrepresents it.
Meanwhile the enormous success of the Left Behind series and of The Da Vinci Code in particular indicates that novels promoting esoteric beliefs, presented in a fast-paced fashion and loaded with attacks on the Catholic Church, make for best sellers. It also suggests that best-selling fiction — despite being “just fiction” — is a source of theology, philosophy and history for a formidable number of readers.
The Illinois Conference of Catholic Bishops recognized this fact and recently issued a statement describing the Left Behind series and its creator, fundamentalist Tim LaHaye, as anti-Catholic. LaHaye denies the charge, saying the bishops are “reading into these books something that's not there.”
However, in several nonfic-tion books, LaHaye claims the Catholic faith is “pagan” and is a “Babylonian idolatrous religion,” marked by corruption, murder and numerous false doctrines. The anti-Catholicism is more subtle in the Left Behind books, but it's obvious to the alert reader. LaHaye is adamant that “true Christianity” was nearly destroyed by the emperor Constantine, who allowed pagan practices and “Babylonian mysticism” to infiltrate the Church. In his commentary Revelation Unveiled, he asserts that the Catholic Church promotes “Babylonian mysticism in many forms and salvation by works.”
Armageddon, the latest installment in the Left Behind series, was published in April and quickly topped the best-seller lists. The Da Vinci Code, a whodunit with a theological agenda, appeared around the same time. The author, Dan Brown, states he is a Christian, “although perhaps not in the most traditional sense of the word.” That's a mild understatement, considering his novel is based on the beliefs that Jesus was not divine, he was married to Mary Magdalene and had children, and that the Catholic Church has kept all of this hidden through intimidation, deception and even murder.
Just as many readers believe the Left Behind novels are God-given guides to understanding the “end times,” readers and critics are fawning over The Da Vinci Code and its explanation of the real history of Christianity and the Catholic Church. This, despite Brown's stiff, disjointed thriller being packed full of historical errors, feminist propaganda and neo-Gnostic sermonizing.
The absurd assertion is made that Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea to deify Christ. As one character, a historian, soberly explains, “until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet … Jesus’ establishment as 'the Son of God’ was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicaea.”
Sadly, these distorted views of history and the Catholic faith — views that really are fictional — are the closest thing to theology and catechesis that some people will ever read. Bad fiction distorts truth by pretending to be more than just fiction. Good fiction should reveal truth, not misrepresent it.
Carl E. Olson is the editor of Envoy magazine and the author of Will Catholics Be “Left Behind“?
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carl E. Olson ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Our Lady's Island Getaway DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:It was while crossing the short causeway that connects the Connecticut mainland to diminutive Enders Island that I first laid my eyes upon the Chapel of Our Lady of the Assumption. (The Church commemorates the Assumption Aug. 15.)
The impression was of a sturdy spiritual beacon that has been watching over the boats on Fisher's Island Sound for at least a century — maybe several.
Then I parked my car, approached the structure and read the cornerstone. “For the greater honor and glory of God,” it reads. “2001.”
The chapel is designed in traditional Romanesque style but with unique details. For example, its exterior stones were cut and laid by a master mason, just as they would have been centuries ago. Yet its interior displays new liturgical art crafted by some of the artists who teach at the St. Michael Institute of Sacred Art.
(The art institute is a function of St. Edmund's Retreat, the retreat ministry of the Society of St. Edmund. You realize as you're pulling onto the island, thanks to a carved sign marking your arrival, that St. Edmund's Retreat is synonymous with Enders Island: The ministry is the 12-acre island's sole enterprise.)
We noted that the chapel's mason and architect, Dennis Keefe of Boston, carefully selected his stones to match those of the beautiful, turn-of-the-century mansion that serves as the retreat center's main house and dining facility. Scattered among these fieldstones are rocks from Marian shrines throughout the world and from the abbey where St. Edmund, 13th-century archbishop of Canterbury, is buried.
“The building itself is a prayer,” Edmundite Father Tom Hoar, director of St. Edmund's Retreat, told my wife, Mary, and me. “All the art was done by folks who … are people of prayer and exquisite artistic talent, people who are able to bring to the visible world the mystery and wonder of salvation.” Looking around, we could see that he wasn't exaggerating.
We were also quick to pick up on the nautical theme reinforced throughout, complementing the chapel's island setting. As we entered, the Holy Spirit welcomed us from a stained-glass window atop the front doors, descending over the waters of creation and baptism. Straight ahead sat the altar, with a centrally situated tabernacle directly behind. Walking forward toward it, we “navigated” eastward toward the rising sun (symbolic, we were reminded, of the Risen Son).
The picture windows flanking the sanctuary magnify this ancient symbolism. Both clear and delicately tinted with roundel accents, they're positioned to always catch the rising sun — one from the summer solstice onward, the other beginning with the winter solstice. But no one planned a beautiful bonus: As the sun streams through the roundels, it forms crosses of light on the chapel's honey-colored walls. Peering out these windows, we saw that we were only yards from the calm waters of Fisher's Island Sound, which is naturally protected from the open waters of the Atlantic by Fisher's Island, N.Y.
Overhead, the cathedral-like ceiling is reminiscent of the inverted hull of a ship. Its honey-toned beams are cut from Douglas fir and pegged — never nailed — in the medieval manner. Suspended from one beam over the tabernacle is a handblown sanctuary lamp in the shape of a boat. The plaster walls increase the chapel's radiance, as do the oak pews with the symbol of the Society of St. Edmund carved at each end.
Seasoned Stations
Moving to the altar, we learned that the granite table was cut from a larger altar that had been in place when the island served as the Edmundites’ novitiate. The pieces left over have not been wasted. One large slab, for example, serves as the pedestal on which the tabernacle sits; smaller (but equally symbolic) segments are found around the chapel's perimeter.
Alongside the altar sits the chapel's processional cross, a stirring sight in its own right: Mounted in its rough wooden stem is a relic of the True Cross, along with the papal seal of Innocent IX, which testifies to its authenticity.
In stained-glass windows flanking the tabernacle, two angels gaze longingly toward the space in which the Bread of Life is reserved. These windows and all their companions enjoy brilliant blends of cobalts, aquamarines, corals and scarlets. All are the work of Nick Parrendo, a teacher at the St. Michael Institute whose half-century of stained-glass artistry is internationally recognized.
The three tall transept windows on one side take us on a briny spiritual voyage with themes of faith and hope. In the center, Jesus walks on water toward us. In the background is the bark of St. Peter, the symbol of Christ present in the Church. The roundel above Jesus pictures Jonah in the whale; the one below him, Pentecost.
The Stations of the Cross are nothing short of stunning. They're done as medieval manuscript illuminations patterned after the Book of Hours, and the entire Passion unfolds in the settings of Enders Island. The backdrops progress through the cycle of the seasons. In the 14th station, for example, Mary wraps Jesus in the tomb; look closely and you see that the site of the tomb is Enders Islands’ open-faced seaside chapel (located elsewhere on the island) in the winter. The artist behind these images, Jed Gibbons, hand-ground pigments in the time-honored way from semiprecious lapis lazuli, malachite and corals.
Our Lady, Assumed
To the rear of the sanctuary, a small side chapel invites more prayer. At the center is a nearly life-sized carving of the Blessed Mother being assumed heavenward. She wears softly tinted blues and reds, and the backlighting lends the carving a celestial effect.
This side chapel also features two radiant icons — one of Blessed St. Joseph holding the Child Jesus, the other of St. Michael the Archangel. They were crafted by Vladislav Andrejev, another St. Michael Institute teacher, whose work graces churches around the world and who's painted icons for the Holy Father.
Here we also venerated an unforgettable relic — the 800-year-old hand of St. Edmund himself. It's on display in a clear glass reliquary.
Three times a day, the tower bell (cast in Lyons, France, in 1883) rings out the Angelus. Father Hoar told us he very actively encourages people to “pray this prayer for world peace because it's a prayer announcing the Good News of the coming of the Prince of Peace.”
This chapel is clearly the island's new anchor, but it's far from its sole attraction. Following our prayer tour there, we could hardly wait to walk around the lovely, peaceful grounds. Sure enough, we found that the seaside setting helps foster deep and peaceful contemplation.
Connecticut's coast has a number of charming lighthouses. As far as we're concerned, the Chapel of Our Lady of the Assumption in Mystic outshines them all. From now on, we'll think of it as the Constitution State's true house of light.
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: Chapel of Our Lady of the Assumption, Mystic, Conn. ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Talking to Your Computer DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:Many of us who use computers do a lot of typing and mouse-clicking — and pay for all those small, repetitive motions with serious aches, pains and stiffness in the joints.
Personally I have had problems with the finger I use for clicking the mouse. Another brother here developed carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists and had to have surgery.
A few years back, we would have had just two basic choices: Live with the worsening pain or find another line of work. Today, however, there is a third option: voice-recognition software.
I'm dictating this article aloud, using Dragon Naturally Speaking Version 7 software. This approach to writing takes some getting used to, but it works quite well.
What makes this program particularly appealing to me is that that it lets me avoid not just the keypad but also the mouse. I've even found that it's not easily confused by ambient noises in the room such as a fan blowing or a bird chirping outside my open window.
It's easy to set up, too. When voice-recognition technology was new, the user had to speak for around 45 minutes to “train” the program to recognize his or her voice. I had this program trained in just five. I am able to bounce back and forth between dictation and commands. And I don't believe I have much of an accent, as I'm from Michigan, but a Bostonian has told me it works fairly well for him. Interestingly, the smart software analyzes documents you have already written. Apparently, this helps it recognize your style of writing.
Unlike Captain Picard of the Starship Enterprise, I'm not pacing the room while talking to my computer; I'm seated and wearing a headphone with a microphone. I'm sure it's possible to get a wireless headset for those who like to walk around. It's also possible to dictate into a pocket PC or use a digital recorder that can be plugged into your computer.
Oops — time to switch back to typing for awhile. Our next-door neighbor has just decided to mow his lawn. Ambient noise is one thing, but that kind of clatter is in a different category! (As we are temporarily living in a rented house, our monastery is located in a thickly settled neighborhood.)
For many of us, answering e-mail means doing a ton of typing. Speaking the text into the computer would speed things up and save our aching extremities. Other activities like chat and instant messaging would become faster and easier as well.
Okay, I'm back to dictating once again — in a different room. This time I'm using the voice-recognition software that comes with Microsoft Office XP. You turn it on by selecting “Speech” under the “Tools” menu on the Microsoft Word toolbar. I don't find this application as easy to use as its Dragon counterpart. But the dictation accuracy is fairly good, for five minutes of training. It also has some limited voice-command options for controlling Office programs, but it's not designed for mouse-free control.
Recently I tried using Dragon with Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser for surfing the Internet hands-free. I found that I was able to go to any Web page on my “Favorites” menu, enter a Web address in the address bar, scroll within a Web page and perform lots of other surfing-related functions.
This use of the software takes a little more practice than simply dictating an article. But for those who have had chronic and severe repetitive-strain problems, I believe it would be well worth the investment of time.
Those interested in making the switch to voice-recognition software will find three main contenders vying for their attention: IBM's ViaVoice, ScanSoft's Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Ultimate Interactive Desktops’ Voice Studio 2003. All these products let you speak commands to your PC, as well as dictate directly into most Windows applications. And they're all fairly inexpensive.
With Dragon, you can have text read to you aloud from e-mails or other documents. I'm not sure whether or not the other two offer that feature. Before buying, make sure your computer measures up to the system requirements. Dragon requires an Intel Pentium III/500 Mhz or equivalent with 128 megabytes of RAM and 300 megabytes of free hard-disk space. Usually, performance is better with more than the minimum system requirements.
Microsoft is looking into incorporating voice into future versions of the Windows operating system. That could only make the system, which is not without its hurdles for those who name “ease of use” as a top priority, truly user-friendly.
Several companies are working on speech recognition and you may already be experiencing the results. California's Nuance Communications and Boston's SpeechWorks are two of the market leaders in interactive voice-response systems. They have developed software that lets the computer understand — and respond to — routine natural-language requests. One way it's being used is on telephone help desks.
In fact, SpeechWorks’ call-center technology is used by such big businesses as Office Depot, the U.S. Postal Service, Thrifty Car Rental, United Airlines and Amtrak. The latter got back its $4 million investment in labor costs with this technology in 18 months. Nuance's software is being used by Schwab, Sprint PCS and Bell Canada. Intel is looking into audiovisual speech recognition.
With this kind of rapid deployment, maybe we will soon be witnessing real-life human-computer interaction like the kind the astronauts had with HAL 9000 in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Stay within earshot!
Brother John Raymond, co-founder of the Monks of Adoration, writes from Venice, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Brother John Raymond ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Monthly Web Picks DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:Thinking of heading somewhere for summer vacation, but not sure where to go? Be sure to check into these Catholic travel sites.
A few years ago I met James Adair, the president of Regina Tours, at a conference. Its Web site, regina-tour.com, has helpful information on a number of sites popular with Catholic pilgrims. Hot spots include the shrines of France; Rome, Assisi and Florence; Fatima, Lourdes and Spain; various locales in Ireland; Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico; and the California missions.
I met young Catholic travel writer Kevin Wright, president of Catholic Adventures International (catholicadventures.com), at another conference. His company provides guided tours of Europe, North America, the Caribbean and other places. It also offers exclusive opportunities to interact with top Catholic speakers and experts.
Dr. Rosalie Turton, whom I have known for a number of years, began the 101 Foundation, named after the 101 tears that Our Lady shed in the approved apparitions in Akita, Japan. Turton makes sure that pilgrims make a pilgrimage and are not just taking a vacation. Her Web site is at 101foundation.com.
Bob and Penny Lord are internationally known pilgrimage directors who lead tours to the shrines of Europe, Mexico and North America. Their Web site, Journeys of Faith (bobandpennylord.com), lists a few pilgrimages for 2003.
I know nothing about Best Catholic Pilgrimages at eholy.com, but it claims to offer the best pilgrimages at affordable prices, along with a priest or bishop as a spiritual leader. Sounds like a Web site worth a visit to me.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Brother John Raymond ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video/DVD Picks DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:The Emperor's Club (2002)
Unlike most teachers in inspirational-teacher movies, William Hundert (Kevin Kline) isn't charismatic or cool; in fact, he's stiff and a bit boring. I like that about him. He isn't selling students (or the audience) his own personality, authenticity or commitment; he isn't selling education as self-actualization (Dead Poets Society), doesn't work miracles with disaffected kids (Dangerous Minds) and doesn't succeed with every single student (Mr. Holland's Opus).
He's overly pedantic: Instead of merely urging a student to stay off the grass, he exhorts, “Walk where the great men who have gone before you have walked” — not just because it's good for the grass, but “because it's good for you.” By the time we meet Mr. Hundert's one and only problem student, it almost looks as if the movie is going to be about the free-spirited youngster inspiring the inhibited teacher to seize the day rather than the inspirational teacher transforming the unmoti-vated student.
Refreshingly, The Emperor's Club is about neither of these things. Instead, it's a thoughtful look at the purpose and limits of education, the importance of character and principle, and the meaning of success and failure.
Atlantis (1991)
Following his 1988 aquatic feature The Big Blue, director Luc Besson spent two years capturing the extraordinary footage for Atlantis, a pure documentary that eschews educational Discovery Channel-type narration in favor of sheer wonder at the exotic, mysterious world under the sea.
Loosely structured into thematic “chapters” such as “light,” “rhythm” and “grace,” accompanied by an eclectic Eric Serra score, Atlantis is a sort of documentary Fantasia, a poetic marriage of image and music (though the score, apart from an aria from Bellini's La Sonnambula, lacks the pedigree of Disney's masterpiece).
Marred only by a brief opening voiceover, which muses pretentiously about man's evolutionary origins in the ocean, Atlantis lets the beauty of the undersea world speak for itself.
No matter how many ocean documentaries you've seen, Besson's film will show you things you've never seen before — and things well worth seeing again. From the alien majesty of the giant octopus in his seaweed-forest home, to the hypnotic undulations of the striped-sweater sea snake, to the dirigible-like bulk and mailbox-slot mouth of the whale shark, to the bovine placidity of the Florida manatee (whose comically graceful bulk evokes the hippo ballerinas of Fantasia), Atlantis is an unparalleled look at a fascinating world.
The Mark of Zorro (1920)
You haven't seen Zorro till you've seen Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in this 1920 silent I swashbuckling classic (not to be confused with the fine 1940 Tyrone Power remake).
A born action hero, a natural acrobat and stuntman, Fairbanks was in a class by himself, and the last reel of this film contains some of the most amazing acrobatics in any black-and-white action movie, and certainly in any silent film.
This telling of the Zorro tale also outdoes later portrayals in its depiction of the main character as a champion of faith as well as justice, and of his Catholic milieu. As one of his enemies puts it, “Pick on a priest or a native, and — presto! Zorro!”
In one sequence, an old Franciscan, falsely accused of fraud, tells the corrupt magistrate, “If I were a supporter of the licentious governor, I would be innocent. I am a robed Franciscan — therefore I am guilty!”
When the priest is beaten, Zorro angrily confronts the blue-blooded caballeros: “You sit idly sipping wine while the naked back of an unprotesting soldier of Christ is beaten!” We also see the priest being carted off to safety, blessing his rescuers with the sign of the cross.
All times Eastern
SUNDAY, AUG. 10
Visions of England
PBS, 8:30 p.m.
This aerial tour of once-Catholic England's most picturesque and historic sites flies us over the White Cliffs of Dover, the Thames, Brighton, Bath and other spots “as God sees them.” Gilbert and Sullivan tunes and other English musical themes accent the views.
MONDAY, AUG. 11
Feast Day of St. Clare
EWTN
EWTN pays tribute to beloved St. Clare (1194-1253). “Poor Clares: A Hidden Presence,” at 2:30 p.m., depicts the life of her cloistered sisters today. “Super Saints,” at 9 p.m., shows us her incorrupt self and the miraculous Cross of San Damiano. She once repulsed an army by praying before the Blessed Sacrament at the gates of her monastery.
TUESDAY, AUG. 12
The Gardens of Castel Gandolfo
EWTN, 4:30 a.m., 6 p.m.
This special escorts us around the tranquil summer retreat of the vicars of Christ. Highlights include the “secret” 17th-century garden, trees from the 13th century and a Roman statuary from the first century A.D.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 13
The Films of Gary Cooper
Turner Classic Movies; check listings for times
Devoting each day this month to a single star, TCM today presents Gary Cooper films from early morning until late night. The Western Along Came Jones (1:30 p.m.) and the Lou Gehrig baseball bio The Pride of the Yankees (9 p.m.) are among them.
THURSDAY, AUG. 14
House Hunters
Home & Garden TV, 7:30 p.m.
Young Catholic families might want to tune in to this how-to program. In tonight's show, “Leaving Behind Apartment Living,” realtor Nick Peters helps Mark and Amie Bradford come up with strategies for finding a dwelling they can afford.
THURSDAY, AUG. 14
Secrets of the Bog People: Windover
The Learning Channel, 9 p.m.
Some 168 skeletons and 87 artifacts recovered from a boggy pond in Windover Farms, Fla., since 1982 and dated to 6,000-5,000 B.C. reveal that the dead received reverent burials. Reports call these ancients humane: They cared for a woman in her 50s who had multiple fractures and for a boy with spina bifida who eventually died in his teens.
FRIDAY, AUG. 15
Donny Osmond's American Parks
Travel Channel, 9 p.m.
Entertainer Donny Osmond takes us along to his six favorite national parks.
SATURDAY, AUG. 16
Secret Subs: Cuban Missile Crisis
Discovery Channel, noon
Government agencies are gradually releasing material about the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, but submarine operations remain largely secret. Here is what is known.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dan Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: How to Pray for - and With - the Holy Souls DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:The Rosary for the Holy Souls in purgatory
by Susan Tassone
Our Sunday Visitor, 2002
160 pages, $6.95
To order: (800) 348-2440
www. osvpublishing. com
Since my father's death in March 2001, my use of the rosary has been sporadic at best. I have simply found it too emotionally painful to pray in a way that, for some reason, causes me to think about my loss for such an extended period of time. Then, too, it's difficult for me to move the beads between my fingers because I've got spastic cerebral palsy.
Well, I am happy to report that Susan Tassone's new book has got me back to the mysteries of the rosary in a major way.
For me, The Rosary for the Holy Souls in Purgatory makes the rosary routine much more than a dry ritual. That's because, even before I came upon this book, I had a special intention in mind to pray with Mary for holy souls like my dad and two of my brothers who have gone before me marked with the sign of faith.
The Scripture-based text makes the book an excellent tool for keeping the mind (and heart) focused on the mysteries. It also serves as an apologetical buffer against those who say Catholics don't know the Bible. As Chicago Cardinal Francis George writes in the book's foreword: “The Rosary takes us on a j 'tour’ of the Old and New Testaments, giving us the opportunity to call to mind the events that j shaped the earthy life of Jesus and His mother as well as those events that gave birth to the Church and changing the course of human history. These are the mysteries of the Catholic faith to which Holy Scripture gives written witness.”
Tassone builds on that theme in her introduction. “Among private prayer and devotion,” she writes, “the Rosary is the greatest and most powerful form of mental and vocal prayer to assist the holy souls in purgatory to attain heaven.”
How often Pope John Paul II has reminded the faithful to pray this devotion in order that the Church suffering might build up the Church triumphant. What an awesome thought!
We all have relatives who have gone before us in death. Taking 20 to 25 minutes a day to pray for the holy souls not only helps them complete their journey to the Father in heaven, but it also helps us learn about his love, his justice and his mercy.
One point Tassone articulates has stuck with me with special power: The individuals we help get to heaven becomes advocates for us. In other words, we help them get to heaven and they help us to join them there. This truth should encourage all of us.
St. Paul reminds us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Tassone's book shines the bright light of Marian hope upon that daunting and inescapable fact. It helped to shake me out of my “rosary resistance” — and I'm sure it can do the same for you.
Bill Zalot writes from Levittown, Pennsylvania.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Bill Zalot ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:Seminary Rector
While he began his term the same day it was announced that Bishop Sean O'Malley of Palm Beach, Fla., would lead the Boston Archdiocese, Father Farren was appointed by Bishop Richard Lennon, the administrator of the archdiocese since the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law in December.
Father Farren's earlier assignments included vicar general for the prelature of Chimbote, Peru; serving as an official at Dominican headquarters in Rome; as prior of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington; and as an official at several Vatican congregations.
Summer Vocation
UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON, July 1 — Some 80 incoming freshmen at the Ohio university are spending part of their summer vacation to consider the importance of vocation.
The program at Dayton and approximately 30 other colleges and universities around the country are funded by grants from the Lilly Endowment. The goal is not to entice students to enter the ministry or religious life but to encourage them to think about their life choices in vocational terms.
Longest Tenure
The university claims that his tenure is longer than any other U.S. college president, lay, religious or clerical. Xavier was founded by St. Katharine Drexel in 1925 and is the only historically black Catholic university in the Western Hemisphere.
The start of Francis’ tenure at Xavier has roots in African-American history. He was appointed to the presidency on April 4, 1968, the same day Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
Courage in Faith
FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY, July 21 — Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh received the Steubenville, Ohio, university's 2003 Courage in Faith Award.
Conferred annually on a Church leader for upholding Catholic moral teachings and principles, Bishop Wuerl was cited for his work in education and communication.
Bishop Wuerl's best-selling adult catechism, The Teachings of Christ, is in its 26th year of publication and has been translated into more than 10 languages. He has a national weekly TV program of the same name.
New Roles
WHEELING JESUIT UNIVERSITY, July 10 — Jesuit Father George Lundy, president of Wheeling Jesuit since July 2000, has resigned his post, the university announced.
Jesuit Father Joseph Hacala, executive director of the university's Appalachian Institute and senior adviser to the president, was named interim president.
After a brief sabbatical, Father Lundy will serve as a link between the Jesuit provincial in the South and the two Jesuit institutions in the 10-state New Orleans Province, Loyola Unive-sity in New Orleans and Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala.
Joe Cullen writes from New York.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joe Cullen ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: The Trinity: Marriage as a Reflection of the God Who Is Love DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:When Pope John Paul II's pontificate is assessed by future generations, he may well be remembered as the “Pope of the family.”
Indeed, he has provided more teaching on marriage and the family than all previous popes combined.
Much of this teaching was presented at the outset of his pontificate in 129 catechetical addresses termed the “theology of the body.”
In these addresses John Paul did nothing less than redefine the nature of man: “Man became the ‘image and likeness’ of God not only through his humanity but also through the communion of persons that man and woman form right from the beginning. The function of the image is to reflect the one who is modeled to reproduce its own prototype. Man becomes the image of God not so much in the moment of solitude as in the moment of communion. He is, in fact, right ‘from the beginning’ not only an image in which there is reflected the solitude of a Person who rules the world but also, and essentially, an image of an inscrutable divine communion of Persons” (Nov. 14, 1979).
When I read this admittedly difficult statement to audiences, I receive many puzzled looks. In it, the Holy Father has placed the mystery of the Blessed Trinity at the very heart of the mystery of man. Nonetheless, we must tackle this mystery if we are to understand John Paul's vision of marriage.
Trinity in Five Steps
I have found that most people's understanding of the Blessed Trinity is limited to the formula “three divine Persons in one divine Being.”
Although the Blessed Trinity is the central mystery of our faith, most Catholics have received no catechesis on the Blessed Trinity outside of that formula. Therefore, I present what I call “the Blessed Trinity in five easy steps” to audiences as a prelude to the Pope's teaching on marriage. I promise them that the effort will be well spent when we apply it to man and woman.
1. The Father is the starting point — the Principle that has no other principle.
2. The Father forms an intellectual image of himself — the Word.
3. The Father and Word form a conception of their love — the Holy Spirit.
4. The Word and Spirit proceed from the Father as a “unity of the two.”
5. The Word is together with the Father the source of the Spirit.
These steps appear more difficult than they really are. The first three simply relate to the three divine Persons. The Father is the starting point. The Word proceeds from the Father according to the divine intellect and the Spirit proceeds according to the divine will. Since the divine intellect and will cannot be separated, the fourth step says the Word and Spirit proceed as a “unity of the two.” Finally, since thought precedes action (intellect precedes will), the Word is, with the Father, source of the Spirit.
You and the Trinity
This basic Trinitarian theology is essential to understanding the story of man's creation in the Book of Genesis. In the first story we read: “God created man in his own image … male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).
In other words, God the Father remains the starting point and a human “unity of the two” flows forth from his bosom. In the second story of creation we read: “God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman” (Genesis 2:21ff). In other words, the man is with the Father the source of the woman. Since the woman is taken from next to man's heart, we might even say that God the Father and man form a conception of their love — woman.
From this perspective we do indeed see a profound reflection of the Blessed Trinity. However, we are able to go further.
Since man is with the Father source of woman, we find a unique analogy to the Word. Man is created with a special relationship to the Word, which is why the Word becomes incarnate in a human man. Jesus Christ, and he alone, has lived the life that man was created to live.
Christ specifically identifies this life as the manifestation of the Father: “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Further, Jesus inseparably unites the manifestation of the Father to the issue of life: “As the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself” (John 5:26). With Jesus, men are to become the manifestation of the Father by becoming the “source of life.”
When they do so, they are given the unfathomable dignity to “reveal and relive on earth the very fatherhood of God” (Fam-iliaris Consortio, No. 25).
Since woman proceeds from the Father through man, we find a unique analogy to the Holy Spirit. Note that I am not saying that the Holy Spirit is feminine, which would be heretical. I am saying that the story of woman's creation as presented in Scripture is analogous to traditional Catholic (Thomistic) theology regarding the procession of the Holy Spirit within the Blessed Trinity.
Therefore, woman has a special relationship to the Holy Spirit, which is why Our Lady is overshadowed by the Holy Spirit (cf. Luke 1:35). Further, the manifestation of the Father that we have discussed is made through the Word in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the milieu of life: “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Therefore, although life goes forth from man, it is nurtured and sustained in woman.
God the Father is specifically manifested in the union of man and woman, where he gives life through the husband in the wife.
It is the moment that unifies God's final gift to humanity in their innocence with his original blessing — the “one flesh” (cf. Genesis 2:24) union of man and woman is the place where the Father grants the blessing of life (cf. Genesis 1:28). The Holy Father states that this union of man and woman together with God is the primordial sacrament that makes visible the invisible God: “Thus, in this dimension, a primordial sacrament is constituted, understood as a sign that transmits effectively in the visible world the invisible mystery hidden in God since time immemorial” (Feb. 20, 1980).
In reality this is the only vision of man that fulfills the deepest longing of his heart. The desire to make the unconditional gift of self. An offering that is met by the unconditional gift of the other. A union in which total self-surrender is identical to total self-fulfillment. A union that opens to the divine.
This is John Paul's vision of marriage. It is a vision that modern man is desperately seeking. It is a vision that only Christianity — with a triune God who is love (1 John 4:16) — can offer.
Steve Bollman is the founder of Paradisus Dei, a lay organization dedicated to implementing
Pope John Paul II 's teaching on marriage and the family. He may
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steve Bollman ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Original Sin in the Union of Man and Woman DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:The story of humanity's temptation and fall has intrigued spiritual writers for ages.
The insights Pope John Paul II presented during his “theology of the body” lectures are profound: “Sin and death entered man's history, in a way, through the very heart of that unity which, from the beginning, was formed by the man and the woman, created and called to become ‘one flesh’ (Genesis 2:24)” (March 5, 1980).
I believe that insight will do nothing less than revolutionize the Church's understanding of original sin.
‘You Shall Be as Gods'
Scripture presents the temptation of Adam and Eve in very simple terms: “The serpent said … Your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’” (Genesis 3:4ff). I think that a fuller understanding of “good and evil” greatly illuminates this original temptation.
Philosophically, good is that to which we are drawn. Ultimately, it is God: “No one is good but God alone” (Mark 10:18). Evil is simply the absence of good. Ultimately, it is the absence of God. Satan has promised Adam and Eve that if they eat the forbidden fruit they will know both good and evil, which is to say they will ultimately know both God and the absence of God.
Since Adam and Eve are created directly by God, they know good. If they remain united to God, then they continue to know only good. However, if they separate themselves from God, then they will know both good and evil. They will know good in their creation from God and they will know evil in their rejection of God. Satan tempts Adam and Eve to separate themselves from God.
At this point, John Paul's insights into the original unity of man and woman shed incredible light on humanity's primordial temptation. In a previous article, we noted that the Pope has placed the union of man and woman at the heart of humanity's image and likeness of God: “Man became the ‘image and likeness’ of God not only through his humanity but also through the communion of persons that man and woman form right from the beginning” (Nov. 14, 1979).
He goes on to state that the union of man and woman reflects and reproduces the Blessed Trinity as its divine prototype. In the previous article we noted man and woman proceed as a “unity of the two” from the bosom of the Father in a manner analogous to the Word and Spirit's procession from the bosom of the Father.
Now we must note that the Word and Spirit also return into the bosom of the Father as a “unity of the two.” Adam and Eve are called to do likewise. In fact, what is apparent from Scripture is that Adam and Eve are called to form a “one-flesh” (Genesis 2:24) union, which they offer to the Father. When they do so, Adam and Eve encounter God as Father. He grants life through the husband in the wife: “God blessed them and said: Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Adam and Eve encounter God together in their union.
If Adam and Eve accept Satan's temptation to separate themselves from God, then it must mean that they separate their union from God the father. Adam and Eve close their union to the fatherhood of God. In modern terms we would call it a contraceptive union (recognizing that Adam and Eve did not have available to them the modern means of contraception).
St. Edith Stein states: “So the first sin may not only be considered as a purely formal one of disobedience of God. Rather it implied a definitive act… Indeed, the act committed could well have been a manner of union that was at variance with the natural order.” Pope Paul VI specifically referred to the natural order when he confirmed the Church's constant teaching on contraception in Humanae Vitae.
St. Augustine, who identifies disobedience as the original sin, states: “They felt for the first time a movement of disobedience in their flesh, as though the punishment were meant to fit the crime of their own disobedience to God” (City of God, 13.13). He goes on to discuss, in fairly graphic terms, that it is specifically the sexual organs that have become disobedient to man.
The Church teaches that the original sin was disobedience (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 397). God asked humanity not to separate themselves from him, which humanity did. I also think it reasonable to conclude that this separation entailed the closure of man and woman's union to the fatherhood of God, which we would call a contraceptive union.
The Consequences
Scripture relates two immediate consequences of Adam and Eve's original sin. First, Adam and Eve are separated from each other: “Then the eyes of them both were opened … and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons” (Genesis 3:7). Before the fall Adam and Eve lived in such intimate union that they were “naked and unashamed” (Genesis 2:25), which is to say that they had nothing between them.
After the fall, Adam and Eve separated themselves from each other by placing clothes in the midst of their union. This separation results from a fundamental mistrust that is sown in their union as evidenced by the fact that each blames the other for the fall (cf. Genesis 3:12ff). This mistrust is itself the result of the change that occurs within the individual. In traditional terms, it is the darkening of the intellect and weakening of the will.
Significantly, Pope John Paul II has related this back to man and woman's union. When the intellect is darkened, man and woman begin to look upon each other as an object of pleasure. When the will is weakened, man and woman seek to “appropriate” or grasp the other as an object instead of making the gift of self to enter into union.
The second immediate effect of the fall is that Adam and Eve are separated from God: “And [when] they heard the sound of the Lord God … the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God” (Genesis 3:8).
In the previous article we noted that union of man and woman occurs in God, which is why they receive the blessing of life in their union. Now we find that separation from God and separation from spouse go hand in hand.
Promise of Redemption
Finally, we must note that God does not allow man's unfaithfulness to have the last word. The literal translation from the Hebrew is “It shall crush your head” (Genesis 3:15). We shall find that the “it” refers to a new union between man and woman, in other words to a new Adam and a new Eve.
The union of man and woman was essential to humanity's creation, temptation and fall. It will be, in a certain sense, essential to its restoration.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steve Bollman ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Mary: The Union of Man and Woman in the Mystery of Salvation DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:It has been stated that Pope John Paul II's theology of the body will be the basis for the renewal of all Catholic theology. In this series we have already seen the profound ramifications of the Pope's insights on the theology of man's creation, temptation and fall.
I believe that the implications of the theology of the body for the field of Mariology are greater still.
If the union of man and woman is essential to humanity's creation and fall, then it must find an expression in humanity's redemption. The story of salvation essentially includes a new Adam and a new Eve.
The Church resolved early Christological controversies based on two patristic principles.
The first was that humanity's salvation had to be accomplished by God: “It was not possible that man who had once for all been conquered, and who had been destroyed through disobedience, could reform himself and obtain the prize of victory … Unless it had been God who had freely given salvation, we could never have possessed it securely” (St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.18.2-3.18. 7). The second principle was that the entirety of the human nature had to be elevated into the divine to be redeemed: “What is not assumed is not restored, but what is united to God is saved as well” (St. Gregory Nazianzen, Epist 101,7). Based on these principles, the early Church defined that the Word elevated a true and proper human nature (body and soul, intellect and will) into his divinity.
In the theology of the body, John Paul defined the communion of persons formed by man and woman from the beginning as an essential aspect of humanity's “image and likeness” of God (Nov. 14, 1979). He further defined that it was through the union of man and woman that sin and death entered human history (March 5, 1980). As such — according to our two basic patristic principles — the union of man and woman must be elevated into the divine if it is to be restored.
New Adam, New Eve
St. John's Gospel provides the basis for understanding this mystery. At the climax of his Passion narrative, he presents to us a man, a woman and a type of profound mystical union between them. Jesus Christ is presented as “the man” (John 19:5). St. John lets us know that Jesus is the mystery of the Word Incarnate (cf. John 1:14). He is the fulfillment of what man was created to be. He is the manifestation of the Father: “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
Immediately after presenting Christ as the man, St. John presents Mary as the “woman” (John 19:26). Mary is everything woman was created to be. This mystery can only be understood in light of two moments in St. John's Gospel.
First, Jesus specifically reveals the Holy Spirit to be the paraclete (cf. John 14:16; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7). The term paraclete comes from Greek legal terminology referring to someone who pleads the cause of someone else, i.e. an advocate. Second, this is precisely the light in which St. John presents Mary at the wedding feast of Cana. When the wine runs short, Mary turns to Jesus: “They have no wine” (John 2:3). St. John presents Mary as living the life of the Holy Spirit.
St. Maximillian Kolbe had gone so far as to state: Mary “is united to the Holy Spirit so closely that we really cannot grasp this union. But we can at least say that the Holy Spirit and Mary are two persons who live in such intimate union that they have but one sole life” (June 27,1936). A word of caution is in order at this point. Jesus Christ is God. He is the divine Person of the Word Incarnate. Mary is human and only human. It is her human life that is elevated into the divine life of the Holy Spirit.
The Union
Since Mary lives the divine life of the Holy Spirit, she is able to form an inseparable union with Jesus Christ. The Holy Father goes so far as to say that Mary is perfectly united to Christ in his sacrificial offering: “Through this faith Mary is perfectly united with Christ in his self-emptying … At the foot of the cross Mary shares through faith in the shocking mystery of this self-emptying … Through faith the Mother shares in the death of her Son, in his redeeming death” (Redem-ptoris Mater, No. 18). We must carefully consider this mystical union between Christ and Our Lady on Calvary.
St. John presents the wounding of the heart as the conclusion of Christ's passion: “But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear” (John 19:34). It is the moment that Christ and Our Lady are most perfectly united. Mary's heart is spiritually pierced by the same sword that physically pierces Christ's heart: “A sword will pierce through your own soul” (Luke 2:35).
However, we must go a step further. Mary is purified in the blood flowing from the wounded heart of Christ. The grace of Christ's passion is perfectly applied to Mary at the moment of her immaculate conception. Mary's immaculate flesh is, if you will, taken from the blood flowing from Christ's wounded heart: “Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify … that [she] might be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25ff). This verse properly applies to the Church, but we must note that the Catechism states that the Church is holy in Mary (cf. Catechism, No. 829).
Significantly, while Mary's flesh is being purified in the blood shed during the Passion, Christ turns to address his mother as “woman” (John 19:26). It is the address of Adam for Eve when she was taken from his heart. In fact, it was Adam's only address for Eve prior to the fall.
Adam goes on to state that he is destined to form a “one-flesh” (Genesis 2:24) union with Eve. It is a statement perfectly fulfilled — in a nonsexual manner — by Christ and Our Lady. Jesus Christ and Our Lady properly speaking have the same immaculate flesh. Jesus Christ can look upon Mary and state: “Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman” (Genesis 2:23). Jesus Christ and Our Lady form the one-flesh union that had been foretold of man and woman from the beginning.
Further, whereas Adam and Eve closed their union to the fatherhood of God, Christ and Our Lady specifically offer it to him — in a mystical fashion — upon Calvary. When they do so, they receive the sign of the Father's presence — the gift of life: “Woman, behold your son” (John 19:26).
It is the moment that Christ and Our Lady redeem the union that man and woman were called to form from the beginning: “The Lord, wishing to bestow special gifts and graces and divine love on [marriage], has restored, perfected and elevated it” (Gaudium et Spes, No. 49).
Steve Bollman is the founder of Paradisus Dei, a lay organization dedicated to implementing
Pope John Paul II 's teaching on marriage and the family. He may be contacted through
www.paradisusdei.org.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Family Matters DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:Keep the Customer Satisfied
We are trying to make a shift in our small company toward more customer satisfaction. How can we best motivate our employees to see this as a priority?
Psychologist William Miller has been writing for decades about the types of communication that make people motivated for positive change. Miller realizes that motivation isn't just an internal quality — it's largely a product of being around people who encourage and trigger positive change.
So how do we motivate others to change and grow? The process is rather complicated, but it boils down to what Fats Domino said about rocking and rolling all night: You have to be ready, willing and able.
We have to be ready to change and we have to want to do it now, not later. The proposed change has to be a priority. I'll visit the client in the fall, but not now. Or I want high-speed access to improve service, but I can't afford the cost.
This is ambivalence about priorities. A leader may have to frequently reinforce the fact that customer contact and satisfaction are worth the cost and of sufficient importance to be addressed — now.
We are willing to change if we see a need for change and if the change is important enough. St. Thomas said that we're more powerful when we go after things than we are when we resist things. We get more bang for the will-buck by encouraging it to attack than to stop.
Is customer satisfaction important enough and is it not currently in our grasp? Then we need to will to attain it.
The ability to make the change is important as well. If we are confident that we have found a way to make a change, then we are able to change. When we don't feel we are able to change, then the classic defense mechanisms make an appearance. We either blame others (Why are our customers so fickle?), deny the importance of the change (They won't really care anyhow) or rationalize the status quo (things are n 't so bad now, so why bother?).
A leader has to convince his staff that he and they have what it takes to make the change. Encouragement is important here.
Miller stresses that ambivalence about the proposed change is what keeps people stuck. So leaders have to create an accepting, enthusiastic atmosphere that encourages exploration.
As Christians we shouldn't be surprised that motivating is an interpersonal activity, for it is through our relationship with Christ that we are able to be transformed, sometimes radically, through grace.
Just so, in our relationships with the members of our staff, we are able to transform the culture of our workplace into one not only of self-motivation but also of a certain kind of mass transformation.
Art Bennett is director of Alpha
Omega Clinic and Consultation Services in Vienna, Virginia, and Bethesda, Maryland.
Reach Family Matters at
familymatters@ncregister.com
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Art Bennett ----- KEYWORDS: Culture Of Life -------- TITLE: Honesty Wins Handily DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:Facts
A survey group of close to 250 people was asked to respond to the statement, “People who take ethical shortcuts are more likely to succeed at work.” Here's how they responded:
•I strongly agree: The best player—not the nicest player — wins. 9%
• I agree. Sometimes you have to make compromises to get ahead. 8%
• I disagree. Honesty is the best policy — usually. 17%
• I strongly disagree. People eventually smell a rat, no matter how good his disguise. 66%
Source: Josephson Institute of Ethics, July 16
Illustration by Tim Rauch
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture Of Life -------- TITLE: The Assumption: Questions and Answers DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:The Assumption is a puzzle to many Catholics. It's one of the mysteries of the rosary, but scriptural rosary books struggle to find quotes to go along with it. It's a holy day of obligation (Aug. 15), but even the most devout Catholics don't seem to know a lot about it. Herewith, some questions and answers.
Why is it called “the Assumption” to start with?
The word “assume” comes from the Latin verb “to take.” Mary is “taken” into heaven. We use the word assume to mean “to take” also: to take a certain meaning, to take on a certain form, to take on a responsibility. In the Assumption, Christ assumes Mary into heaven, body and soul.
Anyway, in the Eastern Church it's not called the Assumption. It's called the Dormition or “Falling Asleep and Departure.”
Isn't it a new dogma?
It's old and new.
Old, because the feast of the Dormition of Mary was celebrated in the Byzantine Church before the year 500.-St. Gregory of-Tours wrote about the Assumption in the sixth century. The theology of the Assumption was articulated in fine theological detail by the 700s, in the three sermons St. John Damascene preached for this feast. In his second sermon, he states that belief in Mary's Assumption comes from long-standing tradition, which he-was merely handing down.
New, because the formal declaration of this dogma only occurred in 1950, the most recent use of a pope's formal, ex cathedra authority. At that time, Pope Pius XII issued a bull formally defining, as part of the deposit of faith, the fact that “the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-virgin Mary, was on the completion of her earthly life assumed body and soul into the glory of heaven” (Munificentissimus Deus, 1950.)
Is it mentioned in the Bible?
There are, in fact, clear scriptural supports for Mary's Assumption. Two Old Testament figures, Elijah and Enoch, were taken into the next life without dying (Genesis 5:24; 2 Kings 2:11).-Matthew's Gospel relates that, after Christ's death, “many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.”
Jimmy Akin,-director of apologetics and evangelization-at Catholic Answers in El Cajon, Calif., notes that it would be odd to think this resurrection was only temporary — surely they were taken to heaven a short while later. So there is scriptural precedent for-some people receiving the gift of resurrection before the end of the world. That Christ would grant this privilege to his immaculate mother is quite believable.
A more-obvious support from Scripture occurs in the second reading for the feast, says Akin. “The Church traditionally has seen an allusion to Mary's Assumption in Revelation 12, where John sees the sign of the woman in heaven,” he says. “While there is an allusion here it is not an explicit statement.”
But if the Bible doesn't explicitly mention it, how can we believe it?
Most Protestants reject belief in Mary's Assumption because it seems to lack a scriptural “proof text.” This attitude points to a basic divergence between Catholics and Protestants that-is deeper than the issue of Marian devotion.
Protestants hold that the Bible alone is to determine what Christians should believe. Not so in the Catholic Church, Akin points out.
“Doctrines don't have to be found in Scripture to be true,” Akin points out. “Scripture does not teach that it is the source of all doctrine. As a result, the best sources for some teachings can be the traditions recorded in the early Church Fathers, as is the case with the Assumption. Pope Pius XII drew upon these early Christian traditions when he infallibly proclaimed this dogma. This was another case of the pope using his ability to engage the Church's infallibility to confirm particular traditions that had been passed down from the Apostles.”
What evidence do we have of the Assumption?
Well, it's hard to find evidence that someone left the earth — but one bit of evidence that Mary's body is in heaven is found in the fact that no church or city ever-laid claim to-the relics of Mary. In the early ages of Christianity, the bones of an apostle or martyr were considered prized possessions. There were often article bitter disputes over which church had the better claim to various relics, and sometimes less-than-vir-tuous actions were taken to obtain possession.
If there was ever any question as to what happened to the body of Our Lady, we can be sure that someone would have proudly claimed her mortal remains. Indeed, there are rival claims to the location of her tomb — Ephesus and Jerusalem. But both tombs are empty.
If everyone was so certain about the Assumption from early times, why did the Pope have to make a special dogmatic declaration about it? And why define the Assumption in the middle of the Space Age? Doesn't it make the Church look out of touch with the modern world?
Father Christopher Armstrong has a doctorate in sacred theology from the International Marian Research Institute in Dayton, Ohio (the U.S. branch of Rome's Marianum). He is a pastor and former chancellor of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. And he thinks the definition of the Assumption did indeed answer a need of the times.
“It was very opportune [to define the dogma], when you see where the world was in 1950,” says Father Armstrong.
“At that time most of the world's Catholics lived in Europe, which was still reeling from the carnage and human degradation of the Second World War. It was still witnessing the horrors of totalitarian ideology and atheism. Declaring the Assumption of Mary was a reaffirmation of the dignity of the human person — that there is a real value to the human body,” he said.
“And at the same time, it was a reaffirmation of the human person as body and soul. The punishment for Adam and Eve was death,” he said. “The body became corruptible. The Assumption is a reminder that we are destined to follow the pattern of the Resurrection, that body and soul are meant to be incorruptible, impassable and immortal.”
What does the Assumption teach us about ourselves?
It is a sign-of hope for our own future resurrection from the dead and assumption into heaven. “Mary is both an icon of the Church and of the individual believer,” says Akin. “As a special grace, God allowed her to share in the benefits of following Christ early. Her Immaculate Conception points to the fact that God will one day free all of the elect from every trace of sin, and her Assumption points-to the fact that one day all of the elect will be caught up body and soul to be with Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). For us, this will happen at the end of the world but God has allowed us a glimpse of our destiny by giving this gift to Mary early.”
“You might say she was carried away by love, the love of her Son,” adds Franciscan Father Patrick Greenough, national director of the Militia Immaculata, the Marian movement founded by St. Maximilian Kolbe, and guardian of Marytown in Libertyville, Ill. “She could not remain separate from him in any way. He had dwelt, body and soul, in her womb, so she was to dwell with him in heaven, body and soul. With us, our bodies and spirits are often at war — just think how hard it is to get up for Mass on Sunday morning or to refrain from overstuffing yourself at a buffet. But Mary did not have that division within her. Her body and soul were always united. It is only fitting that they remain that way into eternity.”
Okay, so it reminds us of heaven. How should it affect our lives now?
Father Armstrong-believes that the meaning of the Assumption of Mary-is best expressed in the preface of the Mass for the feast: “Today the Virgin Mother of God was taken up into heaven to be the beginning and pattern of the Church in its perfection and a sign of hope and comfort for your people on their pilgrim way,’” he reads. Then he adds: “What happened to Mary is going-to happen to every faithful Christian.”
Daria Sockey writes from Cincinnati.
----- EXCERPT: What we must assume about 'that other empty tomb' ----- EXTENDED BODY: Daria Sockey ----- KEYWORDS: Culture Of Life -------- TITLE: Abortion Mills Meet Their Match DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:Prolife Profile
Here's a little-known fact: Every abortion mill in the country has at least one Catholic parish praying for it.
That's because, this past June, Priests for Life “matched” each of the nation's 17,000 parishes with an abortion facility and began asking parish members to pray for the closing of the abortion business and the Christian conversion of its staff.
Calling the parish-matching program a “countdown to victory,” Father Frank Pavone, Priests for Life's national director, is confident the prayers will be heard and the 700-plus freestanding abortion mills operating in the country “will all eventually be closed.”
Abortion facilities are the abortion industry's weakest link, he adds, and parishes are the Church's strongest — so a spiritual face-off between the two favors the eventual triumph of the Church.
“The Church is the only institution that has the divine guarantee that it will prevail over the culture of death,” says Father Pavone. “It is up to us to use the tools of grace that the giver of that guarantee has provided us.”
There were more than 2,000 freestanding abortion mills in operation in the early 1990s, according to Life Dynamics Inc., which maintains a list. Today only 728 remain, but an estimated 1 million lives are aborted at these abortion sites every year. This does not include hospitals or doctors’ offices where abortions are performed, often in secret.
Father Pavone says he has learned through interaction with pro-life people and parishes that abortion is a “local phenomenon,” and everyone needs to take responsibility to stop the killing in their communities. He adds that a pastor has spiritual responsibility for his flock and Church law specifies that responsibility geographically.
“If, then, there is an abortion mill within the parish, a special bond of responsibility is already there,” he says. “The same is true in the relationship of a bishop with his diocese.”
The project's approach — orchestrated nationally but implemented locally — has helped energize Catholics, says Deacon Jim Stahlnecker, coordinator of the Respect Life Vicariate of Staten Island, N.Y. It's making people aware that the killing of innocents is going on practically in their own backyards. And it's helping them focus on the problem at a human scale, thus countering the perception that the idea of “ending abortion” is an overwhelming challenge.
“It's like taking a light bulb and focusing the rays in one area, shining right on the clinic,” says Father Pavone. “Even here in New York, marvelous things can be done.”
Proactive Prayer
Of the 34 parishes in Staten Island, where Priests for Life's headquarters is based, 17 have already adopted the project since it was introduced in June, and more parishes will be added as Deacon Stahlnecker follows up with them.
While Priests for Life offers many suggestions, it is up to the individual parish and its pastor to fashion a response. In Staten Island, some parishes are promoting the program in the bulletin and naming the abortion business to pray for. Others are distributing information about the abortion site on wallet-size cards to pray at home and praying the intentions after daily Mass.
Deacon Stahlnecker is also distributing an end-abortion prayer to various Catholic associations in the diocese, including the Knights of Columbus, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Blue Army and the Legion of Mary.
For 10 years, Deacon Stahlnecker has done sidewalk counseling with Msgr. Philip Reilly, founder of Helpers of God's Precious Infants. The deacon is convinced the key to ending abortion is a combination of prayer and action.
“I've seen, on some days, up to 30% of the girls who go into the clinic come out and decide not to have an abortion,” he says. “They thanked us for being there. But prayer is so key. From prayer follows activism.”
Life Dynamics president Mark Crutcher has worked with many former abortion-business employees who have told him that, when people are outside the abortion site praying, there's a “tenseness inside the facility and an angst that they can't describe.”
Some didn't want to come to work if “those people” were there.
“There are certain human behaviors in the human experience that are repugnant whether they are legal or illegal,” he says. “The abortion clinics don't close down because of lack of business; they close because they can't get people to work in those places. They have not been able to remove the stigma of abortion even through legality. We know that prayer has an effect and to think that it doesn't is to deny your Christian belief system.”
By praying at home, Charliene Damone feels she can contribute to ending abortion without cramping her schedule. As a single mother of three young children, she doesn't have time to pray in front of abortion businesses nor much money to donate to pro-life organizations. So when she first heard about the match program, she went to the Priests for Life Web site and found an abortion site in her area. She has posted the prayer on her wall next to a crucifix and a picture of the Blessed Mother.
“Planned Parenthood, Sunrise Avenue, Roseville, California,” she says of the abortion mill nearest her. “I didn't know that one even existed before.”
Damone sympathizes with young girls who find themselves in crisis pregnancies. When she found herself in this situation, she never considered abortion but knows firsthand the struggles young girls have to face.
“They can't possibly understand what they've been given,” says Damone. “It makes me mad at Planned Parenthood for misleading so many people about this great gift of life. All of the ideas and passions I have about what needs to be done will be passed on to my children, and maybe they will be the ones to fulfill them.”
Making Headway
The Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of Chicago has fully implemented the “match” program into a wider effort called the Mother Teresa Project, says Mary-Louise Kurey, project director. In addition to contacting each parish and matching them to one of 17 abortion mills in the archdiocese and two outside the archdiocese, it is partnering with Helpers of God's Precious Infants to organize prayer vigils outside of abortion businesses and train sidewalk counselors.
The diocese is also encouraging Catholics to pray the rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet daily, distribute leaflets to abortion workers written by former abortionists and get more involved with pregnancy resource centers.
At the political level, Illinois is “hostile territory for pro-lifers,” says Kurey, but the combination of prayer and action is helping the pro-life movement make headway.
“Prayer is the center of all that we do, but it's also important to bring that prayer into action,” she says. “People are really getting energized here politically, even though it can be discouraging. The pro-abortion culture is so powerful, but the pro-life movement is getting younger and younger, and that is very encouraging.”
Prayer for Life
ternal God, You have revealed Yourself as the Father of all Life. We praise You for the Fatherly care which You extend to all creation, and especially to us, made in Your image and likeness.
Father, extend Your hand of protection to those threatened by abortion, and save them from its destructive power. Give Your strength to all fathers, that they may never give in to the fears that may tempt them to facilitate abortions.
Bless our families and bless our land, that we may have the joy of welcoming and nurturing the life of which You are the source and the Eternal Father. Amen.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Barb Ernster ----- KEYWORDS: Culture Of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 08/10/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 10-16, 2003 ----- BODY:FDA Cries Foul on Pill Ad
REUTERS, July 15 — U.S. regulators have warned a major pharmaceutical company that its television advertisement for birth-control pills is misleading.
Regulators said the ad for the drug, called Yasmin, overstated the product's safety and effectiveness and minimized the health risks, according to a letter released by the Food and Drug Administration.
Reuters news service reported that the FDA told Berlex Laboratories, a unit of German drug maker Schering, to immediately discontinue the ad.
The FDA's letter was sent July 10 and posted on the agency's Web site.
Berlex ran the commercial in May and June for test-marketing purposes and stopped airing it before receiving the FDA's notice, Berlex spokeswoman Kim Schillace said. Last year's U.S. sales of Yasmin totaled $95 million.
No Pill for Scottish Schoolgirls
Chisholm told the newspaper: “We have to take account of people's views. The morning-after pill in schools is not on the agenda at all. I think people can be reassured. There is obviously a lot of concern about that among parents and I think we have to look at different ways of dealing with those issues.”
Japan Seeks Fertility
KAISERNETWORK.ORG, July 24 — The Japanese parliament's upper house has passed a measure that officials hope will help raise the country's record-low fertility rate.
According to a report released last month by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Japan's total fertility rate fell more than expected in 2002 to a record 1.32 children per woman —the country's lowest level since the end of World War II.
The bill would create a panel, to be headed by the prime minister, that would look for ways to increase the nation's total fertility rate.
The bill paves the way for the health ministry to spend $2.1 billion next year on plans to increase the total fertility rate, such as paying couples who receive fertility treatments.
Victory in Northern Ireland
Justice Brian Kerr rejected an attempt by the Family Planning Association to force health chiefs into setting out the circumstances in which abortions were legal.
Undercurrent laws, women can only have a termination in the North if their life is at risk or if there is a serious threat to their mental or physical health by continuing the pregnancy.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture Of Life -------- TITLE: California Says Catholic Hospitals Can't Stipulate How They're Sold DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Catholic health care officials are opposed to a new California law that prevents the sale of Church-owned health facilities if the seller prohibits the new owner from offering unethical procedures such as abortion and direct sterilization.
The new law prohibits the state attorney general, who approves the sale of Church-owned and nonprofit health care facilities, from consenting to an agreement if the seller restricts the type or level of medical services the buyer can provide. It thus prevents Catholic hospitals from requiring their buyers to follow directives that forbid procedures counter to Catholic moral teaching.
Gov. Gray Davis, who has a strong pro-abortion record and is facing a recall election this fall, signed the law July 15.
Before the law was passed, Attorney General Bill Lockyer refused to approve the sale of a Catholic hospital until directives to limit reproductive procedures were dropped. In other transactions, the directives were retained.
Father Michael Place, president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, called the law “an unprecedented interference in the sale of property.”
“Historically,” he said, “sellers could put covenants on contracts for their buyers.”
The law “is an invasion of the government into the freedom of the private sector in carrying out business in accordance with its beliefs,” he said. “It is part of a larger coordinated effort to restrict Catholic health care [facilities] from carrying on their mission — to protect innocent human life and the dignity of human sexuality.”
The St. Louis-based Catholic Health Association represents more than 2,000 Catholic hospitals, health care systems and sponsors.
The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, consists of principles mandating Catholic health care facilities to provide adequate health care for poor people and pastoral care — especially administration of the sacraments — for patients. The directives also prohibit Catholic facilities from offering procedures such as elective abortions, direct sterilizations, contraceptives and assisted suicide.
These directives influenced the Sacramento-based Alliance of Catholic Health Care, which represents California's 63 Catholic and community-based hospitals, to oppose the measure because it could“affect the capacity of Catholic hospitals to sell their facilities consistent with our value tradition,” said Alliance president Bill Cox.
Holy Cross Sister Carolita Hart, director of health affairs for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said the law will limit Catholic hospitals' ability to sell to secular hospitals that might not agree to follow the Ethical and Religious Directives.
Kent Peters, director of the San Diego diocesan Office for Social Ministry, which advocates for pro-life issues, agrees with these health care officials.
“The law violates the freedom of Catholic hospitals to dispose of their property,” he said.
California Sen. Debra Bowen, who sponsored the legislation, defended the measure.
“The state is involved in nonprofit hospital sales to make sure people who need medical care can get it, not to enforce the values of the previous owner,” she said. “If a hospital or a clinic wants to abide by ethical and religious directives … I completely respect that decision. However, [sellers] shouldn't be allowed to require every subsequent owner of that hospital or clinic to abide by that same point of view.”
State Sen. Ray Haynes of Temecula, who opposed the bill, stated that the law will result in some hospital closures and some deals not being made.
Ned Dolejsi, California Catholic Conference executive director, agrees. However, the conference did not take a position on the new law, he said, because “it is not a direct affront to our religious liberty. The law allows Catholic hospitals to sell to buyers that are morally appropriate.”
Dr. Craig Barkacs, professor of legal, ethical and international studies at the Catholic University of San Diego, told the Register that an argument could be made on both sides of the issue.
“A seller should be able to stipulate any terms in the sale or lease of property,” he said, “and buyers can use the property for whatever purpose they choose.”
In the past, some Catholic hospitals in the United States required their purchasers to follow the Ethical and Religious Directives, while others did not.
The Jesuit St. Louis University sold its teaching hospital to Tenet Healthcare Corp. in 1998, which agreed to operate and manage the facility “in a manner consistent with the Catholic, Jesuit values of the university,” required in the transaction. The contract stipulated that Tenet offer pastoral care services for patients seven days a week, 24 hours a day; serve the city's poor and indigent population; and administer its graduate medical education programs in pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology in partnerships with two other Catholic health care institutions in the area.
Tenet also agreed to follow the Ethical and Religious Directives when it purchased in 2001 Daniel Freeman Marina and Daniel Freeman Memorial hospitals in the Los Angeles area from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
However, the directives were eventually excluded in the sale of other Catholic hospitals in California before the new law was passed.
When the Sisters of St. Joseph sold Santa Marta Hospital in East Los Angeles to Star Healthcare Group in 2002, its agreement required the buyer to abide by the directives. But Attorney General Lockyer refused to approve the sale until the imposition of the directives was lifted. As a result, the directives were deleted and the name of the hospital was changed to ElaStar Community Hospital, a secular institution.
“I will not approve the imposition of religious principles on a secular for-profit hospital,” Lockyer wrote in a letter to the California Women's Law Center.
The directives did not apply in the sale of St. Francis Medical Center in Santa Barbara to Cottage Health System, which plans to use the property for housing employees for the three hospitals it operates.
Catholic Healthcare West, which operated the facility in cooperation with the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart, sold the medical center in June. The facility had lost $12 million during the past five years and could not meet state-mandated seismic retrofit work — in case of an earthquake — estimated at more than $20 million.
Catholic Healthcare West is sponsored by seven religious communities of sisters and operates 42 acute-care hospitals in California, Arizona and Nevada.
Peters of the San Diego diocesan Office for Social Ministry said laws similar to California's are “likely to be passed in other states due to the pro-abortion lobby's efforts to diminish the influence of Catholic health care.”
Joyce Carr writes from La Mesa, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joyce Carr ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Benedictine College Embraces Mandatum DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:ATCHISON, Kan. — Archbishop James Patrick Keleher had a problem that's good to have. He didn't need to invite Benedictine College's theology faculty to apply for the mandatum — they all came to him.
“It was wonderful,” Archbishop Keleher said. “I didn't have to ask them. They volunteered.”
Benedictine College is ranked 43rd among Midwestern master's universities by U.S. News and World Report's America's Best Colleges 2003. The school currently has an enrollment of approximately 950 students.
The school's openness about the mandatum is just one of the reasons Wally and Katy Boever of Lincoln, Neb., chose the college for two of their eight children. Catherine and Anne Boever will be returning to Benedictine in the fall as sophomores.
Wally Boever told of their initial visit to the campus.
“We had lunch with President Dr. Daniel Carey,” he said. “During lunch, my father-in-law asked the president, “What about the mandatum?' The president gave us an answer that we appreciated, saying that even before it had come into play, it was important to the college.”
The Register is investigating Catholic colleges and universities featured in U.S. News & World Report's college guide, asking: Are parents allowed to know whether those who teach theology intend to teach in communion with the Church? Or has the opposite happened — is the canon-law mandatum being used to protect dissenters?
Parents have a canon law right, stemming from their baptism, to know whether the theologians teaching their children are teaching in communion with the Church.
During his meeting with U.S. cardinals last year, Pope John Paul II said parents “must know that bishops and priests are totally committed to the fullness of Catholic truth on matters of sexual morality, a truth as essential to the renewal of the priesthood and the episcopate as it is to the renewal of marriage and family life.”
Since 1983, canon law has required that a Catholic theologian teaching Catholic theology in a Catholic university receive a man-datum from the local bishop showing the theologian's intention to teach with the Church. The requirement was highlighted in a footnote in the Pope's 1990 apostolic constitution on higher education, Ex Corde Ecclesiae (From the Heart of the Church). U.S. bishops began requiring the mandatum in 2001.
Canon 812 reads: “It is necessary that those who teach theological disciplines in any institute of higher studies have a mandatum from the competent ecclesiastical authority.”
Benedictine is one of very few of the nation's 235 Catholic colleges that are willing to reveal who has the mandatum. All professors teaching Catholic theology at the college have applied for and received the mandatum. Even more, the college has made the mandatum a condition for hiring theology faculty.
“Our mission is to be a Catholic, Benedictine college, and this seems like such a simple thing to do,” said Kim Shankman, dean of the college.
Shankman said she's heard the arguments about academic freedom and supervision but argued that some of the college's disciplines already go through far more intrusive processes.
“The social science department is in the process of complying its teaching standards to be certified by the Kansas State Department of Education,” Shankman said. “That process is far more complicated, intrusive and overbearing than the mandatum. It's mind-boggling how much more difficult that process is, and yet no one talks about the outside influence or the lack of academic freedom.”
Assistant professor of theology Dr. Edward Sri doesn't think the mandatum requirement hinders his teaching. Rather, he thinks it does just the opposite.
“It enhances my academic freedom because I want to teach in the heart of the Church,” Sri said. “As a Catholic theologian, I have a responsibility and desire to teach in full communion with the magisterium. The mandatum helps me to do that.”
Catholic Identity
Sri said Benedictine's Catholic identity is apparent not only in the theology classroom but also in the college environment as a whole.
More than 200 students attend daily Mass, 300 students skip a meal each week and donate the food to the poor, more than 200 attend on-campus Bible studies through the Fellowship of Catholic University Students and in the past year alone the college has witnessed nine students go on to a religious vocation.
The Catholic identity is also evident in the residence halls.
“All resident directors study the virtues, Ex Corde Ecclesiae, the Rule of St. Benedict, the Pope's theology of the body and the documents on the dignity of the human person and the vocation of women,” said Father Brendan Rolling, director of residence life and assistant dean of students. The campus has six resident directors and 27 residence assistants.
“We explain the rationale behind the policies at Benedictine,” Father Rolling said. “Our visitation policy, for example, doesn't just say that you can't visit someone of the opposite sex at a certain time. Our hope is that deep friendships will form while students are on campus and that students discover their vocations through those friendships. The best way for those relationships to be sustained and to grow is through chaste relationships.”
Father Rolling admitted he hears more confessions and does more spiritual direction than dealing with discipline problems.
“We hear confessions at 9 p.m., a half hour before Mass, but the demand from students was so high that we started doing confessions again after Mass,” he said. “There are times when we don't leave chapel until 1 a.m.”
“It's amazing what we've seen happen on campus,” Father Rolling added. “Discipline issues have dropped 50%, and the financial costs of vandalism have dropped 40%.”
Still, Benedictine deals with the average problems that face every college campus.
“We still have all the normal problems,” Father Rolling said, “but students are coming to terms with them through the sacraments.”
“The number of spontaneous ministries that are arising from students is just exploding,” he added. “There is a group of 30 students that have a Christian music ministry to juvenile delinquents in the community. In addition to small-group Bible studies, there are groups that pray the Daily Office together prior to bedtime and others that go on hiking trips but ask to have Mass included as part of it.”
“The college gets high praise from the students as being exciting and in full conformity with the magisterium of the Church,” Archbishop Keleher said. “There is a very lively Catholic spirit that marks the campus, which for any bishop is a delight to behold.”
The college's theology department has seen its majors grow from seven in 1998 to 95 currently.
Students such as the Boevers and senior Nathan Stanley appreciate the campus' openness regarding the mandatum.
Originally from Liberty, Mo., Stanley said he finds it reassuring to know he is being taught a Catholic education that is in line with the Church. After graduation he hopes to pursue a career in Catholic higher-education administration.
“You can tell that professors have the mandatum because they are teaching with the Church,” Stanley said. “They quote the Holy Father. You can tell they are with the Church's teachings full-throttle.”
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Pro-Life Principle Beats Big Money At Pampered Chef DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:OMAHA, Neb. — A 34-year-old stay-at-home mother of three who home schools her children went up against the pro-abortion policies of one of the wealthiest men in the world.
She won.
Cindy Coughlon did not start out intending to pick a fight. She only wanted to sell for The Pampered Chef, a company that distributes kitchen items through individual contractors who hold Tupperware-style parties.
Coughlon had sold Pampered Chef products eight years ago but then took a seven-year hiatus when children started coming along. She took up with the program again last fall at her husband's suggestion.
“Up until the sale,” she said, “it was marked by a Christian climate with the workers treated with good will and generosity.”
“The sale” was of The Pampered Chef from a private holding to Berkshire Hathaway, the Omaha, Neb.-based business of Warren Buffett, the multi-billionaire stock-market entrepreneur. The problem? Buffett is one of the largest financiers of pro-abortion and population-control organizations in the world.
According to the Omaha World-Herald, here's a sample of what millions of Buffett Foundation dollars have supported during the last two years:
E subsidizing the trials for the abortion pill RU-486;
E supporting the Center for Reproductive Rights in its successful work overturning the Nebraska partial-birth abortion ban; E supported groups such as Ipas, a group that provides equipment and training for contraception and abortion worldwide; the Population Council, a group committed to population control; Planned Parenthood Federation of America; National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League; Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice; and Catholics for a Free Choice.
In fact, the Kaiser Family Foundation said this type of giving constituted 75% of the Buffett Foundation's contributions in 2001.
Coughlon, however, didn't find this out until after she had started selling again last October. It was in January when she saw an article in Focus on the Family's Citizen magazine titled, “You're killing your future, Mr. Buffett,” which described the kind of giving Buffett does.
Coughlon said after reading that, “the obvious conclusion was, I can't sell.” And she stopped.
But she also thought that many of her colleagues in The Pampered Chef probably didn't know what Buffett was up to. So she prayed and talked with her pastor at the Presbyterian Church of America she attends in Peoria, Ariz. He gave her the idea for a petition to circulate among Pampered Chef consultants.
Getting that petition out was something of a feat in itself. Coughlon believes she had to overcome the forces of darkness in doing so. As she was writing the petition, she said her computer went through “absolutely inexplicable complications,” something it had not done before. Even something as simple as sending the petition by e-mail to 100 people took eight hours.
“I finally got smart,” she said,“ and asked my church to pray for my computer.” They started praying at the 5 p.m. Sunday service and by 5:30 the computer was working properly again.
The petition worked far beyond anyone's expectations. Coughlon received help from Life Decisions International, a group in Washington, D.C., that monitors corporations that give to Planned Parenthood. Berkshire Hathaway had been on the group's list of companies to target for a boycott for years, and it was not expected to be taken off anytime soon. However, on July 3, Berkshire announced it was dropping the entire corporate-giving program.
While the typical corporate-giving program has a committee chosen by the chief executive officer that decides where the money will go, the Berkshire program was unique in that it allowed Class A shareholders (approximately 10,000 people who paid the full price for their shares, which is currently trading at between $70,000-$75,000 each) to designate $18 per share they owned to any of three of their favorite charities — and Berkshire Hathaway wrote the check.
That money went to various groups depending on what each donor wanted, including some 800 schools and 400 churches and synagogues, according to a Berkshire press release. Jesuit-run Creighton University, also located in Omaha, was the recipient of some of this money, the release said.
It so happened that Buffett's favorite charity was the Buffett Foundation, which received some $100 million over the course of the 22-year program, out of the total amount given of $197 million.
Such giving has caused some to raise questions about its propriety. Tom Strobhar, an investment agent in Dayton, Ohio, who is also president of Pro-Vita Advisors, wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal saying there could be legal and/or ethical problems with Buffett's giving. “It could also be argued that the Berkshire contribution to the Buffett Foundation — more than $9 million last year and upwards of $100 million over the life of the program — was an indirect form of executive compensation,” he said. “By this calculation, Mr. Buffett morphs from one of the most famously under-paid executives to one of the most munificently compensated.”
Life Decisions International has taken Berkshire Hathaway from its target list since the company no longer gives to the Buffett Foundation. But Coughlon and her church are going to continue to pray, for while Berkshire changed its practice, it does not necessarily stop Buffett's giving to pro-death groups.
In fact, some observers believe he will now contribute to it from his own personal fortune, which is valued at approximately $35 billion — money he makes from his ownership of Berkshire Hathaway and other companies in which he has an investment.
Coughlon is not taking this victory as anything she has done.
Her focus is going to be prayer and loving kindness toward Buffett.
“For whatever reason,” she said,“God has made this man a leading figure” in the business world. They will pray, she said, and “God will do with it what God will do with it.”
Thomas A. Szyszkiewicz writes from Altura, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Thomas A. Szyszkiewicz ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Adios Amigos? Democrats Could Lose Latinos Over Pro-Life DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — A recent New York Times/CBS News poll found that Hispanics view the Democratic Party as better able than the Republican Party to manage the economy, create jobs and improve public schools.
But, the Times reported Aug. 3, Hispanics have embraced positions that have typically been identified with Republicans, such as opposition to abortion and homosexual rights.
Forty-four percent of respondents said abortion should not be legal.
Nearly 73% of the Hispanic population in the United Staes is Catholic.
But the Democratic Party has a reputation as a friend of immigrants and the poor, and has made Latinos a major priority.
“All of the policies that matter most to Latinos — unemployment in the Latino population is higher than the whole population, lacking access to health care — every major indicator has suffered under President Bush,” said Daniella Gibbs, spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee.
“I think the underlying issue for everyone is: Do I feel safe with my kids at the park? Can I put food on the table? Can I pay for my children's education?” Gibbs said.
On those issues, she said, “We are fighting for the Hispanic community.”
Congressional Democrats have announced an agenda for Latino voters, designed around the issues of education, health care, immigration and employment.
The draft document read: “Democrats know that Hispanic values are American values.”
But those words weren't backed up by dollars from the Democratic National Committee. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Latino Democrats in
Congress are furious that a $1.5 million outreach plan has been scrapped.
And the Republican Party, especially its leader, President Bush, is unwilling to give up the Latino community without a fight. After all, Bush, who has given speeches in Spanish, garnered 35% of the Latino vote in 2000, up from Bob Dole's meager 21% in the 1996 presidential race.
“The way we win over Hispanics is with the president's record of achievement,” said Sharon Castillo, deputy director of communications for the Republican National Committee.
She noted that Bush has increased Title I funding for schools with low-income students, secured more money for early childhood development and launched the first national prevention campaign for diabetes, which affects Latinos at a higher than average rate.
Latinos are now the largest minority in the United States, surpassing the black population in June. Latinos are also the fastest-growing demographic group, which is why both political parties are vying for their votes.
And the Latino vote will have a major impact in the selection of a Democratic candidate for president in 2004. Arizona and New Mexico, both with heavy Latino populations, have their primaries in early February and Democratic presidential hopefuls have unleashed out-reach programs as well as Web sites in Spanish.
Raul Yzaguirre, the president of the National Council of La Raza, an organization that advocates for Hispanics, urged America's 39 million Latinos to be “better informed, ask tougher questions, make our views known early and band together on common interests.”
“If we do that,” he said, “every politician will feel our power before Election Day. Then when they ask for our vote, they will be responding to us, not posturing before us.”
Hispanics for Life
On the issue of abortion, pro-life activists hope the Latino community will find the Democratic Party outside the mainstream.
“There is a very clear assault on Latinos,” said Astrid Bennett Gutierrez, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles-based Hispanics for Life. “There are large concentrations of abortion facilities in Latino communities.”
She noted that Los Angeles Pregnancy Services helps women with alternatives to abortions just west of downtown Los Angeles. It is, however, surrounded by seven abortion facilities in a one-mile radius.
“[Pro-life activist] Joe Scheidler said: “There is nothing worse in the United States than that neighborhood,'” Bennett Gutierrez said. “When you walk down the street they hand you discount fliers for abortions.”
So Hispanics for Life has organized marches and handed out literature in an attempt to educate the greater Latino community about the impact abortion has on their community.
“Latinos think Republicans are rich, elitist and racist. They hear it from the media, even hear it from the pulpit,” Bennett Gutierrez said. “I see the surprises in their faces when I tell them that Democrats are in favor of abortion. They are confused.”
But Democrats say their support for legal abortion doesn't hurt them among Latinos.
“It's not an issue they go to the polls over. It's not a deal-breaker,” said Maria Cardona, spokeswoman for the New Democrat Network. “They care about education, support for their family, they care about support for their parents and grandparents.”
Deal Hudson, editor of Crisis magazine and an adviser to the White House on Catholic issues, agreed at least in part with Cardona's assessment.
“That's true — they are not single-issue voters,” he said.
He said it was important to distinguish between people who are culturally Catholic and those who are practicing Catholics. The two groups have very different beliefs and often contrasting voting patterns. Hudson noted this relationship holds true for all American Catholics, not just Latinos.
Catholics who attend Mass on a regular basis are what Hudson calls “social-renewal voters.”
“They vote on a bundle of issues: abortion, education, family and the military,” he said.
Hudson said the stakes for the Latino community are higher than even the importance of the upcoming elections.
“If they are wed to the ethos of the Democratic Party, it will undermine their values,” Hudson said. “In part, it's the African-American reliance
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Radio Host to Fans: 'Your Prayers Saved My Life' DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Al Kresta is back on the air.
When the WDEO radio host and author went to Ypsilanti's St. Joseph Mercy Hospital on Feb. 17, suffering from pain, he began a new chapter of his life. After a 10-week battle with flesh-eating bacteria, an amputated leg and months of physical therapy, Kresta returned to his popular Catholic radio show for the first time Aug. 4. His most recent book is Why Do Catholics Genuflect? He told Register correspondent Tim Drake about his battle with the disease.
First of all, how are you doing?
I'm doing much better than I deserve. I'm beginning to use a prosthetic device twice a week along with a wheeled walker. The wound itself is almost entirely healed.
You've said that there was a spiritual dimension to your suffering.
For two months prior to this happening, I felt frozen inside spiritually and intellectually.
The Friday before I was hospitalized, I had strep throat and a friend, Gary Zmuda, had brought Communion to me. I told him that I felt like there was a logjam and that I was willing to go through whatever suffering I needed to in order to break that logjam.
And you got what you asked for.
On Monday night, my wife, Sally, noticed that my lower left leg had swollen a bit and that it was warm to the touch and was reddish. She told me that I should go to the emergency room. I told her that I didn't think I needed to go.
About 10 minutes later I began having severe shooting pains in my leg. I was unable to put pressure on it, and it took the support of my 19-year-old son, Nick, and his friend to get me to the van.
When I got to the emergency room the pain was intolerable. I told Sally that the pain was so bad that if they didn't do something I was going to throw myself onto the floor and start screaming. My blood pressure was so low that they couldn't administer any pain relief because it could kill me. Once they got my blood pressure up, they pumped me with morphine. The pain gave way and I spent the night in the hospital.
When did you learn that your life was in danger?
The next day, in the afternoon a number of doctors came into the room to introduce themselves. There was a kidney doctor, a cardiac doctor, a vascular doctor and a general surgeon. They all looked pretty concerned and asked me how I was doing.
I told them that I was tired, but I thought it would pass. They pointed to two purplish-black marks on my leg and asked if I had seen them before. I told them I had not.
They explained to me that they thought I had necrotizing fascitis (flesh-eating bacteria). I asked if there would be a way for them to test it any further.
They said that they could do a biopsy, but the condition was so far advanced that if they didn't take care of it in the next 20 minutes I would be dead in one to three hours.
They explained that they might have to take my leg to save my life. It was a clear choice to make. A nurse came over to initiate prayer with me. I thought this might be the end and I embraced my wife.
I had been visited by two priests earlier in the day, so I felt as prepared spiritually as I could be. They slapped the mask on over me and put me to sleep. I woke up about six to seven days later without my leg and with a lot of pain medication in me.
What was it like when you came to?
My daughter was the first person that I had a lucid conversation with. I still had a sensation of my toes and I couldn't tell whether they had taken my leg or not.
I asked her, “What happened to my leg?” She said, “You're alive! There are 30-40 people in the waiting room. You're really loved and you're alive.”
She hadn't answered my question, so I asked again, “Let me ask you directly, did they have to amputate my leg?”
She asked, “What did the doctors tell you the options were before you went in?” I told her that they would try to save my leg, but that they might have to take my leg to save my life.
My daughter said, “That's what they did. They took your leg to save your life.”
Years before I had been somewhat of a hypochondriac, but I had to laugh at myself. You can prepare yourself for all these fearful future options, but you'll end up confronting something you never expected.
There was already an out-pouring of prayer and support for you.
I had received hundreds of pieces of mail and e-mail, for which I was extremely grateful. Yet, I had to set it aside. At the time it was enough for me to be assured of people's love. I didn't want to be distracted by it.
I looked upon this like something in the book of Job, where the devil has his way, but God is achieving some particular purpose. I needed time to pray and discern his will in all of this.
I had never been through something like this as a Catholic and so I wanted to join my suffering with the suffering of Christ. I was helped by a book by Hubert Von Zeller titled Suffering in Other Words and the Holy Father's Christian Meaning of Human Suffering, which my daughter read to me.
It took weeks before I began reading all of the mail.
Do you believe it had an impact on your recovery?
I really believe that I'm on the earth today because of the prayers of God's people.
I believe it was intercession that spared my life on earth and equipped me for future service. I feel like the paralytic in Mark 2, whose friends lowered him down into the room in the presence of Jesus. I felt like the prayers of the people were falling down upon me like rain and they were lifting me up in a boat into the presence of Jesus. I leak, it's true, but overall it's been surprisingly smooth.
In what ways has your ordeal impacted your faith?
My favorite chapter in von Zeller's book is titled “Imperfection in Suffering.” I had Sally read that over and over to me.
I would try to offer up the suffering and think that I was participating with Christ on the cross. I would feel that this had some redemptive value and then I would get a sharp pain and curse.
When Catholics talk about suffering they are not talking about masochism, stoicism or fatalism.
The Catholic attitude is what we see in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus says to his Father, “I would like this cup to pass, but not my will but yours be done.” That is the perfect attitude when we find ourselves in a position of suffering. It is central to the Christian experience.
I might have said that before, but the experience made it all the more real to me and sobered me up a bit.
How do you hope the experience will change you?
It made me want to focus my attention more on Eucharistic adoration.
While I'm glad to be back on the air, sometimes I think that the best thing would be to do what these hospital chaplains do — going room to room to room offering people the Body of Christ.
It's an interesting contrast. There I was with all of these tubes sticking out of me. They're taking your blood and giving you medication, and amid all of that suddenly it was almost like an angel appearing asking if I would like to receive Jesus today.
The first time it happened I didn't know what she was saying. I said, “Of course!” She replied, “Well, good,” and offered me Communion and then slipped away. They came every day.
Your daughter, Alexis, is getting married Sept. 20. I understand you're going to walk her down the aisle, correct?
I will be able to do it at least with a wheeled walker and a pros-thesis. The prosthesis goes through several fittings as they shape my leg using tight stockings. The whole process will take about a year before I get the final prosthesis and get comfortable walking with it.
Tim Drake is based in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Denver Archdiocese Tries New Way to Welcome Hispanic Immigrants DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:DENVER — Of nearly 400,000 Catholics in the Archdiocese of Denver, some 25% to 30% are Hispanic. More than 40 parishes offer regular Masses in Spanish. Yet it's difficult for those who migrate here from south of the border to assimilate into the local Catholic culture.
“There's a cultural problem involving Hispanic Catholics in the United States,” said Auxiliary Bishop Jose Gomez of the Denver Archdiocese. “Hispanics are looking for some of the same structure here that they are accustomed to, and it just isn't the same. Right now, we risk losing a whole generation of Hispanic Catholics to secular society.”
So in Denver, Bishop Gomez and other archdiocesan leaders have taken a bold step to embrace the burgeoning Catholic population that's in need of spiritual, cultural, educational and social services. This summer the archdiocese opened the Centro Juan Diego: Hispanic Institute for Family and Pastoral Care.
“In most other dioceses with large Hispanic populations, at most they are focusing on formation of faith within the Hispanic community,” Bishop Gomez said. “In Denver, we're addressing the social and cultural issues that Hispanics say they are facing with little help from their Catholic community.”
Gomez, former president of the National Association of Hispanic Priests, immigrated to the United States in 1987 from Monterrey, Mexico.
In Mexico and throughout most of Central and South America, more than 95% of the population is Catholic. Bishop Gomez explained that Catholicism is a way of life, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Furthermore, Bishop Gomez said, nearly all life's activities — including parties, work and education — revolve around the Church.
“A Hispanic immigrant expects a parish priest to be available 24-7, because that's what they're accustomed to,” Bishop Gomez said. “You don't make an appointment for confession in Mexico, you just walk up to a priest and say you need to confess. If you want to baptize a baby, you don't register and take classes like you do in the United States. Here, we're more inclined to have order. Priests have more scheduled lives in the United States.”
To house Centro Juan Diego, the archdiocese renovated a two-story, 1890s-era brick school building with $1.5 million that Bishop Gomez raised in community donations and foundation grants.
“To fully complete the Centro vision, we need another $1.5 million,” said Capuchin Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver. “But we're pretty confident that success is its own best sales tool. The Centro will make a very big difference for our community. The more obvious that becomes, the more people will support it financially.”
Opportunities
Most Hispanics who immigrate do so in order to achieve better economic opportunities in one of the world's leading economies. As a group, however, Hispanics throughout the country seem to remain economically disadvantageddespite a renowned work ethic.
In three of Denver's mostly Hispanic neighborhoods, for example, the Latino Research and Policy Council Report on Census 2000 shows the median income for a family of four is $24,500 — only 40% of Denver County's median income.
“Our main goal is to evangelize the people, but we will also be trying to take care of material needs, such as how to get a checking account and how to find medical services,” Bishop Gomez said.
If Catholics don't do this, bishop Gomez explained, others will happily meet the needs of Hispanic Catholic immigrants in order to secularize them or assimilate them into non-Catholic religions. That, he said, will be a loss for the U.S. Catholic community.
Maria, an undocumented Colombian immigrant, exemplifies the bishop's concern. Maria swept floors and cleaned toilets in Boulder in order to pay for night classes at a vocational technical school where she received a practical nursing license. She grew up Catholic, surrounded by Catholics, and had never heard of other religions until she came to the United States at age 23.
“The Mormons took me in,” Maria said. “They did everything to help me. They gave me food, clothes and places to stay. They helped me with money. Catholics were not so much help. They were afraid I would get them in trouble.”
Maria belongs to a Mormon congregation today. She has become involved in the community and is planning to formally convert.
“We see this a lot with the Pentecostal churches as well,” Bishop Gomez said. “Hispanic Catholics are hardworking people who want to provide for their children. One way or another, they will make progress in this country. If their own Catholic community does not provide a proper basis of support — and the Pentecostal churches and secular society do provide that support — they will integrate into secular society and the Protestant religions.”
A Pottawatomie Indian, Archbishop Chaput understands the cultural differences that run through the large variety of ethnic communities that populate the Denver Archdiocese. He makes no apologies, however, for the traditions and cultural mores of American-born Catholics.
“Americans have a right to be proud of our country,” Archbishop Chaput said. “There's a huge amount of goodness in our national character. That's one of the reasons why most of the rest of the world wants to come here, or at least to duplicate what we've achieved.”
Yet Archbishop Chaput describes a kind of double-edged cultural sword, in which American achievement has caused a callousness that immigrants don't typically anticipate nor understand.
“There's a deep streak of individualism in the U.S. character that probably goes back to the Protestant Reformation,” Archbishop Chaput explained. “But it got even stronger because of our frontier experience, and it gets fed every day by our consumer approach to the world. Latin American cultures just tend to be much more communitarian. They're often poorer than us in material things, but they're richer in other ways. They're more person-oriented, more relationship-oriented”
Not every diocese, however, can afford to build a $3 million cultural/educational center for Hispanics or other groups of immigrants in order to properly assimilate them. However, Archbishop Chaput said Catholics throughout the United States can take simple, inexpensive measures to embrace a growing Hispanic culture that's here to stay.
“Some things are obvious at the parish level — showing some sensitivity to Latin American culture and traditions; making an effort to provide counseling, liturgies and religious education in Spanish where that's possible,” Archbishop Chaput said. “But what's most important, I think, is disciplining ourselves to have a little charity, courage and patience.”
Wayne Laugesen writes from Boulder, Colorado.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Mel Gibson Film Sparks Pundit Bigotry
Pointing out members of various Jewish-activist groups who had been denied preview tickets — after having denounced the film unseen based on a stolen copy of an outdated script — Rich hinted that bigotry lay behind Gibson's decision.
He compared the preview guest roster to “the membership lists of restricted country clubs.” Rich neglected to mention one attendee: a prominent writer and fierce defender of Israel, David Horowitz.
Days before, on his own Web site, FrontPageMag.com, Horowitz called the film “an awesome artifact, an overpowering work … as close to a religious experience as art can get.”
Horowitz continued: “It is not anti-Semitic, as the film-burners have charged. Two illustrative details: Jesus is referred to in the film as 'rabbi,' and there is never any distancing of Jesus or his disciples from their Jewishness. … The moral of this Christian story — of Mel Gibson's film — is that we all killed Jesus — Jew and Gentile alike — and tortured him, and we do so every day.”
Catholic League: Bishop Murphy Is Innocent
CATHOLIC LEAUGE, Aug. 7 — The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Liberties criticized an Aug. 1 statement by the Long Island chapter of Voice of the Faithful, a group that wants to change the structure of the Church. The Voice of the Fatifhul charged Rockville Centre Bishop William F. Murphy with delinquent behavior when he served in Boston.
“The Catholic League has rebutted every charge made by Voice of the Faithful against Bishop Murphy,” said Catholic League president Bill Donohue. “Indeed, it is our view that any reasonable person who reads VOTF's charges that appear on its website (votf.org), and then reads our response at catholicleague.org, will conclude that Bishop Murphy is innocent. If anything, the verdict of guilty applies to his accusers — they are guilty of character defamation.”
Does
Accuracy In Media, July 30 — Journalistic watchdogs at Accuracy in Media have accused The Washington Post of actively promoting the homosexual-rights movement.
Accuracy in Media noted the paper ran a “gay-marriage announcement” for two of its former editors on the Post's Weddings page. The Post also offers insurance benefits to homosexual “domestic partners,” though not to cohabiting heterosexuals.
The Post acclaimed the recent Supreme Court decision repealing legal restrictions on sodomy as “remarkable and majestic” and on July 5 published an editorial supporting same-sex marriage.
On July 14, Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt compared opposition to such “marriages” to Jim Crow laws that banned interracial marriage.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: 'Multiple Epidemics' of Sexually Transmitted Diseases Devastate Millions DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — A report on sexually transmitted diseases titled “Tracking the Hidden Epidemics” might sound like the work of a conservative group promoting abstinence through fear.
In fact, the report was released in 2000 by the federal govern-ment's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is posted on the agency's Web site. Page after page of staggering studies and statistics about hard-to-spell diseases make for grim reading and raise concern for the future health and fertility of the nation.
The report sheds light on facts that are often overlooked in the sex-saturated major media. Indeed, most people in the United States remain unaware of the risks and consequences of all but the most prominent STDs, such as HIV/AIDS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. This despite the fact that STDs are “extremely widespread, have severe and sometimes deadly consequences and add billions of dollars to the nation's health care costs each year.”
The center concludes that there is “not one single STD epidemic but multiple epidemics.”
And those epidemics are “hidden,” the agency says, because many infected persons do not show symptoms such as sores or fevers yet are capable of passing a disease to a sexual partner.
As a result, many people do not know the ease with which STDs are transmitted and the devastating problems they can cause, from infertility to fatal cancers. To address the lack of knowledge, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is holding an “STD Prevention Conference” next March in Philadelphia.
Too Late for Some
For many, the focus is years too late. By 2000 about 65 million individuals in the United States were carrying an incurable sexually transmitted disease, a viral infection that does not respond to antibiotics or other treatment. About 15 million new cases are reported each year, half of them of the incurable kind, and teens account for about one-fourth of all new infections. There are some 45 million cases of genital herpes, with a million new infections each year.
The fastest-growing STD, with 5.5 million new cases annually, is the incurable human papilloma virus, which comes in 30 to 60 different strains, some of which are linked to cervical cancer.
The Alan Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of Planned Parenthood, reports that by age 24 at least 1 in 3 sexually active persons has contracted a sexually transmitted disease.
The lack of a comprehensive campaign against STDs amounts to a “conspiracy” of silence, says Dr. Lester Ruppersberger, a gynecologist from Langhorne, Pa. A member of the Catholic Medical Association, Ruppersberger has lectured widely on STDs.
“It's plain from the studies and the literature that there is a rapidly spreading epidemic of STDs,” he said. “All doctors know this — they all learn about these diseases in medical school — yet information about the epidemic is not getting into the general media; it's not trickling down to the general public.”
News of STDs cuts against the “safer sex” message favored by so many in the media, he said. The facts also indicate abstinence or monogamy as the only reliable ways to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, and “telling that to patients in this culture sounds too much like moralizing. But in this case it's simply good medical advice,” Ruppersberger said.
Mary Beth Bonacci, who travels the country speaking to young people about the Catholic view of sexuality and chastity, told the Register that most teens and young adults know about STDs in general but have little understanding of the serious consequences of infection.
“They think, “Not me, not my boyfriend or girlfriend,' or that condoms will protect me,” Bonacci said. “I find that young people do not respond much to fear tactics about STDs. What has a real effect on them is stressing the nature of authentic and lasting love.”
Studies have shown condoms unreliable in preventing the spread of STDs, yet some organizations still push them with a blind faith.
In a Web site section on sexually transmitted infections, Planned Parenthood Federation of America warns that moral issues should not be raised in relation to sex. The “stigma and shame that result may lead people to neglect taking good care of their sexual health,” Planned Parenthood states. The implication is that moral censure and not illicit “sex play” (a term used throughout the Web site) is the real danger.
The Web site then goes on to talk about “safer sex.” For most of the STDs listed, condoms are said to offer “very good” or “some” protection. Abstinence is not given as an option.
Yet another study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2000 reports on the imperfect protection provided by latex condoms. The center states that the “surest way to avoid transmission of [STDs] is to abstain from sexual intercourse or to be in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and you know is uninfected.”
Moral Aspects
Contrary to the Planned Parenthood message, sexual conduct necessarily carries a moral dimension because it involves relations between two persons and has consequences for society. The Catechism of the Catholic Church presents chastity inside and outside marriage as the only responsible behavior.
“Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being,” the Catechism states. “The alternative is clear: Either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy” (Nos. 2337, 2338).
Such traditional moral views are getting a wider hearing in government circles under the Bush administration. The federal government has committed about $100 million annually to promoting abstinence, still far below the estimated $400 million that goes to agencies that push condoms.
In July the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced 28 new grants totaling more than $15 million to help communities develop and implement abstinence-education programs for teens. This brought to 73 the number of community and faith-based agencies that have received money in the past two years in programs run by the Health Resources and Services Administration, which also oversees block grants to states for abstinence education.
Among the recent recipients are Catholic Charities of Honolulu ($735,000), Catholic Social Services of Fall River, Mass., ($125,000) and a half-dozen pregnancy centers. Another round of grants is scheduled for the fall.
Stephen Vincent writes from Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Why Has The Holy See Written a Document Against Homosexual Unions? DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Why has the Holy See published a document clearly articulating its negative ethical judgment on those laws that give legal recognition to homosexual unions?
Salesian Archbishop Angelo Amato, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, answered the question in the following interview with Vatican Radio, reprinted by Zenit news service.
The document, “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons,” of a “doctrinal character,” was published by the Holy See on July 31.
What are the essential points of the document?
There are three. First of all, there is a reaffirmation of the essential characteristics of matrimony, which is founded on the complementarity of the sexes. This is a natural truth, confirmed by Revelation, so that man and woman can have that communion of persons, through which they participate in a special way in God's creative work, receiving and educating new lives. There is no principle whatsoever to assimilate or establish analogies between homosexual unions and God's plan for marriage and the family. Marriage is holy, while homosexual relations are in contrast to the natural law and are intrinsically disordered.
The second point affects the attitudes that must be assumed given these homosexual unions. The civil authorities adopt three attitudes: of tolerance, of legal recognition or of genuine comparison with marriage as such, including the possibility of adoption. In face of a policy of tolerance, the Catholic faithful is called to affirm the immoral character of this phenomenon, requesting that the state circumscribe it with limits, so it will not endanger the fabric of society and will not expose youth to an erroneous conception of sexuality and marriage.
However, in face of the legal recognition or comparison with heterosexual marriage, there is a duty to oppose in a clear and motivated manner, even claiming the right to objection of conscience.
How is this clear rejection justified?
This is the third point of the document, which offers the arguments of rational order, biological and anthropological order, social order, and juridical order that justify rejection by Catholics.
Right reason cannot justify a law that is not in keeping with the natural moral law: If it does so, the state no longer fulfills its duty to defend marriage, an essential institution for the common good.
One thing is a homosexual union as a private phenomenon, and quite another its legal recognition as a model of social life, which would devalue the matrimonial institution and cloud the perception of some fundamental moral values. Moreover, in homosexual unions, the biological and anthropological conditions of marriage and the family are missing.
As regards the hypothesis of the integration of children in homosexual unions, such an adoption would be hard on the children, as it would deprive them of a proper environment for their full human development. From the social point of view, it would change the concept of marriage, with its task of procreation and education, and would cause great harm to the common good, especially if its incidence on the social fabric increases.
Lastly, speaking juridically, married couples guarantee the order of generations and, therefore, are of eminent public interest. This is not so in the case of homosexual couples.
With this document, isn't there a risk of discriminating against homosexual persons?
The Church respects men and women with homosexual tendencies and invites them to live according the law of the Lord, in chastity. It must be kept in mind, however, that the homosexual inclination in itself is objectively disordered and that homosexual practices are grave sins against chastity.
What should be, concretely, the attitude of Catholic politicians in this respect?
Faced with a first draft law favorable to this recognition, the Catholic politician has the moral duty to express his disagreement clearly and publicly, voting against it. A vote in favor would be a gravely immoral act.
In face of a law that is already in force, he must make known his opposition. If it is not possible to abrogate the law, he could mobilize and support proposals directed to limiting the harm of such a law and decrease the negative effects at the level of public culture and morality, on the condition that his opposition to laws of this type is clear and avoids the danger of scandal.
This is a principle expressed in the 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae [The Gospel of Life]. The leading cultures of the world have always given great institutional recognition not so much to friendship between persons as to marriage and the family, a condition of stable life favorable to the common
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Congressman Kennedy Calls Church 'Bigoted'
CATHOLIC LEAGUE, Aug. 6 — The Providence Journal quoted Congressman Patrick Kennedy calling the Church's “policy” of opposition to same-sex marriages an example of “bigotry.” In a news release, Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights president William Donohue responded:
“The Catholic Church does not have a 'policy' on marriage — it has a teaching that is rooted in Scripture. … [W]hy did it take him so long to label the Catholic Church's teaching on marriage 'bigoted?' After all, it has maintained the same teaching for 2,000 years.”
Donohue asked for Kennedy to “come clean” and explain “exactly how 'tolerant' he is about qualifications for marriage.” For instance, does Kennedy think it “'bigoted' to oppose incestuous marriages? How about polygamy? Or the idea that three men can marry?”
Finally, Donohue wondered aloud why Kennedy would “want to maintain membership in an organization that is 'bigoted?' Does it not make him a bigot for supporting a 'bigoted' organization on Sundays?”
Church to Study Genetically Modified Foods
ASSOCIATED PRESS/
Archbishop Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said the Holy See would publish a full statement on biotechnology next month and that it would favor the use of these high-tech foods. Genetically modified foods are opposed by environmental-ists, who fear the long-term effects on human and ecological health.
“The problem of hunger involves the conscience of every man and in particular those of the Christians,” Archbishop Martino told Vatican Radio. “For this reason the Catholic Church follows with special interest and solicitude every development in science to help the solution of a plight that afflicts such a large part of humanity.”
The archbishop noted that every day around the world 24,000 people die of starvation.
Are Tourists Trashing Italy's Churches?
ASSOCIATED PRESS ONLINE, July 30 — Across Italy, landmark churches are complaining of vandalism and abuse, the AP Online reported.
The millions of tourists who visit these churches each year have begun to take their toll, according to police and municipal officials.
The entrance to Santa Maria Maggiore is now closed to keep out drunks and amorous couples; Venetian authorities are imposing $56 fines on people who leave behind food in San Marco Square, and Florentine churchmen have called on visitors not to use church buildings as latrines.
In a news conference, Msgr. Timothy Verdon of Florence's Duomo bemoaned the disrespect shown the famous cathedral by visitors.
The AP noted that Italian cities cannot afford the police required to protect the historic sites. In Vatican City, by contrast, there are strictly enforced rules against picnicking in St. Peter's Square — and it is kept pristine.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: John Paul Remembers Pope Paul VI DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Register Summary
Pope John Paul II met with 3,000 pilgrims who traveled to his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo for his general audience Aug. 6, the feast of the Transfiguration. He noted that the date marked the 25th anniversary of the death of Pope Paul VI, who died at Castel Gandolfo on Aug. 6, 1978.
The Holy Father honored Pope Paul VI as a man “who realized the importance of making the actions and choices of every day fit the “great passing' toward which we are preparing.” Pope Paul VI continues to challenge us to search for the truth, he said. “For believers, death is like the final “amen' of their earthly existence. This was certainly the case for the servant of God, Paul VI, who in his “great passing' manifested his most noble profession of faith,” the Holy Father noted.
The Pope also noted that Aug. 4 was the 100th anniversary of the election of St. Pius X as Pope. He honored St. Pius X for the important role he played in the history of the Church and the world at the turn of the last century, and for the example he left us of total fidelity to Christ and passionate love for his Church.
One hundred years ago, on Aug. 4, 1903, my predecessor St. Pius X was elected. Born in Riese, a little town in the foothills of the Alps in the Veneto region, a land that has remained deeply Christian, Giuseppe Sarto spent his entire life in the Veneto region until he was elected Pope. With deep affection I greet the large group of pilgrims from Treviso, who have come here with their bishop to honor the memory of their illustrious native son.
Your presence here, my dear brothers and sisters, is an opportunity to highlight the important role that this Successor of Peter played in the history of the Church and of mankind at the beginning of the 20th century. When Pius XII canonized him a saint during the Marian Year on May 29, 1954, he described him as an “indomi-table champion of the Church and a providential saint for our times,” whose work “seemed like a battle that this giant carried out in order to defend a priceless treasure: the interior unity of the Church in her innermost foundation — the faith” (Acta Apostolicae Sedis XLVI, 1954, 308). May this holy Pope, who left us the example of total fidelity to Christ and passionate love for his Church, continue to keep watch over the Church!
I would also like to recall another great pope. Indeed, today marks the 25th anniversary of the day — Aug. 6, 1978 — when the servant of God, Pope Paul VI, passed away at this residence here in Castel Gandolfo. It was the evening of the day when the Church celebrates that luminous mystery of the Transfiguration of Christ, “the sun that never sets” (A Liturgical Hymn). It was Sunday, the weekly Easter, the Day of the Lord and of the gift of the Spirit (see the Apostolic Letter, Dies Domini, 19).
I was already able to offer my reflections on Paul VI during a recent general audience marking the 40th anniversary of his election as bishop of Rome. Today, at this very place where his earthly life drew to a close, I would like to listen once again with you, my dear brothers and sisters, to his spiritual testament, his last and greatest word, which was, to be precise, his death.
Sharing in Glory
During his last general audience on Wednesday, Aug. 2, four days before his death, he addressed the pilgrims about faith, as the strength and light of the Church (see Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, XVI 1978, p. 586). In the text that he prepared for the Angelus on Aug. 6, which he was unable to deliver, he gazed upon the transfigured Christ and wrote the following words: “That light, in which he was bathed, is and will also be the portion of our inheritance and splendor. We are called to share in that great glory, because we “share in the divine nature' (2 Peter 1:4)” (ibid, p. 588).
Paul VI realized the importance of adapting the activities and choices of daily life to the “great passing” for which he was preparing. Everything that he wrote in Pensiero alla morte, for example, is proof of this. There we read, among other things, some words that turn our thoughts to today's feast of the Transfiguration: “In the end,” he wrote, “I would like to be in the light … With this final glance, I will realize that this fascinating and mysterious scene (the world) is a reverberation or a reflection of the first and only Light … an invitation to view the invisible Sun, “whom no one has ever seen: the only Son, who is at the Father's side, has revealed him' (see John 1:18). So be it, amen” (ibid, 24-25).
For believers, death is like the final “amen” of their earthly existence. This was certainly the case for the servant of God, Paul VI, who in his “great passing” manifested his most noble profession of faith. Having solemnly proclaimed his Credo of the People of God at the close of the Year of Faith, he sealed it with his final and very personal “amen,” the culmination of his commitment to Christ that gave meaning to his entire life.
“May the light of faith know no setting.” This is what we sing in a liturgical hymn. Today we thank God because this beloved predecessor of mine made these words a reality. Twenty-five years after his death, his lofty stature as a teacher and defender of the faith at a dramatic time in the history of the Church and the world seems to shine even brighter. Thinking back to what he himself wrote regarding our era, namely that it puts more faith in witnesses than in teachers (see the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, 41), with devoted gratitude we wish to remember him as a genuine witness of Christ our Lord, who was in love with the Church and always careful to read the signs of the times in contemporary culture.
May every member of the people of God — or, should I say, every man and every woman of good will — honor his venerable memory by being committed to constantly and sincerely seeking the truth. This truth shines fully in the face of Christ, and, as Paul VI liked to recall, the Virgin Mary helps us to understand and live it better through her maternal and solicitous intercession.
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Our Lady, an August Snowfall And a Roman Basilica DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Things at the Vatican grind to a near standstill in August as Vatican offices close and people go on vacation. But for those who stay in Rome, there's an annual reminder of the Blessed Mother's care for the Church.
The feast of Our Lady of the Snows was commemorated Aug. 5 with a solemn high Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major. During the Mass, thousands of flower petals were released from the ceiling and outside from the rooftop, showering the faithful who gathered to commemorate the event.
This unusual liturgical flourish harks back to the year 358, when a Roman patrician named John and his wife, unable to have children, were praying to the Virgin Mary, asking her to give them a sign as to whom they should leave their enormous patrimony. On the night of Aug. 4-5, one of the hottest of the year, Mary appeared to the couple in a dream and requested that they build a church in her honor where snow would fall that night.
Friends of the Holy Father, John and his wife went to tell Pope Liberius of their dream — and discovered he had the same one. The next morning, Aug. 5, the highest of Rome's seven fabled hills, the Esquiline, was covered in snow, as witnessed by John, his wife, the Pope and his entourage, and a throng of Romans. Pope Liberius took a stick and traced the sign of the future basilica in the snow, a basilica that would be forever known as Our Lady of the Snows.
Since it is considered the greatest Marian church, the basilica is also called St. Mary Major. It is also known as the Liberian Basilica (for Pope Liberius).
The first church was built on the site of an ancient market and close to the Temple of Juno Lucina. Throughout the centuries, it underwent changes, modifications and additions.
Much of the basilica we see today is courtesy of Pope Sixtus III (432-440). Sixtus became Pope one year after the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus (in modern-day Turkey), which recognized Mary as “Theotokos,” the Mother of God. He wished to honor this, the most noble of all of the Blessed Virgin's titles, and thus it was he who gave the basilica much of its current structure and form as well as the magnificent mosaics on the triumphal “Ephesus” arch, which is above and behind the main altar and which depicts scenes from the New Testament.
One of the five patriarchal basilicas of Rome, Our Lady of the Snows is the third-most-visited monument in Rome after St. Peter's and the Colosseum. It is famous for housing the image of Our Lady known as “Salus Populi Romani,” which is revered by Romans and which tradition says was painted by St. Luke.
It is also home to the relic of the crib of the Baby Jesus. A horseshoe-shaped double staircase descends from the main altar and leads to a small chapel with the relics of the manger crib in which the Christ child was laid the night he was born. The crystal, silver and gold reliquary containing the wood remnants was executed by Valadier in 1802 on a commission by Pope Pius VII (1800-23) who intended it to be in place for the Holy Year 1825. It replaces two previous reliquaries, the first of which was stolen in 1527, during the Sack of Rome, and the second in 1797 by Napoleon's troops.
Pilgrims flock to Our Lady of the Snows to see its stunning ceiling, commissioned by Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503) for the Holy Year 1500. It consists of 105 wood-carved panels, each a meter square, which were placed over the former trussed ceiling and then gilded with some of the gold brought from the newly discovered Americas by Columbus and given to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. The Spanish Royals donated this Peruvian gold to fellow Spaniard Pope Alexander VI.
As it has almost every year since 358, St. Mary Major Basilica celebrated its feast day in early August. Three days of festive preparation, encounters and religious events preceded a Pontifical Mass the evening of Aug. 5.
As always, flower petals fell from the ceiling, symbolizing that miraculous snowfall in August.
Joan Lewis works for Vatican Information Service.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joan Lewis ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Plans in Belgium to Force Euthanasia on Church Hospitals DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:BRUSSELS, Belgium — Since May 2002, Belgium has permitted euthanasia in its secular hospitals. Now, negotiators forming Belgium's new government are considering legislation that would mandate Catholic hospitals as well to permit “medical killing” under their roofs.
Under Belgian law, euthanasia is permitted if the patient is under “constant and unbearable physical or psychological pain that cannot be alleviated and results from a serious and incurable condition.” Doctors do not have a “license to kill.” Rather, it is up to a doctor's conscience and that of the patient who must be conscious when the demand is made.
But this is where some see the euthanasia lobby tripping on their own legislative efforts.
Lawyer Fernand Keuleneer, a pro-life member of the federal commission for the monitoring and application of the euthanasia law said, “If it's a fundamental human right, then hospitals are obliged to permit euthanasia under the law; but it's not, so they aren't.”
According to Hugo Vandenberghe, professor of law at the Catholic University of Louvain and vice president of the Belgium Senate, hospitals can never be obliged by law to perform euthanasia because this obligation would be in contradiction with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which “expressly provides in the duty of states to protect the right to life and the provisions dealing with the freedom of religion and expression,” he said.
Vandenberghe is also particularly concerned that the law on euthanasia “fails to have specific sanctions if the conditions of application are not respected.”
Vandenberghe, who worked for six years at the European Court for Human Rights, has vowed to take both matters to that court.
To Derk Achten, political director of the Flemish Liberal Party, the “right to die” in every Belgian hospital is “a question of ethics.” It is about “the protection of doctors' and patients' rights.”
“Let me give you an example,” he explained. “You have a serious accident and you're taken to a Catholic hospital. Under the required conditions you request euthanasia, but because the hospital does not permit it, you would have to be moved to another hospital to have it carried out. Do you consider that human? I don't.”
Achten complains that with about 80% of the hospitals in Belgium being Catholic, the practice is forbidden almost everywhere.
“There've been a few doctors who've practiced euthanasia and then been thrown out,” he said. “There are therefore problems with implementation of the law. Governments have to ensure the law is implemented, that doctors and patients are not unfairly punished, and so that's what we're trying to do.”
But both Keuleneer and Achten say the umbrella organization in charge of Catholic hospitals would “tolerate” such new legislation within its hospitals.
“They acknowledge their right to refuse doctors to practice it on their premises,” Keuleneer said, “but they are very doctor-centered and have now decided to leave it to their own doctors to exercise their conscience. So the problem's not with the secularists, it's with them. Now there's no need for a new law.”
Toon Osaer, spokesman for the Belgian bishops' conference, contended that Caritas, which runs almost three-quarters of the Catholic hospitals in the country, has yet to make a decision. Keuleneer suggested the “Church hierarchy take up the issue” as, so far in the negotiations for a new government, it is looking as though the Christian Democrats will be unrepresented.
How is the Church responding? “It's difficult to have a clear answer because we don't know yet what they really want to do,” Osaer said, adding that the bishops' conference wrote a letter to those negotiating the new government, emphasizing their opposition to new legislation on euthanasia. “We are also opposed to what the former government decided, so it's a very clear point of view.”
But what if the legislation goes ahead? Will the Belgian Church threaten to close every Catholic hospital, as Cardinal John O'Connor vowed to do in New York if the state mandated contraceptive services in all hospitals?
“The position of Catholic hospitals in Belgium is quite different to those in the United States,” Osaer said. “Most of the hospitals are independent of the Church, and the bishops are not immediately involved in the governing boards.”
In fact, many observers agreed that the hospitals are Catholic in name only, and all have permitted abortion for years. Part of the reason is that the government subsidizes 90-100% of all hospital expenditures, so even if the legislation is not passed, the government is likely to impose economic constraints on those hospitals that do not comply with its policies.
The latest rumor is that Belgium will follow the Netherlands in legalizing euthanasia for those under 18. Keuleneer said although this legislation will be harder to pass and “subject to evaluation” for one year, he is “sure it will go through.”
Yet Belgium is a nation in which 80% of the population is baptized Catholic. Achten argues the Church is not central to Belgian society because Catholicism is not a state religion.
“After Sept. 11 I saw a lawmaker praying in the U.S. Congress,” he recalled. “That could never happen here. For centuries the Church was so dominant, but people are relieved it no longer has the power to tell people what to do. Its views are noted — in a way it touches our consciences — but it no longer has an authoritative voice.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains why the Church forbids euthanasia, and distinguishes it from other medical procedures which hasten death. “Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.
Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded.
“Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of “overzealous' treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected.
“Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable. Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged” (Nos. 2277-9).
Edward Pentin is based in Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Ukraine's Eastern Bishops Discuss Cooperation With Polish Church DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:LVIV, Ukraine — Ukraine's Eastern Catholic bishops met in late July to discuss cooperation with the Church in Poland.
The bishops agreed to promote historical examples of positive coexistence between Ukrainians and Poles and to promote joint religious and cultural exchanges among Polish and Ukrainian youth. The bishops also said the Church should provide university and seminary courses to promote a better mutual understanding of Eastern and Western Church traditions.
The territory around the Ukrainian-Polish border has shifted several times throughout history. Many ethnic Ukrainians live in Poland, and the Archdiocese of Przemysl-Warsaw was set up for those Ukrainians of the Eastern rite. Many ethnic Poles live in Ukraine and make up the largest portion of the Latin-rite Church there. One of Lviv's two archbishops, Cardinal Marian Jaworski, is Polish.
At the synod, which took place July 29-30 in Sambir, the bishops also agreed to participate in the government-sponsored commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Soviet-imposed famine in Ukraine. They said they would write European bishops and Ukrainian bishops in other countries asking them to inform their faithful about the 1932-33 famine, in which a quarter of Ukraine's rural population perished.
The bishops will meet again in November.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Christian Aid Suspends Palestinian Exhibit
INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC NEWS, Aug. 1 — An exhibition at the Royal Lancashire (agricultural) Show created by the group Christian Aid was scuttled after intense pressure, Independent Catholic News reported.
The display of photographs and stories from the West Bank illustrated the difficulties Palestinian farmers undergo because of Israeli occupation. But Christian Aid withdrew the exhibit after a barrage of phone calls to Royal Lancashire Show administrators asserted the exhibit was anti-Israeli. When one e-mail threatened a demonstration, police got involved, and the display was soon removed.
“As a Christian organization, it's our duty to speak up for the poor and to highlight the causes of poverty and injustices, and this is exactly what our exhibition does,” said Sue Turrell, head of Christian Aid's Middle East team. “We are unequivocal in our support for the security of the state of Israel and the rights of all Israeli people to live safely and securely. We believe Palestinians should be afforded the same rights.”
State Church Criticizes Vatican-Loyal Bishop
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, July 30 — Communist authorities and their collaborationist Patriotic Church have tried to use a meeting with Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., to discredit the Catholic bishop of Hong Kong, Bishop Joseph Zen.
According to Agence France-Presse, on July 30 these separatist bishops told Cardinal McCarrick, “We've learnt from our Catholic friends in Hong Kong that certain Catholic leaders there have become political stars. They've been putting on shows in a vigorous way that outshines even show-business stars. This does not conform with their religious roles.”
Bishop Zen has roused official anger by opposing the China-based Hong Kong government's plans to impose a stern new “security law” that some fear will take away many civil liberties still enjoyed by the people in that former British colony.
The Chinese official news agency Xinhua quoted Cardinal McCarrick as saying, “Crossing the line between religion and politics [is] dangerous for Catholicism.”
Teach the Faith in Ireland, Go to Jail?
Because the document, “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons,” describes homosexual activity as “evil,” it might fall under the Irish Republic's 1989 “Incitement to Hatred” legislation.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has denounced the Vatican document, issued by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on July 31, and challenged its legality.
While the Church statement insists homosexuals should be treated with “respect, compassion and sensitivity,” it reasserts Catholic teaching that homosexuality is “objectively disordered” and opposes adoption of children by homosexuals.
The paper reported that anyone convicted of inciting hatred in Ireland could face jail terms of up to six months.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Ecological Baby Feeding
In the June 29-July 5 Letters section, the discussion about the decision to postpone or avoid pregnancy continued (“Couples Open to Life”). I would like to point out an alternative to charting or “having as many babies as possible”: ecological breastfeeding.
Strongly advocated by the largest teacher of Natural Family Planning, ecological breast-feeding involves mothering babies the way women always and everywhere have, until our last, technology-loving, century.
Convinced that scientists are smarter than perhaps even God, we have embraced bottles, cribs, pacifiers, infant strollers, regular babysitters, etc. These things are not evil, but they do have a consequence, which is a quicker return of fertility.
If, instead, a mother commits to mothering her child naturally, she typically experiences a spacing of 2_ to 3_ years between each child, which secular scientists have independently found is the ideal spacing for mother, the nursing baby, and the subsequent baby. I have personally experienced 29 months and 23 months (and counting) of lactational infertility following the births of my children, following the Seven Standards of Natural Mothering as laid out by the Couple-to-Couple League on their website (www.ccli. org) and in the book Breastfeeding & Natural Childspacing. The most important of these standards appears to be nursing one's baby while sleeping with him.
To do this, I had to let go of my society-formed ideas of what having a child is like, but once I accepted the sacrifices I would have to make, I have never regretted it. In fact, I contend my life is much easier, since I never have a sleepless night up feeding a newborn, my baby can go anywhere with me and be fed in a sling with no one ever knowing, and I'm not ever concerned about discerning when it's been long enough to conceive again. I just follow God's built-in plan and leave it totally up to him.
Praise God for building this system into our bodies. It's only too unfortunate that not enough people, including faithful Catholics, have been taught this information.
JOSELYN SCHUTZ Alpharetta, Georgia
Episcopal Secrets
It was shocking to read that Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, president of the USCCB, along with other bishops and Cardinal McCarrick of Washington, D.C., met in secret with dissenters from Church teaching in a daylong, highly-structured meeting designed to plan the future of the Church in the United States (“Dissenters' Secret Bishops Meeting,” July 26-Aug. 9).
The bishops should explain why this was a secret meeting and why pro-abortionists were in attendance, but lay people noted for their fidelity to church teaching were not included. If they don't have an explanation consistent with their office to proclaim the Gospel and protect the true faith, then they have betrayed the faithful laity and should resign.
We have had too many episcopal cover-ups already.
JAMES FRITZ Great Cacapon, West Virginia
Holding on to Hispanics
In “Cardinal McCarrick Appeals for More Efforts to Evangelize Hispanics” (July 20-26), Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., suggested radio, TV, street preaching and newspapers to reach the people. Another suggestion is to show Hispanics that the Church is interested in their welfare and in combating discrimination against them.
There is a detestable discrimination that has been continuing for over two years against an outstanding Hispanic — Miguel Estrada — who was nominated by President Bush to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in May, 2001. Mr. Estrada has not received a vote of his confirmation because pro-abortion Democrat senators are filibustering.
If Cardinal McCarrick and other bishops would rally the laity to object to this situation, that would demonstrate to Hispanics that the Church will not let them be discriminated against. A letter to be read at all Masses telling people that it is intolerable to treat a person in such a despicable manner would go a long way to bolstering the faith among Hispanics.
RICHARD A. RETTA Rockville, Maryland
The Mandatum Mess
Regarding “Mandatum 4: Loyola: Parents Take Nothing for Granted” (July 20-26):
It is amazing to learn that the neither the theology chairman nor the president of Loyola University in Chicago responded when asked whether their professors of religion, Scripture, theology, liturgy and history have the mandatum. It is clearly stated in the Code of Canon Law, Canon 812, that “it is necessary that those who teach theological disciplines in any institute of higher studies have a mandate from the competent ecclesiastic authority.”- What is the problem? Insubordination?
Practitioners of other professions are required to get some kind of permission in order to practice. Physicians must have a license, issued by the pertinent state and based on examination. Physicians without a license cannot diagnose or treat patients in the hospital or have a private practice. The physician's license to practice medicine is not a “private document”; it is checked yearly by the hospital administration.
It is not conceivable that some university professors lecturing on religion have no “permit” or “mandate” — and that university officials, deans and presidents tolerate the lack … and … do not disclose whether their professors have such mandate or not.
Do they know about the Canon 812 of the Code of Canon Law? I feel the bishop, with his authority, surely has a list of those professors with a mandate. Those without it should not teach; they should be suspended until they obtain it. Such list should be available to requesters.
NICHOLAS KUTKA, M.D. Houston, Texas
Regarding your July 20-26 editorial, “Massachusetts' Marriage Mess”:
I am in complete sympathy with the intentions of the Federal Marriage Amendment, but question the strategy for various reasons.
In principle, the constitutional-amendment strategy cedes too much to Justice Kennedy and his allies. It says, in effect, “Your interpretation of the Constitution is-legally correct; we can overcome it only by amending the defect.”
The amendment strategy also allows legislators to wash their hands of leadership on the issue, saying they “support an amendment,” but meanwhile dithering perpetually over language (ask pro-lifers about the 30-year-old Human Life Amendment if you doubt this). Any Congressman saying his strategy for opposing homosexual marriage is to support a constitutional amendment is telegraphing, “I won't be doing-much about this issue.”
Furthermore, our Constitution was designed to be difficult to amend — that's how Phyllis Schlafly blocked the Equal Rights Amendment. Theoretically as few as 2% of the population, strategically placed, can block the will of a 98% majority. Does anyone doubt the incredibly mobilized “gay lobby” can muster the small margin of resistance necessary to defeat an amendment?
Your editorial is right that the question of homosexual marriage must be put to votes. But a better strategy would be to take the debate directly from the people through Congress to the courts using-legislative measures. Two examples: In the 1800s, Americans vehemently opposed polygamy, yet constitutional amendments failed repeatedly to make it out of Congress. A series of federal laws, culminating in the Mann Act, succeeded in banning it. In that case, the Supreme Court was on the moral side.
But when it overreaches its authority, the Supreme Court can be effectively opposed.
By design, constitutional amendments are the last step in the dialogue, not the first. To win a consensus on the issue, we need to put our efforts into a series of legislative steps defending marriage at the federal and state levels — and insist that our elected officials provide determined leadership. If we focus our energies on an amendment that will likely fail, we will give homosexual activists the claim they need to lock “gay marriage” into the Constitution forever.
REBECCA TETI Hyattsville, Maryland
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Voice of Liberation? DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:I would like to make a comment or two on “Some Attending Voice of the Faithful Meetings Find They Have No Voice” (July 27-Aug. 9), since I am [mischaracterized]. The reporter, Mr. Greg Byrnes, reports me as claiming that the laity should be “liberated from the shackles of clerical oppression.” First, I have never used the word “shackles.” More importantly, I do not use the term “clerical oppression.” In fact, my references are always to structural oppression, which is of its nature not the fault of any one individual or class of individuals, and which in my view oppresses the clergy just as much as it oppresses the laity.
There is structural oppression when Vatican II calls for laity to play a part, even a vocal part, in renewing the church, but when there are no structures in place to make playing such a part possible. If the structures were there, we would have no picketing outside churches, no letter-writing campaigns, maybe no Voice of the Faithful (VOTF). These phenomena are testimony to the absence of legitimate avenues through which the institutional church could channel the voice of the laity that its own bishops have said is so important.
On a more general issue, it seems pretty clear to me that VOTF is a broad-based, middle-of-the-road coalition of laity, some of whom are on the more liberal end, some on the more conservative. There are few extremists of either ilk. But a speaker is an individual and may have views that do not altogether coincide with the entire group that VOTF represents. VOTF cannot be held responsible for all the views that a speaker holds.
While I received a friendly hearing in Manhasset, I am sure that not everyone agreed with me that the future Church will probably include some married priests, some gay priests and some women priests. But we were gathered to talk about the future of the Church, and I gave my views. My views, no one else's. As I said at that meeting, it is not my voice or even yours that contains the truth of the future of the Church, but through dialogue in a spirit of charity, as Dorothy Day might have said, “thought is clarified.”
Finally, and for the record, when I spoke in July in Manhasset to the Long Island VOTF, they were so anxious to allow dissenting voices that almost all the comments after my speech were offered by people who disagreed with everything I said and stand for. And I was not even allowed to respond! Full marks to the Manhasset VOTF for their openness to other opinions. Can you match their openness?
PAUL LAKELAND Trumbull, Connecticut
Also: Laity looking to play a greater role in the life of the Church can find many active organizations that are faithful to the magisterium. One list of such organizations is provided at www.cathdal. org/lay1.htm.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: The WMD That Destroyed A Whole Village DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Even with the fall of Saddam Hussein, the war on terror is very far from over.
North Korea and Iran remind us that the “axis of evil” remains nearly intact. President Bush said the United States “will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons.” What are we prepared to do in the future to stop dangerous rogue states?
How our nation has responded in the past to stop its enemies will undoubtedly serve as a precedent for the future.
Mrs. Fuiko Miura, a Japanese native from the predominately Catholic city of Nagasaki, worries about this possibility. Why? Each year on Aug. 9, Miura thinks about the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945.
She was there. Somehow, she survived.
She saw firsthand what a weapon of mass destruction could do. At the time of the bombing, she was only a 16-year-old schoolgirl. Yet she will never forget what happen that dreadful morning at about 11 a.m.
“At that moment, a horrible flash, thousands of times as powerful as lightning, hit me. I felt that it almost rooted out my eyes. Thinking that a huge bomb had exploded above our building, I jumped up from my seat and was hit by a tremendous wind, which smashed down windows, doors, ceilings and walls, and shook the whole building. I remember trying to run for the stairs before being knocked to the floor and losing consciousness. It was a hot blast, carrying splinters of glass and concrete debris. But it did not have the burning heat of the hypocenter, where everyone and everything was melted in an instant by the heat flash. I learned later that the heat decreased with distance. I was 2,800 meters away from the hypocenter.”
Just that one plutonium bomb killed 74,000 people that morning and seriously injured another 75,000. It possessed the explosive power of 21,000 tons of TNT. The ground temperature at the hypo-center of the explosion ranged from 3,000-4,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Miura said that after the explosion many survivors suffered from what they called “atomic bomb disease.” The sick experienced vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, high fever, weakness, purple spots on different parts of the body, bleeding from the mouth, gums and throat, hair loss and a very low white blood cell count. Few people knew they suffered from overexposure to radiation. They simply died not knowing why.
Could something like this or worse happen again in our current war against terror? It could. But weren't the circumstances surrounding the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima different from today's war on terror? They were. But there's something that hasn't changed: our relativistic and pragmatic morality. The morality that says the end justifies the means.
For instance, President Harry Truman, who decided to use the atomic bomb, argued that this weapon saved countless American and Japanese lives by shorting the war.
How did Truman know this for sure? American intelligence discovered Japan's fight-to-the-finish plan called Operation Decision.
This strategy of resistance provided 10,000 suicide planes, 53 infantry divisions, 25 brigades, 2.35 million trained troops to fight on the beaches backed by 4 million Army and Navy civil employees, and a civilian militia of 28 million. If an invasion of Japan became necessary, Allied forces expected to suffer about 1 million casualties. Japanese casualties would range anywhere from 10 to 20 million.
For this reason, Truman wanted to avoid an invasion of Japan. He had to convince Japan to surrender. The president had two options: continue with air raids, which were proving very effective but slow, or use the atomic bomb to get his point across. He chose the latter. It worked. After dropping the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan surrendered. Truman achieved the end he sought, but what about the means? Is it ever morally permissible to use a weapon of mass destruction on a civilian population?
This question demands moral clarity more than ever since Sept. 11. Many will say the answer to this question depends on the circumstances at hand. This way of thinking dismisses the fact of objective morality based on truth. Reason and faith tell us, in light of truth, that certain acts are wrong in themselves.
Using weapons of mass destruction on a civilian population is one of them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church makes this point:
“Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation. A danger of modern warfare is that it provides the opportunity to those who possess modern scientific weapons — especially atomic, biological or chemical weapons — to commit such crimes” (No. 2314).
Hiroshima and Nagasaki stand out as reminders that we are not above the temptation of using weapons of mass destruction. The ongoing war on terror will demand in the future that we make tough moral decisions.
We must win this war, but let us win it the right way.
Legionary Father Andrew McNair teaches at Mater Ecclesiae International Center of Formation for Consecrated Women in Greenville, Rhode Island.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Andrew McNair LC ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: 'I Stand Here to Defend Our Holy Father' DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Dear Friends in Christ: I stand before you not as the celebrant of the Mass but as the archbishop of Chicago, the pastor of this local Church, to use this pulpit of the cathedral in a way that I have not used it in the six years that I have been archbishop here. For those of you who are visitors, I ask your indulgence.
I stand here to defend our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, against a false accusation made on the front page of the Chicago Sun-Times [Aug. 1]. The headline reads: “Pope Launches Global Campaign Against Gays.” The Pope, of course, did no such thing.
What the Pope Said
First, what did the Pope do to invite this false accusation against him?
The Holy Father, through the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, approved a statement about the nature of marriage, a statement that repeats what every Pope has taught for 2,000 years: Marriage is the lifelong union of a man and a woman who enter into a total sharing of themselves for the sake of family. This is not first of all a religious teaching, although Christ raised marriage to the level of a sacrament.
This is an understanding of marriage from nature itself. Marriage predates our present government or any other and predates, as well, the founding of the Church. Marriage is not the creature of state or Church, and neither a government nor the Church has authority to change its nature. A government that claims such authority becomes totalitarian.
What the Holy See concluded from the fact that there is neither biological nor moral equivalence between heterosexual marriage and homosexual unions is that there should be no legal equivalence, either, in a well-ordered and wholesome society.
It is this conclusion, evidently, which was represented falsely as a “global campaign against gays.” Because of a concerted campaign in movies and TV shows in recent years to shape public imagination and opinion into accepting same-sex relations as normal and morally unexceptional, obvious truths now are considered evidence of homophobia.
Because a morality based upon desires has largely supplanted a morality based upon the truth of things, a teaching that limits sexual self-expression of any sort becomes oppressive. In this context, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that people of homosexual orientation should be treated with every respect and with compassion; but the Catechism also teaches the truth about the nature of God's gift of human sexuality, a truth our bodies themselves proclaim and the lives of married couples attest to.
Secondly, who is the Pope and why should Catholics take to heart false accusations against him? The Pope is the bishop of Rome and therefore the successor of the apostle who heard Jesus tell him: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18-19).
The Holy Spirit invisibly anchors the Church in the truth of Christ. Truths of faith can be more adequately understood from age to age, but the Holy Spirit does not contradict himself. The Holy See, because of the personal office of the Successor of Peter, is a privileged and secure visible expression of the Spirit's guidance of the Church.
Catholics therefore reverence the Petrine office as a gift from Christ himself and have a deep respect for the person holding that office.
Divulging disinformation about the Pope and engaging in anti-papal propaganda attacks all Catholics and is usually, in history, a preparation for active persecution of the Church. The Holy Father makes up nothing that he teaches. His is not the “opinion of the Vatican.” His is the teaching of Jesus Christ, because he is the primary witness to the faith that unites us to Christ.
In matters that are received over the ages and proclaimed by the Pope in ours, no person who disagrees to the point of denial can claim to hold the Catholic faith. Disdain for and hatred of the Pope are sure signs of anti-Catholicism.
Thirdly, then, what does the printing of a false accusation against the Pope in a major Chicago daily say about anti-Catholicism here? This is a question I never believed I would have to ask. The Catholic Church was here before any newspaper, before the incorporation of the city of Chicago or the establishment of the state of Illinois.
The Church has been the instrument used by Christ to make thousands of Chicagoans holy. She has preached the Gospel and made the sacraments available, she has educated and healed, served the poor and raised a voice for justice.
The Church Is Holy
We Catholics are sinners and, at this moment, we are especially shamed by the terrible sins of some priests and bishops. But the Church remains holy in her gifts from her Lord. If her moral teaching were honored in our conduct, there would be no sexual abuse of anyone, no rape or betrayal of marriage, no sexual promiscuity parading as freedom, no fraud in business or government, no false accusations or lies, published or unpublished. What the Church, which condemns all these sins, offers constantly is Christ's forgiveness of sinners.
The Pope is attacked for many reasons. In some Protestant circles, he is still regarded as the Antichrist. Among secularists, his teaching office is a threat to human freedom. Among disaffected Catholics, the Pope must be discredited so that Catholics will be forced to change their faith.
And the headline-writers of the Sun-Times? I do not know their motivation. A bishop likes to presuppose good will, and what they did would find an echo in many places; but what I must say today is that a line has been crossed, and Chicago Catholics cannot ignore what has happened.
I have written a letter of apology to Pope John Paul II.
He has visited this city many times and always asks of it fondly. He does not think of it as a center of anti-Catholicism. For the first time in my life, I hesitated as I signed my title.
I'm ashamed that this false accusation against the Pope was made in our city. At the very least, it is unfair; and we pride ourselves on fairness. I ask you to pray for the Holy Father; pray as well for the enemies of the Church; and let us pray for one another, for strength in the present and perseverance in the difficulties to come.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Cardinal Francis George, O.M.I. ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: My Father, the Theologian DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:My father's picture and bio may never be found in some lexicon of great Catholic thinkers.
At the same time, he was everything the Catechism says he should be when it says: “Through the grace of the sacrament of marriage, parents receive the responsibility and privilege of evangelizing their children.”
My father was a working stiff from an era where being a grocer was a career for a lot of hardworking stiffs. Our family, with our dad as securely placed at the head of it as any silver-back gorilla could ever hope to be, lived within the rubrics of an economic climate that allowed a grocer to support his wife and send all 10 of his children through 12 years of Catholic schooling.
In some respects, our dad's life was a lot like the Jimmy Stewart classic movie It's A Wonderful Life, only without the guardian angel and the happy ending.
He started a business and went broke. He battled the bottle and eventually beat it. His three-pack-a-day cigarette habit, though, ran him into ground and took him away.
In short, he had that wonderful Irish gift for disaster.
Despite all of that, our dad had another part of his personality that made up for any and all defects — his faith.
In an age where politicians proudly declare how their “personal” Catholic beliefs will not interfere with their public policymaking, our dad showed us that private practice and public action went hand in glove. And he showed us the power of perseverance that can be obtained as long as one was anchored on the pillars of the Church.
I have now lived my life longer without my father than with him and time has a remarkable ability to help one focus on the important things. To an outsider, watching this chaotic mess we called our family, one might walk (or maybe run) away with a sense of complete despair. To us, all the confusion and trouble were just the flotsam and jetsam of everyday life. What made it all easier to take was the one giant constant in our existence: the Church.
Our mother was a convert because of our father. My brother is a priest because of our father, and the rest of us all reside joyfully, if imperfectly, in communion with the Church because of our father.
How did he pull this religious grand slam off?
What incredible Thomistic calisthenics were employed to train us to think that God was one in three and that he incarnated himself in order to make possible our salvation from original sin?
What did our father do? Very little, except to show, by his example, an absolutely unwavering faith in the tenets of the Church.
My father never understood Vatican II. He didn't like change and the mere mention of a “folk Mass” was enough to send him into an apoplectic fit.
But in the end it really didn't matter where one came down on “Kumbaya” or the sign of peace. What my father understood so much better than the rest of us was that God existed, he loved his creation so much that he sent his only son to die for our sins and that before Jesus found his way to the cross, he took the time to establish a Church here on Earth to represent him until his return.
What it takes theologians years to learn my dad had figured out in a few simple and universal tenets, his Roman Catholicism 101.
Our dad was downright biblical in his contradictions. To the world that worships power and money he was an abject failure, yet he was the master of our house in the very best sense of the word. His authority came from a power none of his 10 children was willing to contradict even if at times we were prone to challenge that authority on the premise we were going to get away with it.
But if we really stepped out of line, if one of us 10 had really gotten ourselves in a fix, our dad, the stern disciplinarian, was always there in a calm, compassionate and totally selfless way.
Our dad's faith was not worn as an outer garment for all the world to see and marvel at. He wore a medal under his work shirt and ashes on one Wednesday out of the year. His faith was unwavering, his devotion to the Blessed Mary equally strong.
We 10, his children, knew all of this not because he told us but because he showed us. Our dad was a theologian and didn't even know it. He understood you never missed Mass. We, his children, might miss Mass sometimes when one of us was too sick to attend, but somehow our father was either never sick or never sick enough not to get up and get himself to church.
Our dad also knew you needed to go to confession, give up something important to you for Lent and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and Easter.
And just like all of the Gospel indicators from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John that have told us those who are first will be last and those who are last will be first, our father left us all those many years ago empty by the measure of the materialistic world but full with the deposit of faith he had accumulated in his wife and the 10 children he so powerfully and profoundly influenced.
All of my father's children love their faith and to a man and woman have tried to live conscientiously within the Church.
That makes our dad 10 for 10 for Christ.
Not bad for a theologian, but even greater for a grocer.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Robert Brennan ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Taming of the Tongue DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Garbage in, garbage out. It is so amazing how much truth is packed into this one little saying.
When I worked outside the home, I had to constantly fight all the negative things I heard. One topic of conversation that seemed to be everyone's favorite was Bad Things Husbands Do. In minutes the conversation would become a high-pitched whirl. Everyone wanted to tell her story and one-up the last one. It was very hard not to get caught up in the moment. If I did not walk away, I knew I could easily get pulled right into the whirl and, even against my better judgment, feel justified in voicing the petty resentments I had toward my husband.
I also noticed that, when my prayer life was growing and I was spending more time with Jesus — the perfect lover — I was able to love better.
I learned in psychology that we often fear what we do not understand. As a defense mechanism, we tend to “tear down” the things that threaten us — including the people with whom we do not agree. To justify our own ways, we often gossip or speak poorly of others. Why? To assure ourselves that we are righteous and the other person is flawed.
Of course, as Catholics, we are called to a better way: Love one another as Jesus has loved us. Difficult? Sure. Doable? Definitely — with God's help.
Consider the Lord's Prayer. Toward the end of the Our Father, Christ told us to ask God to “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Think about what Jesus asks of us here. He says we are only to seek forgiveness inasmuch as we are willing to forgive.
This is a dangerous thing to pray! How many of us really take it to heart?
One of the ways to get in the habit of forgiving others is to make excuses for their behavior. Not in the sense that condones bad behavior or speech but to look at possible causes for their actions. We have all had people who have hurt us in one way or another. Instead of sowing seeds of bitterness and unforgiveness, which often lead us into slander and gossip, ask yourself why that person who is hurting you could possibly be acting that way. Are they insecure and in need of another's approval? Are they unkind because they have had little kindness extended to them in their life? Do they speak poorly about others frequently because they do not know Christ and that he loves each of us unconditionally?
As we learn to guard our minds against negative thoughts, we get better at controlling our tongues. When we look at others in love, as Christ does, we can see that their soul may be suffering and we can have compassion on them. What we allow in our hearts is reflected in our words — and our words are a reflection of our faith in Christ. We have all heard the familiar words, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”
God's word tells us: “Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not jealous, it does not put on airs, it is not snobbish. Love is never rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not prone to anger; nor does it brood over injury. Love does not rejoice in wrong, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-6).
Begin this month to weed out those things that cause you to speak poorly of others and fill your hearts with the seeds of Christ's love. Spend more time with him in personal prayer, read his word, receive him more frequently in the holy Eucharist and receive healing in the sacrament of reconciliation for your past moments of speaking poorly of others.
And remember: Jesus in, Jesus out. There's a lot of truth packed into that saying, too.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jackie Oberhausen ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Knock-ing on Heaven's Door DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Morning dawned bright and clear, but the skies darkened as the day progressed. By evening, it was raining hard.
The weather suited my frame of mind upon arriving in the historic village in which we now found ourselves. For I had learned that Knock, like many rural areas in Ireland, was devastated by the potato famine of the 19th century. Soon after, its population was decimated by emigration.
For a long time, the only thing holding this area together was its Catholic faith. Into this depressing and difficult period, a flame of hope ignited on the night of Aug. 21, 1879. On that night, at the “gable end” (or southern wall) of the local church, a silent apparition appeared before a crowd of villagers.
Starting at 7 p.m. and lasting for about two hours, many villagers stood in the pouring rain, praying, stunned by what must have been a literally breathtaking sight. Bathed in a warm light, the vision was visible from a distance of half a mile. The Blessed Mother, with a gold crown on her head, raised her hands and face to heaven. St. Joseph, on her right, bowed his head in deference to the Queen of Heaven. St. John the Evangelist, on Mary's left, held a book in his left hand while his right hand was raised, as though he were preaching. The figures hovered around two feet above the ground.
To the left of St. John, directly under the church window, a lamb stood on a full-sized altar. A cross glowed behind the gentle creature; a choir of angelic figures encircled it.
Witnesses reported that the figures were three-dimensional and in motion. But when one of the villagers reached to kiss the Blessed Mother's foot, the figure dissolved. Also, the ground under the holy figures remained completely dry despite the downpour. Word of the remarkable event spread quickly throughout town and more villagers ran to the church to see for themselves.
Within weeks, the news had spread throughout Ireland and to Irish nationals around the world. Pilgrims began streaming in to pray in the humble village. The Church set up an investigation, interviewing 15 official witnesses, and the accounts were deemed “trustworthy and satisfactory.” It surely didn't hurt that many miraculous cures of physical ailments were being reported at the spot.
All around the world, Irish people took pride in the knowledge that God had chosen their homeland for this dramatic intervention. Indeed, they still do — as witnessed by the thousands who continue to make their way to Knock on pilgrimage each year.
If you could only visit Knock one day and night of the year, you could hardly do better than to make it the night of Aug. 21 and the day of Aug. 22. The former, of course, is the anniversary of the apparition; its coming each year marks the conclusion of a national novena begun on the feast of the Assumption (Aug. 15). There's an all-night candlelight procession in which thousands of pilgrims sing, pray and recite the rosary. And the very next day, Aug. 22, is the feast of the Queenship of Mary.
Spotlight on Saints
In 1940, to protect the church's “gable end” — and the streams of pilgrims — from the elements, the site was covered with an oratory. The current Apparition Chapel, blessed and opened in 1992, contains a set of white marble statues replicating the apparition. Built as a sort of “new wing” attached to the back end of the old church, the chapel is finished in shades of charcoal gray, focusing the pilgrim's attention on what the villagers saw. The focus is heightened by artificial and natural light bathing the bright, white-marble figures. The altar is set in front of the Apparition Lamb; the effect of the juxtaposition renders daily Mass a special and memorable occasion for pilgrims no matter when they visit.
Built to accommodate up to 10,000 pilgrims, the new church comprises more than an acre of land. It's structured “in the round” and divided into five chapels, all with an unobstructed view of the center altar. Each chapel is dedicated to a different saint of special devotion to the Irish. In addition, each wall (erected to support the enormous ceiling) has a replica of a window from an important abbey of each of Ireland's five main dioceses. The doors of the new church open wide to allow overflow attendees to participate from outside on the covered pavilion — a must during peak season.
During its centenary year, 1979, the shrine drew a historic pilgrim to Knock: Pope John Paul II. While here, he raised the new church to a basilica and presented Our Lady of Knock with a gold rose — the highest personal gift a pope can bestow and a mark of exceptional honor. During the presentation, the Holy Father said the rose would “remain as my personal tribute and testimony of gratitude to Mary, Mother of the heavenly and earthly Church.”
The shrine, which some have nicknamed “the Irish Lourdes,” is a warm and welcoming place for all, including the handicapped. Along with the old and new churches, wheelchair-accessible attractions include chapels for adoration, reconciliation and contemplation of the apparition. An outdoor Stations of the Cross is well-paved and maintained, and a museum showing life in 1879 Ireland is fascinating.
In retrospect, I was fortunate to see the site in the rain — just as the apparition witnesses saw it all those years ago.
For the Knock shrine has the ability to lighten the gloomiest heart, no matter how bad the weather.
Mary C. Gildersleeve writes from Central, South Carolina.
----- EXCERPT: Knock's Basilica of Our Lady, Queen of Ireland ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mary C. Gildersleeve ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Now Playing DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:SEABISCUIT (Universal) Director: Gary Ross. Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper. (PG-13)
Take One: Based on the acclaimed nonfiction book about a legendary Depression-era race-horse, Seabiscuit offers an uplifting, character-based tale about overcoming obstacles in a summer desperately lacking films not driven by gunfire and explosions or based on comic books, video games and theme-park attractions.
Take Two: The platitudes and thematic points are a little heavy-handed, and the film is spoiled for family audiences by an unnecessary brothel sequence with some comically intended lewd behavior and a bedroom scene (no explicit nudity).
Content advisory: crude language and profanity, sports-related violence and injuries, remarriage after divorce.
Final Take: Though not great moviemaking, Seabiscuit has a great subject and a wonderful story to tell, and its winning theme of the little guy with the heart of a champion may just leave adult viewers feeling great as well.
TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF
THE MACHINES (Warner Bros) Director: Jonathan Mostow. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes. (R)
Take One: Arnold is back in the role that launched him to superstardom 20 years ago, pitted for the second time against a more advanced cyborg (Kristanna Loken) in a battle for the life of John Connor (Stahl), who is destined to lead mankind in a coming post-apocalyptic war against machines.
Take Two: Another violent film about killer cyborgs, T3 is at least less cruel than previous installments, earning its R rating with a single gory scene of impalement.
Content advisory: some profanity, obscenity, and crude language; brief rear nudity.
Final Take: The action and language are too rough for many tastes, but fans of the earlier films will probably appreciate this sequel's bravura action set pieces as well the plot-level resolution of the earlier films' past and future storylines.
THE LEAGUE OF EXTRA-ORDINARYG ENTLEMEN (20th Century Fox) Director: Stephen Norrington. Sean Connery, Naseeruddin Shah, Peta Wilson. (PG-13)
Take One: Action-movie adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic-novel tribute to 19th-century British fiction features the combined forces of numerous legendary protagonists, including Allen Quatermain (Connery), Captain Nemo (Shah), Mina Harker (Wilson), the Invisible Man (Rodney Skinner) and Jeckyll/Hyde (Jason Flemyng).
Take Two: After a mildly diverting “gathering” act, the film spectacularly crashes and burns, descending into meaningless action, inconsequential revelations and near-complete incoherence.
Content advisory: strong action violence, some innuendo and mild profanity, references to Hindu Kali worship and shamanist magic.
Final Take: One of the year's worst cinematic disasters, LXG's only entertainment value, beyond comic-book set design and mostly well-done effects, is the mild train-wreck fascination of watching another Battlefield Earth or Wild West West unfold on the screen despite the presence of a major star.
SPY KIDS 3-D: GAME OVER
(Dimension) Director: Robert Rodriguez. Daryl Sabara, Sylvester Stallone, Ricardo Montalban. (PG)
Take One: Third installment in Robert Rodriguez's family series is cheerful, energetic, inoffensive, visually stimulating and even sort of colorful, within the limits of the yellow-purple spectrum dictated by the red-and-blue 3-D glasses.
Take Two: The humanity of the original is gone, the positive family spirit is reduced to a slogan and only Juni has more than a supporting role. There's no logic or coherence to the plot, even on a video-game level, and the sci-fi trappings don't touch the whimsical imagination of earlier installments.
Content advisory: stylized action violence and mild menace.
Final Take: Your call. As sheer dumb spectacle, Spy Kids 3-D isn't wholly without merit; too bad Rodriguez can no longer be bothered to offer family audiences more than that.
LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER — THE CRADLE OF LIFE (Paramount) Director: Jan de Bont. Angelina Jolie, Gerard Butler, Ciaran Hinds. (PG-13)
Take One: Angelina Jolie returns as the video-game heroine in another Indiana Jones knockoff promising more action — and more plot — than the original. The target: Pandora's box.
Take Two: The over-the-top action is often as inexplicable as in Spy Kids 3-D — but quite a bit rougher. Why does Lara smash her own vase in her own house? Why does dropping a certain object into a certain recess make the monsters disintegrate, and how did Lara know this?
Content advisory: a steamy PG-13 near-seduction scene, some crass language and innuendo, and mild profanity.
Final Take: The onslaught of video-game inspired movies seems as unstoppable as the woes of Pandora's box. This movie is the latest example as to why such boxes should remain closed.
Steven D. Greydanus, editor and chief critic of DecentFilms.com, writes from
Spotlight: Bob Hope Memorial
According to Leonard Maltin, Bob Hope was perhaps “the most popular entertainer in the history of Western civilization.” A star of vaudeville, radio, cinematic shorts and feature films, and television, his claims to fame also include a tireless dedication to entertaining American troops abroad and many humanitarian efforts.
Seven years ago, after nearly six decades of marriage to an active Roman Catholic, Bob Hope was received into the Catholic Church and became a frequent communicant. His funeral Mass was celebrated July 30 at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in North Hollywood and, on Aug. 3, he was remembered at a memorial Mass celebrated by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in Washington.
On the screen, Hope generally played rather antiheroic comic characters — vain, self-absorbed, cowardly and womanizing. In some cases, these qualities overcome other aspects of the film. For example, the otherwise enjoyable comedy Where There's Life ends on a sour note by not giving us the Hope character's long-deferred wedding to his long-suffering fiancée, instead closing with Hope kissing another woman.
His better pictures, however, keep his character's foibles in perspective, sometimes even partially redeeming him. And while his films are sometimes slightly naughty, they're never dirty or lascivious. In 1969, asked by the Catholic Herald of Milwaukee about the increasing use of sex and nudity in entertainment, Hope spoke disparagingly both about “those who are doing it and those who are watching. … I like jokes and stories. But when you see some of this stuff, it's too much.”
— Steven D. Greydanus
----- EXCERPT: A Register's-eye view of five current box-office leaders ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus, ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video/DVD Picks DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Road to Morocco (1942)
The third of the well-known Road movies starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour is perhaps the best. Lighthearted and nonsensical, sophisticated but not overplotted, Morocco represents the point at which the Road-movie formula hit its stride but hadn't yet descended into self-parody.
By this time audiences knew what to expect and were in on the joke as Bing and Bob sang, in their self-aware opening number, “Where we're goin', why we're goin', how can we be sure? I'll lay you eight-to-five that we meet Dorothy Lamour!”
This time out the boys take their Road act to Arabian Nights territory, where, as usual, they sing (especially Bing), crack wise (especially Bob) and vie over Lamour, who again has an agenda of her own. The story, which is taken about as seriously as the plot of a typical Looney Tunes cartoon, has Bing and Bob shipwrecked and washed up on the road to Morocco.
Bob's sainted aunt (played by Hope himself in a wig) appears periodically from heaven, urging the boys along the path of righteousness — but when Princess Shalmar (Lamour) unexpectedly takes an interest in Bob, it's every man for himself.
The camel sums it up nicely: “This is the screwiest picture I've ever been in.”
Content advisory: Mild farcical innuendo and sensuality; comic menace and violence.
My Favorite Blonde (1942)
One of Bob Hope's best comic-thriller vehicles, My Favorite Blonde benefits from its semi-serious spy-thriller ambiance, tolerably cogent plot, scene-stealing penguin and above all one of the more human, less caricatured, less one-dimensionally narcissistic characters in Hope's movie oeuvre.
That character is Larry Haines, a vaudeville player whose trained-penguin act has him Hollywood bound — until he gets mixed up with a mysterious blonde named Karen Bentley (Madeleine Carroll, of the original The 39 Steps).
Unbeknowst to Haines, Bentley is a British agent desperately trying to get time-sensitive intelligence information past a cadre of determined Nazi pursuers led by Gail Sondergaard and George Zucco. (That the plot never permits Bentley to demonstrate a credible level of espionage acumen is one of the film's chief weaknesses.)
Typical screwball zaniness ensues, but the picture doesn't really hit its stride until Haines finally learns what's going on. This leads to one of the movie's funniest sequences, a hilarious escape from a hotel room where they've been cornered.
Shortly afterward, there's a rare moment of soul-searching and moral feeling from a Bob Hope character, with Haines vacillating between manhood and mousehood.
Content advisory: Mild innuendo and sensuality; semi-comic menace and violence.
Monsieur Beaucaire (1946)
An above-average Bob Hope costume comedy, Monsieur Beau-caire borrows its title and inspiration from a silent Rudolph Valentino romance-drama (which was in turn based on a novel and play by Booth Tarkington), but transforms the original premise of a duke disguised as a barber into a farce about a real barber and a duke who switch places.
Beaucaire (Hope) is barber to Louis XV of France — until the former's romantic altercations with a chambermaid named Mimi (Joan Caulfield) inadvertently result in banishment for both Mimi and himself.
At the same time, the king finds it expedient to rid the court of the Duc le Chandre, a renowned swordsman and celebrated ladies' man, by making a political marriage between le Chandre and Princess Maria of Spain (Marjorie Reynolds).
Romantic and political intrigues collide as sinister forces conspire to draw Spain and France into war. As with the romantic comedies of Shakespeare, the plot involves parallel “upper-class” and “lower-class” storylines — the difference being that here the upper-class romance is in the background and the lower-class one in the foreground. Even so, le Chandre provides a typical swashbuckling model of honor and heroism, contrasting nicely with Beaucaire's churlish buffoonery.
Content advisory: Mild farcical innuendo and romantic intrigue; comic menace and violence.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:SUNDAY, AUG. 17
Historic Homes of Boston
Home & Garden TV, 5 p.m.
Ever wish you could pay a personal visit to the heroes of our country's Revolution and thank them for securing our liberty? In this special, we can at least drop by and admire the homes of Paul Revere and John and Abigail Adams. We also tour residences of JFK and poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
MON.-FRI., AUG. 18-22
The Bible: God's Message to Man
EWTN, 4:30 a.m.
& 6 p.m., daily
The Catholic Church is the Mother of the Bible and has the full Bible — none of the incomplete, altered versions that others sadly retain. This comprehensive, new, five-part series covers topics such as the Bible's divine inspiration, its varied writers, the original texts, surviving manuscripts, translations, the Old and New Testaments, the story of salvation, the Messiah and the compiling and dating of the Gospels.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 20
Top Ten Toylands
Travel Channel, 10 a.m.
Little ones know the best toy of all is a faithful, well-worn cloth bunny, teddy or doll. But more flashy toys can have their place, too, and this program shows us some of them.
THURSDAY, AUG. 21
The Story of Knock
EWTN, 3 a.m. & 2 p.m.
The Irish have always loved the Mother of Christ; Brian O'Rourke, prince of Breffni, told his Elizabethan executioners in 1603, “I'll kneel to no queen but Ireland's Queen in Heaven above.” Much later, on Aug. 21, 1879, the Mother of Christ visited her Irish flock in Knock, County Mayo, and this program relates eyewitness accounts.
THURSDAY, AUG. 21
Life on the Rock
EWTN, 8 p.m.
Tonight's guest is Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb., where priestly vocations and seminaries are flourishing.
FRIDAY, AUG. 22
The Aleutians: Cradle of the Storms
PBS, 10 p.m.
The barren, frigid Aleutian Islands, which stretch from Alaska to Japan, are home to some of the world's worst weather, and they saw fierce battles in World War II. But over the past seven decades the resident Aleuts have survived and even flourished.
SATURDAY, AUG. 23
The Victory Garden
PBS, 12:30 p.m.
This episode's topics include gardening for children and advice from hand therapists on hands-friendly ways to prune and to hold garden tools.
SATURDAY, AUG. 23
Polar Bears Uncovered
Animal Planet, 8 p.m.
Polar bear cubs have to be tough to survive, but they also find time to cuddle and frolic.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: All times Eastern ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dan Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: The Mandatum and the Rights of Catholic Parents DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:What a difference a century makes!
At the turn of the 20th century, bishops, archbishops and cardinals were attaching the penalty of mortal sin to Catholic parents who did not send their children to a Catholic school. At the turn of the 21st century, America's bishops won't tell parents which putatively Catholic schools still conform to Catholic teaching.
Worse, this refusal takes place despite the shocking fact — now common knowledge — that
Catholic students are more likely to keep their faith at a secular university than they are at many institutions that carry the title Catholic.
If this latest controversy somehow sounds familiar, there's a reason.
The Church has two primary missions: to teach and to sanctify. The two missions are intimately bound together, as Pope John Paul II stated in his 1979 apostolic exhortation, Catechesi Tradendae (Catechesis in our Time): “One can likewise speak of a right: from the theological point of view every baptized person, precisely by reason of being baptized, has the right to receive from the Church instruction and education enabling him or her to enter on a truly Christian life …” (No. 14).
And as Pope Pius XI states in his 1929 encyclical Divini Illius Magistri (On Christian Education): “Every Christian child or youth has a strict right to instruction in harmony with the teaching of the Church, the pillar and ground of truth. And whoever disturbs the pupil's faith in any way does him grave wrong, inasmuch as he abuses the trust that children place in their teachers and takes unfair advantage of their inexperience and of their natural craving for unrestrained liberty, at once illusory and false” (No. 57).
For we who are baptized, correct instruction in the faith is not a privilege — it is a right. Abuse is the infringing of a person's rights. Given the clear failure of many Catholic schools to pass on the Catholic faith, the secrecy surrounding the mandatum in many dioceses is arguably a form of abuse.
But we should be very clear: It is not just the student who is being abused.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church in article No. 1631 points out that marriage introduces those being married into an ecclesial order. The Catechism tells us why in quite remarkable terms: “The fecundity of conjugal love cannot be reduced solely to the procreation of children but must extend to their moral education and their spiritual formation” (No. 2221).
The Catechism goes even further. It points out that all of these creations — child, parent, rights and duties — are oriented toward a specific purpose. Conjugal love is not fully life-giving until the parents show their children how to love and serve God. When the child learns this, the parents have become fully parents.
Procreation is our participation in the creation of an immortal person, a person who will exist beyond time. But, the Catechism says, the life-giving quality of married love — that is, the life-giving quality of sexual relations — cannot be reduced to just this. In a real sense, the act of sex is an act that becomes really life-giving only when the children we conceive learn to love and serve the God who brought them into existence through our human act.
In one of his general audience addresses on the theology of the body, the Pope said: “Conjugal life becomes, in a certain sense, liturgical.” We can now also see that moral education and spiritual formation is, in a certain sense, embedded in the procreative sexual act. Conception, the existence of a child, is a natural consequence of conjugal love. The duty toward the moral education and spiritual formation of the child is a natural consequence of the child's existence.
Conjugal love results in sex, which results in children, which results in the parental duty and the child's right to education. According to the Catechism, each is a natural consequence so tightly intertwined with what precedes it that they can together be considered a single entity: fecundity.
Bishops Help Parents
And now we begin to see why the mandatum controversy sounds so familiar. Pope Paul VI, in his 1968 encyclical, Humanae Vitae (On the Regulation of Birth), described contraception in this way: “Every action which, either in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible” (No. 14).
Moral education and spiritual formation are embedded in the sexual act; they are natural consequences of procreation. Pope Paul VI, in reiterating the constant teaching of the Church, succinctly describes the problem in the man-datum controversy. Put simply, professors and bishops who refuse to verify authentic Catholic teaching are engaging in an activity remarkably similar to contraception.
“The bishops ensure the authentic Catholic faith is transmitted to parents so they, in turn, can pass it on to their children. Teachers and educators at all levels also assist in this process. The laity bear witness to that purity of faith that bishops take pains to maintain” (“World Synod Document on Bishops and the Ministry of the Word,” 2001, No. 105).
The Church recognizes how education is supposed to work. Bishops are supposed to assist the parents. The parents — the primary educators — assist their children. But what if someone refuses to assist parents as they attempt to properly form their children in the faith?
This is indirectly referred to in the Catechism as well: “Chastity presupposes respect for the rights of the person, in particular the right to receive information and an education that respect the moral and spiritual dimensions of human life” (No. 2344).
By now we should not be surprised to find such interference mimics the decision to be unchaste. Given the way the actions of many unchaste priests were actively hidden, can we be surprised that so many heterodox professors are also being actively hidden?
Education and conjugal fecundity are intertwined.
In “Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops quotes St. Thomas More and holds him up as an example for lay people to follow, even if it means laity might “face a political penalty for living their public office in accord with their pro-life convictions.”
St. Thomas More is indeed an excellent example to us, but perhaps it is time to consider how this remarkable layperson is himself an excellent example for every ordained man.
In A Man for All Seasons, a young man asks to marry St. Thomas More's daughter. St. Thomas More replies, “The answer is No and will be No as long as you're a heretic.”
“Now that's a word I don't like, Sir Thomas,” the suitor replies.
“It's not a likeable word. It's not a likeable thing,” replies the saint, unperturbed, as he sends the young man away.
A father, whether he be ordained by holy matrimony or holy orders, watches over his children and guards them from danger. We must continue to pray for our priests and bishops, that they may learn from the example of St. Thomas More.
Every one of us must be willing to pay the price to preserve the family and the faith, no matter how high.
Steve Kellmeyer writes from Peoria, Illinois
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steve Kellmeyer ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Christ: The Ultimate Anti-Anxiety Medicine DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:GOD HELP ME! THIS STRESS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY
by Gregory K. Popcak
Loyola University Press, 2003.
149 pages, $14.95
To order: (800) 621-1008
www.loyolapress.com
Fear. Phobia. Angst. They're nothing new: 25 years ago, Pope John Paul II pleaded: “Be not afraid! Open wide the doors to Christ!” He really was saying nothing different than Christ, who also greeted his disciples: “Be not afraid! Peace be with you!”
But fear and stress seem to dominate modern life now more than ever. How can a Catholic cope? Gregory Popcak, a licensed Catholic psychotherapist in Steubenville, Ohio, offers his advice.
What makes this book special is its blend of spirituality and psychology. Books on the two sometimes tend to downplay the former and play up the latter. This book is different.
Popcak uses the best of psychotherapy without mak- ing it a substitute for religion. He's grounded enough in the Catholic faith to know that trying to live as God wills is naturally (really supernaturally) psychotherapeutic: God's will and our welfare really do dovetail.
At the same time, he also knows that modern psychotherapy, when it takes into account “the whole truth about man” can help promote full human flourishing. That, in turn, is what God wants, because “the glory of God is man fully alive.”
Popcak starts out by getting our perspectives straight. Anxiety and stress find their roots in human sinfulness and the fear of loss. We try to compensate for that fear of loss by attempting to control situations. The problem is that we really aren't in control. The one way out of this vicious circle is to recognize that we're not in charge. God is.
By way of driving that point home, Popcak points out common modes of “faulty thinking” and inventories our “spiritual tools for overcoming anxiety” — like the sacraments, Scripture and Marian devotions. He also urges his readers to “become who you are” by acquiring those virtues we need for our “authentic selves” to blossom. And who are we? Popcak taps into a neglected teaching of Vatican II, a teaching Pope John Paul II himself stresses: We are called to be “priests, prophets and kings.”
Baptism makes us children of God, Popcak reminds us, and “because God wants his home to be a loving and orderly home, he gives his children certain chores to do and certain expectations of family life.”
Elsewhere he urges us to pursue not just happiness but joy. This he defines as “the virtue that allows us to experience an all-encompassing sense of wonder at God's creation and the gifts He has given us.” Joy, he says, “challenges us to live a more abundant life, … to try new things [and] to open ourselves to new experiences.” In other words, joy is the gift of the Holy Spirit that keeps us young — and keeps our stress in check.
The book, whose only fault is its brevity, is replete with case studies that illustrate Popcak's principles in action. It also contains lots of quizzes to let readers evaluate where their own strengths and weaknesses lie. Be not afraid to read the book, take the tests and decompress from your stress.
John M. Grondelski writes from Warsaw, Poland.
Two Roads
After nearly 80 years, Chestnut Hill will admit its first coed class this fall and will benefit from an enrollment spike due to male eligibility and because it can now draw women who prefer a coed environment.
In contrast, Rosemont read the data differently, decided to remain single-sex and has seen freshman applications rise by 46% since last year, with freshman deposits up 24%, thanks in part to a major push to involve alumnae in recruiting.
New Duties
UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND, July 31 — Holy Cross Father David Tyson has resigned as president of the University of Portland in Oregon to become provincial superior of the Indiana province of the Congregation of the Holy Cross.
Holy Cross Brother Donald Stabrowski, university provost, was named Portland's acting president. As provincial, Father Tyson will direct the work of more than 300 fellow priests and brothers in the world's largest Holy Cross province.
During Father Tyson's 13 years as president, the University of Portland quadrupled its enrollment and conducted the most successful fund-raising campaign in Oregon private college history.
D.C. Vouchers
A House committee has approved an education bill containing the school voucher initiative for Washington, but a companion measure in the Senate is on hold as the Appropriations Committee postponed a vote on the city's budget amid heated discussion on the voucher initiative.
Suing Coeds
FOX NEWS, July 29 — Dozens of University of Notre Dame students received notice this spring that they were being sued by a South Bend bar for $3,000 apiece. The students and others were nabbed at the bar some months earlier in a raid by police in search of underage drinkers with fake identification.
While both the bar owners and the students had already received criminal penalties, the suit is part of a phenomenon that has become “increasingly common,” Fox News said. “Bars caught serving underage patrons are turning the tables on their busted clientele, suing for damages they incur from fines and loss or suspension of liquor licenses.”
Prior Restraint
CHRONICLE.COM, Aug. 1 — Michelle Beadle, a Messianic Jew, is suing the University of New Orleans for prohibiting her from circulating a pamphlet, “You Can Say Almost Anything … Almost!” because it contained the phrase “Jews should believe in Jesus.”
The university contends that the phrase could be offensive to some, according to the Web site of The Chronicle of Higher Education.
“This is clearly a case of prior restraint,” said Beadle's attorney, who argued that the university may regulate the time and place of speech but cannot discriminate against it because of its content.
Joe Cullen writes from New York.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joe Cullen ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Family Matters DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Unexpected Job Loss
The company I work for has recently announced layoffs and, unfortunately, I got word that my position is being eliminated. Fortunately, I am receiving a severance package equal to three months' salary, so we'll be able to manage in the short term. Do you have any suggestions to help us get through this challenging period?
The weaknesses in the economy over the past few years continue to take a heavy toll, especially when we add to that the impact of a rapidly changing global, information-based economy.
It would be difficult to overstate the physical, emotional and financial challenges a family must endure when faced with unemployment. It is important during a difficult time like this to remember that, even though the secular world often determines a person's self-worth by what he does, the essence of our self-worth is that we have been created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). While work is a good thing and we are called to perform our best, it is important to recall that “work is for man, and not man for work” (Catechism, No. 2428; Laborem Exercens, p. 17). Maintain a positive outlook and apply yourself diligently to the task of finding a new job.
Take stock of your finances immediately and cut back on spending wherever possible. It's easy to maintain the same lifestyle for awhile with credit cards, but you'll be digging a hole that will be difficult to climb out of.
When it comes to financial need, the common refrain I heard was, “Thank God for family!” The couples I spoke with were most comfortable presenting their needs to their immediate families first. If friends want to help, I recommend that it be an anonymous gift rather than a loan. The gift could be considered as part of the tithe.
Networking continues to be the best way to find a job. Most jobs come through someone you know, so make sure your friends are aware of your situation.
On one hand, don't allow pride to stop you from taking a position that doesn't meet your expectations, especially when your family's financial needs require it. On the other hand, don't jump at any offer too quickly just to get a job. This is a difficult balancing act that requires you to weigh your talents with the availability of jobs utilizing those talents.
Take this opportunity to assess your career. Is it possible to apply your talents in a different way than you have in the past? I have had friends who were able to transition very successfully from one career (retail sales) to another career (outside sales) after experiencing a job loss.
Finally, ask for heavenly help. Remember that St. Joseph had to deal with a sudden job change, so he can relate to all of our struggles. As the patron saint of workers, he will carry your petitions to our loving Father.
God love you!
One of our readers sent in this prayer:
O glorious St. Joseph, you who have power to render possible things which are impossible, come to our aid in our present trouble and distress. Take this important and difficult affair under your particular protection, that it may end happily. O dear St. Joseph, all our confidence is in you. Let it not be said that we have invoked you in vain, and since you are so powerful with Jesus and Mary, show that your goodness equals your power. Amen.
Phil Lenahan is director of finance for Catholic Answers in El Cajon, California.
Reach Family Matters at
familymatters@ncregister.com
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Phil Lenahan ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: VITALITY TRANSFER DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Facts
Unlike many species of animals, humans survive and thrive well past their reproductive years. Why? Because, even after their fertile days have long since passed, people continue to make important contributions to younger generations. Researchers at the University of California call it the “transfer effect.”
Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 18. Illustration by Tim Rauch.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Beat the Back-to-School DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Kids shouldn't view the start of school as a drag and the end of their summer fun and freedom. Parents, here's your chance to turn this around! As your children's first and most important teachers, it's up to you to instill in them an appreciation of education and a lifelong love of learning.
Parents should look at several key areas — starting with attitude.
The Right Attitude
While there's a part of most kids that dreads the restrictions and work-load that comes with school days, there's also a part of them that looks forward to the start of school.
Parents need to tap into those feelings of anticipation and excitement with encouragement and praise. Make it cool to want to go back to school.
Do this by talking with your kids about the upcoming school year. Take a look at the calendar together and count the days until school starts. It's your children's job to be good students. Help them to see that this is important.
Talk about the wonderful things that school has to offer — the excitement of discovery and learning, the pride in accomplishments, the independence found in taking charge of each opportunity, the joys of friends and a growing social life, and the fun of extracurricular activities.
What's not to love?
Well, there are a few things. Your children will have very reasonable fears, despite your greatest efforts to pump them up. Talk about these things, too.
Let your kids know that it's normal to regret the loss of free time that school-work requires, that it's okay to be anxious about an unknown teacher or that there may be some social issues they'll have to deal with.
It's also important to let your kids know that you'll help them in applying the teachings of the Catholic faith throughout their educational experiences.
Changing the Schedule
Child-development experts emphasize that having a predictable routine is vital for kids, especially younger ones. So, how do you change from a summertime schedule to a school-days schedule without feeling like you've just hit a brick wall?
Here are some practical tips:
1) Gradually merge the family into observing school hours.
About a week before the first school day, get the family up a little earlier and have them go to bed a little earlier each day. Your goal should be that by the time school starts your children are already used to these new hours, so that they're alert for the first class and still have energy for the last class.
2) Add a quiet time in the afternoon that will later be used for homework.
Decide together on the best place and time for doing homework. In the days before school starts, use this time to read silently (you, too!) or do other independent educational activities. Some ideas: ERead to your children. Get listening skills tuned up and send the message that reading matters.
EReview math facts or play a math-facts game. Make it fun.
ERead the Register together and discuss current events.
EDo an art or music project.
EConduct a science experiment.
E Go to the library to research the lives of the saints.
3) Establish a family calendar on which you post every-one's events.
Color coding is a good idea if you have many children or many activities. Post the calendar where everyone can see it. Make a rule that only one person can write on the calendar and that all family members have to tell that person when some event is added or subtracted.
As the year progresses, be sure to look at the month's activities together so that your children know what to expect.
Those School Supplies
At every age, kids know what's cool and what they like having.
Get the list of what materials are needed from your school and go shopping together. Let your children pick out their own materials so that they like the stuff and want to carry it around.
Getting school supplies organized offers your children a wonderful opportunity to assume the lead. Take time and talk to them about how to put together their notebooks, pencil pouches and backpacks. Give them some suggestions about what works for you and look around the store for gadgets.
Ready for a crazy idea?
Take just one child shopping at a time. Use it to get to know what makes each youngster click and to send the message that he or she is special and important.
Parents can also get their children's input on breakfast. Teachers stress the importance of a good breakfast since it helps youngsters' brains to function.
To encourage proper breakfast consumption, let your children choose from a list of parent-approved breakfast foods. It may be the only thing that gets them out of bed in the morning.
Finally, your kids are going to need school clothes.
Cut costs by checking out local consignment stores first. Then shop the sales.
If your children are attending a Catholic school that requires a uniform, save time and money by shopping by phone.
Start with your school. Ask about stores that sell used uniforms in your area and recent graduates who may be interested in selling their old uniforms.
Catalog shopping is also efficient. Some of the more popular catalogs, such as Hannah Anderson and L.L. Bean, now have a uniform section. They also have Internet Web sites.
Most parents know that clothing is the one area where your children's input is essential. If they don't like the outfit, it won't get worn.
Parents of teen-agers take special note!
School Familiarity
Nothing makes for a bad case of back-to-school jitters like having to face the first day at a new school.
Biggest tip: Visit the school with your children and visit it more than once.
Most parents figure this out, but few do it thoroughly enough. Find the lockers, special classrooms, desks, coat hooks, cafeteria, restrooms, library, locker room, gymnasium and office.
The best thing you can do to give your children confidence in their new arena is to walk through the daily schedule together. Your kids should go through their school day several times, so that when they walk in the front door on that stressful first morning, they have little question about where to go and what to do.
Assure your children that if they get lost or confused, it's okay. They shouldn't be afraid to ask for directions or help from a teacher.
Each school day holds promises of new discoveries for young scholars. Take your children by the hand and help them enjoy these discoveries.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Bridget Seyer ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Old Parish, Young Priest, Eternal Witness DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Priest Profile
Call it the case of the old parish and the young priest.
Our Lady of Mercy Church in the Fordham section of the Bronx celebrated its 150th anniversary in June with appropriate fanfare and a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Edward Egan of New York.
Heading up the celebration was 34-year-old Father Ambiorix Rodriguez, the newly appointed parish administrator. Ordained six years ago, Father Rodriguez was chosen to run Our Lady of Mercy as only his second archdiocesan assignment after the elderly pastor fell ill.
“It was a big surprise,” he says about his appointment. “But I took the challenge. I have always felt sure and good about being a priest, with the grace of God.”
At the anniversary Mass, Cardinal Egan praised Father Rodriguez for taking on a tough assignment and told parishioners that they were blessed to have a young and dedicated priest.
Father Rodriguez was chosen for the position because of his leadership qualities and pastoral zeal, says Bishop Josu Iriondo, archdiocesan vicar for Hispanic Affairs and pastor of a nearby Bronx parish.
Since his days as a semin — arian, Father Rodriguez has led a summer mission to the Dominican Republic, his home country, to evangelize and bring charitable aid to people in poor rural areas, Bishop Iriondo points out. “He is a good, young priest,” adds the bishop, “with a heart for the people and the Church.”
When Father Rodriguez arrived last October at Our Lady of Mercy, a parish that borders the South Bronx, he found the good, the inadequate and the ugly. The ugly was the huge, three-story rectory, built for another era when five or six priests staffed the parish. The roof was leaking, many rooms had not been used for years, and there had been a number of recent burglaries.
The church, built in 1907, was also showing its age.
The good was the people, a diverse mix from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, who welcomed the new administrator with open arms and offered their prayers and labor.
Father Rodriguez had spent the first five years after ordination as an assistant at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, where most of the people are from his home country. Now he was head of a parish that encompassed the Jesuit-run Fordham University and included Spanish speakers from many countries as well as Filipinos, African-Americans and those of Irish and Italian descent whose ancestors had built the parish 150 years ago.
The parish elementary school was running well but had a precariously low enrollment of 195.
Surveying his new situation, Father Rodriguez remembered the words of the ordination ceremony: “We rely on the help of the Lord.” He began to pray more fervently than ever and got to work.
“I didn't have administrative experience,” he says. “But I knew that this was God's will for me. He would lead me.”
Father Rodriguez had the rec-tory roof replaced, put gates around the building to prevent break-ins, cleared a suite of empty rooms for his office, revived the parish bulletin in English and Spanish, began making plans for the sesquicentennial celebration and got to know the people. Attendance at the five weekend Masses is 1,100, with the largest crowd at the one Spanish-language Mass.
On a Mission
Last July, Father Rodriguez again led a two-week mission to the Dominican Republic with 34 lay people. “We go to the very poor areas to bring the Gospel and to bring hope,” he said. “We bring clothing, food, medical care. We stay in convents or on parish grounds.”
In areas where priests rarely visit, he baptizes babies, performs marriage ceremonies, hears confessions, celebrates Mass and gives first holy Communion to children. “This is the simple work of a priest, in a place where it is so badly needed,” he says.
Of course, the work of a priest is needed everywhere.
“He is a good witness to the holiness of the priesthood,” parishioner Elsie Aponte says of the priest's work in the Bronx parish. “As a young priest, he is a good example to our young people. They see him always doing the work of the Lord, and maybe they will think about becoming priests themselves.”
Father Rodriguez was led to the priesthood through his involvement in a youth group at St. Elizabeth parish in upper Manhattan, where his family moved in the 1980s. On a retreat, he realized that “God wanted something else for me than to be married. Vocation is in the heart, and from that point I never had a doubt about becoming a priest. It was a call from God.”
He read about St. Francis of Assisi giving himself totally to God, and “from St. Francis I received the sense of living a simple life of celibacy and obedience. In my heart, God was preparing me for the promises of the priesthood.”
It is evident he also developed a great love for the Eucharist, the Blessed Mother and the Church. He has a great devotion to Pope John Paul II, whom he sees as a great witness to the faith and the priesthood.
“It is important for a priest always to be a witness, because it is difficult to be a Christian in today's world,” Father Rodriguez says. “Likewise, I experience the witness of lay persons when they talk to me about their faith. To see young married people living according to the Church always inspires me. Priests and lay people need to be witnesses to one another and support one another, because we share the same faith.”
Stephen Vincent writes from Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 08/17/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 17-23, 2003 ----- BODY:Faith-Based 'Just Say No'
CNN, July 10 — The Bush administration is enlisting church-based youth groups in its anti-drug programs, the latest initiative to expand the role of religious organizations in government services.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy began offering guides, brochures and Web sites to help leaders of religious youth groups teach their members to avoid marijuana and other drugs.
A study published in March by the American Psychological Association found that teen-agers were less likely to use marijuana when they thought religion was important to their lives.
Abortion Bill Vetoed
REUTERS, July 23 — Slovak President Rudolf Schuster has vetoed an abortion bill that was fueling a dispute between ruling liberals and conservatives, reported Reuters.
Slovakia's official state news agency TASR quoted presidential spokesman Jan Fule as saying Schuster had sent the bill, designed to permit abortions up to the 24th week of pregnancy in cases of genetic defects, back to Parliament to be debated again in September.
No Go, Pro-Abort Pols
LIFENEWS.COM, July 30 — In what is becoming a more common practice in the United States, a Catholic diocese in Oregon is refusing to let a pro-abortion elected official use one of its churches to practice politics.
The Diocese of Baker, Ore., has refused to allow pro-abortion Gov. Ted Kulongoski to use a church for a private political speech because of his position on abortion.
“His beliefs don't square with Catholic teaching and certainly made an appearance at a Catholic church very problematic,” Father James Logan, chancellor of the Diocese of Baker, told the Bend Bulletin.
New Zealand vs. Death
ONE NEWS, July 30 — Controversial legislation to legalize voluntary euthanasia has been thrown out of Parliament by a narrow vote.
The so-called “Death with Dignity Bill,” which would have allowed assisted suicide for the terminally ill under certain criteria, was defeated by 60 votes to 57 with one abstainer.
Norway Gains on Abortion
AFTENPOSTEN, July 29 — Fewer Norwegian teen-agers had abortions last year, down to 2,200 from 2,450 in 2001, the Norwegian news service reported. Norway's current abortion rate is the lowest since abortion was legalized in 1979.
The state Central Bureau of Statistics reported the number of abortions performed on teenagers last year amounted to 16.9 per 1,000 females aged 15-19 nationwide.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: A Light in New York DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:NEW YORK — I was at work near Wall Street on Aug. 14 when much of the Northeast was paralyzed by a sudden power outage that threw me, along with as many as 50 million other people, back in a time before electricity.
For me, it was literally a blackout. I was leaving the company bathroom and suddenly had trouble finding the door.
From New Jersey all the way to Toronto, people lost modern conveniences: trains, computers, planes, air conditioners and light bulbs.
Some colleagues and I headed for two of the city's major transportation hubs: the Port Authority Bus Terminal and Pennsylvania Avenue Station. Some of us quickly made plans to stop at two Catholic churches very close to Penn Station, which remained aglow with candlelight amid the darkness.
In the blackout region, 21 power plants shut down, affecting Detroit; Toledo, Ohio; Cleveland; Newark, N.J.; and Ottawa.
I heard the same thing from other major cities: Catholic churches remained accessible.
In Canada, Father Lindsay Harrison of St. Patrick's Basilica in Ottawa was worried when the alarm system wouldn't work. He said renovations in the church forced him to move the church's operations to the dark basement, using flashlights for the readers at Mass and candles in the confessionals.
Detroit was perhaps the hardest hit, with a days-long delay for power to be restored.
Tom Serafin, president of the Apostolate for Holy Relics, had to scuttle plans to bring the relic of the tilma of St. Juan Diego to Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Detroit on the feast of the Assumption.
The relic has already visited 10 cities and tens of thousands of Catholics have turned out to venerate the relic.
“Only a crisis of this magnitude could have temporarily halted the travel of the tilma relic,” Serafin said. “Our flight was canceled, and the cathedral is without power.”
At first, the cathedral planned to bring the relic anyway — with the power out, the need for a supernatural boost was greater, after all. But Santiago Fernandez, who is coordinating the tilma relic's visit for the Archdiocese of Detroit, said that without power, it would be impossible to carry out the planned services.
But it was New York where the aftermath of the blackout was most dramatic. It felt like Sept. 11 again, at least at first.
It was another mass evacuation out of Lower Manhattan with no subways and few buses. We spilled out into the streets, where below us, rush-hour subway riders were trapped in the tunnels. The streets were filled with idling cars. Pedestrians crowded the bridges.
I didn't know it then, but it would take me 22 hours to get home.
It was 4:11 p.m. when the lights went out in New York. By the time the sun set four hours later, I had walked from my office just one block north of Ground Zero through Greenwich Village, Chelsea and the Garment District, where the atmosphere was one of concern but far from panic.
There were a lot of people out on the streets and just as much cooperation. People shared radios, offered water and congregated together at restaurants.
“People were quick to strike up conversations, and everyone had an attitude of ‘let's make the best of it,’” said Mark Froeba, a colleague.
I wound up sleeping at my sister's house north of the city, far from my home on Long Island. I had to scramble in a series of bus connections, a trek that I shared with six or seven others. An easy camaraderie developed. We spent most of the time laughing — making light of our unusual plight.
Despite the exhaustion, the uncertainty and the inconvenience, there was a magic to the evening.
“I heard many people say the stars could be seen over New York for the first time in memory,” Froeba said.
But it was in the churches that the real significant light could be found.
The two churches at Pennsylvania Avenue Station were open throughout the night, with perhaps 100 people spending the night in each of the churches, St. Francis of Assisi, staffed by Franciscans, and St. John the Baptist, which is manned by another branch of St. Francis’ friars, the Capuchins.
They were dark, but you could make your way around with the help of votive lights and other forms of candlepower. People streamed in and out, making visits to the Blessed Sacrament. Priests and brothers stood at the doors, chatting with numerous visitors and waving people in.
For many, it was their first conversation with a Catholic religious and their first serious conversation about Catholicism.
“It was an opportunity of genuine, if low-key, evangelization,” said Father Bernard Maloney, pastor of St. John's, who spent much of the night at the church's 31st Street entrance with Brother Salvatore Partricola, a deacon.
St. John's was more than a spiritual respite, as the church and its adjoining monastery opened their doors to those in need of the bathroom or a drink of water throughout the night — long after other businesses in the area closed their doors.
“Surprisingly, we saw very few ‘problem people,’” Brother Partricola said.
“It was a great evening,” Father Maloney said in agreement, acknowledging that it was probably because everyone had the same problem and drew solace from their shared lot.
At Sunday Mass on Aug. 17, Father Thomas Moriarity of Our Lady of Victory Church in Floral Park, N.Y., on Long Island, commiserated about the unlikely events of the prior Thursday evening with his parishioners, including many commuters on the Long Island Railroad who slept that night on a sidewalk.
Taking note of the Lord's promise of eternal life to those who eat his body and drink his blood, Father Moriarity invited his listeners to consider a “greater darkness” than the simple loss of electricity.
“Imagine if all of our churches were suddenly closed, Masses were no longer offered, we could not receive Communion,” he said. “That would be the only true loss of light — the light of the world. And this is already the case for those places that cannot be served by a priest, or only irregularly. It helps us to put what happened Thursday in a truer perspective.”
Joe Cullen writes
----- EXCERPT: Catholic Candles Ruled the Night the Power Died ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joe Cullen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Terri Schiavo's Bishop Warns Against Removing Feeding Tube DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A day after the bishop of St. Petersburg, stated that removal of a feeding tube from a 39-year-old Florida woman who suffered severe brain damage in 1990 cannot be justified at this time by Church teaching, the woman, Terri Schiavo, was moved from a nursing home to a hospital under emergency medical circumstances.
A family spokeswoman said Schiavo's parents were not notified until 24 hours after the move, which took place Aug. 13, and that staff at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Fla., were working under the instructions of Michael Schiavo, the woman's husband and legal guardian, not to disclose her medical condition to her parents.
Disagreement over her medical condition and care has pitted Michael Schiavo against Terri's parents in a years-long legal battle for her life that could come to an end Aug. 25, when her feeding tube is scheduled to be removed by court order. Michael Schiavo is petitioning for removal of the tube.
Patricia Anderson, representing the parents and siblings of Terri Schiavo, filed an emergency motion for stay Aug. 13 in the Florida Supreme Court, requesting the court to halt further attempts to end Terri's life until the court decides if it will review the case.
Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, the diocese in which Terri Schiavo has been residing, in a long-awaited statement Aug. 12 called the situation “tragic,” noting that medical experts disagree about Schiavo's condition and chance of improvement.
Stating that Catholic teaching advises “presumption in favor of providing medically assisted nutrition and hydration to all patients as long as it is of sufficient benefit to outweigh the burden involved to the patient,” the bishop “strongly recommend[ed]” that both Schiavo's husband and her parents seek “a clearer understanding of her actual physical condition.”
Her parents should be allowed to pursue medical therapy that may improve her condition, he said. The statement leaves open the possibility of licitly removing the tube after further study.
Bishop Lynch added that it is “a much harder case” than many imagine and warned against “excessive rhetoric” such as using the word “murder” or calling the trial judges “murderers.”
A more strongly worded statement was released in late July by the Catholic Medical Association, which said that removing Schiavo's tube would cross the line from allowing death to causing death and “cannot be justified by currently promulgated Catholic moral principles.”
The Catholic Medical Association is an independent group and does not speak officially for the Church, though members seek to serve the Church by applying official teaching to the medical field.
Cutting off Schiavo's food and water also would set a dangerous precedent in the larger, public debate over assisted suicide and euthanasia, said the Catholic Medical Association's president, Dr. Robert Saxer, and Schiavo's father, Robert Schindler. A number of disabilities-rights group have rallied to preserve Schiavo's life.
“It's scary that a precedent is being set legally,” Schindler said. “They're lowering the bar to encompass more persons who are incapacitated.”
The Catholic Medical Association statement came just before a Florida appeals court granted a 30-day stay on the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube, allowing her parents time for another appeal to the state's Supreme Court. If the high court does not rule on the case it previously declined to hear, the fate of Terri Schiavo is scheduled to return Aug. 25 to Circuit Judge George Greer, who ordered her tube to be removed.
“It's a roller-coaster ride emotionally,” Schindler said. “You don't know how long your child is going to be alive.”
Schiavo collapsed at home on Feb. 25, 1990, and suffered severe brain damage from lack of oxygen. She cannot speak yet can breathe on her own and is not on a respirator. She has been found by some doctors and Florida courts to be in a persistent vegetative state.
She is not brain-dead, her family points out, and often tries to communicate with visitors. A videotape that appears to show her smiling and responding to voices and objects can be viewed on the family's Web site, www.terrisfight. org.
But Michael Schiavo has testified that Terri once said she would not want to be kept alive artificially if she should ever become incapacitated. The court accepted this testimony as the expression of her will, in the absence of any written directives.
Schindlers’ lawyer Anderson filed an appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on Aug. 4. She told the Register that there is “a genuine medical dispute about her diagnosis and prognosis” that should be further investigated.
The Catholic Medical Association's statement, signed by Saxer and Dr. Steven White, head of the group's Florida chapter, acknowledges that the authors cannot render judgment on the precise medical condition of Terri Schiavo since they have not examined her.
“However,” the text continues, “we can and will comment on the application of Catholic moral principles which the Church has given us to determine when medically assisted nutrition and hydration can legitimately be withdrawn in a patient who is not terminally ill or imminently dying.”
Saxer, a retired pediatrician living in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., said that since Schiavo has no underlying illness and is not imminently dying, the Church's absolute ban on euthanasia should be invoked.
“If they remove the tube, she will die as a result of that action,” he told the Register. “It will be a most liberal decision in favor of the ‘right to die’ that will have untold effects on our laws. They are trying to set the standard of life at whether a person can feed herself. Persistent vegetative state is very hard to diagnose and is often misdiagnosed. I think she should benefit from therapy and rehabilitation that she has not had in 13 years.”
Citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 2277), the U.S. bishops’ Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care (No. 58), a statement to U.S. bishops by Pope John Paul II during an ad limina visit and a 1998 statement on end-of-life care by the bishops of Florida, the Catholic Medical Association statement concludes: “The withdrawal of nutrition and hydration … will result in her death. The tube feeding itself does not impose an excessive burden on the patient. [Removing the feeding tube] in this circumstance violates in its intention the distinction between ‘causing death’ and ‘allowing death.’”
Judie Brown, head of the Stafford, Va.-based American Life League, told the Register: “Terri is critically impaired and disabled. To deny her food and drink at this time would be killing her, plain and simple.”
In his statement Bishop Lynch said Catholic teaching does allow a feeding tube to be “withheld or withdrawn where that treatment itself is causing harm to the patient or is useless because the patient's death is imminent, as long as the patient is made comfortable.”
In Schiavo's case, he said, “it is not clear whether [the feeding tube] is delaying her dying process to no avail, is unreasonably burdensome for her and contrary to what she would wish if she could tell us.” If the feeding is not helping her “or it is unreasonably burdensome for her and her family or her caregivers,” it “could be seen as permissible” to remove the tube, he wrote.
Yet, he added, if the tube is removed “simply because she is not dying quickly enough and some believe she would be better off because of her low quality of life, this would be wrong.”
Michael McCarron, executive director of the Florida Catholic Conference, the public-policy arm of the state's bishops, said that since the case was “a local matter” of the St. Petersburg Diocese, the conference would not make a separate statement.
Saxer, who has worked in the past with the Florida Catholic Conference on medical ethics issues, told the Register that he hesitated to speak independently but time was running out in Schiavo's case. “We can give our organization's public statement based on the published teachings of the Church,” he explained.
George Felos, a lawyer for Michael Schiavo, insists that removing the feeding tube would not be euthanasia, which he said he opposes. Citing his client's testimony regarding Terri's thoughts on artificial medical treatment, Felos called removing the feeding tube “her choice.”
Terri Schiavo's family has begun a petition drive asking Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene in the case. They say they have collected some 22,000 signatures so far.
Stephen Vincent writes from Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Billionaire Pledges $10 Million to Defeat Pro-Life President DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — Multi-billionaire George Soros has committed $10 million to a new political organization designed to prevent President Bush from winning reelection. Pro-life advocates see the development as a reaction to pro-life advances made under the Bush administration and Republican control of Congress.
The group, representing labor, environmental and women's organizations, is dubbed Americans Coming Together.
It plans to spend $75 million to “elect progressive officials at every level in 2004” in 17 targeted states: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
“The fate of the world depends on the United States and President Bush is leading us in the wrong direction,” Soros maintained.
The billionaire cited the president's foreign policy as his chief motivation for starting the new political action committee.
“The ‘Bush doctrine’ is both false and dangerous. The rest of the world is having an allergic reaction to it, as we have seen in Iraq. We need to change direction,” Soros said.
Before this initiative, Soros was known primarily as a philanthropist. He has donated as much as $1 billion after the fall of the Soviet Union to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
According to the Capital Research Center, a Washington watchdog group that tracks grants to left-wing causes, Soros has also been a longtime supporter of abortion and euthanasia. His grant organization, the Open Society Institute, gave 150 grants totaling $30 million to pro-abortion programs from 1998 through this year.
“As the son of a mother who was a member of the Hemlock Society … I cannot but approve,” Soros said of the nation's most widely known pro-euthanasia organization. The Hemlock Society recently changed its name to Endof-Life Choices.
Soros, an immigrant from Hungary, put his money where his mouth is and his foundation gave a three-year $15 million grant to start a pro-euthanasia foundation called the Project on Death in America. The organization dispenses grants to other pro-euthanasia groups across the country.
Soros is not the only pro-abortion billionaire getting into the political arena these days. Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett, who has supported pro-abortion causes, was appointed a financial adviser Aug. 13 to California gubernatorial hopeful and screen actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Americans Coming Together tapped Ellen Malcolm to run the new organization. Malcolm will also remain in her current position as head of Emily's List, which gives money only to female candidates who support unrestricted abortion on demand.
“Americans Coming Together's creation is further evidence that mainstream America is coming together in response to President Bush's extremism — on the environment, reproductive choice, workers’ rights, civil rights and other critical issues,” Malcolm said.
In addition to Soros’ contribution, Americans Coming Together has received $12 million dollars from other millionaires and an additional $8 million from labor unions.
That this political action committee has raised $30 million from well-financed individuals and organizations has many in the pro-life community openly questioning its contention of being “mainstream.”
“I wish I had George Soros and his millions,” said Carol Tobias, political director for the National Right to Life Committee. “But I'm not scared by it. The pro-life movement has always faced obstacles and overcome them.”
She said that electing pro-life candidates to office in 2004 would depend on grass-roots support from everyday people, not from billion-aires.
“We've known for a long time that the pro-abortion lobby has had more money than us. But we have more people on our side. And people can work, people can volunteer and people can convince friends and neighbors to vote for candidates,” she said.
“George Soros has a lot of money, but he only has one vote,” Tobias said.
Deal Hudson, editor of Crisis magazine and an adviser to the White House on Catholic issues, lamented that Soros has followed Microsoft chief executive officer Bill Gates in abortion advocacy.
“Once again, how tragic that one of the world's wealthiest has been paying his millions to reducing the world's population by supporting abortion,” he said.
Hudson said that while money is always crucial in elections, it would not be the most important factor in the races next year.
“Any party that fails to get out the grass-roots will lose regardless of the amount of money spent,” he said.
Americans Coming Together has said it won't spend its money on media-driven campaigns but in grass-roots activism.
Jennifer Bingham serves as executive director for the Susan B. Anthony List, which sees itself as the pro-life answer to Emily's List.
Bingham wouldn't venture to say if Americans Coming Together would become primarily focused on abortion but said Malcolm's words speak for themselves.
“All I can tell you is about Emily's List,” Bingham said. “The abortion issue is their litmus test.”
Bingham noted that Emily's List was not forgiving to two senators, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, when they voted to ban partial-birth abortions.
“Ellen Malcolm wrote in their newsletter that they would never support them again,” Bingham said.
She said Emily's List cares most about abortion, but it will find out what issue will drive pro-abortion voters to the polls.
“They [identified] ‘pro-choice’ voters and then they found out what got them to vote,” said Bingham, who applied the same tactics to the work of the Susan B. Anthony List.
“You need to talk to voters about what they care about,” Bingham said. “People who don't vote, we don't bother with. We target pro-life women who are inconsistent voters.”
And the Susan B. Anthony List has produced results. Twenty-two of its 32 endorsed candidates won, and it increased the number of pro-life women in Congress from seven to 12.
“We know if we get more pro-life women to vote, there will be more pro-life candidates elected to Congress,” Bingham said.
One consolation to Bush supporters is that the Soros contribution will be dwarfed by the prowess of the president's campaign war chest.
Bush is expected to raise $200 million before his nomination in early September 2004. He will then have an additional $74 million in federal matching funds in the general election for the last months of the campaign.
Ultimately, political observers believe the election will likely not come down to money spent.
“Even accounting for Soros’ millions, Bush will outspend the Democratic nominee overall,” said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia. “Both sides will have enough money to get across their messages. Money won't decide the race. The usual factors of the economy, war and peace, and scandal will.”
“All the money in the world for the Democrats won't make a difference if the economy picks up and Iraq settles down,” he said. “Bush will be re-elected easily under those conditions. Conversely, Bush will lose under the opposite conditions.”
Joshua Mercer writes from Washington, D.C.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joshua Mercer ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: An End to Obscenity's Free Rein? DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:PITTSBURGH — In a move that signals the start of a crackdown on adult obscenity, the U.S. attorney for western Pennsylvania, Mary Beth Buchanan, announced Aug. 6 that a federal grand jury had indicted a California couple and their pornography company for violations of U.S. obscenity law.
In a sting operation, Extreme Associates and its owners, Robert Zicari and Janet Romano (a.k.a. Rob Black and Lizzie Borden), are alleged to have sent three pornographic videotapes from California to a post office box in western Pennsylvania and to have transmitted obscene materials over their Web site as well.
Porn industry lawyers are expected to cite the recent Supreme Court decision allowing acts of sodomy in the privacy of one's home as a defense for filming and viewing pornography in private.
This is the first major indictment of a commercial pornographer in 10 years, Buchanan said, though three others have been handed up recently in West Virginia, Kentucky and Texas against people with much smaller home-type businesses.
During the eight years of the Clinton administration, no cases were prosecuted under the nation's obscenity laws, except with child pornography, said Princeton University professor of politics Robert George.
And former Attorney General Janet Reno wasn't even “aggressive enough” on child porn, he added.
George, a former member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, said the attitude at the time was, “this is simply a matter of consent and lifestyle.”
Part of the difficulty in prosecuting these cases is the definition of obscenity that was set by the U.S. Supreme Court.
According to a press release from Buchanan's office, the 1973 Supreme Court case of Miller v. California put into place a three-part test for obscenity: “1) The average person, applying contemporary community standards, finds that the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; 2) The average person, applying contemporary community standards, finds that the material depicts sexual conduct in a patently offensive manner; and 3) A reasonable person, viewing the material as a whole, finds that the material lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.”
It appears the material in question fits that description. According to a search warrant, the films depict women in various stages of degradation, from rape to murder to their bodies being cut up.
As disgusting as it is, that is not an unusual depiction, according to experts on pornography and sexual addiction.
Oblate of St. Francis de Sales Father John Harvey, director of the group Courage, which helps people struggling with homosexuality according to the Church's teaching, recently gave a talk on pornographic addiction to his group's national meeting.
“It is the most difficult addiction to be rid of,” he told the Register. “The person wants to have the pleasure of sex without being directly involved with the other person. It's really the twin sister of masturbation.”
The person goes through an addictive cycle, the priest said. It starts with curiosity and/or loneliness, proceeds to anticipating “much pleasure without the involvement of another person,” the act itself and guilt feelings afterward.
Once the person engages in this cycle, it is difficult to break out for two reasons, Father Harvey noted: The person is lonely and cannot establish good relationships and, unlike the physical addictions of drug or alcohol abuse, the pornographic images are stuck in his mind.
This addiction, however, can lead to desires for more intensity. According to Dr. Vincent Cline, a psychologist who specializes in sexual addictions, “With the passage of time, the addicted person required rougher, more explicit, more deviant and ‘kinky’ kinds of sexual material to get their ‘highs’ and ‘sexual turn-ons.’”
It is not unlike drug users, who need harder drugs to get the same effect as when they first started, he said in an essay on the subject posted on the Morality in Media Web site.
Eventually, Cline said, it leads to desensitization — that is, the belief that this activity is normal and to sexual acting out in ways reminiscent of what the person has seen.
So the hard-core pornography of the type Extreme Associates produced is not a “victimless crime,” commented the president of Morality in Media, Robert Peters.
“Individuals harmed,” he said in a press release, “include ‘porn performers’ (many in their teens), children and adults who become addicted to hard-core pornography, children and adults who are sexually abused and raped by hard-core pornography addicts, spouses of hard-core pornography addicts, and men and women who acquire (directly or indirectly) STDs, including AIDS, from sexual activities in ‘adult’ businesses.”
And, he said, it sends a lot of money to organized crime.
While what U.S. attorney Buchanan has collected seems pretty clear and convincing to the average person, the pornography industry is expected to fight it diligently, she said. As well as challenging the constitutionality of the law on which the recent indictments have been made, she is expecting that the porn industry lawyers will cite the recent case of Lawrence v. Texas as part of their defense, reasoning that the Supreme Court decision this summer gave anyone the right to do anything sexually, as long as it's done behind closed doors.
“Unfortunately for them,” she said, “the ruling was about private conduct in one's own home. This case is one of obscene material that is being sent across the country.”
A request for comment by Extreme Associates was not answered.
While some have been critical of Attorney General John Ashcroft for not getting to this type of crime earlier, Buchanan characterized that kind of talk as “unfair.”
“It takes a lot of time to build the evidence” against such purveyors of pornography, she said, so that the case is built on a solid footing.
Plus, porn is only one of the many Justice Department concerns, including preventing terrorism. However, Buchanan expects to see more cases of this kind going forward.
“There are pending investigations in numerous jurisdictions around the country,” she said.
This is also worrying for the porn industry, she added. She recently appeared on a talk show on KPCC public radio in Southern California with two pornographers.
“They certainly claim this is causing concern,” she said. “If they're producing obscene material, they should be [concerned].”
Thomas A. Szyszkiewicz is based in Altura, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Thomas A. Szyszkiewicz ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Explaining the Church to 21st-Century Reporters DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Dennis Poust is spokesman for New York's bishops on a number of hot-button issues.
He knows how to deal with journalists because he worked for the archdiocesan newspaper Catholic New York for seven years, and both his wife and his mother write for the Catholic press. Register correspondent Stephen Vincent spoke with him about how he represents the Church in the media.
How is it to be surrounded by journalists in both your professional and personal life?
I followed in the footsteps of my mom, Mary Ann Poust, starting as a cub reporter at Catholic New York right out of college. Looking back, it was a great experience to get to work with her. I learned a lot just by watching her. But there was a downside, too. As a young man in his first professional job, I was establishing my independence while sharing a newsroom with my mother. And I was sensitive to the fact that I probably had something to prove to the other reporters.
I also worked with my future wife, Mary, who was the paper's managing editor in the early ‘90s. So I really owe Catholic New York a lot, personally and professionally. My mom is now managing editor there and my wife writes a monthly family column for the newspaper.
Mary is a gifted writer, but her primary focus for nearly seven years has been the raising of our children, Noah, 6, and Olivia, 2. She's doesn't quite fit the common definition of working mom or stay-at-home mom. Let's call her a work-at-home mom.
After years as a journalist, how do you like public relations?
I do very little journalism now, and I miss it. At the same time, though, I enjoy being on the other side of the reporter's notebook. The responsibility of speaking for the bishops on public-policy issues is an awesome one. If you say the wrong thing — and I have on occasion — it reflects badly on all of the bishops and on the Church. I've had to learn to be very selective in choosing my words and try to be concise, in order to reduce the chances of misspeaking.
Some Catholics might ask why the bishops need a lobbying group in Albany.
As Catholics, we are obligated to participate in the life of our society, and that includes the political life. The Holy Father and the U.S. bishops have been very clear on this. Everything for which we advocate is tied to the principles of Catholic social teaching.
If we want to protect innocent human life, if we want justice for the poor and vulnerable, if we want to assure proper care for the sick and aged, if we want to support the rights of all parents to direct their children's education regardless of income, then we have to be active in the political arena. That's where the decisions are made.
What are the most difficult issues to explain to the secular media?
There are two that stand out. The first involves a law mandating that employers who provide prescription health insurance coverage include coverage for contraceptive drugs and devices. The law went into effect Jan. 1 and applies to most of the Church's ministries, including Catholic Charities, health care institutions and schools, and is in violation of their religious freedom.
While I think a lot of the media understood where we were coming from, others just couldn't see it. They focused on the right of employees to use contraception. But that's not what the issue was. The right to use birth control has never been in question. How would we even know if our employees were using birth control? We were simply arguing that as Catholic institutions adhering to the Church's teaching against contraception, we should not be forced to provide it.
The second challenging issue is the scandal of clergy sexual abuse. You can't defend some decisions that have been made, and if you point out the relatively small number of priests who have been accused of wrongdoing, you appear to be glossing over the problem. Thankfully, I believe the New York bishops fully understand the seriousness of the crisis and are committed to fixing what has been broken. Knowing that makes my job easier, because I couldn't in good conscience publicly represent the bishops if I did not believe in their sincerity regarding this tragedy.
How has the scandal affected the moral voice of the bishops among legislators?
Certainly our credibility to speak on issues of sexual morality has been damaged. There's no doubt the Church's voice in Albany has diminished in recent years, but this predates the scandals and has to do more with the fact that the pro-abortion lobby is so very strong here.
Also, Catholics have been made to feel that we should not let our faith play a role in the political arena. So, more and more, we are seeing our job as not so much directly lobbying the legislators on behalf of the bishops but activating Catholics around the state to become involved.
Cardinal Edward Egan and all of the state's bishops see this very clearly and have directed us to put our efforts into forming a statewide network of Catholics who are willing to take action by writing, calling or visiting their legislators and holding them accountable. We think this is the future of the Church's advocacy nationwide, because a phone call from a bishop doesn't cut it with today's politicians.
Does the fact that many Catholics use or approve of contraception make opposition to the recent law a harder sell?
Clearly the general perception that most Catholics don't follow Church teaching on contraception did not help. But the fact is it shouldn't matter if only one Catholic follows the teaching. Our teachings are not subject to a popular vote. A religion has a right to hold certain teachings, and that right is not diminished if people don't follow the teachings. That's why our arguments have always stressed religious freedom.
The Church has the freedom to teach something, and Catholics and others have the freedom to follow or not follow the teaching. Our faith tells us that that if they do not follow the teaching then they are putting themselves in a state of sin. How can the state force us to provide something to employees that we teach is sinful? Would the state force a Jewish organization to serve non-kosher food simply because many Jews don't observe that requirement of the faith? If it tried, we'd fight that as well, just as many in the Orthodox Jewish community supported our position on the contraception mandate.
What legislative successes have there been recently?
We try to stay away from such measurement because it doesn't give an adequate sense of our impact. If our efforts result in a really bad bill becoming simply a bad bill, is that a success or a failure?
Having said that, one recent success demonstrates the potential of a Catholic advocacy network I mentioned earlier. After the Legislature passed the contraception mandate, we were immediately faced with another bill that would have mandated that Catholic employers cover morally offensive artificial reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization. Republican law-makers who went against us on the contraception bill took so much heat from their constituents that they told the leaders of their conference that they would not support any further mandates without full conscience protection for the Church. As a result, a bill covering only morally acceptable infertility treatments was passed.
On the other hand, the state Senate just passed an Unborn Victims of Violence bill that would allow prosecutors to charge an assailant with two crimes when an unborn child is harmed or killed during a crime of violence against the mother, such as what California prosecutors did in the Laci Peterson case. But the bill cannot even get to the floor of the Assembly because the pro-abortion Democratic leadership will not allow it. If it came to a vote we think it would pass. The real loser in such cases is the democratic process.
Stephen Vincent writes from Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Vietnamese Catholics Flock to Annual 'Marian Days' in the Midwest DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:CARTHAGE, Mo. — More than 50,000 Vietnamese flocked to this largely Baptist town of 12,500 in southwestern Missouri on Aug. 7 for Marian Days, a three-day celebration of faith organized by the Congregation of the Mother Co Redemptrix.
Participants attended daily Mass and conferences and participated in Eucharistic processions.
In some years attendance has reached 60,000 Vietnamese Catholics from almost every state, with pilgrims setting up tents on the 30-acre campus of Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix as well as front lawns of local residents and in church parking lots.
“A lot of the same families come back every year and visit the same residents,” explained Carthage mayor Kenneth Johnson. “They've gotten to be very good friends [with their Vietnamese guests].”
Marian Days has been a fixture in Carthage for more than 25 years. The congregation of Vietnamese priests and brothers fled its home-land following the fall of Saigon in 1975. One of the first things they did after establishing themselves on a former Oblate of Mary Imm aculate seminary here was to hold a service to make reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. That was in December 1977. The following summer, the priests and brothers held a public event that drew more than 1,000 people, said Co-Redemptrix Father John Nghi, spokesman for the congregation.
Bishop John Leibrecht of Springfield-Cape Girardeau celebrated an evening Mass to commence Marian Days this year. That was followed by a nighttime procession of the Blessed Sacrament on the congregation grounds.
The first Vietnamese bishop in the United States, Auxiliary Bishop Dominic Dinh Mai Luong of Orange, Calif., who was ordained to the episcopacy in June, celebrated Mass the following day, Aug. 8.
The event also featured Eucharistic adoration, a procession of a pilgrimage statue of Our Lady of Fatima and workshops for parents, teens, the elderly and families. Bishop Wilton Gregory of Belleville, Ill., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, celebrated the closing Mass in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Aug. 10.
“What's really [impressive is] the reverence that the people have as the procession winds through the streets,” Bishop Leibrecht said. “My participation in these Marian Days always makes me much richer in my own devotion to Mary and my appreciation for the great gift of Eucharist.”
Vietnamese Devotion
Vietnamese Catholics are known for great devotion to the Mother of God, which dates back to the time of the first missionaries, from Portugal and Spain, in the 16th century. The Vietnamese love for Mary was solidified when Our Lady of Lavang appeared in 1798, the same year King Canh ‘Minh issued an edict to destroy all Catholic churches and seminaries.
Several years ago, Bishop Leibrecht recalled, organizers had to cancel the Marian procession through town due to heavy rain.
But pilgrims were undeterred by the inclement weather, standing through the evening Mass in the rain.
“We celebrated that Mass, and most of them had umbrellas,” he explained. “In fact, the power went out for maybe 10 or 15 minutes during the Mass and the people did not speak; they stayed in a prayerful silence. This is just another sign of their great reverence for the Eucharist.”
The Church in Vietnam has seen slow but steady growth despite persecution and oppressive regimes, said Dominican Father Anthony Chinh quang Dao, the new executive director of the Office for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“The traditions in Vietnam make for good ground for Catholic teachings, good ground for the Good News,” said Father Dao, who is Vietnamese and a regular Marian Days speaker. “That is why many Vietnamese people became Catholic. Right now, about 10% of Vietnam's 75 million people are Catholic.”
Persecution Persists
But persecution is not a thing of the past. The Center for Religious Freedom has reported as recently as July 17 that the Vietnamese government is engaging in a campaign to coerce minority ethnic Hmong Christians to abandon their faith and resume the practice of animist rites, which they had abandoned 10 years ago.
Members of the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix have been jailed in recent years as well. The congregation was founded near Hanoi in the waning days of the French presence in the country.
Canonically established in 1953, the Co-Redemptrix order experienced rapid growth, principally because of the saintly example of its founder, Father Dominic Mary Tran Dinh Thu, who is still living in Vietnam at age 96. Known for deep prayer and a simple lifestyle, he was imprisoned from 1975-1977 and again from 1987-1993 by the Vietnamese government. His reaction: “It is God's grace for a priest to be imprisoned. Imprisonment is a long and blessed retreat for a priest.”
Following the defeat of the ruling French to Ho Chi Minh's communist forces in 1954, thousands of Vietnamese Catholics in the north fled to South Vietnam.
When communists finally took over the south in 1975, Father Tran Dinh Thu was afraid his congregation would be wiped out. So he asked some of the priests and brothers (many were seminarians and deacons at the time) to go to the United States along with other refugees. About 160 did so.
Father Thomas McAndrew, an Army chaplain who served in Vietnam from 1969-1970, met refugees arriving at Fort Chaffee, Ark., and got to know the Co Redemptrix congregation. Together with then Bishop Bernard Law, Father McAndrew, a priest of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa, helped the congregation negotiate the lease of a vacant minor seminary in Carthage with the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The Viet namese congregation finally purchased the original 25-acre property in 1981 and since has bought an adjacent lot to accommodate the growing number of pilgrims.
In the United States, about 300,000 of the 1.4 million Vietnamese-Americans are Catholic, according to Father Dao. He said there are about 700 priests and that 9% of seminarians nationwide are Vietnamese.
Marian Days has done a wonderful job of focusing on the “demonstration of faith” through the sacraments, processions and other devotions, said Father Dao of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“It is very beautiful and the Vietnamese are very good about it,” he explained. “Besides demonstration of faith, we need to have an understanding of faith. We need to know why we do it.”
Patrick Novecosky writes from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Patrick Novecosky ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:New York Catholic Gets Cromwell Evicted
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Aug. 6 —Since 1976, the town of Huntington on New York's Long Island has used the family crest of Oliver Cromwell in its coat of arms to commemorate Huntingdon, England, the one-time English dictator's birthplace. However, recent protests cited his harsh Puritan rule and vicious persecution of Irish Catholics, the wire service reported.
Huntington resident William Farrell, a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, wrote to town supervisor Frank Petrone, saying Cromwell “is clearly ineligible for such homage, and to pay it to him is to insult the memory of his many victims.”
On Aug. 5, the Huntington town board voted unanimously to abandon the coat of arms.
‘Give Us the Big Picture,
CATHOLIC CITIZENS NEWS, Aug. 5 — According to the Web site Catholic Citizen News, the Massachusetts Department of Social Services has reported 62,506 cases of child abuse and neglect in the year 2000.
Lay activist Bob Bland accuses The Boston Globe of focusing disproportionately on the cases alleged against priests. He told the Web site: “The Boston Globe has played right into the hands of the Massachusetts attorney general's outrageous agenda to bash the Catholic Church” by running inflammatory headlines and articles that did not provide any basis for comprehending the statistics cited.
Bland suggested The Globe offer its reading public global statistics for child abuse in the state during the past 60 years — by way of comparison with the 1,000 alleged Church-related cases. He noted that according to the numbers, a child's own home is a much more likely site for abuse than any Church facility.
New Catholic Media Source: Culture & Cosmos
C-FAM, Aug. 5 — The Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute, a lobby at the United Nations, has formed a new alliance with the Culture of Life Foundation. Together they have launched a weekly e-mail bulletin called Culture & Cosmos.
Like the institute's Friday Fax, it is sent free to subscribers, who can sign up at www.culture-of-life.org.
The new bulletin promises to “cast a wider net than the Friday Fax,” covering “the entire waterfront of culture of life issues,” said institute president Austin Ruse. Its first issue dealt with the recent Vatican statement on homosexual marriage.
They Call it Choice …
James, 24, alleges that she was fired from John Harvard's Brew House in Lake Grove, N.Y., for bearing her child. In a federal lawsuit against the Braintree, Mass.-based restaurant chain, she says she told a superior that she was pregnant and that he responded by warning her to “consider her options.”
According to James, before the pregnancy she had been advancing quickly up the ranks from server to trainer to supervisor at John Harvard's. After revealing her pregnancy, she said, she was dropped from a manager-training program and then fired.
John Harvard's president, Michael Hackney, called her charges “surprising, unfounded and factually flawed.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Election of Homosexual Episcopal Bishop Raises Concerns for Catholics DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:MINNEAPOLIS — The election of an openly homosexual man to a position of leadership in a major Christian denomination brought sadness to Paulist Father James Lloyd, a Catholic priest and licensed psychologist in New York.
Father Lloyd works with Courage, a Catholic apostolate that helps people who struggle against committing homosexual acts.
“This is a real backward step,” said Father Lloyd of the election of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson as Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire at the U.S. Episcopal Church's triennial convention Aug. 5 in Minneapolis. “They're trying to say it's not core to the faith. But sexuality is pretty core to the human being. To say it's not core is a deception.”
Father Lloyd, speaking from his office in New York City, said Robinson's new position would influence other people's decisions and behaviors.
“People will say, ‘If a bishop can do it, it must be okay,’” Father Lloyd said. “The act is objectively sinful. But this will encourage other people to something that will mess up their lives.”
Robinson has stated publicly that his homosexual relationship, which began around the time he divorced his wife and left his two children, is a chaste one. He has also described it as “sacramental” — a means of supernatural grace, Colin Stewart, executive vice president of the Family Research Council, pointed out.
“What Anglican orthodoxy has traditionally identified as sinful behavior and ‘incompatible with Scripture’ Robinson has in other words called a grace,” Stewart said in a statement. Approval of Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire has “ignited a constitutional crisis that is potentially of seismic proportion and could very well fracture not only the Episcopal Church but the 75-million-member Anglican Communion as well.”
The confirmation of Robinson as well as the Episcopal Church's recognition of same-sex unions also presents “new ecumenical challenges” to Catholic-Anglican relations, said Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, Calif., chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.
Though the Catholic Church remains committed to “prayerful and honest dialogue,” the developments “reflect a departure from the common understanding of the meaning and purpose of human sexuality and the morality of homosexual activity as found in sacred Scripture and the Christian tradition,” Bishop Blaire said.
Episcopal Church delegates stopped short of writing a new liturgy for the blessing of same-sex unions. But a resolution passed by the U.S. branch of the church's House of Deputies, made up of clergy and lay people, recognized that “local faith communities” that perform such unions are “operating within the bounds of our common life.” The convention's House of Bishops passed the resolution Aug. 6.
Robinson's approval also involved lay collaboration, beginning with a vote in the diocese and confirmed by the House of Deputies. Final approval came on a 62-45 vote of the House of Bishops on Aug. 5, immediately after which 19 bishops moved to the front of the convention room to show their disapproval over the action.
“The bishops who stand before you are filled with sorrow,” said Bishop Robert Duncan of the Pittsburgh Diocese. “This body has divided itself for millions of Anglican Christians around the world, brothers and sisters who have pleaded with us to maintain the church's traditional teaching on marriage and sexuality. With grief too deep for words, the bishops who stand before you must reject this action.”
Duncan said he would call upon the 38 primates around the world to intervene in the crisis.
Significant Impact
Likewise, archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams called for a meeting of bishops in October to focus on the dispute. He appealed for opponents not to act too fast in response to Robinson's approval. But Williams acknowledged it would have a “significant impact” on the Anglican Communion — the Church of England and the 37 autonomous national or regional Churches in communion with the Archdiocese of Canterbury.
Bishops opposed to Robinson's election also plan to meet in October in Plano, Texas. There has been public talk about Episcopal bishops and priests dissatisfied with the developments joining the Catholic Church. So far, there is no indication that this vote would encourage a significant number of Episcopalians to convert.
The International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, which was established in 1992 out of a desire to recover the “fullness of the ancient church,” issued a statement reaffirming its belief that the sanctity of marriage is reserved for a union between a man and a woman. The church, based in Potomac Falls, Va., applauded the recent Vatican document rejecting legal efforts to sanction same-sex marriage.
Some delegates to the convention smeared ashes on their foreheads or wore black armbands as a sign of mourning after the vote.
And there was negative reaction from Anglican bishops around the world.
“It's wrong and it's against the Bible,” Bishop Joseph Mutie Kanuku of the Machakos Diocese in Africa, east of Nairobi, Kenya, told the New York Times. “How can we go against God's words? Two men being joined is contrary to nature and contrary to the Bible.”
The Rev. Keith Roderick, canon theologian of the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy, based in Peoria, Ill., and head of an organization monitoring the persecution of Christians worldwide, said the Episcopal Church's decision does nothing to help the plight of such Christians.
“It is apparent that the Episcopal Church continues to ignore the concerns of the world's majority of Anglicans who live in developing countries,” Roderick, secretary-general of the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights, told the Register. “The bishops who live in areas with large Muslim populations are not only disturbed by this action but they now have much to fear from their neighbors who see the Episcopal Church's actions to be … forbidden and detestable — as if Christians in these areas needed another bull's-eye painted on their backs.”
Roderick characterized the process leading to Robinson's confirmation as bishop as “doctrine by dysfunction.”
“On the one hand, the church consents to ordaining a man who divorces his wife to live together with his male lover, then resolves not to consent to the ‘blessing’ of same-gender unions; in the name of inclusivity, affirms a priest as fit for the episcopacy who practices his sexual life outside of marriage and then says the church is not ready to redefine marriage as inclusive of same-gender couples, making the priest now bishop guilty of leading what the church still concludes is an immoral life,” he commented.
He noted that “sound theological debate” over the legitimacy of Robinson's ordination was ignored.
Josh Mercer is based in Washington, D.C.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Josh Mercer ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Answer to Church Crisis Is in Lay Faithfulness, Cardinal Stafford Says DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Cardinal J. Francis Stafford is president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Roman dicastery that assists the Pope in all matters concerning the contributions the lay faithful make to the life and mission of the Church.
While in Boston to attend the installation of Archbishop Sean O'Malley on July 30 at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the cardinal spoke with The Pilot, the archdiocesan newspaper, on the crisis in the Church and the path to renewal. The following are excerpts from the interview, conducted by Pilot editor Antonio Enrique.
You work very closely with the Holy Father at the Vatican. Can you tell us how aware the Holy Father is of the crisis in the Church in Boston and in the United States in general?
The Holy Father himself initiated the meeting in April 2002 between the American cardinals, himself and members of the Roman Curia. He was present for each of those meetings and heard it firsthand. Cardinal [Bernard] Law frequently brought the Holy Father up-to-date, together with other members of the Roman Curia. Bishop [Richard] Lennon did the same, especially through Cardinal [Giovanni Battista] Re, and through the apostolic nuncio here in the United States.
My sense is that the Holy Father and the membership of the Curia, the leaders of the various Roman dicasteries, are very aware of what has been happening in the United States and, more specifically, in Boston.
You are the president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity. How do you see the role of the laity in the wake of the sexual-abuse crisis?
The most significant positive development since the Second Vatican Council has been the flourishing of lay movements within the Church. That doesn't mean that there were not lay movements before. We obviously have analogous groups such as the Knights of Columbus and the confraternities, which go back to the Middle Ages, but the unique expression of that, through the various associations of the lay faithful, has only developed since World War II and after the Second Vatican Council.
They have arisen to meet very specific needs of the laity — the need for a deeper spirituality that, in many ways, they do not feel the parish has been able to meet. And secondly, the need of the laity to give greater evidence of their own desire for evangelizing the world — the world of economics, the world of politics, the world of the university, the world of unions. These new lay movements illustrate the desire of the laity for a greater commitment to the disciple-ship of Jesus, in the world and in the Church.
More specifically, these lay movements assist the lay people especially in living out their sacramental commitment to Christ in baptism, confirmation and marriage. Of course, that means through the ongoing living of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus through the Eucharist. They do that within a commitment to community, to community life.
Your dicastery has been studying the sacraments of initiation — baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist — and highlighting their importance in everyday Christian life. Could you describe how parishes should address the challenge of adult faith formation and the New Evangelization?
One of the greatest gifts the Spirit has given to us from the Second Vatican Council is the renewal of the catechumenate.
The catechumenate has various stages. I would say that the most important aspect for parish renewal is to look at a post-baptismal catechesis, that is, a catechesis or an instruction in the mysteries of Christ and of the Church for all of the baptized, the part of the steps in the RCIA which is called the mystagogia — that is post-baptismal catechesis.
These steps [of the RCIA] attempt to deepen the understanding of the baptized in the mysteries of the faith, especially the sacraments, and to call them into a deeper sense of community within the Catholic Church, especially in the parish, and to call them to a faithful witness to Christ in the marketplace.
Growing conflicts between contemporary culture and faith seem to be keeping many Catholics from accepting the teachings of the Church on moral issues. How can that gap between the magisterium and contemporary culture be healed?
I think the lay people have much to teach us in this. I am thinking of such laypersons as Alasdair MacIntyre, Charles Taylor, David Schindler, Tracey Rowland in Australia — a great woman theologian — some lay theologians in Great Britain.
They are indicating to us that we have to better our understanding of the theology of culture. I understand them to say that the Vatican Council was too optimistic in its assessment — Gaudium et Spes especially — of the compatibility between postmodern culture and the Catholic faith. I am in full agreement with that judgment.
So, the first issue that the Church must face is to assess, critically, the compatibility between facets of liberal-Nietzchean culture as it's being lived in the West — that is in United States, in Canada, in Western Europe and, increasingly, in many other parts of the world — and to make judgments in light of the Gospel whether this liberal Nietzchean culture is, as a matter of fact, compatible or hostile to the Gospel. I am thinking specifically in the area of human sexuality, of economics, of academic freedom, especially in the university and colleges.
One aspect of that relation between faith and postmodern culture is the relationship between politics and the Christian conscience. The Holy See has issued a document, “Considerations Regarding Pro posals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons.” Local politicians have reacted to the document, saying that it is inappropriate for the Church to instruct politicians. Would you like to comment?
The general principle is this: If we judge that religion is irrelevant to politics, then we are recognizing that the political realm is no longer part of the realm of God. If we divide the religious, the sacred, from the secular, then we are limiting severely, into very narrow confines, the action of God in the life of the world. But that's not what we confess in our faith as Catholics. God is not simply the God who is limited to a very specific area of life. He is the Creator of all that we see and all that is not seen.
For the Catholic politician who lives fully his or her baptism, it is impossible that God should simply be a “tag-on” to the system, whether it is political or economic. That is not the Catholic understanding of God. He is the Lord of Life. We confess in the Creed [that] he is the Spirit, he is the Lord, the Giver of Life.
Gov. [Mario] Cuomo and President John Kennedy, both Catholics, did a severe disservice to the Catholic laity by setting a path that limits God in his role as creator and redeemer of all of mankind. And for Catholic politicians today to believe that they [Cuomo and Kennedy] are guides for their consciences puts them at total odds with the Catholic magisterium and with the Catholic tradition.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Antonio Enrique ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Cardinal: Human Cloning Would be a Crime Against All People DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Attempts to clone human beings should be banned internationally as a “crime against the human person,” against the human right to life and to true individuality, said the president of the Pontifical Council for the Family.
Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, writing in the Aug. 9 edition of L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, said the Vatican's opposition to human cloning does not reflect a fear of technology but a commitment to protecting the human person, human sexuality and the family.
The cardinal's article was the second in a series planned by the Vatican newspaper in preparation for a late-September U.N. debate on a possible global ban on human cloning for reproduction.
The Vatican supports the ban and efforts to expand its prohibitions on human cloning for any purpose, whether the procedure is aimed at producing a child or simply at creating an embryo whose cells and tissues would be used for the treatment of others.
“It is not acceptable to maintain that a human being, in any stage of its development, is like material in a warehouse or a source of tissue and organs — replacement parts,” Cardinal Lopez wrote.
The complexity of the debate and of media coverage surrounding it can be simplified if one remembers that what cloning aims to produce is not a thing “but a human being like us,” he said.
People should look at the question, he said, not by trying to imagine what they would do if they were scientists, “but put yourself in the shoes of the embryo, something we once were.”
“Certainly, it would not be pleasant to come into the world in a laboratory instead of being the fruit of the union of our parents,” he said. “Neither would it be pleasant to be the survivor of dozens or hundreds of our twin brothers and sisters eliminated as defective.”
Cardinal Lopez also wrote about the reflections of the philosopher Hans Jonas on the “right to ignorance,” that is the right to be an individual, not an exact copy of someone whose physical and psychological health history is already known.
“Being a copy” would be part of the clone's self-identity, a condition that runs counter to “the right of a person to live his life as an original and unrepeatable discovery, a discovery of the self,” he said.
The cardinal also said a human clone could not really be said to have a mother and a father, since its conception would not be the result
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Pope and Polish Scholars Discuss 'Time, Eternity and Infinity' at Meetings DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Continuing the interdisciplinary academic discussions he began as a cardinal in Krakow, Pope John Paul II hosted 11 Polish scholars at his summer residence for a three-day discussion of “time, eternity and infinity.”
The Aug. 5-7 encounter was the 12th held at Castel Gandolfo since the Holy Father's election in 1978, the Vatican said in an Aug. 8 statement.
Most of the participating scholars — representing fields as diverse as physics, philosophy, theology and astronomy — either studied or taught at Jagellonian University in Krakow, as did John Paul.
The Castel Gandolfo meetings, which are closed to the press and normally announced only after they have ended, have taken place under the broad theme of “science, religion and history.”
In a text released Aug. 8, the Pope thanked the scholars for their willingness to explore topics touching on the relationship between faith and science in a common search for truth.
Contemporary culture, he said, needs to “ask the fundamental questions about meaning and truth, beauty and suffering, infinity and contingency.”
Those who seek the truth and give witness to it need to spend time together discussing their ideas and modern problems so they do not feel alone, the Holy Father said.
“The Church cannot be indifferent to the conquests of science, which arose and developed in an environment of Christian cultural influences,” he said.
John Paul and the meeting participants also prayed for those who were involved in the group's earlier discussion but have since died.
“In the light, they see more clearly the truth which we must discover in the semidarkness of research and discussions,” he said.
Archbishop Jozef Zycinski of Lublin, who participated in the meeting, told Vatican Radio on Aug. 8 that the Pope's hospitality, presence and remarks to the scholars were “inspiring as always.”
“And for those of us who recognize the importance of this pontificate for interdisciplinary dialogue, this is a great support,” he said.
Under John Paul's leadership, Archbishop Zycinski said, Catholic theologians, philosophers and scientists have been encouraged to work together to formulate theories that conflict neither with faith nor with scientific evidence.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Reflecting on Passion Leads to Focus On Those Who Suffer, John Paul Says DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Focusing one's prayers and reflections on Christ's suffering and resurrection helps Christians see Christ in their suffering neighbors, Pope John Paul II said.
Meeting 700 young people from around the world Aug. 9 at the end of a pilgrimage to Assisi and other sites connected with the life of St. Francis, the Holy Father prayed they would share God's love with others as St. Francis did.
Contemplating the suffering face of the crucified Christ led St. Francis to such a deep relationship with Christ, the Pope said, that at the end of the saint's life “he carried impressed in his own flesh the signs of the Passion,” the stigmata.
Christ's suffering, he told the young people, was not “the anguish of a desperate person” but an offering of his life in love for the salvation of all people.
“It is necessary to welcome this message of hope into your own lives and to announce it to the world as the full revelation of God's love,” he said.
“Following the example of Francis, you also will learn to look with faith upon the face of the Crucified One and see there the reflection of all human suffering,” John Paul said.
As with St. Francis, he said, contemplation leads to welcoming, supporting and reaching out in solidarity to all those suffering because of illness, violence, hatred and injustice.
The other famous saint of Assisi was featured in a papal letter, released at the Vatican on Aug. 11; the letter marked the 750th anniversary of the death of St. Clare, a companion of St. Francis and founder of the contemplative Poor Clares.
In the letter, sent to Poor Clares in more than 900 monasteries around the world, the Holy Father said the saint, who died Aug. 11, 1253, was so focused on her love for the crucified Christ that she gave up everything to devote herself to prayer and a life of absolute poverty.
Poverty, she believed, marked every aspect of Christ's earthly existence to the point of his being stripped and nailed to the cross, the Pope said.
“Hers was the gaze of a loving bride,” John Paul said, “full of desire for a sharing that was increasingly complete. In particular, she immersed herself in meditating on the Passion, contemplating the mystery of Christ who, from the heights of the cross, called her
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: A New College Major: John Paul Studies DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Aug. 11 —A new school in Poland named for Pope John Paul II's longtime friend, Father Jozef Tischner, has opened near the site of Karol Wojtyla's first Mass in 1946.
Fittingly, Father Jozef Tischner University will provide students a chance to focus on the work and life of John Paul. In fact, it's offering a postgraduate degree in John Paul studies, the Associated Press reported. The 180 hours of course work will focus on the Pope's contributions “to modern Poland, the Roman Catholic Church and the world.” They will be offered starting in October.
“The intellectual contribution of Karol Wojtyla and John Paul II is one of the most important elements of the Polish culture,” Tischner University rector Jaroslaw Gowin explained, “something which should interest not only Catholics but [also] all intellectual circles.”
People Not the Only Ones Wilting in Europe
REUTERS, Aug. 8 — unprecedented heat wave that has claimed thousands of lives throughout Europe and led Pope John Paul II to lead prayers for rain continues unabated, Reuters reported. The British news service noted that even votive candles are melting in the heat — before the faithful have had the chance to light them.
Reporting from the shrine of St. Anthony in Padua, Reuters pointed out that these candles are melting on souvenir stands in the 104-degree heat, warping the image of the saint into bizarre, unrecognizable shapes.
Also on sale at the stands are tiny statues of the saint that act as barometers — glowing red when rain is coming and blue to predict sunny days. The statues, locals noted ruefully, remain a steady blue.
Dignity Criticizes Vatican Document
DATALOUNGE.COM, Aug. 11 — Leaders of the group Dignity, which lobbies for the acceptance of sodomy by the Church, responded on Aug. 11 to the recent Vatican statement rejecting legal same-sex unions.
The homosexual-rights Web site DataLounge.com reported on the Dignity USA national convention, which took place in Las Vegas. It quoted Matthew Foreman of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, who called the reassertion of the Church's ancient teaching by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith “terrifying.”
Dignity President Patrick McArron dubbed the Vatican document — which insists that persons with homosexual inclination must be treated with charity and understanding — a form of “spiritual terrorism” and a “vicious attack.”
The Vatican's declaration, “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons,” is posted on www.vatican.va. The text was printed in last week's Register.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: God Is the Source of Salvation and Peace DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Register Summary
Happiness is genuine when it is found in the light of all those who are seeking the Lord with purified hearts and with a yearning for truth that shines forth in the sky.
Pope John Paul II met with 1,500 pilgrims who gathered in the courtyard of his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo for his general audience Aug. 13. He offered his reflections on the Canticle of Tobit, which is recited during Friday morning prayer of the fourth week of the Liturgy of the Hours.
The Holy Father noted that the Canticle of Tobit invites the faithful to purify their hearts so that they will experience conversion and work for justice.
“This is the path that we must take in order to find God's love, which is the source of peace and hope,” he said.
“The story of Jerusalem is in itself a parable that teaches the choice that is to be made,” he pointed out. “God punished the city because he could not remain indifferent to the sins that were being committed by its sons and daughters. However, seeing now that many have repented and have been transformed into sons and daughters that are righteous and faithful, he will once again manifest his merciful love.”
Throughout his canticle, Tobit gives praise to God for purifying his chosen people through the experience of the exile and for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Mount Zion is seen as God's dwelling place and a goal of pilgrimage not only for Israel but also for all nations.
“The Israelites and all the nations are on the road together to a single goal, which is that of faith and truth,” John Paul said. He emphasized that all people are called to journey toward the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, where God will bestow salvation and peace upon all who turn to him.
Among the canticles that are included in the morning prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours is a fragment of a hymn — which we just heard — that is found at the end of the story that is told in the Book of Tobit. The hymn, which is rather long and solemn, is a rather typical expression of Jewish prayer that draws on other texts that have already been presented in the Bible.
The canticle is developed along two lines. First of all, an invitation to praise God for the purification that is taking place through the exile (see verses 3, 4 and 7) is repeated several times. The “sons of Israel” are exhorted to welcome this purification with sincere conversion (see verses 6 and 8). If conversion flourishes in their hearts, the Lord will insure the dawn of their deliverance. It is right at this spiritual climax that the part of the canticle, which the Liturgy of the Hours has excerpted from the longer hymn that is found in Chapter 12 of the Book of Tobit, begins.
A Call to Repentance
The second part of the text, which is intoned by the elder Tobit, who is the main character along with his son Tobiah, is truly and in many ways a celebration of Zion. It reflects the passionate nostalgia and burning love that the Jews of the Diaspora experienced toward the holy city (see verses 9-18). This aspect also shines forth in the passage that was chosen for the morning prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours. Let us reflect on these two themes — the purification from sin through trial and waiting for an encounter with the Lord in the light of Zion and of its holy Temple.
Tobit addresses a wholehearted appeal to sinners so that they will convert and work to bring about justice: This is the path that we must take in order to find God's love, which is the source of peace and hope (see verse 8).
The story of Jerusalem is in itself a parable that teaches the choice that is to be made. God punished the city because he could not remain indifferent to the sins that were being committed by its sons and daughters. However, seeing now that many have repented and have been transformed into sons and daughters that are righteous and faithful, he will once again manifest his merciful love (see verse 10).
Throughout the canticle found in Chapter 13 of the Book of Tobit, this conviction is often repeated: “He scourges and then has mercy … he scourged you for your iniquities, but will again have mercy on you all … he scourged you for the works of your hand, but will again pity the children of the righteous …” (see verses 2, 5 and 9). God resorts to punishment as a means of calling sinners who are deaf to other cries back to the straight path. The final word of our just God is, nonetheless, one of love and forgiveness; his deep desire is to embrace once again his rebellious children who have turned back to him with repentant hearts.
God Is Merciful
God's mercy will be manifested to his people through the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem, which God himself will carry out, “so that his tent may be rebuilt in you with joy” (verse 10). It is here that the second theme appears — the theme of Zion as the spiritual center toward which both the Jews who are returning and the pilgrimage of those nations who are seeking God must converge. Thus, it opens up a universal perspective: The Temple of Jerusalem, which has been rebuilt and which is a sign of God's word and presence, will shine forth with a crowning light that will dispel the darkness so that “many nations … the inhabitants of all the limits of the earth” (verse 11) will be drawn to it, bearing gifts and singing their joy in taking part in the salvation that the Lord is pouring out upon Israel.
Therefore, the Israelites and all the nations are on the road together to a single goal, which is that of faith and truth. The author of this hymn repeatedly invokes a blessing upon them and says to Jerusalem: “Happy are those who love you, and happy are those who rejoice in your prosperity” (verse 14). Happiness is genuine when it is found in the light of all those who are seeking the Lord with purified hearts and with a yearning for truth that shines forth in the sky.
Heavenly Jerusalem
St. Augustine speaks with ardor about this Jerusalem, which is free and glorious and a symbol of the Church in its ultimate goal of hope, which was prefigured in Christ's resurrection.
Referring to the prayer that he is about to pray in his “secret chamber,” he describes to us those “songs of love, groaning with groans that are unutterable in my pilgrimage, and remembering Jerusalem, with heart raised up toward it, Jerusalem my country, Jerusalem my mother, and to thee thyself, its ruler, the source of light, its father, guardian and husband, its chaste and strong delight, its solid joy and all its good things ineffable …” He then concludes with a promise: “I will not be turned away until thou hast brought back together all that I am from this dispersion and deformity to the peace of that dearest mother, where the first fruits of my spirit are to be found and from which all these things are promised me which thou dost conform forever, O my God, my mercy” (Le Confessioni, 12, 16, 23, Rome, 1965, p. 424-425).
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Ethnic Strife Over Mother Teresa's Origins
But this soon-to-be beatified nun was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu of Albanian parents in Skopje, Macedonia, in 1910. And herein lies the confusion — which nation can lay claim to her?
The question has erupted into a bitter controversy among Albanians and Macedonians, The New York Times noted, since a statue of her was to be placed in Rome. A tiny inscription on the 9-foot statue by Macedonian artist Tome Serafimovski calls Mother Teresa a “Macedonian daughter.” This has enraged Albanians, particularly those in Macedonia itself, where they form a growing minority that has had military conflicts with the Slav-led government.
One Albanian political party has claimed that this inscription “undermines the Albanian national identity and represents usurpation of Mother Teresa's origin.”
The ongoing dispute has delayed the erection of the monument, which sponsors hope will take place before her expected beatification Oct. 19.
Cardinal Sepe Encourages Mexican Youth
FIDES, Aug. 1 — The Eighth National Congress of Mexican Missionary Youth opened July 31 in Queretaro, Mexico, according to Fides, the Vatican missionary news service.
Young people age 15-30 came from every diocese in the country to study and reflect on the missionary dimension of Pope John Paul II's 2001 apostolic letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the Beginning of the New Millennium).
Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, sent a message calling the meeting “a moment of special grace for the Church in Mexico.” He asked the young people to undertake “an intense program of missionary animation in order to carry the Gospel to all men and women,” particularly those who do not know Christ.
Cardinal Sepe reminded attendees that in Novo Millennio Ineunte, the Holy Father urges them to “the high measure of ordinary Christian life, that is holiness.” The Pope implored them “not to settle for a life of mediocrity, marked by a minimalist ethic and a shallow religiosity.”
Northern Irish Police Must Reveal Affiliations
NORTHERNIRELAND.CO.UK, Aug. 5 —Police officers in Northern Ireland must now reveal their involvement in “secret or cultural” organizations such as the Protestant Orange Order or the Catholic Knights of Columbanus, named after the sixth-century Irish saint, according to new rules issued Aug. 5.
Henceforth, policemen must inform their superiors about such affiliations or face disciplinary measures, according to the news site NorthernIreland.co.uk.
The new rule was recommended as part of the peace agreements in Northern Ireland that brought most IRA and Loyalist violence to an end.
“The present state of community divisions in Northern Ireland means that membership of some organizations can be perceived in certain communities as affecting the ability of officers to discharge their duties effectively and impartially,” said Assistant Chief Constable Sam Kinkaid, the man responsible for enforcing the new disclosure law.
He predicted that full disclosure should help resolve those uncertainties.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: UNICEF and Abortion DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Our report on UNICEF's involvement with abortion caused quite a stir. Officials from the United Nations’ fund for children's programs have called, visited, faxed and e-mailed us trying to convince us that the story was wrong.
We welcome that dialogue and hope to meet with UNICEF officials in New York to get to the bottom of some of the questions we raised.
But we stand by our report. We quoted UNICEF's stated goals and practices, and included UNICEF's answers to each charge.
We hope that the result of this discussion will be a new direction at UNICEF. Because, the truth is, UNICEF does a lot of praiseworthy work. In many ways, it is worthy of imitation, not just criticism. It is — easy to talk about serving the poor. UNICEF workers in the field save lives in poor communities every day.
However, if UNICEF is promoting abortion — and we believe it is — then the organization is destroying its good name.
The destruction caused by abortion is hard to exaggerate. It kills children, and since it kills children, it can destroy their mothers, as well. Women who have had abortions suffer decades of depression and anxiety that strangle the joy from their lives.
Abortion also wrecks cultures. After all, in order to accept abortion, a culture must change many things. It has to learn to live a lie by denying the death and pain abortion causes. It has to accept that convenience sometimes trumps mortality. It has to decide that the sexual appetites of men need to be satisfied without the natural check that women's fertility usually puts on it.
And watch what happens to the economy after abortion takes hold in a culture. As examples from Sweden to Japan teach us, abortion cultures are demographic time bombs. Working-age populations that embrace abortion raise their standard of living for a time, but they soon become senior-age populations that don't have an adequate working class to support them.
A new report by the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-Fam) finds much to praise in UNICEF, but it also finds lots of evidence of UNICEF's support for population control and abortion.
Here are some of its findings: E In the U.N. Population Fund's 1996 Inventory of Population Projects in Developing Countries Around the World, UNICEF is named as a financial contributor to a “global” program on reproductive health run by the Population Council and committed to “improving the quality of care in family planning and reproductive health services.” E UNICEF funds a South African organization called loveLife . As of January 2003, loveLife provided children with abortion service phone numbers and said: “You're pregnant, or you've just heard that your girlfriend is. You didn't plan it, you don't want it … Remember, it is your right to get counseling. It is your right to get an abortion. If people are unhelpful, don't get discouraged. Keep trying. You don't need permission from anybody to have an abortion.”
E C-Fam quotes an international abortion agency called Ipas, which claimed that “MVA instruments are also available through the UNICEF Warehouse Catalog. … Ipas is working to ensure that where medical abortion is offered, MVA is available as an alternative and/or backup method because of the safety and efficacy of the vacuum aspiration technology.” C-Fam says that Ipas stopped making the claim when C-Fam first reported on it.
Find these and other claims about UNICEF's practices in a report at www.c-fam.org. Our news report detailing other evidence is at www.ncregister.com.
Look for more reports about UNICEF in the future. We've invited UNICEF to defend itself from these charges in its pages. We hope it can. But if it can't counter the evidence that's been brought against it, we hope it will change its organization's ways.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Behind Closed Doors
Ellen Rossini's front-page report about an “off-the-record” meeting in Washington, D.C., (“Dissenters’ Secret Bishops Meeting,” July 27-Aug. 9) brought to mind another closed meeting also held in Washington some years ago and reported in the Washington Times (May 28, 1999).
This year's secret meeting was on “the future of the Church in America,” while the 1999 secret meeting was on the “moral dimension of environmental issues.”
So, presumably, for example, you might not be a good Catholic if you didn't support the Kyoto Treaty. And as early as the 1960s, secret meetings involving influential dissenting Catholic theologians, funded by the pro-contraception Ford Foundation, eventually resulted in inestimable damage to Pope Paul IV's encyclical Humanae Vitae. Catholics who would like to start taking back this part of their history would do well to start with the book John Cardinal Krol and the Cultural Revolution by E. Michael Jones.
By the very nature of these get-togethers, we know little about them because the participants agree not to divulge what goes on. Yet they evidently touch on issues central to our day.
The main point being raised here is just how many of these secret meetings, involving influential Catholic hierarchy or their representatives, have been going on?
Neither dissenters nor environmentalists can be expected to have at heart the teachings of Christ through the Church he founded.
THOMAS MORGAN
Annandale, Virginia
Questions and Answers
“Dissenters’ Secret Bishops Meeting” (July 27-Aug. 9) raises many questions and explains much at the same time.
First, doesn't this add some fuel to the fire some bishops are trying to build to convene a special plenary meeting of all U.S. bishops? The last I heard just a few (eight or so bishops) were asking to convene the first such conference to be held in 100 years or more.
Secondly, don't our bishops realize the Church is on fire? Many lay people do. It should not be necessary for the sheep to point out to the shepherd the fire that is so obvious either from the heat of the flames or the smoke filtering through the sanctuary.
Is this secret meeting another attempt to organize an “American Catholic Church?”
We heard about this a few years ago and then it died down. Sounds to me like another attempt to revive it. The lay “moneybags” who attended add credibility to this thought.
How did attendees Bishops Gregory and Skylstad ever get appointed to such high posts in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops? Isn't anyone out there minding the watch-tower?
What this explains is how a person like Leon Panetta was appointed to the commission monitoring child abuse. It also explains the problems some dioceses seem to be causing the committee.
It is time for our good pastors (read bishops) … to stand up and get the show on the road. It seems the opposition has been preparing for years.
Why is it necessary to wait until the fire has destroyed the roof of the church before we can organize a council to begin fighting it? If we take 10 years to organize an opposition, the dissenters will have used the present crisis to complete the schism.
Maybe it is time for the aware lay people who love the Church to call the attention of our bishops to the urgent need to promptly and forcefully address this issue.
JIM DORSEY
Longmont, Colorado
Future of the Church?
In “Dissenters’ Secret Bishops Meeting” (July 27-Aug. 9), it was reported that Kathleen Kennedy Townsend attended the secret meeting of bishops planning the future of the Church in the United States, which was arranged by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C.
Townsend served as lieutenant governor of Maryland. She had the task of managing the state's juvenile judicial system. During that time the system was riddled with scandals and investigations. Juveniles were brutalized and sued Maryland, winning millions of dollars in retribution.
Townsend served in an administration that gave a football team more than $600 million to move to Baltimore while schools in Baltimore were overcrowded and falling apart. During her tenure overspending was rampant — the state budget increased by 60% — leaving the new leadership with a billion-dollar shortfall for the next fiscal year.
Townsend was the Democratic candidate for governor in 2002. She started the race with what appeared to be an insurmountable lead in the polls. Instead of selecting one of many capable and deserving black Democrats as her running mates, she picked a white Republican political neophyte, an unknown. This move left seasoned political observers with drooping jaws, as they felt the selection of a black running mate would have ensured her victory.
Townsend was endorsed by all the pro-abortion groups; they contributed heavily to her campaign. Whenever she was asked any question about abortion, she would say, “I trust women”: Do you support partial-birth abortion? “I trust women.” Do you support notifying parents of minors before they have an abortion?“I trust women.” Do you support informing women about fetal development and the risks of abortion? “I trust women.”
There is no reason to trust Townsend or the bishops who would seek her counsel to plan the future of the Church.
JOHN NAUGHTON
Silver Spring, Maryland
Worth 1,000 Words?
Today, I am writing to encourage you not to be afraid to publish photos of aborted babies. From my own perspective, I was at first afraid to look at the photos that are available on many pro-life Web sites. I was afraid because I did not want to look at what I knew were such ugly sights.
When I realized that I was being called to return to school to study nursing, however, I decided that I had to get over my squeamishness. Seeing these photos did not make me sick to my stomach — they made me sick at heart. I could not see the blood, or the blackened, dead tissue.
All I could see were the babies — babies torn to pieces by human beings calling themselves “doctors,” babies torn to pieces because someone thinks that this is a constitutional right.
As I wept — for a long time — I realized that I may have had a glimpse of the pain that Christ must have felt on Calvary. Since my first visit on June 24, I have returned to look at these photos many times because I think it is necessary not to forget. I believe in my heart that if every adult in America looked at these photos, abortion would end by popular consensus the next day.
Why should every adult in America look at these photos? Because they would quickly realize that these are not photos of “tissue.” These are photos of the remains of human babies. The liberal press screams at us daily about “dignity.” They obviously have not looked at the torn-up remains of a human baby, nor have they considered the indelible wound given to the mother. These are true assaults on human dignity.
No, it is definitely not pretty, but neither were the photos of the emaciated remains of the Jews killed by the Nazi's; neither were the photos of the acts of genocide in Bosnia or Rwanda.
As Christians we must be concerned with what is happening in the world outside of the United States, but we must also be concerned with what is happening in our own neighborhoods.
Before we can tell our brother of the mote in his eye, we must remove the beam from our own.
We must strike out against the candy-coated voice that tells us that it is okay to kill. We are allowing the murder of innocent human babies to continue unabated in staggering numbers.
We must speak out — logically, compassionately, and with these photos.
KELLY F. CALKINS
Wellington, Colorado
Sodomy Laws Then and Now
It's amazing how laws change over time (“Encouraging Sodomy,” June 6-13,), as I discovered when I visited an old prison, now a museum, and had chance to view case histories.
One man caught in the act of sodomy was sentenced to seven years in the penal colony in Australia.
By today's standards the sentence probably seems severe to the more liberal-minded, but it does strike me that it may have been mild by comparison, in severity and duration, to the possible eternal consequences of persistence in that area of sin.
The pendulum has swung full arch now and as the laws of the state stray further and further away from God's laws, the people do, too, and sadly in the case of the Episcopalians in America the church, too, is being evangelized by the world instead of the other way round.
Whether the force of law was a deterrent or not in the past, one can only guess but with this week seeing another “Celebration of Diversity” or Mardi Gras in Manchester (UK) attracting thousands of- people, will there be anyone to speak the truth?
STEPHEN CLARK
Manchester, England
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Mel Gibson on Tape DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Thank you for your article on the Regnum Christi's Youth and Family Encounter in Chicago, which included an appearance by Mel Gibson and Sen. Rick Santorum (“Thousands Cheer Mel Gibson and Sen. Santorum in Chicago,” Aug. 10-16).
You neglected to tell readers where they can purchase recordings of the fine talks given throughout the weekend. They are available from:
St. Joseph Radio
P.O. Box 2983
Orange, CA 92859
info@Stjosephradio.com
(800) 500-4556
Fax: (714) 744-1998
SHEILA BEINGESSNER
La Palma, California
I wanted to e-mail concerning Mel Gibson's new movie,-The Passion.- What an incredibly faith-filled project his has proved to be. Whatever his personal relationship with the Church, we have to commend the courage he has shown in producing this movie despite so much criticism and opposition. It was wonderful to see him at a Catholic conference like the one you profiled.
After feeling under attack by the media, it's such a relief for my family to see a top star doing such a great work for the Church. We don't need to hear it from a celebrity, but with kids today it helps.
I want to invite others to pray for Mel Gibson, Jim Caviezel [who plays Christ in the movie] and for all Catholics in Hollywood, that they will use their art to lead people closer to God, instead of using it to draw people away.
ELLEN SANDLEGGER
Tucson, Arizona
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: When Same-Sex Marriage Hits Home DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Never in our wildest dreams did we think we would be forced to defend traditional marriage.
My wife Mary and I caught our first glimpse of the battle approximately six years ago, when we were called to defend traditional marriage — in our own home.
A close and dear second cousin asked if she could bring her homosexual partner to our home. Naturally, this put us in a quandary. While we respected her as a person, we didn't support the lifestyle she and her partner had chosen, and we didn't want that lifestyle modeled for our own children. We were forced to take a stand — one that would later isolate us from our own family.
We were clear that while we loved her, we could not support her behavior, and we attempted to explain our beliefs to her through the Bible.
“Homosexuality is not scriptural,” we said, citing the appropriate passages.
“But slavery was permissible in Scripture,” she argued. “Certainly, you don't agree with slavery. I use a different Bible that I can show you.”
“The Catholic Church teaches that homosexual relations are disordered,” we responded.
“I can give you the name of a priest you can talk to who will tell you otherwise,” she offered.
“It doesn't matter what your priest says. The Church teaches otherwise,” we replied.
“If same-sex marriage is allowed, then what's to stop two men from marrying one woman or three wo men from marrying?” we asked.
“Well, I certainly don't believe in that,” my cousin said. “I believe in one person being committed to another.”
She chose to draw the line there. We drew it with the Church. Unfortunately, but perhaps understandably, our relationship has never been the same since.
In the end, my cousin told us that until we were prepared to allow her partner into our home, we should refrain from calling her, writing her or inviting her to our home. So much for tolerance!
The rift between us has since extended to my own family of origin with the majority of the family siding with the homosexual couple, setting us up as the outsiders.
“If they choose to live that way, it's their decision,” offered my brother.
When my cousin and her partner later held their commitment ceremony at a Minneapolis Catholic church, it caused even greater confusion and scandal among my Lutheran family.
Our family has become an island of faith amid a sea of confusion. Such is the price of discipleship in the modern age. Christ told us it would be this way.
Some years earlier, my cousin's parents had refused to allow her previous homosexual partner from staying in their home. At that time they, too, saw the behavior as wrong. What has happened in the intervening years?
Apparently wrong has become right, and right has become wrong. How quickly everything changes.
What's been “normal” for thousands of years — faith-loving families with multiple children — is now seen as anything but normal. Single-parent families, homosexual “parents” and test-tube children (all of which are oxymorons) are now considered “normal.”
Such thinking can be seen not only in the recent actions taken by the Supreme Court but also in those of the Episcopal Church U.S.A. Gene Robinson, the recently elected first openly homosexual bishop, has previously described his homosexual relationship with Mark Andrews as “sacramental.” What Anglican orthodoxy (and the Bible) has traditionally identified as sinful behavior is now called a “grace.”
But does calling wrong right necessarily make it so? Is there still such a thing as sin?
It was G.K. Chesterton who once wrote, “It's the first effect of not believing in God that you lose your common sense.” His often-misquoted maxim suggests that when you do not believe in God, you will believe in anything — even that something that is wrong is right.
The lie that same-sex marriage is no different from a union between a man and a woman is like the many other lies our culture perpetuates — lies such as, “premarital sex doesn't harm marriage,” “sex between adults and children is not harmful” or “abortion has no lasting effect upon a woman.”
Once you become a parent you become painfully aware of the need for limits, for morality and for truth. Suddenly, there has to be a right and wrong. Otherwise all is chaos.
When toddler Electra goes toward the dining-room outlet with a butter knife you realize that there is a right and wrong. If you don't address it you're likely to have an injured daughter on your hands.
When 5-year-old Brutus hits his younger sister on the head with a large plastic block, there needs to be a consequence or he's going to do it again. There are rules that need to be followed.
Thankfully, the Church has laid a foundation. It's found in Scripture, the Catechism and the recent document regarding same-sex unions.
Make no mistake. Whether we're ready for it or not, the time has come for us to take a stand. Will we stand with the Vatican in defense of traditional marriage, or will we cave in to the cultural pressures that threaten to destroy one of the Church's great sacraments?
Tim Drake is managing editor of Catholic.net.
He writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: The Nature of Marriage: Why Homosexual Unions Are Wrong DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:How did what we might have once thought was simply the obvious conclusion of reason and common sense, namely, that marriage is the union of a man and a woman, get so quickly and decisively overturned in the minds of so many?
Reports that a slim majority of Americans still oppose homosexual marriage fail to explain why so many people do not, apparently, oppose it.
The real question is: How did anyone ever come to imagine that unions between persons of the same sex could possibly be thought to be marriages in the first place?
The answer to this question, I think, lies in the surely now-incontrovertible fact that marriage in our society is no longer thought of as necessarily having anything to do with children. And this idea that marriage does not necessarily involve children — or at least the possibility of children — in turn itself goes back to a decision that our society has gradually but now almost universally been making as a result of the advent of modern methods of contraception.
Yes, contraception.
The Christian tradition had always unanimously condemned artificial methods of birth control; this was true up until the year 1929, when the Church of England broke ranks at its Lambeth Conference that year and allowed the practice in “hard cases.” Within about 20 years nearly all of the Christian communions in the tradition stemming from the Reformation followed the Anglicans, as Western society itself overwhelmingly embraced birth control as a great new modern benefit.
The Catholic Church, of course, declined to join in the general rush to accept and employ contraception. Thirty-five years ago, Pope Paul VI, in his encyclical Humanae Vitae (On the Regulation of Birth), even warned that disastrous consequences would follow from the moral acceptance of the artificial separation of the life-giving from the love-giving aspects of marital intercourse.
Now that a whole generation has passed in which contraceptive use has become as common and unquestioned a component of modern living as, say, television or air conditioning, we are now in a position to assess the results. They have been disastrous; Paul VI turned out to be right.
Even among Catholics — whose acceptance and use of contraception, following the lead of dissenting theologians who persuaded most people that the Pope's teaching did not have to be followed — contraceptive use today appears to be parallel to that of practically everybody else. And one of the principal consequences of the moral acceptance of contraception, of course, is nothing else but the sexual revolution itself.
The sexual revolution would not have been possible — it would have been inconceivable — in the absence of the availability and the supposed efficacy of contraception in preventing any “unwanted” consequences stemming from the new untrammeled sexual “freedom” and “expression.”
If we can licitly separate the life-giving potential of sexual union from its love-giving character — and modern society has long since decided that we can — then it strictly follows that the pleasure-giving aspects of sexual union become divorced from their intrinsic meaning and purpose as far as nature is concerned.
Henceforth, anything goes — as in our society today, everything having to do with sex does go!
Most people are inclined to laugh or even to sneer at the idea that this state of affairs could ever have been brought about chiefly as a result of the acceptance by society of contraception; but the fact is that it is impossible to see today's widespread moral acceptance of sodomy and so-called homosexual marriage, for example, as stemming from any other source. For ideas do have consequences. There is an underlying logic in all this that cannot be gainsaid.
Cardinal John Henry Newman once observed that people tend to think and act on what their true premises are, even when they are scarcely conscious of what they are; and our premises today include the fixed and firm conviction that there is “nothing wrong” with contraception.
But this is to affirm that there is nothing wrong with the use of sex without regard to its possible life-giving powers, as in the case, precisely, of sodomy. Most people do not spontaneously rise up and condemn homosexual marriage today because, deep down, they have accepted the idea that there is “nothing wrong” with uses of sex divorced from nature's intended purpose for sex, which would include the possibility of children.
The idea that there is any such natural use of sex, though, has now been largely abandoned in our society: It's whatever we decide. Furthermore, marriage, too, has become whatever we decide, and, in the process, marriage has lost its true identity.
Although stable marriage and the family are actually the basis of any stable society, to accept as so many do today that unions of homosexuals could somehow in any way constitute a marriage is to evacuate the very idea of marriage of its real meaning.
It is no exaggeration to say that that is where we are today: So-called homosexual marriage became possible and perhaps even inevitable when society decided that the life-giving powers of marital intercourse could morally and legitimately be separated from the love-giving powers, in other words, when society rejected Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae.
Kenneth D. Whitehead is the author, among other books, of One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic: The Early Church Was the Catholic
Church (Ignatius Press, 2000).
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kenneth D. Whitehead ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: What Homosexuals Want ... and Three Reasons They Just Can't DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:The same-sex marriage debate has focused on the question of what marriage is. But perhaps it's better to begin from a different angle: Why does society give marriage special honor? Because it's this honor that activists are really seeking.
If homosexual couples could cobble together all the bureaucratic oddities and benefits (and penalties) that attend marriage but the law still refused to call their unions “marriages,” no one can pretend the activists would be satisfied.
What they are seeking is not, or not primarily, the right to confer Social Security benefits on their partners upon their deaths or medical power of attorney. What homosexual activists seek is honor — a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. So we should start with the fact that our society exalts marriage over all other chosen relationships.
Yet marriage is hardly the only important kind of relationship.
Many women will admit their best friends are closer to them than anyone else. (This fact has spawned a whole genre of “chick flicks,” from Beaches to Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.) Many men will acknowledge they are more open with their friends than with their wives and that they are fiercely loyal to their friends. We rely on friends in familial, romantic, financial and medical crises.
Then there are siblings; uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews; beloved teachers; professional mentors; godparents; and models of faith. Most of us are blessed with at least one of these people in our lives — the person who was there for us, who believed in us, who guided us. We incur great debts to these people, and we live in loyalty to them.
But we're not married to them, and no one is arguing that we should be. So clearly there is something more about marriage that merits our attention.
Marriage does more for society than the other kinds of loving, dedicated relationships. These other relationships do less to nurture children by giving each child a mother and a father; to corral the often-destructive forces of sexual desire into productive and loving channels; to bring people from youth to adulthood; and to align the interests of parents and children rather than forcing tragic choices between the two. Marriage gets honor from society because it does all these things more than any other institution does or could.
Marriage developed over centuries to meet several specific, fundamental needs: children's need for a father, a couple's need for a promise of fidelity (and consequences for breaking that promise), young people's need for a transition to manhood or womanhood and men's (and women's, but mostly men's) need for a fruitful rather than destructive channel for sexual desire — a way of uniting eros and responsibility. In other words, marriage developed to meet the needs of opposite-sex couples.
At this point, the most common question that arises is, “So what? Okay, maybe marriage didn't develop in response to same-sex couples, but c'mon — how can Bob and Jim getting married really affect your marriage?”
There are three basic reasons to think same-sex marriage will damage, perhaps fatally, the institution of marriage — maybe not in this generation, but in the one that grows up with same-sex marriage as the norm.
The first reason is simple: This is America. This nation is built on the idea that even minorities can shape the culture they enter. Racial and ethnic minorities have already done so; no honest author could write a history of American culture without noting how much of it began as black culture, Jewish culture, Irish culture. And from TV shows like “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” to subtler infusions of “camp” humor, homosexual culture is already affecting the majority culture.
The second reason is that homosexual activists are merely picking up on a trend begun by and for opposite-sex couples. Same-sex marriage is just the next step in the divorce culture. The belief that marriage is merely the way that our culture expresses its approval of atomistic adults’ sexual and romantic partnerships isn't new — it's the same “me generation” worldview that produced “fatherless America.”
And finally, unlike easy divorce, same-sex marriage would change the fundamental ideal of marriage. Even the most ardent defenders of divorce today view it as a necessary evil, a response to the tragedy of marriage failure. Same-sex marriage, by contrast, would say that the idealmarriage is gender neutral — not a way for boys to become men by marrying and pledging to care for women.
It would say that the ideal marriage includes children only when they have been specially planned and chosen — children would become optional extras rather than the natural fruit and symbol of the spouses’ union.
It would say that the ideal family need not include a father — a message that is especially pernicious in a country where one-third of births in 2000 were to unwed mothers. And it would say (because who can imagine that most homosexual couples would wed?) that marriage itself is optional, not the norm — that marriage is for heroes, and since you and I aren't heroic, we must not be called to marry. Any one of these changes would be destructive. Put together, they are a recipe for disaster, a recipe for revisiting and surpassing the harm done to families by the “sexual revolution.”
Marriage has taken a beating. Americans cohabit, we divorce, we remarry, we split our resources between several sets of children. But we still have hope that we may recover the true meaning of marriage, because we still know the ideal: the lifelong, fruitful union that makes boys into husbands and fathers, and reconciles the “opposite sexes” to one another.
Same-sex marriage would mean losing that ideal and losing our best hope for marriage renewal.
Read former Register staff writer
Eve Tushnet's blog at www.eve-tushnet.blogspot.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Eve Tushnet ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: To Protect the Common Good: The Vatican on Same-Sex Unions DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:On July 31 the Vatican released a document that was at least a year in preparation titled “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons.”
These “considerations” contain no new doctrinal elements. Rather, they seek to reiterate essential points about marriage, “drawn from reason,” that serve to promote the special dignity of marriage, an institution that is both “the foundation of the family and the stability of society.” The document, therefore, as stated in its Introduction, is addressed “to all persons committed to promoting and defending the common good of society.”
In order to give the document a fair reading, it must first be realized that the Catholic Church, though a faith community, is and has been since its inception a firm adherent and promoter of reason, which includes a recognition of the natural law, an understanding of the nature of the human being and, however limited, a fundamental grasp of the structure of the physical universe.
The Church, having an abiding interest in all human beings and the common good of society, is trying to reintroduce reason where reason has been lacking. In this regard, the Church is acting as an expert witness in a trial rather than as an agency that is trying to foist a denominational faith on a nondenominational public.
In taking this rational humanitarian approach, the Church is hoping to establish a mutually acceptable basis on which a meaningful discussion can proceed. Consequently, she is trying to avoid tendentious arguments that arise from political advantage, personal preference and fashionable ideology. Accordingly, it emphasizes the importance of scientific, biological and anthropological factors that are pertinent to marriage.
The second point to understand is that the document's message is in no way disrespectful to homosexual persons, is not a vehicle for unjust discrimination and does not question the capacity of people of the same sex to love each other faithfully and fervently. Citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the document insists that “men and women with homosexual tendencies ‘must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.’”
The essential focus of the document is marriage, its nature and its relationship with the good of others.
In exploring the nature of marriage, the document draws from history, psychology, biology and politics. All the great cultures of the world have given matrimony and the family specific institutional recognition (same-sex unions between men could not be termed “matrimony” since no “mother” — mater— is involved).
Male and female provide complementary benefits for each other as well as for their children. It states that experience has shown that “absence of sexual complementarity in these unions [same-sex] creates obstacles in the normal development of children who would be placed in the care of such persons.” To add secular authority to this contention, it refers to the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child, “that the best interest of the child, as the weaker and more vulnerable party, is to be the paramount consideration in every case.”
The inevitable conclusion the document reaches is that “homosexual unions are totally lacking in the biological and anthropological elements of marriage and the family which would be the basis, on the level of reason, for granting them legal recognition.”
Moreover, if legal recognition is granted to same-sex unions, marriage between husband and wife would be sharply devaluated. True marriage is far more than an artifact of law, a way of publicly celebrating private love or a delivery system for a set of legal benefits.
Marriage and the family are already under considerable duress, both internally and externally. Do we want to place it under even greater duress by devaluing it further, turning it into a purely political and private phenomenon? Thus devaluated, marriage as an institution would lose much of its moral force.
Being mothers and fathers has its obvious difficulties. We need the support of society to help husbands and wives, mothers and fathers to be faithful to their challenging commitments.
Marriage is fundamentally personal but profoundly social. But spouses must also realize the transcendent significance of their marital union. In a theological sense, procreation derives its sacred dignity because it proceeds from creation. Such procreation is inherently impossible in same-sex unions.
In conclusion, therefore, the document states: “The common good requires that laws recognize, promote and protect marriage [between hus bands and wives] as the basis of the family, the primary unity of society.”
In failing to do this, the grave danger arises that the basic values of traditional marriage, which belong to the common inheritance of humanity, will be obscured and, as a result, either vitiated or disregarded. This would bode ill for the future of society.
Donald DeMarco is professor emeritus at St. Jerome's University.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Donald Demarco ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Note to Arnold: If You Win the Governorship, Watch Terminator II Again DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:It's impossible for a satirist to improve upon the farcical situation facing voters in California.
The upcoming recall election features some 135 candidates, arranged in a random order by bingo-hoppers across the state, which include a porn “star,” an Austrian weightlifter best known for playing an animatronic murderous robot and the even less life-like sitting governor, Gray Davis.
As a fiction writer, I would never have the nerve to make such stuff up. It's all too implausible, even for the great state that gave us Jerry Brown, Haight-Ashbury and EST. (To readers under 30 who might suspect that these are names of Scottish novelists or cable TV stations: Do a Google search on each for hours of guilt-free laughter.)
This landmark of American democracy in action makes Gov. Jesse Ventura and the hanging chads of Florida seem like chapters from a civics textbook. Reading The New York Times these days you'd think it had merged with the online sarcasm site The Onion.
So I'll dispense with the cheap shots and get to the point.
As much as it might all seem like a Mardi Gras parade, there are some deadly serious issues at stake in the California race. At the moment, it seems all too likely that, by sheer force of name recognition, Arnold Schwarznegger might receive his very first position in government as the head of America's largest, most populist and once-richest state.
He'll do his on-the-job training holding the welfare of tens of millions in his bone-crushing hands. I know that at least one actor made the same leap, with enormous success: the beloved Ronald Reagan. Of course, Reagan had long been active in politics, campaigning for Barry Goldwater, and before that leading the successful purge of communists from the Screen Actors Guild. That means we shouldn't beat Arnold to death with his resumé.
Still, it bears consideration that Mr. Schwarzenegger, to anyone's knowledge, has never managed anything more complicated than a motorcycle.
I'm much more concerned about the incipient front-runner's views. As Christian leaders across California are desperate to remind Republican voters, Schwarzenegger has publicly and plainly endorsed abortion on demand and the legalization of homosexual “marriage.”
These two issues alone should ban him as a biohazard — too toxic to touch. We have unambiguous statements from the Vatican that make clear it is sinful to support such a candidate, particularly when there are reasonable alternatives. To name one, there's the successful businessman and Catholic philanthropist William Simon Jr., who came achingly close to defeating Davis in the most recent ordinary election.
There are others, and you can read about them online, for example, at www.traditionalvalues.org.
This isn't a case of choosing the lesser of two evils — and that's perhaps the one positive aspect of this electoral pandemonium: The structure of the recall election prevents the two parties from offering voters a choice between pro-abortion Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
If pro-life, pro-normal-marriage voters united behind a single candidate, he might very well win with only 25-30% of the vote. It's unlikely he could do much to restrict abortion in California, whose legislature legalized the procedure years before Roe v. Wade snatched it from voters’ reach. But he could provide leadership, thunder from his bully pulpit or nibble away at public funding for destruction of the unborn. Small steps — little things — but real ones. The road to heaven is paved with them.
More importantly, the defeat of a socially libertine Republican would prevent the powerful pro-abortion faction in that party from growing still more influential.
The governors of major states have a powerful say in writing party platforms, boosting or crushing the hopes of pro-life and pro-family congressmen, and dishing out cash from the party war chest. It's a major blow to the pro-life cause that Republican George Pataki is the governor of New York; the only consolation is that in presidential elections Re publicans have largely written off the place.
But Karl Rove and George Bush (perhaps fantastically) hope to carry California in 2004. When its newly elected governor speaks, they will feel pressure to listen. Think what it would mean to have two parties from which to choose — one that is officially, wildly pro-abortion and pro-homosexual “marriage” and another that is neutral or lukewarm on the issues. Would we bother to vote?
It's also telling that Mr. Schwarnegger has chosen as campaign manager former Gov. Pete Wilson, who for all his virtues as a competent head of that state was a leader in trying to neutralize pro-life voices in his party. And things get uglier: Schwarzenegger has designated as his chief economic adviser Warren Buffett Jr. — a man who when he isn't enriching his fortunate investors busies himself pouring untold millions into Planned Parenthood and even worse organizations that promote forced sterilization throughout the developing world.
If I could get Mr. Schwarzenegger alone for a few minutes, I would remind him of a scene from his wonderful film Terminator II, which I saw in the theater nine times. For all its onscreen violence — don't bring the kids — the movie enfolds throughout its story a real reverence for human life, even a sense of its sanctity.
One scene I cannot forget pits the young John Connor (Edward Furlong) in an argument against the Terminator (Schwarzenegger), who came from the future to save Connor and the human race. Up to then, the Terminator had been remorselessly mowing down anyone who got in his way — like a good utilitarian. Appalled at the carnage, Connor pulls the cyborg aside and argues with him: “You just can't go around killing people!”
The Terminator is confused. “Why not?”
“You just can't.” “But I'm a Terminator.” “You're going to have to trust me on this. You just can't.”
At some point, argument breaks down. You can't prove to someone that human life is sacred; especially if he doesn't feel that way about his own. It's a truth that's conveyed a thousand ways, through acts of compassion, empathy and reverence that human decency suggests and Christian faith demands.
After the exchange, the Terminator switches gears and only shoots to wound, using minimal force against police and army units — even in his mission to prevent a nuclear war. In other words, he fights according to just-war principles. This fact alone makes the film worth watching again.
So if I could corner the Terminator, that's what I'd say to him.
“You have to trust me on this. You can't go around killing people. You just can't.”
J.P. Zmirak is author of Wilhelm Röpke: Swiss Localist, Global Economist (www.isibooks. org).
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: J.P. Zmirak ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Cardinal Virtue DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Cardinal Virtue
Dear children,
We are lucky to live in Chicago, home of a feisty cardinal.
Cardinal Francis George displayed the virtues of faith, loyalty and courage when he criticized the Chicago Sun-Timesfor an inaccurate headline its editors recently ran: “Pope Launches Global Campaign vs. Gays.” As the cardinal accurately put it, the Pope “did no such thing.”
A few weeks ago, the Vatican issued a document titled “Consideration Regarding Propo sals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons.” As you can imagine, something with such a title is likely to arouse controversy, even though it makes no new statements regarding Church doctrine or the interpretation of natural moral law.
The Church is deeply concerned about legislation recognizing marriage between homosexuals. You see, the Church expects Catholic politicians to respect moral law.
I expect that many news reporters reporting on the new document either didn't read it or didn't understand it. In what should be normal procedure for all commentators, I went to the Vatican Web site and read the document. What I found was a clear, concise and sensible statement by the Church to date on the issue of homosexual marriage. It includes some extremely direct statements:
“Marriage is not just any relationship between human beings … marriage exists solely between a man and a woman …”
“There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family.”
“Legal recognition of homosexual unions would obscure certain basic moral values and cause a devaluation of the institution of marriage.”
Letters to my Children
What I didn't find were any statements that suggested a campaign against men who have feelings of romantic attraction for other men, or against women who have feelings of romantic attraction for other women. In fact, the document quotes from the Catechism. Men and women with homosexual tendencies “must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”
In other words, there is a clear difference between compassion for the individual and the acceptance of sins. The Church clearly states that homosexual marriage and adoption are wrong — but asks for compassion for homosexuals.
I suppose if newspaper reporters suddenly stumbled across the Ten Commandments, they would jump to the conclusion that the Church has an ongoing campaign against pagans, idol-worshippers, people who swear, Sunday laborers, disrespectful children, killers, adulterers, thieves, liars and those who covet the nice things their neighbors have. Seems to me that would put the Church at odds with virtually the entire human race.
The Church has a long track record of calling people to give up their sinful ways. This involves pointing out the error and evil of the sin, offering forgiveness and reconciliation and living a better life.
Christ started this a couple thousand years ago. Mary Magdalene had led a sinful life. Christ offered love and forgiveness. What he did not offer was a free pass for her to continue her sinful ways.
So, it shouldn't come as any surprise that the Church is not going to give a free pass to those who promote homosexual behavior, including politicians who pass laws that the Church believes will damage the sacrament of marriage.
We're fortunate that it is fairly easy to get to confession in most Chicago parishes, including ours. Homosexuals, politicians and all other forms of sinner are welcome.
I'll be there. I'm still struggling with some of the Ten Comm-
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jim Fair ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: The Gospel in Coquina and Calm DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Mission of Nombre de Dios, St.
St. Augustine is our nation's oldest city. It's also home to the Mission of Nombre de Dios, an evangelical outpost established in the “Name of God” and in honor of the Holy Name of Jesus.
And who wouldn't want to be in St. Augustine on Aug. 28, feast of the city's namesake (or the day before, feast of St. Monica, Augustine's long-suffering mother)?
When Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed on the east coast of Florida on Sept. 8, 1565, he claimed the patch of land for Spain and for the Church. The site was then dedicated at the hands of Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, the chaplain of the expedition. Not only would this site become the first American mission, but it would also be the first place in America where a Mass would be offered, as well as the first place at which a shrine would be dedicated to the Blessed Mother.
These events took place a good 55 years before the pilgrims set foot on Plymouth Rock.
When I visited, I was quick to note that the site's historical significance is matched by its physical beauty. Located just north of St. Augustine's bustling historic district, the mission is flush with varied foliage; it also affords lovely water views and provides a serene setting for exploration as well as reflection.
As I entered the mission, my attention was immediately drawn to Prince of Peace Church. Able to accommodate 200 people, the church was built in 1965 to commemorate the mission's 400th anniversary. The church is constructed of coquina, a unique building material that is formed under water and consists of a combination of shell, rocks and other particles.
Coquina provides the foundation upon which St. Augustine is built and is featured in numerous historic sites in the area. As a votive church, Prince of Peace was dedicated to the prayerful intention that God would spare the world from atomic war. Now, 38 years later and in light of the world's tumultuous political climate, this intention seems to be more timely than ever.
A Path Well Trod
After visiting Prince of Peace, I followed a path that led first to a picturesque lake and then to a statue of Father Lopez, the mission's first pastor, depicted in priestly garb, with hands and eyes raised heavenward. The imposing image was created by Ivan Mestrovic, a renowned artist who received the 1954 Christian Culture Award.
A little further on, I was treated to views of Mantanzas Bay and a variety of devotional sites, including a small Byzantine shrine as well as one dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe. At this end of the mission, it is impossible to miss the towering Great Cross, which extends 208 feet into the air and was constructed for the mission ’ s 400th anniversary.
A short walk from the cross brings visitors to the Rustic Altar, an outdoor commemoration of the first Mass celebrated in the New World. Mass is still celebrated here on special occasions.
The mission is perhaps best known for being home to the Shrine of Our Lady of la Leche. Many 16th-century Spaniards had a special devotion to “La Senora de la Leche y Buen Parto” (“Our Lady of the Milk and Happy Delivery”) for the kindnesses granted to expectant mothers by the Blessed Virgin.
By 1598, this devotion had taken root among many in the new settlement, and the first Marian shrine in America was established under her patronage.
The original chapel, built around 1615, was destroyed in an attack on St. Augustine during the early 1700s. It was subsequently rebuilt and then partially destroyed again by a hurricane.
The current chapel, made of coquina and bedecked with ivy, was reconstructed in 1915. Nestled in a wooded grove, the tiny sanctuary can accommodate 30 visitors and exudes a sense of warmth, beauty and simplicity. Its centerpiece is a beautiful reproduction of the statue of Our Lady of la Leche. This small, lovely statue is one of the few images to depict the Blessed Virgin nursing the baby Jesus.
The chapel hosts a steady stream of visitors and has become a special place of pilgrimage for expectant and nursing mothers, as well as for those who seek the blessing of motherhood.
Nursing Motherhood
This lovely image and title of Our Lady of la Leche has also found a place in history beyond the parameters of the Church. When the La Leche League, a group dedicated to providing information and support for nursing mothers, was founded in the 1950s, the group took its name from the title of Our Lady. Since then, many advocates for the benefits of breastfeeding, both Catholic and non-Catholic alike, have made a visit to St. Augustine to see the unique and beautiful image of the nursing Mother.
After leaving the Shrine of Our Lady of la Leche, visitors may wish to wander the mission grounds and take in the other sights and bask in the pristine surroundings.
The Mission of the Nombre de Dios provides a backdrop for a richly prayerful experience that allows visitors to contemplate a significant slice of Church history — and what it can teach us about the cares and concerns of the present-day world.
The power of the apostolic priesthood, the beauty of motherhood, the tangible link between prayer and world peace — all those facets of our faith, and more, are on display in this special place.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Patricia A. Crawford ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Grace, Nature and a Sacred Restoration DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Before being “touched” by Grace and Nature, St. Mary's Church in Westville, Ill., (Diocese of Peoria) had a certain austere elegance — but, in the words of Father David Erickson, the pastor, it was “very simple.”
A little too simple. Father Erickson believed that his parishioners would be more easily drawn to the glory of God if the church and adoration chapel were more beautifully adorned.
In came Grace and Nature Inc., a church-restoration company started in April 2002 by Robert Jackson and Father Erickson's brother, Chris. Their goal is, quite simply, to give glory to God by rebeautifying churches — and do so at a very reasonable price.
First step for St. Mary's: the less-than-inspiring adoration chapel. In Chris’ words, “the chapel's cream-colored plaster walls and ordinary windows were more akin to a day room than the prayerful and sacred setting Father Erickson envisioned. He wanted to create a sort of mini-sanctuary to make the chapel sacred, a place worthy to honor our Lord in the tabernacle and to set the right mood conducive to prayer.”
They raised the floor, framed in the walls, installed maple flooring and railing, crafted walnut paneling with 90 maple inlays of two alternating custom-designed crosses and a stunning alpha and omega, precision wood-burned the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts into the panels, filled the four windows with beautiful stained glass, and the adoration chapel was fit for a king, indeed, the King of kings. Two weeks of long hours, but years of holy inspiration for St. Mary's.
“I think it was a pretty spectacular thing,” comments parishioner Bob Clifford. “It turned out great.”
Next step, the sanctuary. Chris and Bob saw the 40-foot archway framing the space as a canvas awaiting a masterpiece. After careful consultation with Father Erickson and the benefactor, a masterpiece was chosen, the 16th-century work by Raphael called “Disputation on the Blessed Sacrament.” The original adorns the Pope's library at the Vatican in the Stanza della Segnatura. Two weeks filled with 14-hour days later, Raphael's “Disputa” graced the archway.
Such beautiful sacred art is all too rare in churches today, according to Father Erickson. “Unfortunately, misinterpretations of Vatican II have, among other things, left us with a loss of the sense of the sacred in Church art and architecture. For many years our Holy Father has been calling us to recapture the sacred and reclaim Catholic culture. Sacred art, such as this depiction of Raphael's “Disputa,” will not only bring glory to God but touch people's hearts and inspire them to become living icons of Christ in their own lives.”
The glory did not stop with the “Disputat” alone. “We painted the archway's front and back trim in royal purple, and on the back trim we added the names of the prophets and saints depicted in the mural in 23-carat gold leaf,” Chris says. “We lettered the prophets’ names in Hebrew and the New Testament saints in Latin.”
“The idea was to exude royalty. On the front royal purple trim — spanning nearly 60 feet of the archway from the floor on the left side of the arch reaching to the ceiling and returning down to the floor on the right — we gold-leafed 39 titles of God: The Faithful and True, Adonai, Yahweh, Rock of the Ages, El Shaddai, Elohim, Good Shepherd, Redeemer, Just Judge, Righteous One, Savior, etc. A gold-leafed cross separates each title.”
The reward for artists dedicated to glorifying God goes beyond monetary compensation. “When I sat back and looked upon all those titles, it brought an incredible sense of awe as to who Jesus is,” Chris says. “What man can boast just one of those titles, much less 39? The Scriptures tell us Jesus received 40 lashes minus one. Those 39 titles represent a title of adoration for each stripe he received.”
The reward for the parishioners? A real sense of elevation. “I love it,” parishioner Sylvia Nicklas says. “It makes my eyes look up and makes you feel the presence of God and the saints.”
To further enhance the majesty of the sanctuary, Grace and Nature marbleized the existing white columns and sidewalls. They are indistinguishable from real marble, a magic transformation at a fraction of the cost.
Notre Dame architect Duncan Stroik, who is also the editor of Sacred Architectural Journal, is quite impressed with the work of Grace and Nature Inc. “This is a firm that is seeking to restore the sacred in existing or new ecclesiastical projects,” he says. “They have a Catholic sensibility, in that Catholics appreciate material beauty which points us to the immaterial and eternal.”
Stroik sees Grace and Nature as a laudable “part of a general resurgence among Catholics to return beauty to the house of God,” and adds, “I wish them much success.”
Leon Suprenant, president of Catholics United for the Faith, is equally effusive in his praise. “In his 2003 encyclical on the Eucharist, Pope John Paul II points out that, historically, the Church's Eu char-istic faith has not only been manifested in-an interior disposition of devotion but also in tangible, outward-expressions that evoke and emphasize the grandeur of the Most Blessed Sacrament. In this context, the Pope acknowledges the Church's ‘rich artistic heritage,’ including the ‘fine craftsmanship’ that brings together creative genius and authentic faith. In other words, the happy marriage of grace and nature. Grace and Nature is aptly named, as it-puts top-notch artistic skill at the service of divine worship.”
Benjamin Wiker writes from Hopedale, Ohio.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
The second film of Peter Jack son's historic three-part adaptation of The Lord of the Rings ex tends and in some ways deepens the achievement of the first film but falls short of it in other ways. More liberties are taken, some characters are shortchanged and some memorable events have been deferred to December's The Return of the King.
Like the book, Two Towers is more spectacular and epic in scope than its predecessor. It's also darker; Jackson has showed us the pleasant side of Middle-earth, and here he focuses not on light but on the battle against darkness.
The great exception is the glorious return of a departed character — a moment flooded with as much light and hope as one could wish. In this moment particularly the underlying religious themes intended by Tolkien shine with exceptional clarity.
Among the new characters, Gollum (Andy Serkis) and the Ents rank among the series’ most astonishing triumphs to date. Gollum goes far beyond a special effect, not only for his breathtaking realism but also for Serkis’ conflicted vocal performance.
Note: As with the first film, this week's initial VHS/DVD release will be followed in November by a new “extended edition” with additional footage, potentially enhancing the film.
Content advisory: Intense, sometimes bloody battle violence; scenes of menace and grotesque-rie involving orcs and goblins and other “fell creatures.”
The Wind in the Willows (1996)
There are a number of animated versions of The Wind in the Willows— two from 1996 alone. Of these two, the version more likely to please fans of Grahame's book is not the satiric revisionist production directed by Monty Python alum Terry Jones and distributed in the United States by Disney as Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, but the BBC version from the producers of the excellent World of Peter Rabbit and Friends series distributed on DVD and VHS by GoodTimes.
Like the Peter Rabbit episodes, Wind in the Willows begins and ends with charming live-action sequences, this time featuring a narrator (Vanessa Redgrave) telling the story to some children. Once again episodes and dialogue are drawn straight from the source material, though with Grahame's longer story more editing has been necessary. The animation, though less striking than in Peter Rabbit, evokes the classic illustrations of Ernest Shepard.
Note: Beware of a disappointing sequel from the same filmmakers, The Willows in Winter, based on a relatively recent book sequel by a different author.
Human characters figure much more prominently, and unpleasantly, than in the original, and the moral is deeply muddled. On DVD the two films come on one disc, but the whole value of the DVD is in the first film.
Content advisory: Mild excitement and action; a potentially confusing sequence involving a brief appearance by Pan.
Roman Holiday (1953)
Audrey Hepburn is utterly be guiling in her star-making role opposite Gregory Peck in Roman Holi day, a delightful romantic comedy about a poised young princess of an unspecified European country who spends a magical day with an American reporter (Gregory Peck) in the Eternal City, playing hooky from her official duties.
On a good-will tour of Europe, Princess Ann (Hepburn) chafes under the constant pressure of official duties and one night in Rome slips out of the embassy to wander the streets unchaperoned.
Soon incapacitated from a sedative administered earlier by an embassy doctor, she's discovered by a stony reporter, who doesn't recognize her but is chivalrous enough to put her up for the night (though not too chivalrous to give her the couch).
For much of the film, the comedic premise of a princess posing as a student and a reporter posing as a salesman provides a pretext for a lighthearted romp that's part romantic comedy, part travelogue, with scenes shot at locations including the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and the Bocca della Verita or “Mouth of Truth” (where Peck allegedly ad-libbed a memorable gag, to his co-star's genuine hysterics).
Then, as the film builds toward its bittersweet climax, the characters rise to real nobility and self-lessness.
Content advisory: Romantic complications; some awkward moments involving members of the
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:All times Eastern
SUNDAY, AUG. 24
Failure Is Not An Option
History Channel, 9 p.m.
The totalitarian Soviet regime scored propaganda coups with some basic space ventures in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but by 1969 it was only the land of the free, the United States of America, which was able to put men on the moon.
MONDAYS
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Familyland TV, 5:30 p.m.
Richard Greene was the perfect Robin Hood in this fine CBS series from 1955-1958.
TUESDAY, AUG. 26
Our Lady of Czestochowa
EWTN, 11 a.m. & 6:30 p.m.
Through centuries of war, oppression and persecution, the heroic Polish people have kept the faith. In this show, Franciscan Friar of the Renewal Father Benedict Groes chel and fellow pilgrims visit the miraculous picture of Our Lady of Czestochowa (“chan-sto-ho-va”) at her shrine.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 27
EWTN Live
EWTN, 8 p.m.
Bishop Robert Carlson of Sioux Falls, S.D., entrusted his diocese “to the Pure Heart of Mary” when he got there in 1995. Tonight he discusses the riches of the rosary.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 27
Great Performances
PBS, 9:30 p.m.
From Palermo's famous Teatro Massimo, Gil Shaham performs Brahms’ Violin Concerto, Op. 77, with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic. Also on the program are Dvorak's New World symphony and overtures by Beethoven and Verdi.
THURSDAY, AUG. 28
USS Missouri: The Last Battleship
Travel Channel, 6 p.m.
Every trip to Pearl Harbor should include a visit to the last battleship the U.S. Navy ever built, the Iowa-class “Mighty Mo.” She took part in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War. You can tour the bridge, the berths and more, and stand on the exact spot where Japan surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945.
FRIDAY, AUG. 29
Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown
ABC, 9 p.m.
Peanuts and baseball go well together, both at the ballpark and in this new 30-minute animated special from the folks who gave us the “Peanuts” holiday shows. Would trading Lucy help Charlie Brown's team finally win? And what is Snoopy thinking?
SATURDAY, AUG. 30
Cowboy Cook-Off
Food Network, 9 p.m.
Every cowboy knows good grub from the chuck wagon is a must if you're gonna keep them dogies rollin’. The categories in this annual cowboy contest are meat, potatoes, dessert and chuck wagon authenticity and traveling ability. As you might guess, beef stew and chicken-fried steak are among the delicious staples along this happy trail.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dan Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: The 'Moral Universe' in a New Light DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Weekly Books Pick
GOD's WORLD AND OUR PLACE IN IT
by Fulton J. Sheen
Sophia Institute, 2003
176 pages, $12.95
To order: (800) 888-9344
www.sophiainstitute.com
He was a bright light of the New Evangelization, using modern means of communication to bring the Gospel to millions here and abroad. He spoke with drama and flair, yet he made Christ's message accessible to all through everyday examples and easy-to-grasp concepts. He was perhaps the most popular priest of his day, starring on radio and television, and was known for bringing the rich and famous to the Catholic faith.
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was a man for many seasons, and his prolific and often prophetic writings continue to inspire. With his cause for canonization under way, publishers will be mining his works to produce new volumes for years to come. Sophia Institute's God's World and Our Place in It is a reprint of a book published in 1936 as The Moral Universe. Since the author deals largely in timeless truths, the message is fresh in perspective and message. Nearly 70 years after the book was first released, the genius of Sheen still shines through its pages.
The reader should not be put off by Chapter 1, “God dwells in humility in His world,” which uses some awkward analogies and poetry to make its point. It may be best, even, to start at Chapter 2, which begins a brilliant meditation on and explication of life's most perplexing problems: evil, death, God's omnipotence and our free will. If you know of anybody who has rejected formal religion because he has not found credible answers to these pressing questions, give him this book.
The archbishop, who was head of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith in his day, is still setting out the evangelist's net. Although modern science has explored the mysteries of the physical world, he writes, modern man “has done little to explore that region which is nearest to him, and yet most unknown — namely, the depths of his own conscience.” Knowing his audience, he compares conscience to the U.S. form of government. “It has its Congress, its President, and its Supreme Court: it makes its laws, it witnesses our actions in relation to the laws, and finally it judges us.”
Archbishop Sheen's meditation on conscience leads to a consideration of free will in the next chapter. Why is there evil if God is all good? Why hatred if God is all loving? Why does not God set things right if he is all-powerful? Getting right to the heart of these age-old questions, he writes, “This is the best possible kind [of world] that God could have made for the purpose He has in mind.”
God created the universe from an ecstatic overflow of love, and he desires to be loved by the one creature capable of returning his love, the one created in God's own image: man. Yet love must be free to be whole and godlike, Arch bishop Sheen explains; so man must be free to choose God or reject him, with ultimate consequences following from so serious a choice. Many people think of love simply in romantic or emotional terms, as something that comes and passes with the seasons, Arch bishop Sheen writes. But real love is a free act of the will, a choice, regarding the ultimate good who is God.
His look at love leads to a consideration of the four last things: death, judgment, heaven, hell. The modern age, he writes, does not want to speak of these things because it thinks of death as an insult, judgment as unfair, heaven as an illusion and hell as the fantasy of preachers. Yet each is a necessary result of the love of God, Archbishop Sheen explains. In the chapter “Hell is for those who willfully reject God,” he writes. “Those who cannot reconcile God's love with Hell do not know the meaning of love. … Love demands reciprocity … Love forgives everything except one thing, and that is the refusal to love.”
There's lots more. Indeed, to read this book is to understand why Pope John Paul II once said to Archbishop Sheen: “You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus.”
Stephen Vincent writes from Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Arab Catholic U
INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC NEWS, Aug. 11 — Mar Elias, the first Catholic Arab university in Israel, is set to open this fall in Ibillin, near Nazareth in Galilee.
In addition to Christians, the university will primarily serve students from the country's Muslim and Druses communities.
The new university, named in honor of the prophet Elias, recently obtained recognition from Israel's Ministry of Education and is a subsidiary of the University of Indianapolis.
Catholic Lite
SPTIMES.COM, Aug. 1 — In a comparison between Florida's three existing Catholic colleges and the plans that have been laid out for the more traditional Ave Maria College, the Web site of the St. Petersburg Times found that Ave Maria, at least initially, will teach only about Catholicism in its religion classes while the other schools typically teach “the religions of the world.”
Ave Maria will also have a stricter core curriculum than St. Thomas in Miami, Barry in Miami Shores and St. Leo in Pasco County. Unlike Barry and St. Leo, Ave Maria will join St. Thomas in having only single-sex dormitories.
Like the existing Catholic colleges, the campus will feature crucifixes and other religious images and not sponsor an organization for homosexual students.
All of which prompted Monika Hellwig, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, to classify the state's existing Catholic colleges as “middle-of-the-road.”
Cash Infusion
The property was purchased by Greg Palen and his father, Dick Palen, a retired businessman and chairman of the board of trustees at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn.
The new owners plan to develop retail and office space that will include a town center, said Greg Palen, owner of an aluminum refining company.
“Not only will this venture have economic impact,” he said, “it will help make Southern Catholic College a reality.”
New Chief
Before becoming president of St. Benedict's, a women's college, Lyons served as the academic dean and professor of rhetoric and homiletics at the state University of California at Berkeley and then president of the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo.
In Touch
The book includes detailed images and information coming from the Hubble Space Telescope. And, unlike an earlier version of Touch the Sky, the current edition can be used by both sighted and blind readers.
Beck-Winchatz is an associate director of NASA's Space Science Center for Education and Outreach.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joe Cullen ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: St. Monica, Pray for Our Wayward Children's Conversions DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:It's a familiar scenario. Smart young son leaves home to get an education. Falls in with a questionable crowd. Begins carousing, spouting secular philosophies, leading an immoral life. Takes up with live-in mistress. Has illegitimate child. Joins heretical cult. All the while a holy parent, heartbroken over the turn of events, prays for the young man's conversion.
Many parents today think they're the first to face these types of troubles. But this is a description of St. Monica and her wayward son, Augustine. And they lived in the fourth and fifth centuries.
Their sanctity developed together, side-by-side, just the way we celebrate their feasts. St. Monica's is Aug. 27, her son's Aug. 28.
Parents with unruly children — in fact, all of us seeking the conversions of family members and friends — can take a cue from Monica's timeless example.
“She prayed constantly and confidently,” says Father Dennis McNeil, pastor of St. Robert Bellarmine Church in Euclid, Ohio.
In the mid-1980s Father McNeil founded the Society of St. Monica for people to pray for the return to Catholic unity for those who left the Church.
“When I was working with the society, I got a good number of letters from people saying that their children had returned to the practice of their faith,” he says. “And if one person returns, it would be basically enough success to justify the efforts.” (Due to a full pastoral schedule, he no longer runs the society.)
Joan Hamill agrees. She prayed weekly for 15 years with the society's prayer group, which was once part of Corpus Christi Cathedral in Texas. “I prayed for St. Monica to intercede for our family members,” says Hamill. “As a result I had two brothers come back to the Church as well as my sister and brother-in-law.”
The pastor of St. Monica Church in Houston, Father Neal Stull of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, says that he and his assistant “promote St. Monica as a wonderful example of prayer and perseverance.” Several parishioners have now developed a devotion to Monica.
“Monica was like the story Jesus told of the importunate widow coming to the judge,” notes Sherry Weddell, co-director of the Catherine of Siena Institute in Colorado Springs, Colo. It's a picture of persistence. Many parents tell her they want their children to come back to the Church. The problem, she says, is that the parent is the last person kids want to listen to. Like Augustine.
Persistent Prayers
In his Confessions, Augustine tells how grateful he was for Monica's unwavering devotion. She was born into a Christian family in Tagaste, North Africa, in 332. Her parents married her to Patricius, a pagan who had a violent temper and didn't care for her faith. Yet Monica stayed patient, kind, gentle and persistently prayerful. A year before he husband died, he converted. So did her live-in mother-in-law.
Monica still had years of anguish ahead as her teen-age son, Augustine, shifted into high-gear rebellion. (Her son Navigius was more a model boy, and daughter Perpetua became a religious.) Augustine went off to Carthage to study, where he also majored in fast living and joined up with the Manichean sect. He even had the chutzpah to tell Monica it was her faith that was keeping them apart.
But, like in Jesus’ parable of the persistent neighbor knocking at night until his pleas were answered, Monica prayed ceaselessly, fasted and shed countless tears. She followed him to Rome, then Milan, where he eventually listened to Bishop (St.) Ambrose and was baptized.
In retrospect, the whole story seems neat and preordained. But in reality, it took many years of near despair before Monica's prayers seemed to bear fruit in her son's life.
“Using the example of St. Monica, never give up hope,” says Father Stull. “Even in the worst trials, even when others seem to have lost hope.” It's something everybody can do.
“Folks give up,” observes Catholic psychologist Dr. Ray Guarendi, a Register “Family Matters” columnist. “We are a microwave culture.” But “prayer is not microwave,” he underlines. “Prayer is a crockpot.”
“When you give up on a situation,” he cautions, “you're basically saying the Holy Spirit can't do it, the individual can't be redeemed, even God can't reach them.” That's why persistence is so necessary. He himself has been praying for conversions for years.
Asked for a clear example of Monica-like attitude and persistence in prayer, Guarendi unhesitatingly says, “My mother!” His brother and he both left the Church for years, but, he says, “We both came back with a renewed faith.” His mother told him she prayed for them every day for years.
He says today's expectation that teens will drift from the faith, dismissing it with a catchphrase like “they'll be back,” is “uniquely modern cultural rather than developmental. This is not the course of the faith through the centuries.”
In addition to praying, “You can't shun your kid, you can't write him off,” says Guarendi. What if they're living with someone? “You can have dinner with them,” he says. “That doesn't mean you're acquiescing in what they're doing” or “wholeheartedly celebrating what they're doing.”
He cautions, “You'll never win anyone back by your charity if there's no contact. Monica's son was probably a bigger reprobate than your son is.”
No Nagging
What do you say? “Nagging wouldn't work,” Father McNeil advises. One thing parents can do, though, “is invite their kids to go with them to church. Say, ‘I'm going to the 9:30 Mass Sunday. Would you like to join me?’ Continue to invite them without pushing.”
Father McNeil adds that Monica herself had advice from priests and a bishop in this regard who told her just pray and let God take care of it, he says. When she kept pestering the bishop to help “win over” her son, he told her, “Go now, I beg you; it is not possible that the son of so many tears should perish.”
On the flip side of imitating Monica's persistent prayer and unwavering hope is praying for her intercession. She's patroness of wives, mothers and troubled parents.
And, besides praying for a return to the faith, we can pray for interior conversions and change of disposition, says Father Stull. We can ask her help with guidance for young people, and with domestic violence and marital problems.
Monica must have experienced a more peaceful home life after her husband converted. “Returning to a genuine practice of the faith,” says Father McNeil, “would certainly lead to the conversion of behaviors.”
There's yet more in Monica's example. “Have faith and confidence that God hears our prayers and in his time these prayers will be answered for his greater glory and in accordance to his will,” says Father Stull. Sometimes, it's much more than we ask for, as in Monica's case.
Shortly before she died, St. Monica said: “All I wished for was that I might see you a Catholic and a child of heaven. God granted me even more than this in making you despise earthly felicity and consecrate yourself to his service.”
Of course, we know the fruit of Monica's hope and persistent prayer. Augustine became not only a highly influential bishop — his involvement was instrumental in canonizing the books of the New Testament — but also a doctor of the Church. Indeed, many consider him the greatest of all the Church's doctors.
In light of this outcome, Father McNeil tells all of us seeking the conversions of family and friends: “Given St. Monica's success, it wouldn't hurt for us to imitate her.”
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Family Matters DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:How to Treat Your TV
We're frustrated with our couch-potato kids this summer. I'm ready to throw out the TV altogether, but my husband is resistant. Help!
We've known families to ban the TV; that's one way to address the problem. But we believe it may be an even better discipline to train our families to use television in moderation. In our day of satellite dishes and digital cable, it's true that the garbage on TV has multiplied, but quality programming has grown exponentially as well.
We've benefited from shows on EWTN, the History Channel and the Discovery Channel, just to name a few. Here are a few tips for using TV well: E Don't make the TV the focal point of your living room. Orient chairs toward one another in order to foster conversation rather than automatic TV viewing. Better yet, place the TV in an entertainment center with doors so it can be kept out of view when not in use.
E Record favorite mom-and-dad shows to watch later, even if you are home. First, this saves time. A one-hour program becomes 40 minutes after skipping commercials. Second, it benefits your young children. Mom and Dad spend time with the kids before bed and aren't distracted by the TV. Also, the kids aren't exposed to something that may not be appropriate for children.
E If watching a program in real time, mute the commercials and keep an eye open for graphic content. Even if parents deem a program safe viewing for the family, commercial sponsors can ambush you with a 30-second ad that no one should see. This is especially true during sports events. Since we're probably not going to tape “the big game,” be vigilant during the commercials, always ready to switch the channel on a dime when graphic ads pop up.
E Have only one TV in the house, in a central location. This encourages the family to come together. It also helps Mom and Dad monitor what their children are viewing.
E Ban all channel-surfing. Use the phrase “appointment television” literally. Set a limit on the amount of time each child can watch TV each week, and require each child to select their allotment of programs ahead of time by listing the name and time of their selections in a family log. This helps prevent mindless couch spuds from sprouting, and it teaches the art of compromise to children who must share one TV and its availability. Also, it teaches a healthy skill of managing one's time and in having to reflect on what is really worthwhile versus what is simply a waste of time.
Finally, ban any program contrary to the family moral standard. Trash should be taken out, not invited in. (This means you, too, Mom and Dad!) Tell your kids that, unless you've previewed a show and approved it, they cannot watch that show. It means more work for us parents, but it is surely time well spent.
Tom and Caroline McDonald are family-life directors for the Archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama.
Reach Family Matters at familymatters@ncregister.com
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tom And Caroline Mcdonald ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: TIME OUT FOR KIDS DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Facts
Almost all of the parents and caregivers involved in a recent study — some 94% — said they see a relationship between the amount of meaningful time adults spend with children and the way kids deal with such major issues as substance abuse and discipline. Yet the parents in approximately 3.5 million households — representing 7 million youngsters — spend an hour or less a week in some type of activity with their children such as taking a walk or playing catch.
Source: KidsPeace.org, July 30 Register illustration by Tim Rauch
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Husbands, Rule Your Wives? DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Tom McDonald once heard a female lector confess: Whenever the Scripture passage stating that “wives should be submissive to their husbands” comes up at Mass, she gets a substitute because she has such a problem with the text.
She was referring, of course, to a line from the fifth chapter of Ephesians, which will once again come up in the Lectionary on Aug. 24.
“People read that reading and the instant interpretation is that this means men are in charge of women,” says McDonald, who serves with his wife, Caroline, as co-director of the Office of Family Life for the Archdiocese of Mobile, Ala. “That is such a limited, narrow understanding.”
McDonald and his wife, whose “Family Matters” column appears to the left, chose the reading for their own wedding 11 years ago precisely because it is so often misunderstood and they wanted to express its true and deeper meaning.
When the reading comes up in the lectionary cycle this weekend, it is bound to meet with the usual misapprehension. Some priests will fear offending women if they elaborate on it and instead will preach on one of the other readings of the day. Others will choose to focus on the opening sentence, “Defer to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
In some parishes, the verses may not even be read. Oregon Catholic Press's Today's Missal offers as an option a shortened reading that eliminates the sentences about wives being submissive and the husband being the head of the wife.
Father Paul Check, associate pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Stamford, Conn., agrees that modern ears, particularly American ones, find it hard to hear St. Paul's words. He believes this is because the idea expressed seems to run counter to the egalitarian spirit and instinct of the age.
But rather than avoid the controversial passage, he decided to explore it in a paper for his licentiate in moral theology. Now, in his work with engaged and married couples, he often challenges Catholics to consider the text's true meaning rather than dismiss it out of hand.
“This is one of those areas, not unlike the [Church's] teaching on contraception, where the opportunities to do a lot of good are very much there, as long as we're not afraid to believe that the divine wisdom contained in the teaching is accessible to us.”
Authority and Dignity
In his paper, which is available on the Internet at www.familylifecenter.net, Father Check shows how Church teaching on the hierarchy of roles in marriage has been fairly consistent for more than four centuries. What may appear to be differences among various documents, he writes, are really changes in emphasis reflecting the challenges of each age.
For example, Father Check found that, more recently, Pope John Paul II's emphasis on the dignity of women and the mutual submission of the spouses in Mulieris Dignitatem (On the Dignity and Vocation of Women) has not come at the expense of traditional teaching on the husband's authority. The Pope says in fact that the husband's authority is closely united to the protection of woman's dignity.
In Catholic teaching, the man is still considered the head of his family and serves his wife and children with authority that is ordered toward the common good, says Father Check.
The husband and father is charged with protecting the unity and safety — moral as well as spiritual — of his family. “There's no question but that both in nature and in grace,” he adds, “the role of leading the family has been given to the man for the good, smooth running of the family.”
Although modern women often bristle at the idea of submitting to their husbands as stated in Ephesians, Father Check says that, in the passage, St. Paul actually is trying to correct selfish notions on the part of men about how they should treat their wives — which, he says, “is exactly the opposite of what pops into mind first when someone listens to this Scripture passage.”
He considers the text to be a “handbook on marriage” from the Church and adds that, in the not-so-distant past, it would have been the epistle at every Catholic nuptial Mass.
Father Check acknowledges that, without proper explanation, St. Paul's words can be used by men as a weapon against their wives. But he said careful reading shows that almost all of the passage is directed to the man, who is instructed to love his wife as Christ loved the Church.
“St. John Chrysostom points out that the man has harder work,” he says. “It is more difficult to love than obey. Men should really tremble that they should have been given that role … for the enormous responsibility and obligation that has been entrusted into their hands.”
Katrina Zeno of Women of the Third Millennium, a group begun in response to a challenge to spread Pope John Paul II's message on women, agrees, adding that she thinks the most important line in the passage is, “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church.”
“It's the man laying down his life for his bride and the woman responding,” she says. “The woman is the one who is loved. Now, if you're loved, your response is that you want to give yourself back in return.”
Zeno said she thinks the submission of wife to husband must be understood in the context of the relationships in the Trinity, in which God is a union and communion of self-giving love. “The Father and the Son and the Spirit are one and yet are also distinct,” she says. “And within that oneness there's a distinction of relationships. The son is submissive to the Father.”
Mutual Submission
Of course, applying such ideals in the typical household with its multitude of bills, household chores, colicky babies, toddlers in their terrible twos and teens clamoring to borrow the family car can be a challenge.
The McDonalds, who are the parents of three children, say that, although they both regard Tom as the head of their home, they submit to one another in certain areas.
For example, Caroline generally yields to Tom's decisions about finances — but, when the couple bought a new home, Tom bowed to Caroline's desire for an older house downtown. Even though he would have preferred a new house on the outskirts of town, he knew she would be spending more time in the house caring for the children.
Early in their marriage, however, when Caroline was teaching full time to put Tom through graduate school, they differed over when he would take the compre hensive exams for his doctoral degree.
“We had planned for him to take it at a certain time, but he felt like he needed to push it back another year,” Caroline recalls. “It was devastating to me because it meant I had to work another year. What I realized was that this was a long-term vision for the family and I needed to offer it up. That's where I had to yield and submit.”
Nonetheless, Tom says that, for him, the passage in Ephesians is less about taking the lead on such decisions and more about emptying himself of his own desires in order to focus on what is best for his wife and children.
Likewise, Douglas Dewey of Westchester, N.Y., says his wife, Leni, and their seven children also see him as the head of the family — but that he views his role as one of a servant leader. “It's leadership with love,” he says, “And love in a family context means sacrifice: sacrificing my time, sacrificing my thoughts and my pleasures and subordinating them to the greater good. That is the essence of a man's leadership at home.”
Judy Roberts writes from Millbury, Ohio.
----- EXCERPT: Brace Yourself! The 'Wives, Be Submissive' Reading Comes This Sunday ----- EXTENDED BODY: Judy Roberts ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: The Other Church Abortion Teaching: Mercy DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Prolife Profile
Kathleen Miller hears lots of heart-rending — and heartwarming — stories.
Recently a woman who had just quit her job told Miller she was about to bolt the state, her children in tow but husband in the rear-view mirror, in search of a “fresh start.”
Like many post-abortive women, this wife and mother came to Miller full of self-loathing. Unable to forgive herself for her role in the loss of her baby's life, she had been causing terrible turmoil in her own household.
This time, one conversation was all it took.
“She reconciled with her husband,” says Miller. “They continue to get counseling with a priest, but this was a major change in direction.”
Miller isn't just anyone with the healing touch of a wise and caring counselor. She's a diocesan director of Project Rachel, the Catholic post-abortion outreach ministry that operates in 150 U.S. dioceses. (Miller's diocese is Las Vegas.)
Before making their first call to the organization, many post-abortive women believe they have committed the unforgivable sin and automatically excommunicated themselves from the Church. They suffer from depression, anger, self-imposed isolation, alcohol and drug abuse, and suicidal tendencies.
“The poignancy of their need to be healed” never fails to touch Victoria Thorn. “This is the compassionate face of the Church that goes hand in hand with a strong teaching on abortion,” she says.
Thorn founded Project Rachel, whose name comes from Jeremiah 31:15-16, in 1984 in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Today she heads the National Office of Post Abortion Reconciliation and Healing, the Project Rachel oversight office.
“Project Rachel came about because I had a friend who had an abortion in high school and who struggled with it 13 or 14 years,” says Thorn, who has a degree in psychology. “For me that was a life-changing event. I never knew what to say to her or do about her pain.”
As Respect Life director, she was struck by the U.S. Bishops’ 1975 “Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activity,” which called for a post-abortion ministry. Thorn recognized that abortion caused a spiritual wound as well as a psychological one. “For most women, it's incredibly shameful,” she says. “It goes to the depth of who she is.”
Thorn says she realized that “the whole sacrament of reconciliation was the key to this,” as well as the follow-up psychological help.” As [part of the] Church, we were in an ideal position,” she adds. “We had priests and we had therapists in Catholic Charities.”
As director of Project Rachel in the Diocese of Arlington, Va., Gerri Laird stresses the sacrament of reconciliation as “the crucial part of the healing” process. “Making things right with God is the part that helps the most.”
“God definitely wants those alienated from him through abortion to come home,” says Greg Schleppenbach, state director of pro-life activities for the Nebraska Catholic Conference. As he sees it, Project Rachel “really embodies what we as a pro-life movement should be about: the salvation of souls.”
At Project Rachel, women find compassionate priest-counselors like Father Bill Carmody, pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Colorado Springs. He's been active with Project Rachel for seven years. “My role is to be truly the instrument of God's healing and forgiveness through the sacrament of confession,” he says. “My most profound feeling of being a priest, of being an instrument of God's healing, is through Project Rachel.”
After confession, post-abortive women are forgiven — but not healed totally, he explains. That's where Project Rachel comes in, counseling the women in confidentiality. Father Carmody compares the process to a stop on the Underground Railroad: Women are given a moral boost that helps them move from slavery to freedom.
“In order to heal from abortion, you have to recognize the humanity of your child, you have to reconnect,” says Father Carmody. “Part of the coping strategy is denial. In Project Rachel, through God's grace, the denial is broken.”
The goal isn't for the mother to get over her child's death but to heal from the guilt and shame of how the baby died. Project Rachel helps a woman accept she's the mother of a dead child. “Once she names the child,” says Laird, “she's the mother of a dead baby and the grieving process can begin.”
Laird recalls many touching moments. “One had aborted on the feast day of a saint,” she recalls. “She named the child after that saint. It was very moving to see that she could do that.”
Project Rachel then has the mother write a letter to the child and encourages her to memorialize the child in some way. Some dioceses have private ceremonies before the Blessed Sacrament. Father Carmody explains that all this is a way to humanize the child — to reconnect, in effect, with a lost family member.
Women learn the need to forgive themselves and others involved. “Their abortion was a grievous sin against God and humanity,” says Miller, “but we have a loving, forgiving God, and if he forgives us, we're required to forgive ourselves.”
One fact that surprises many: Thorn gets calls from elderly women every time EWTN mentions Project Rachel. “Our priests make house calls for them,” she says. “For them, it's a salvation question.” One such caller was 94 years young.
At any age, Miller adds, women who respond to Project Rachel witness the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing healing to hurting women.
Thorn explains that, because women carry the cells of the child they conceive for the rest of their lives, “a mother never forgets. This baby changed your life and those cells remain with you.”
There's a strong need to recognize the others involved, too. The fathers hurt as much as the women, Thorn says, especially the men opposed to the abortion, yet “nobody gives them permission to grieve.”
So Project Rachel can help men — and grandmothers, surviving siblings and even friends. Thorn has dealt with Protestants, Jews, agnostics and even abortion providers.
“If we don't heal people, the culture of death sinks its roots even deeper,” she says. “But when someone goes through the healing process, they become the greatest foundations for the culture of life.”
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
Editor's note: Do you know a prolife ministry that's effective in protecting life in all stages of its development? Nominate it to be a Register Prolife Profile at: editor@ncregister.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 08/24/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 24-30, 2003 ----- BODY:Military Mom a True Hero
AIR FORCE NEWS, Aug. 4 — An official publication of the U.S. Air Force has reported that Reserve Staff Sgt. Becky Murphy, who was diagnosed with aggressive cervical cancer three months into her pregnancy, put off the fight to save her own life so she could give life to her baby. The article tells how she had to defy the advice of friends, family and doctors to do so.
“The medical advice was to basically have an abortion, have a complete hysterectomy as soon as possible and start chemotherapy if it was needed,” Murphy said.
Doctors say the baby — Katie, now almost 3 months old — will be fine, and so will Becky.
One person who stood by Becky's decision to forgo cancer treatment in order to bring the baby to term was her husband, Reserve Senior Airman Chris Murphy. “Once Becky made her decision to have the baby and then face the cancer,” he said, “I was 100% behind her.”
Preemie Survives Crash
KOIN.COM, Aug. 4 — An unborn baby has been saved after its mother was fatally injured in a collision with a train, according to a Portland, Ore., news station.
On Aug. 1, a Willamette and Pacific Railroad train struck a car at the crossing on Nashville Road in Eddyville, Ore. Dawn King, 31, was airlifted to Oregon Health and Science University and died hours after her baby was successfully delivered by emergency Caesarean. The baby, which was two months premature, was listed in serious condition.
New Zealand: No Euthanasia
CYBERCAST NEWS SERVICE, July 30 — An attempt to legalize euthanasia in New Zealand died an early death when lawmakers voted narrowly against a bill that would have allowed seriously ill people to ask a physician to help them kill themselves.
The Death with Dignity Bill was defeated in its first reading by 60 votes to 57. An individual member of parliament (MP) introduced the bill, not the government, and MPs were allowed to vote according to their conscience rather than along party lines.
It placed the euthanasia issue before the New Zealand Parliament for the first time since 1995, when an almost identical measure was defeated by a considerably larger margin.
Abortion Mill to Close
OREGON PUBLIC BROADCASTING, Aug. 4 — It is hoped more women and children in Oregon will be protected from the dangers of abortion since All Women's Health Services Clinic closed.
The facility had provided primary care, birth control and abortions for nearly 30 years.
The abortion center closed its Eugene office last summer. Administrators had announced in July that the Portland office would have to close if it didn't receive $50,000 by the first week in August.
Staff had not been paid in several weeks, rent was two months overdue and the facility owes $80,000 in back
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