TITLE: Olympic Faith DATE: 08/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: January 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — NBA star Ruth Riley made the United States Women's Olympic Basketball Team by a prayer.

Though Riley is among the best-paid and highest-ranked players in the women's NBA, only a handful of the league's stand-outs make the Olympics. She wasn't among them, at first.

Originally listed as an alternate to the 2004 squad, Riley was brought onto the team July 22 to replace a player who was injured.

Riley was chosen for talent, skill and her 6-foot, 4-inch stature — all of which she attributes to the grace of God.

“My faith in God is my top priority, and it always has been,” says Riley, a 204-pound superstar who plays center for the Detroit Shock. “When your life is team sports, there are lots of ups and downs, both in the game and in your personal life. My faith provides consistency and strength through it all.”

Riley prays a lot — on the sidelines when she's off the court, between plays when she's on the court and with the rest of her team-mates before each game. She's a non-denominational Christian who received inspiration from Catholics while playing ball and studying at the University of Notre Dame.

Though many in Hollywood and American pop culture find religion a quirky thing at best, God seems to be at the center of top professional and amateur athletes’ lives in 2004. There are as few atheists in dugouts as there are in foxholes.

If modern Olympians are any indication, few in the world of high-profile sports pray secretly or apologize for Christian faith. Several coaches and team managers at the U.S. Olympic Headquarters in Colorado Springs told the Register that most Olympic athletes pray to God as a team before practices and competition.

Sports are a godly endeavor when approached in prayer and love, explained Pope John Paul II in comments he made in a message in June to honor the upcoming 25th World Day of Tourism on Sept. 27.

The message, titled Sport and Tourism, advocated harmonic, inclusive and constructive athleticism and came just as athletes were finalizing their preparations for the 2004 summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Spreading Values

If Pope John Paul's statements weren't enough to establish his enthusiasm for athletics, the Pope, himself a former athlete, announced Aug. 2 the establishment of a Vatican sports department that he hopes will help spread Christian values around the world.

“The Holy Father has always been interested in sports, as a means of evangelization and a great way to form youth,” said Legion of Christ Father Kevin Lixey, an American priest involved in establishing the athletics department that will be a branch of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

In his youth in Poland, the future Pope served as a soccer goalkeeper and was an avid skier, kayaker and swimmer.

Sports should not be marred by “exacerbated commercialism, aggressive rivalry, violence to individuals and things even to the point of degradation of the environment or offense to the cultural identity of the host of the event,” the Pope said this year. Sport, he said, should be “accompanied by moderation and training in self-discipline.” It often requires a “good team spirit, a respectful attitude, appreciation of the qualities of others, honest sportsmanship and humility in recognizing one's own limitations.” The Pope called on Christians to view sporting activities as opportunities to develop the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance.

In a homily in 2000 for the Jubilee of World Sport, the Pope called for sport “that protects the weak and excludes no one, that frees young people from the snares of apathy and indifference and arouses a healthy sense of competition in them.” Sports that follow those guidelines, the Pope stressed, can emancipate the poor and build a more fraternal and united world that's free of intolerance.

“Amen,” says Eric Parthen, executive director of the United States Olympic Boxing Team.

“Our sport, at this level, is dominated by Hispanics, and the majority of them are Catholic,” said Parthen, a member of Holy Apostles Catholic Church in Colorado Springs. “Faith and prayer are huge in the lives of most boxers.”

He's not just saying that to please a Catholic audience. Hours before speaking to the Register Aug. 4, Parthen received his daily email assessment of the team's activities in Athens from Coach Basheer Abdullah. In his email, the prayer report plays more prominently than the sparring update.

“Workout and practice at 3 p.m. today,” Abdullah states. “They worked hard. Dinner at 6 and the athletes are laying it down early tonight. We had our daily prayer with Vicente Escobedo leading us. Yesterday, it was Andre Dirrell and the day before, it was Andre Ward. Everybody is asked to lead us at least one day. It is an awesome time for this team to give each other energy in the form of prayer.”

Parthen said the team prays together before every practice or competition. The prayers, he said, result in better strength, focus and agility.

“Our athletes ask for the Lord's blessing to keep them safe and to keep their opponents safe,” Parthen said. “They ask for safety in travel, and they ask for the safety of those fighting for our freedoms overseas.”

Not Violent

Parthen said he's inspired by the Pope's words about healthy and constructive athleticism. Boxing, he says, has done more than its fair share to include those who are otherwise excluded from social acceptance and material gain. Furthermore, Parthen says, his sport has freed young people from the snares of apathy and the evils of drugs, crime and violence that accompany it.

“Boxing is a sport that helps kids in the inner city to do something with their lives,” Parthen said. “There are countless stories of kids who were destined to lives of drugs and crime and violence who found something better in the sport of boxing and are doing something constructive with their lives because boxing elevated them to another level.”

As for the excessive commercialism the Pope warned about, Parthen says it may be advice professional boxing should heed. His boxing team, however, is among the few American Olympic teams that don't allow professionals to compete. He said the hype and commercialism surrounding professional boxing have kept professionals — such as scandal-ridden Mike Tyson — out of the Olympic ring during their professional years.

“The International Olympics Federation hasn't wanted to allow professional boxers to compete because of the disparity in the purity of amateur boxing as compared to professional boxing,” Parthen explained.

Though Parthen likes what the Holy Father said about athletics, the Pope warned against “violence to individuals” in sporting events. Boxing, in the view of critics, epitomizes violence. Parthen sees that charge as an unfair characterization. He defines “violence” in sports as disordered activity that's designed to harm another player, such as illegal maneuvers in hockey, football and all other contact sports.

“It depends on how you interpret violence,” Parthen said. “Our athletes are punching each other,” but not in a violent manner. “They punch in a sporting manner that involves rules and expectations. Out of the ring, these opponents are typically best friends, arm-in-arm. They play together and pray together.”

Wayne Laugesen writes from Boulder, Colorado.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Will Marriage Votes End Senate Careers? DATE: 08/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: January 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:

WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., is in an intense struggle to save his political career, and it could be his vote against the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) that dooms him.

The amendment would write the definition of traditional marriage into the U.S. Constitution, thus forbidding same-sex “marriage,” polygamy and other alternatives to the family.

Despite his position as the Democrats’ Senate leader, the radically pro-abortion Daschle — a Catholic — is widely considered the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent senator in this year's elections.

At this stage in the election cycle, no other incumbent senators who voted against the marriage amendment appear particularly vulnerable, even though two-thirds of Americans are opposed to same-sex “marriage.”

But there is considerable potential in three other states for incumbents, all Democrats, to lose in the fall, and the marriage issue could play a key role in each of these races. Polls in all four states show voters solidly opposed to same-sex “marriage.”

And, as the New York Times reported Aug. 4, “Missouri voters’ overwhelming decision to bar gay marriage with a constitutional amendment has sent a resounding message around the country.”

“With at least nine other states expected to vote on similar amendments this fall, including four swing states in the presidential race, leaders on each side of the issue viewed Missouri's 70 percent approval of the amendment on Tuesday as a glimpse of what might lie ahead.”

Here are the races most susceptible to the combination of forces cited in the Times, including higher turn-out from Christian voters.

Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah will vote on the issue on Nov. 2. Louisiana votes on its marriage amendment Sept. 18.

Washington

Republican Rep. George Nethercutt has pulled off upsets before, which may be the only reason to believe he can knock off Sen. Patty Murray, whose missteps — including praising Osama bin Laden — should have made her vulnerable.

Nethercutt demoralized pro-family voters in the state by saying that though he opposed same-sex “marriage,” he also opposed amending the federal Constitution to stop it. Yet he is still widely expected to win the Republican primary on Sept. 14 and become the nominee to take on Murray. “Nethercutt has deenergized the Christian right,” said Bob Higley, director of Washington Evangelicals for Responsible Government (WERG). He said most active Christian pro-lifers would vote for Reed Davis in the primary. A poll of likely voters conducted June 1-3 found Murray with 49% and Nethercutt with 34%.

The Evangelicals group will spread the candidates’ positions among grassroots pro-family oraganizations, Higley said, and “the Christian Coalition will do a scorecard.” Joseph Fuiten, WERG's president, “will do pastor's picks” in coordination with other Christian pastors, Higley said. WERG is actively fighting the American Civil Liberties Union's lawsuit to force Washington to recognize same-sex “marriage” and has sent 1,800 packets to churches as part of a voter registration drive. “We've been told by the Bush people that we have the best church voter registration program in the country,” he said.

But with Nethercutt blurring the line between himself and Murray, it will be much harder to get the grass-roots out for him in November, especially given the hopelessness felt by many pro-family voters. “I talk to people, and they think it's in the hands of the courts. So they don't do anything,” said Dan Kennedy, CEO of Human Life of Washington, which keeps its members up-to-date on life and family issues.

California

Sen. Barbara Boxer's anti-family record is extreme even for California, and the recent upheavals in California politics — including the election of Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — introduces more uncertainty into the state.

But so far, her moderately pro-life, pro-marriage Republican opponent Bill Jones, a former California secretary of state, has not gained traction. A poll of likely voters conducted July 23-25 found 54% for Boxer and 35% for Jones.

“Bill Jones has signed the Marriage Protection Pledge,” said Randy Thomasson, executive director of the Campaign for California Families. He said that his group will use its extensive e-mail and fax list to motivate grassroots pro-family groups in the state. He noted that 61% of Californians in 2000 voted to ban same-sex “marriages” in their state. But, he said, Jones has not used social issues such as abortion and marriage in his campaign. “He needs to do more,” he said.

Until Jones decides what issues to promote in his campaign, Thomasson said, it's unclear how much of a role Christian leaders will play in promoting the marriage issue in the race. And if socially liberal Schwarzenegger takes a leading role in promoting Jones, the latter may choose to ignore the Republicans’ Christian base.

Arkansas

This highly pro-family Southern state should be fertile ground for anyone dedicated to defeating a senator who voted against protecting marriage, but Sen. Blanche Lincoln seems safe — so far. Her opponent, state Sen. Jim Holt, is little known statewide.

It remains to be seen how the marriage issue will play in the race, said Chris Stewart, executive director of the Arkansas Marriage Amendment Committee, which has succeeded in placing a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex “marriage” and civil unions on the November ballot. That may attract pro-family voters to the polls, as it did in Missouri.

“It's clear that the same-sex marriage debate is what separates these candidates,” Stewart said. “Holt has drawn a clear line. He has drawn her out on that.” Lincoln supports the state constitutional amendment, saying that marriage should not be a federal issue. A poll of likely voters conducted July 13-15 found Lincoln with 57% and Holt with 33%.

Stewart said the message is going out to Arkansas Christian pro-lifers about the differences between Holt and Lincoln.

But that's not the key, he said. “He's got to reach the middle-ofthe-road voters. He needs money.” Bush won Arkansas by only four points in 2000, and so the presidential race could be hot in the state, which would mean more discussion of the marriage issue. Said Stewart, “This is a sleeper issue that can help a weak candidate win an election.”

Joseph A. D'Agostino writes from Washington, D.C.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph A. D'Agostino ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Flee or Fight? After Bombs, Iraq Catholics DATE: 08/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: January 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:

BAGHDAD, Iraq — It is Sunday evening, Aug. 7, and the Parish Church of St. Eliya's is almost ready for Mass. The marble floor has been swept. The flowers are arranged and several heavily armed men are on guard at the main gates.

A week ago Catholic parishioners at St. Eliya's in Baghdad had just finished Mass when a car-bomb exploded outside in one of six simultaneous attacks on Iraqi churches which have left many Iraqis asking whether Christianity has a future in modern Iraq.

“After this attack people were asking, do we run or do we fight?” said Father Bashar Warda, the young parish priest of St. Eliya's, whose quick thinking saved many lives when he ordered his parishioners to head home after he heard news of an attack on another Baghdad Church last Sunday night.

“The reaction of our people has encouraged us and made us realize the strength of our community,” says Father Bashar. “Straight after the explosion people from across the neighborhood came to offer help as soon as they could.”

Others were not so fortunate and 11 people died in churches in Baghdad and many were injured in attacks which many Iraqis, Muslim and Christian, see as an unprovoked and inexcusable assault on a vulnerable, minority community which has a reputation for pacifism and moderation.

“The Christians are a gentle people and they never did anything to deserve this,” says Mohammed Shemkhi, a Muslim barber who witnessed the aftermath of an attack on a Syrian Catholic church.

“We are a small community and an easy target in a very dangerous political game,” says Father Warda. “But now after a few days have passed we realized that we should not be afraid. The bombing brought us all together. We now feel that we have to speak out, and that although we are a small community we think that we should make a stand for peace in Iraq.”

Iraq is home to an estimated 800,000 Christians who live mainly in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul. The majority are from the Chaldean Catholics, although Iraq also has sizeable numbers of Armenian, Greek and Syrian Orthodox Christians, as well as followers of several recent Protestant and Evangelical imports.

Chaldeans are one of the most ancient Christian denominations and are even brought up speaking Syriac, a dialect of the Aramaic spoken by Jesus, rather than the Arabic of their Muslim neighbours.

Under Saddam Hussein Iraq's Christians flourished. Saddam was secular with little enthusiasm for religion and he saw little reason to discriminate against the Christian minority. Christians prepared to pledge loyalty to Saddam could even rise to powerful positions in the Baath Party such as Tarik Aziz (born Michael Johanna) who was Iraq's Foreign Minister for over a decade.

Following the U.S. invasion in 2003, however, Iraqi Christians risked being identified with the American occupiers who are regularly depicted as ‘Crusaders’ in anti-US propaganda. Although the Christians tried to keep a low profile and steer clear of politics it was only a matter of time before they ended up in the gun sights of the intolerant Jihadist movement.

“We expected minor troubles but nothing of this magnitude,” says Father Bashar. “We never expect this massive targeting of Churches.”

Although many Christians discount the bombings as the work of foreign jihadists intend on destabilizing Iraq, for others the bombings are a bloody warning of worse to come.

One Chaldean Catholic who has decided that the bombings are the final straw is Luay Michael David, 45, who has lived in Baghdad all his life but is now planning to sell up and leave Iraq for good. Luay had hoped to one day see his 19-year-old son take over his profitable pastry shop. Instead, he now says that his only priority is to take his family to somewhere safer.

“I know many others who have left Iraq, and now after these bombings I think that there is no other option,” says Luay as he watches his son serve two Muslim women who are dressed in typical all-enveloping black robes.

“I used to go to church. Now I won't go anymore. I don't think that we have seen the last of the bombings,” he says.

Luay's decision to abandon his past and flee abroad is increasingly common for many Iraqi Christians. Although he says that he has never felt individually threatened on account of his religion he now hopes to join his Iraqi brother-in-law in Paris and start a new life.“The United States has made things very difficult for us,” he says. “For the Iraqi Christians the result of the invasion is that we have been bombed.”

Staying Put

Many Christians are reluctant to discuss emigration which they see as a betrayal of family, ancestry and friends which may threaten the very existence of Christianity in Iraq. The unspoken truth is that as more Christians leave life will become harder and harder for those who remain, as well as undermining the limited influence and safety in numbers which Christians enjoy at present.

“The world would be in a fine state if every time there was a little explosion somewhere people fled their homelands!” says Basim Vahram, an Armenian Orthodox Christian, who explodes in anger at the very suggestion of emigration. “My homeland is like my mother. Even if she is very old and ugly I will never abandon her.”

For Vahram, a descendent of Armenian Christians who settled in Iraq in the 19th century to escape brutal religious persecution in Turkey, simply giving up and running away is no solution. Iraqi Christians should be grateful for the support that they received from Muslims in the days following the Church bombings, he says.

“Relations between the religions in Iraq are very good,” he says. “In Iraq the Muslims are our brothers. When my Muslim friends heard about the explosions they were very angry, and since then each one who has seen me has kissed me and apologized.”

“The real conclusion I draw from the explosion was that the Muslims love the Christians very much,” he says. “Within 5 minutes after the first explosion the police began to surround all the Churches in Iraq to protect the Christians.”

Meanwhile, at the Church of St Eliya's, evening approaches as Father Bashar begins preparing for the first Sunday evening mass since last week's attacks. The heat of the day has gone, the birds start to sing and the warm dusty glow of a Middle Eastern sunset floods over his Church.

“This morning we were afraid that no-one would come to mass,” smiles the priest, as the first parishioners start to arrive. “But in the end more than a hundred people came. Now we are expecting an even bigger turn-out for this evening's mass. Even if the Christians are few in number, we can still set an example of hope and forgiveness for all Iraqis to follow.”

James Brandon filed this story from Baghdad.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: James Brandon ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Vatican Letter Challenges Both Sexes DATE: 08/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: January 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:

VATICAN CITY — The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published a letter last week which synthesizes Pope John Paul II's teachings on women, women's rights and marriage.

The document, called “On the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World,” criticizes many tendencies within mainstream feminism: namely — the view that men and women are adversaries, as well as attempts by Western societies to negate differences between the sexes.

More than ever, this document celebrates what Pope John Paul II calls the “feminine genius” and the redemptive meaning found within Christian marriage.

“This is a masterpiece. It's like a bomb. It's incredible,” said Patricia Donahoe, mother of four and former collaborator at the Holy See Mission to the United Nations.

The letter, written by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — basically clarifies many of the Holy Father's teachings about men and women.

“A lot of the Pope's works are hard to read,” said Donahoe. “This is clear as water. It encapsulates the Pope's teachings and makes them more accessible. It is finely tuned. It shows how important Pope John Paul II's teachings are on the theology of the body.”

The document discusses the notion that within our relationship with God, God is the initiator and we, his creatures, must learn to be receptive.

“What strikes me is that this document is not so much about women, but about our salvation and our relationship with God,” said Donahoe. “The point is that women have an edge on this. Men and the Church must look toward authentic femininity in order to understand how to be receptive to God's love. That is why Mary is our model. We look toward her fiat, her surrender. We have to let God love us.”

The idea of Christian marriage as a paradigm within which to understand salvation is another major theme.

“I love the part about God's relationship with his people,” said Prof. Laura Garcia, a philosophy professor at Boston College. “The document looks at the metaphor of the bridegroom and the bride in biblical terms, from the beginning of Genesis all the way to Revelation. The Bible is filled with this image, such that marriage becomes much more than a metaphor. The Pope is giving another picture of the relationship between men and women — one that is collaborative and deeply respectful of the other person with their dignity.”

Frances Kissling, president of Catholics for a Free Choice — an anti-Catholic pro-abortion lobby repeatedly denounced by Catholic bishops — was quoted as saying she felt she had passed through a time warp when she read the document, and that it seemed as though it were the 1960s and “Archie Bunker had been appointed theologian to the Pope.”

“That is so unfair,” stated Garcia. “Never has the relationship between men and women found a more beautiful expression than in the writings of this Pope. He says that women should not be coerced to be in a specific role. That they should be in more public roles. That society should change the way it views women. I know many, many professional women who have been blown away by Pope John Paul II's writings about women. If feminists are saying that women need to have a distinctive voice, the Holy Father is saying that too.”

Male and Female

This document is the first Vatican document which expressly criticizes the idea of gender as being merely a social construction.

“We are created male and female. If the relationship between the sexes is askew then our relationship with God is all wrong,” said Donahue. “Authentic Christian marriage existed before the Fall — it is the way it is supposed to be. If our understanding of marriage is distorted, than there is an obstacle between us and God.”

Moira Walsh, a former philosophy professor at Boston College who now works with the Murray Hill Institute in New York City, saw a further application of the document — to the marriage debate.

“The difference between men and women is deep and significant,” she said. “It's not just an accident. Being a man or a woman is so deep that it will be with us for all eternity. Those who say that marriage can be between two women or two men are saying that there is no significance to sex. That we are all just individuals.”

Marta Valle, a licentiate student in bioethics and philosophy at, respectively, Regina Apostolorum and the Lateran University in Rome, said this understanding of the difference in the sexes is a key teaching for women to learn about themselves.

“What's so beautiful is that the Church is acknowledging the differences between men and women,” she said. “But it's not as a negative thing but a positive thing. It is something that can enrich us both. The woman is the one who really lives for the other. It comes very natural to her. In this, she is an example for men. Though she herself constantly needs to be converted, needs to have grace, to live this out.”

Women in the Workplace

Another area which the document focuses on is women in the workplace, and the many problems which come with trying to manage family and a career.

“As the document says, women should not have to renounce family and their capacity for motherhood for the workplace,” said Walsh. “At the same time, the possibility of being a fulltime mom shouldn't be a luxury only for the wealthy. There should be structures in place to allow this for all women.”

Kathy Mylott, a stay-at-home mom in New York City who worked for 20 years as a manager with Fortune 500 companies, also agreed with the document's ideas regarding women in the work-place.

“I've been involved in the feminist struggle in the workplace,” said Mylott. “I've experienced the stress of trying to balance a professional life and a family. And I've seen my sisters and friends go through it. Can you do it all? Can you fulfill your obligations to family and work? You can't do both adequately.”

With a laugh, Mylott added that life in the workplace was far less strenuous. “When you are a mother, you are on call 24/7,” she said. “Sometimes, you are suddenly faced with life and death situations. You can't delegate that.”

The letter states that men and women should look toward Mary as a model: to learn intimacy with Christ, to learn how to receive the broken body of Christ and those who are wounded in this world.

However, Cardinal Ratzinger points out that imitating Mary does not mean adopting a “passivity inspired by an outdated conception of femininity …From the Son of God one learns that this ‘passivity’ is in reality the way of love.”

Sabrina Arena Ferrisi filed this story from New York.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Sabrina Arena Ferrisi ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: The Biblical Roots of the Mass DATE: 08/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: January 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:

Tom Nash serves as senior information specialist for the Steuben-ville, Ohio-based apostolate Catholics United for the Faith. There, he researches and provides answers to callers’ questions about the faith.

Nash has published the book Worthy is the Lamb: The Biblical Roots of the Mass (Ignatius Press). He is also a co-author of Catholic for a Reason III: Scripture and the Mystery of the Mass (Emmaus Road Publishing).

This is the first of a series of occasional interviews by Register staff writer Tim Drake with people who are promoting the four things Pope John Paul II asks Catholics to promote in his 2001 apostolic letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the Beginning of the New Millennium).

Tell me a little about your family. Have you always been Catholic?

Yes, I'm a cradle Catholic. I'm very blessed to have faithful, loving parents: Joseph and Genevieve Nash. And, as a beneficiary of infant baptism, I can remember being attracted to the sacred as a little boy. My parents cultivated that, but I know that God's grace was very operative in the process. While I've never fallen away from the faith, I have grown in my faith over the years, benefiting a lot from the sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist along the way.

I was born and raised in Detroit. I'm the seventh of eight living children. I had an older sister who died shortly after birth and three siblings who were miscarried. We moved as a family from Detroit to Ann Arbor in 1976. Most of my siblings are in the Detroit area.

Is there a favorite story that people tell about your family?

The old marriage rite had a great line: “Sacrifice is usually difficult and irksome. Only love can make it easy. Perfect love can make it a joy.” In my family, I observed and experienced perfect love on a regular basis. In terms of my observation, my parents’ love for my youngest sister, Mary, stands out. Mary has Down syndrome and also various physical ailments. The doctors didn't think she would live weeks, let alone months or years. But my parents viewed Mary as she really is, a gift from God, and that God would help them raise her, along with the assistance of Mary's brothers and sisters.

As a result, Mary is now 38 and still living at home with my parents. Mom is now 80, and Dad will turn 80 in October. In our culture of death, in which many children diagnosed with Down syndrome do not survive the womb, my parents’ love for Mary serves as an eloquent witness. Mom and Dad's example has inspired others to love similarly, and they particularly get support with Mary from my sister Rosemary and her daughters, who live nearby.

What led you to explore the biblical roots of the Mass?

Because the Mass is so fundamental to the Catholic faith and because I didn't see any book that cultivated a thorough biblical overview of the Mass on a popular, yet scholarly level. Different authors affirmed my conclusion.

When I say “the Mass,” I refer to the heart of the Mass — the sacramental re-presentation of Christ's one sacrifice of Calvary. Regarding its biblical roots, how was Christ's sacrifice prefigured in Old Testament offerings and fulfilled in the New Testament, not only in Christ's living out his self-offering initially, but also continuing it in the heavenly sanctuary and through the Mass? While many apologetics books had made worthwhile, New Testament-based arguments for the Eucharist, I didn't see one that cultivated the Mass’ Old Testament roots and tied the Old and New Testaments together regarding this paramount matter of the faith.

The Mass is also misunderstood both by many Catholics and Protestants, with Catholics often vulnerable to biblical arguments against the Mass. So I wanted to write a book that could serve as an apologetics/ evangelistic/catechetical tool.

In doing your research, were there any surprises for you?

I would say breakthroughs more than surprises. Breakthroughs in making more accessible the sacrifice of the Mass and the nature of the Eucharist. For example, explaining how Christ's sacrifice of Calvary did not begin and end on Calvary 2,000 years ago. While Christ's suffering ended on the cross, his sacrifice — that is, his self-gift to the Father on our behalf — continues forever.

The biblical analogy of the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) sacrifices proved very helpful here. In the old covenant, a goat and bull were first slaughtered in the temple courtyard; then, the high priest would offer their blood to God in the temple sanctuary. Similarly, there are two phases to Christ's sacrifice, which fulfills the Day of Atonement. He suffers, dies and rises in the earthly phase of his sacrifice, and then he ascends into the heavenly sanctuary, where his sacrifice culminates in everlasting glory, as Hebrews 9:24-25 implies.

Scripture affirms that Jesus continues to serve in the heavenly sanctuary as a priest and that a priest's prime function is to offer sacrifices, as conveyed in Hebrews 8:1-3. Because Hebrews 7:27 and 9:27-28 proclaim that Jesus’ sacrifice is once-for-all, and because Jesus continues to serve as a high priest in heaven, our Lord must somehow continue to offer his one and only sacrifice in the heavenly sanctuary. In the Mass, of course, what is celebrated in heaven becomes present on earth.

Did your research impact your own approach to the Mass?

I have an even better appreciation of the profundity and truly sublime nature of the sacrifice of the Mass in general and the Eucharist in particular. Because I participate in Mass several times a week, often at the end of a busy workday, I can sometimes be not as attentive as I should be during the liturgy. When needed, my research and writing helps me refocus, particularly at the time of the consecration, reminding me of the solemnity of the Mass, how the Lord is being made present and how I am participating in the re-presentation of his sacrifice with the Church triumphant in heaven. There is no greater blessing we can have on Earth than participating in the Mass.

What do you think has led to the lack of appreciation for the Mass by many modern-day Catholics?

The general societal decline we've experienced in the last four decades or so has undermined people's appreciation of that which is truly sacred and moral. In the process, we've seen a slide in catechesis — in the home, at Catholic schools and CCD programs, and in homi-lies — although I definitely think things have improved in the last two decades. In general, Catholics are not as well-formed as they could be to appreciate and participate in the Mass. Some blame Vatican II and the Mass rite promulgated by Pope Paul VI, but it's been misrepresentations of both that have actually done damage.

In addition, had we never had a Vatican II or a new Mass rite, the Church would still have had some serious challenges, given the general societal decline, particularly in the West. As good as things were for the Church in the 1940s to the early 1960s, it's evident that Church leaders and rank-and-file Catholics were not, in general, well-prepared to withstand the cultural broadside that began to really kick in during the 1960s.

The timing of your book is most appropriate given all of the discussion regarding pro-abortion politicians and Communion and the Holy Father announcing Year of the Eucharist. What's at the heart of this focus on the Eucharist?

Yes, the timing of my book is particularly blessed by the Holy Father's announcement of the Year of the Eucharist. At the center of our faith is the person of Jesus Christ and his paschal mystery, i.e., his sacrifice of Calvary. Thus when the Pope exhorts us to “start afresh from Christ” in preparing for and celebrating this special year, he calls us to consider and enter more deeply into our Lord's Eucharistic sacrifice. It is the “source” of the Christian life because without Christ's sacrifice, there would be no redemption, no Church, no sacraments. It is the summit because we partake of the Son and are offered with him to the Father.

Because the Mass is so central to our lives as Catholics, and because we intimately receive God himself in the Eucharist, only Catholics in (the state of grace) are to receive the Blessed Sacrament, because only such Catholics are fit to become one in Christ, not only via their individual reception but collectively as members of the mystical body of Christ.

Regarding pro-abortion politicians, there's an increasing awareness that politicians who defend the killing of unborn children are not spiritually fit to receive the one who died so that we all may live. Their continued reception of Holy Communion trivializes the truly awesome reality of the Eucharist, as well as the general mission of the Church, both to Catholics and non-Catholics. Telling such politicians not to receive Communion and even banning them from doing so are acts of charity; the politicians are directed not to eat and drink a judgment upon themselves by profaning our Lord's body and blood (see 1 Corinthians 11:27-30), and the faithful and the world are soberly reminded that the Eucharist is indeed what the Church teaches it is.

Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Spotlight on South Dakota DATE: 08/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: January 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:

PIERRE, S.D. — In the most important political race in the country after the presidential contest, senate minority leader Tom Daschle faces a strong challenge from former Rep. John Thune, a Republican who lost by a few hundred votes in 2002 in his attempt to defeat incumbent Democrat Sen. Tim Johnson.

South Dakota is a strongly pro-life state and Thune is a pro-life, pro-marriage-amendment candidate and an evangelical Christian. Daschle's position against allowing the federal marriage amendment to come to the Senate floor on July 14 capped a series of anti-family votes. Some polls have put the race at a dead heat; others have put Daschle ahead. But most observers agree that it could go either way.

Said Robert Regier, executive director of the South Dakota Family Policy Council, “Thune has put the marriage issue front and center. At the Family Policy Council, we're making it front and center. We're going to make sure as many voters as possible know Daschle voted against it.”

To that end, Regier said, the council intends to send out at least 100,000 voter guides explaining the positions of the candidates. “We work with Catholic and Protestant churches,” and the council wants to target Christians who tend to stay home on Election Day, he said.

The council was active before the Senate marriage amendment vote, running ads in local newspapers. Daschle insists that he is against same-sex “marriage” and that a federal amendment is not necessary because South Dakota law forbids it. But most legal experts believe that the federal courts will declare unconstitutional the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and thus require states to recognize same-sex “marriages” performed in other states.

Regier said that in addition to voter guides and possibly more ads, the council will help to bring in prominent speakers to rally support for marriage. “We've had Alan Keyes here,” he said. “We've worked with groups like Vision America and Focus on the Family. James Dobson will come over Labor Day weekend and again in October.”

Linda Schauer, head of the state chapter of Concerned Women for America, said that although her organization did not support the marriage amendment — “we didn't feel it was strong enough” because it would not outlaw civil unions — she and her associates are dead-set against Daschle. “We're really working to elect John Thune,” she said. “We've had a press conference in Aberdeen. We've run ads…. Daschle panders to the homosexual lobby. We support the Marriage Protection Act, and we're interested to see how he votes on that.”

The Marriage Protection Act, which has passed the House, would prohibit the federal courts from reviewing the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act — although many experts believe the courts would ignore such legislation.

Dick Wadhams, Thune's campaign manager, said Thune has highlighted the marriage issue in his race. “We took a high-profile position,” Wadhams said. “It was actually the first radio ad we aired.” He noted that a Rapid City Journal poll found that 75% of South Dakotans oppose same-sex “marriage.”

Bishop Robert Carlson of Sioux Falls urged Catholic citizens to encourage Daschle and Johnson to vote for the federal marriage amendment before the Senate vote. Although the Church does not endorse or oppose political candidates, “the Catholic Church can speak to issues,” said Travis Benson, who lobbies on behalf of the Sioux Falls diocese. “The Church has a moral voice to bring to the public square.” He said that the Bishop's Bulletin and the bishop's radio show have addressed the issue of marriage and “Bishop Carlson has personally written a letter to both Sen. Daschle and Sen. Johnson” on the issue.

— Joseph D'Agostino

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Life, Death ... and Farm Subsidies? DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

WASHINGTON — One of these things is not like the others, say critics of a new questionnaire being sent to presidential candidates: abortion, human cloning, euthanasia and the dollar amount of the minimum wage.

Three are intrinsic evils, always gravely evil in themselves, and prohibited by absolute moral norms derived from the natural law. The fourth is a prudential political matter about which Catholics and non-Catholics alike may legitimately disagree.

Yet a new 41- item questionnaire by the staff of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will confuse the public by blurring lines and giving issues such as welfare reform the same moral gravity as partial-birth abortion or the sanctity of marriage, said Bishop Rene Henry Gracida.

“There is no clear unequivocal position of the Church on such issues as the minimum wage, immigration, farm subsidies, etc.,” said the Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Texas, in a statement he prepared for the Register. “The questionnaire can only result in confusion in the minds of Catholic voters who do not understand that there is no moral equivalence between these two groups of issues.”

Candidates are asked to “support” or “oppose” statements on issues pertaining to abortion, child-safety gun-locks, immigration and distribution of farm subsidies. Most of the prudential questions pertain to issues central to the platform of the Democratic National Committee.

Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry's record is one of the most pro-abortion in the Senate. He has voted at least six times against banning partial-birth abortion. That's the procedure in which a doctor forces a woman to go into labor late in her pregnancy, then kills her child with scissors as the child is being born.

While Sen. Kerry has skipped a majority of Senate votes this year, he made a point of coming back to vote against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act — also known as Laci and Connor's Law.

President George Bush, a Republican, is a Protestant whose policy is more aligned with the Catholic position on the non-negotiable moral issues. Bush opposes abortion, signed a law making partial-birth abortion illegal and said he supports a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as being between a man and a woman.

John Kerry was one of only 14 senators to vote against 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which banned federal recognition of homosexual marriage and same-sex partner benefits. When Republicans tried to bring the federal marriage amendment to the floor of the Senate this summer, Kerry wouldn't vote to even allow a debate on homosexual marriage.

“When this document is made public, it will immediately be used by John Kerry to argue that he's a good Catholic,” said Austin Ruse, president of the Culture of Life Foundation in Washington. “Out of 41 questions, almost all reflect priorities in the Democratic platform and only a few pertain to doctrinal issues of the Church.”

The topics given the most attention in the questionnaire are immigration and refuges, with seven queries. Three questions pertain to abortion and school choice; two questions address capital punishment, gun control, agriculture and rural development, economic aid for the poor, housing assistance, federal education programs and marriage issues. Fourteen other topics — ranging from health care to cloning to embryonic stem-cell research — each have one question.

Crisis magazine first obtained a leaked copy of the questionnaire and shared it with the Register.

G. Daniel Harden is a member of the board of directors of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists, based at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. Harden says confusion among Catholics about doctrinal and prudential issues has diluted the authority of the Church for decades. Such confusion, he said, becomes institutionalized when the U.S. bishops’ conference mixes the two.

“Studied Catholics have come to expect this kind of thing from the staff of the USCCB,” said Harden, a religion scholar at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan. “Once again, they have compromised the credibility of the bishops by speaking on prudential issues as though they're fixed doctrine of the Church.”

Patrick Fagan, chairman of the board of directors of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists, says the survey “goes right to the heart of the confusion of the Church.”

“The bishops’ conference is mixing the universally forbidden with the legitimately optional,” said Fagan, the William H.G. Fitzgerald Fellow in Family and Cultural Issues at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. “No one may ever choose any means to evil ends, but we may choose many different means and timing to good ends. It is precisely here that the bishops’ conference confuses, and may be confused. I am sure the bishops themselves are not. It is time for them to exercise their teaching authority on their staff.”

Bishops’ conference staffers have heard the critics, and they simply disagree.

“It's total nonsense. It's just absolutely not true,” conference spokesman Bill Ryan said of charges that the survey was written to benefit Kerry over Bush.

Ryan insists that the bishops’ conference remains nonpartisan. Recently, in fact, Ono Ekeh was fired from the bishops’ conference when he was discovered administering a “Catholics for Kerry” Internet newsgroup from his office. Ekeh worked in the Secretariat for African-American Catholics.

“I can't discuss a personnel matter, but he (Ekeh) has gone public saying he was fired for running that Internet site from the conference,” Ryan said. “What can you deduct from that? I think it's fair to say the conference wouldn't stand for any partisan campaigning from this office.”

The conference has published a survey of presidential candidates since 1988, when the campaign pitted then-Vice President George H.W. Bush against former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. Ryan says the survey has always contained a wide array of questions of interest to Catholics.

“We don't agree this survey confuses Catholic issues with political issues,” Ryan said. “Take immigration, for example. This is an issue of tremendous importance to the Holy Father, and therefore, it's of interest to Catholics.”

Ryan said he doesn't know if the bishops’ conference has received a completed survey from either candidate yet. Sometime after both surveys are returned, he said, the results will be published and distributed to the media by the conference's Catholic News Service.

Ryan said it's true that some issues in the survey are more in line with Church teachings than others. However, he believes Catholics are capable of understanding the disparity in moral gravity between the minimum wage and abortion.

“Our purpose was not to make all of these issues appear equal, and any Catholic who wants to know exactly where the Church stands on any of these questions can easily find the answers by visiting our website, where there are many statements on all of these issues,” Ryan said.

Bishop Gracida said the bishops’ conference should follow the lead of Catholic Answers the next time it distributes a survey. The apologetics organization, based in San Diego, has published its own presidential survey that focuses only on the issues of abortion, euthanasia, fetal stem-cell research, human cloning and homosexual “marriage.”

In the meantime, Bishop Gracida says, “I can only hope that both presidential candidates will refuse to reply to the questionnaire, or, if they do reply, that the leadership of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops will recognize the danger to Catholic voters and will publish those replies with a clear teaching on the greater importance which should be attached to the replies that have far greater moral implications for the nation.”

Wayne Laugesen is based in Boulder, Colorado.

----- EXCERPT: Bishop says priorities askew in conference questionnaire ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Pope's Emotional Visit to Lourdes DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

PARIS — In the stifling heat of Lourdes, between long pauses to draw breath and formulate his words Pope John Paul II confounded his critics Aug. 14 and consolidated an image as an icon of strength. Besides the contents of the 84-year-old Pope's sermon — which called on Christians to defend life “from its conception until its natural end” — it was his extraordinary physical performance that moved the 200,000 people attending the two-and-a-half-hour long Assumption Day Mass in the Pyrenean shrine. “Viva Il Papa,” shouted the crowd to fill the gaps in the Pope's homily and encourage him to persevere each time his vocal chords tightened and slowed.

At one point during the speech he turned to his private secretary, Msgr. Mieczyclaw Mokrzycki, and asked him in Polish: “Help me.” Vatican journalists said this usually meant the Pope wanted the rest of his homily to be read for him. But this time the Pope added: “I must finish,” and requested a drink of water before continuing in the 86-degree heat.

Many were primed to see the Holy Father's visit to Lourdes—-only his second trip outside Italy this year — as a symbolic farewell on Earth to the Virgin Mary whose hand he said saved his life when a Turkish would-be assassin shot him in May 1981.

“I feel with emotion that I have reached the end of my pilgrimage,” he said at the end of the rosary prayer and was seen to shed tears.

The Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls talked down the significance of the sentence. “The Pope is showing his emotion over this pilgrimage to Lourdes which he has been looking forward to for a long time.”

After a meeting with French bishops, the Pope returned to Bernadette's grotto for a private prayer before leaving for Tarbes airport and his flight to Rome.

The mountain village became a world famous shrine after a 14-year-old girl, Bernadette Soubirous, saw apparitions of the Virgin in a cave-like grotto on Feb. 11, 1858. The apparition proclaimed “I am the Immaculate Conception,” which was taken by the Catholic faithful to confirm the dogma, pronounced four years earlier, affirming that Mary was preserved from original sin at her conception.

Within a few years of the Vatican's acknowledgement of Bernadette's visions, pilgrims began to venture to Lourdes and report miraculous cures from the grotto's water. There have been thousands of cures attributed to Lourdes but to date, the Vatican's stringent standards have acknowledged only 66 as strictly miraculous. Six million pilgrims — many of them sick — travel to the village every year.

The Pope drank Lourdes water earlier in his visit but did not bathe in the waters as those seeking cures often do.

Many of those attending yesterday's outdoor Mass on a lawn in the Sanctuaries area of Lourdes — which includes the cave and three basilicas — were young pilgrims who were often moved to tears by the Pope's performance and were inspired by John Paul II's strength.

“He is someone who pushes himself to the limit,” said Guillaume Langlois, a 25-year-old seminarian. “He inspires young people because he faces up to life as it has been presented to him, and does not give up.”

(Press Association)

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: T-Shirt Trouble at N.Y. Times DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

NEW YORK — Planned Parenthood, abortion's biggest money-maker, tried out a new product this summer, along with some high-profile help from The New York Times.

On July 18, the Times ran an article by Amy Richards describing her decision to abort two of her triplets.

When the article appeared, the Times failed to disclose that Richards was a pro-abortion activist who served on the Council of Advocates for Planned Parenthood of New York City.

Later that week, Planned Parenthood unveiled T-shirts bearing the slogan “I Had an Abortion.” They were developed by Richards’ business partner, Jennifer Baum-gardner. The business venture and Times column have had post-abortive women and abortion survivors crying foul and have even offended some of Planned Parenthood's local affiliates.

After an uproar on the Internet, the Times printed an editor's note July 28, noting Richards’ work as an abortion advocate.

Baumgardner, along with Richards, developed the T-shirt as part of a three-prong “I'm Not Sorry” campaign. Baumgardner also created resource cards for women and is currently producing a documentary, to be released in January, that tells women's abortion stories.

“I noticed that while there was no shortage of people who have an opinion about abortion, it was rarer to hear from the millions of women who had had abortions,” Baumgardner told the Register. “Not a lot of women are willing to go on record to say they have had an abortion.

We know women get abortions, but we don't know who the women are. That allows us to hate women and makes it a shameful thing.”

While Baumgardner developed the message, Richards came up with the color scheme and modeled the shirt for an article that appeared in the Fairfield County Weekly in Connecticut earlier this year.

One of the first people to notice the connection between Richards and Baumgardner was Dawn Eden, a copy editor with the New York Post whose web log is called, “The Dawn Patrol.”

“I had read The New York Times piece on Richards, and at first I wasn't going to comment on it,” Eden said. “But, when the ‘I Had an Abortion’ T-shirt came out, I did a Google search and found Richards modeling the shirt for The New Haven Advocate.

“I found all of this from a couple of hours of searching on the Internet. The New York Times is renowned for its fact checking. Why couldn't they find the connection?”

As it turns out, Baumgardner and Richards have worked together since first meeting as 22-year-olds at Ms. magazine. Through their feminist-speaker booking agency, Soap-box Inc., they represent such speakers as Gloria Steinem and Andrea Dworkin. The two co-authored the 2000 book Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future, and have appeared on numerous television news programs and talk shows.

“It's important to have real people's faces and lives attached to this issue, rather than an abstraction and a law,” Baumgardner said. “I thought the T-shirt made that connection.”

One face that is intimately connected with the issue of abortion is that of 27-year-old Gianna Jessen. In 1977, Jessen's mother, who was then seven months’ pregnant, went to a Planned Parenthood clinic in southern California to procure a saline abortion. She had the abortion, but her daughter survived.

“If abortion were merely about women's rights, then what about mine?”Jessen asked. “I was a female in the womb, and no feminists were running to my defense. I obviously care about women because I am one.”

Gloria Feldt, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the shirt is “a way to challenge the silence and shame around an experience many women have shared, however difficult that decision may have been.”

“One in three American women will have an abortion before the age of 45,” she said. “Anti-choice extremists are doing everything they can to turn that choice into a scarlet letter.”

Jessen lives with a constant reminder of her mother's abortion. Due to a lack of oxygen supply during the abortion, Jessen lives with the effects of cerebral palsy. Doctors didn't think that she would ever walk. But she is currently preparing for a marathon.

“We're living in a culture that wants to pretend that there are no consequences to our actions,” she said. “I live with the repercussions of my mother's ‘choice’ every day of my life. Our choices never affect only us. They always affect someone else.”

Pain and Regrets

Pro-life women have been speaking about their abortions for years.

“I do believe that there are women who do not, at present, regret their abortion,” said Anne Marie Cosgrove. Cosgrove had an abortion at the age of 25 and now serves as director of Silent No More Minnesota, a post-abortive outreach. “When those women realize the truth, that they have taken the life of their own child, they will reach a wall of pain. I've met women who for 30 years say they haven't regretted it, and then they reach that wall.”

Cosgrove said shame is a natural response when a woman acknowledges that she has taken the life of her own child. “It doesn't come from society,” Cosgrove said. “It comes from within.”

Rachel's Vineyard Ministry founder Theresa Burke believes that the Planned Parenthood T-shirts are a direct response to the Silent No More Awareness T-shirts that read: “I Regret My Abortion.” The opposite message would be, “I Regret Having My Child,” she said. “Not too many women would proudly wear that.”

Rachel's Vineyard conducts more than 350 retreats a year for post-abortive women and men in the United States and 14 other countries.

“We'll have 5,000 men and women coming through our retreats this year alone,” Burke said. “We're growing at 40% annually.”

In addition to the reaction from post-abortive women, Planned Parenthood affiliates in Idaho, Minnesota, the Dakotas and the Carolinas have found the shirt's message offensive.

“Planned Parenthood's new T-shirt confirms that the abortion chain lacks any sense of integrity, tact and compassion. This shirt's message celebrates an act of violence that is traumatic for women, and worst of all, kills an innocent child,” said Jim Sedlak, executive director of American Life League's STOPP International. “When people know the truth, they recognize that Planned Parenthood is not a benevolent healthcare organization, but rather, a lucrative business that profits from selling sex and aborting babies.”

Tim Drake writes from Saint Cloud, Minnesota.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Judges and Voters At Odds DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The first week in August turned out to be a big news week in the debate over marriage.

In a primary with record high turnout, Missouri residents voted Aug. 3 against same-sex “marriage.”

Seventy-one percent of Missouri voters approved adding language to the state constitution reading, “To be valid and recognized in this state, a marriage shall exist only between a man and a woman.” The vote made Missouri the fifth state with a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex “marriage,” but the first to vote on one after a Massachusetts court gave unisex “marriage” a green light in the Bay State.

Marriage advocates were further bolstered by an Aug. 12 ruling in the California Supreme Court that voided the nearly 4,000 same-sex “marriages” performed in San Francisco this year. The court said the marriage licenses were issued illegally, since both legislation and a voter-approved measure define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Both supporters and opponents of the Missouri initiative credited churchgoers as a key factor in the win. “We were out-organized by the competition, which was able to do a lot of organizing with very little resources,” Seth Kilbourn, national field director for the pro-homosexual-marriage Human Rights Campaign, told reporters. “They activated the churches in a way that was very successful.”

“Even though we were outspent and we had a national political machine descend on our state to try and defeat this, people got out and worked and called neighbors and said a lot of prayers,” Vicky Hartzler, spokesman for the Coalition to Protect Marriage in Missouri told the New York Times.

But the day after the Missouri election, a Washington State judge ruled in favor of legalizing homosexual “marriage” in his state. The case before the court was brought by eight same-sex couples who want to marry. The Washington State decision will not go into effect until the state supreme court rules on it. If the ruling is upheld, Washington will become the second state — after Massachusetts — with legal homosexual “marriage.”

While Missouri is their real win, many advocates for traditional marriage see the developments in Missouri, Washington and California as overall positives, sending the signal that when left to democracy, marriage wins.

While Missouri is their real win, many advocates for traditional marriage see the developments in Missouri and Washington as overall positives, sending the signal that when left to democracy, marriage wins.

“The Missouri vote represents a watershed moment in the battle over gay marriage,” says Stanley Kurtz, a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. “This was the first time the public has had a chance to speak since Massachusetts legalized gay marriage, and it came through loud and clear that the public does not support same-sex marriage.”

Homosexual “marriage” advocates, however, didn't credit popular wisdom. “This was part of an effort by President Bush to distract Missourians from the fact that the state has lost almost 80,000 jobs over the past three and one-half years,” Human Rights Campaign president Cheryl Jacques said in a statement. “The Missouri Constitution is now a tool for discrimination. This was motivated by politics, pure and simple. We recognize that many Missourians were opposed to this mistaken use of their constitution.”

Of the Washington decision, however, Jacques said, “This is a historic decision to end discrimination facing some Washington families. Same-sex couples pay taxes and contribute to society. There's no reason to deny any family the same rights and responsibilities as others.“ She continued, “Hopefully, someday very soon, all Washing-tonians will have the same rights that others have in fulfilling their American dreams.”

Trend in the Works

The Missouri vote followed a trend. As Austin Ruse of the Culture of Life Foundation in Washington, D.C., points out, “The margin of 70% is not surprising…when you look at similar measures and similar margins dating back to 1998.

“Hawaii passed a similar measure in favor of one-man/one-woman marriage with 69.2% of the vote. Alaska passed one in 1998 with 68.11% of the vote. Nebraska passed one in 2000 with 70.1%. Nevada passed one in 2002 with 67.1%,” Ruse said. “Yet, on the same day that Missourians voted overwhelmingly in favor of traditional marriage, a single judge imposed homosexual marriage on the people of Washington state. This is a very clear fight between the people and the elites.”

The Washington State ruling, too, followed a trend, the lead being set by Massachusetts. In his ruling, Washington's King County Superior Court Judge William L. Downing said, “In our pluralistic society, the moral views of the majority can never provide the sole basis for legislation.” He concluded that it “is not for our secular government to choose between religions and take moral or religious sides in such a debate.”

Downing wrote, “The legal question is not whether heterosexual marriage is good for the replenishment of the species through procreation. It is. The precise question is whether barring committed same-sex couples from the benefits of the civil marriage laws somehow serves the interest of encouraging procreation. There is no logical way in which it does so.”

Downing's opinion “is, even by the abysmal standards of the genre, the worst opinion favoring same-sex marriage ever,” says Gerard V. Bradley, professor of law at Notre Dame Law School. “The judge is so smug, so confident, so impressed with his own rhetoric and so sure he is smart that he has no idea his opinion is idiotic…meaning, it is a compendium of all the clichés, half-truths, question-begging assertions and tortured reasoning that can be found in” previous decisions addressing homosexual “marriage.”

November Coming

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry of Massachusetts said after the Missouri vote: “We've always argued the states will be capable of taking care of this by themselves. Massachusetts and Missouri are proving they are capable of taking care of it by themselves. (That) I think bears out that we didn't need a (federal) constitutional amendment in order to do what's right.”

President Bush supports a federal marriage amendment. When the amendment was subject to a procedural vote last month, Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, were the only members of the U.S. Senate absent for the vote. The Democratic candidate says he does not support homosexual “marriage” but does support civil unions.

Kerry voted against the federal Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, which sought to ensure that states would not be forced to recognize other states’ same-sex “marriages.” (The Defense of Marriage Act is being challenged in the federal courts and may eventually be struck down by the Supreme Court.)

Initiatives similar to Missouri's ban will appear on ballots in at least 10 states on Nov. 2: Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah. If the Missouri primary experience is any indication, in battleground states like Michigan and Oregon — where the presidential race is tight — homosexual “marriage” promises to affect the White House vote, by getting more ban supporters out to the polls.

Strategists are looking beyond November, too. The combination of the Missouri vote and the Washington court ruling “show that the same-sex marriage issue has resolved itself into a people-versus-courts dynamic,” says David Wagner, associate professor at Regent University's School of Law. “Voters reject it, courts order it. This shows that state constitutional amendments and the FMA are necessary. Judges are power-drunk with a concept of themselves as brave reformers destined for marble statues. The people have to get serious about taking them down a few pegs.”

“The case for FMA just became stronger in light of both these events,” says Matthew J. Franck, professor and chairman of political science at Radford University in Virginia. “First,” Franck said, “federal court intervention on behalf of gay marriage could come at any time, and state constitutional amendments will be no help then.

“Second, if voters in states like Missouri are so overwhelmingly in favor of defending marriage in their constitutions, surely they are not wedded to an abstract ‘federalism’ that says ‘no gay marriage here in Missouri but it's okay across the river in Illinois.’

“They have reasons for opposing gay marriage that would apply everywhere, and would probably cast votes for members of Congress and state legislatures on the basis of support or opposition to a federal marriage amendment if political leaders clearly placed that choice before them.”

Kathryn Jean Lopez is the editor of National Review Online.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kathryn Jean Lopez ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Conversion, Indictment and Acquittal on Wall Street DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Mark Belnick has his freedom back.

In mid-July, two years after his indictment, Belnick, the former general counsel for Tyco International, was acquitted on 14 counts of felony and misdemeanor financial misconduct.

A former devout Jew, Belnick converted to the Catholic Church in the year 2000. He currently serves on the Board of Governors of Thomas Aquinas College. He spoke recently with Register staff writer Tim Drake from his home in Park City, Utah, about his conversion and his acquittal.

What leads a New Jersey Jew to consider Catholicism?

I grew up as an orthodox Jew. My father worked very, very hard to support us. During the week, I didn't see him much because he would get home late from work. That made the weekend particularly special because I knew that I would get to spend Friday night and Saturday — the Sabbath — with him. One of my fondest memories growing up was walking to the synagogue, which we did rain or shine, on Friday nights and Saturday mornings and back on Saturday afternoons.

That was sacred time I spent with my father.

For reasons I do not understand, even as a teen-ager, I was always interested in religion, especially Roman Catholicism. Once in a while, I would sneak into a Catholic Mass in our town. I was drawn to the liturgy. I loved the great Masses such as Mozart, Beethoven and Britten. When Pope John XXIII became pope, I became a great fan of his. I had a small picture of him hanging in my bedroom at home. My parents laughed about it, but never in a mocking way. I went on to college and law school and 20 years of law practice. While the interest was still there, I wasn't pursuing anything. In fact, I was elected the president of the largest Jewish synagogue in Westchester, N.Y., for four terms.

In 1997, I purchased a treadmill to work off some of my blubber. To reduce treadmill boredom, I put a television in the basement. One day, as I'm clicking through the cable channels, EWTN comes on.

I stop clicking.

Lo and behold, a Mass is being broadcast, and it all comes back to me. After the Mass, some terrific programming came on. Thanks to EWTN, I lost a lot of weight. But more importantly, the seeds of Catholicism lying dormant in me suddenly began to sprout. I would go on the treadmill in the morning and then again after supper. I could have watched EWTN all day. I was eager to learn more and more. I was ordering books and reading like crazy. It was a feverish pitch.

After six to seven months of this, I decided I needed to speak to a priest. I needed to find out if I was going through some great intellectual stimulation, or whether something else was going on.

That had to be difficult for a devout Jew.

Imagine the most devout Catholic you know showing up at your door and saying, “I'm Jewish.” I couldn't let anyone know what I was going through. So, I went onto the Internet and discovered Father John Trigilio.

I emailed him and asked if he would engage me in dialogue. He said, “Sure,” so I e-mailed him. While surfing the Internet, I also came across Father C. John McCloskey's web page. He had also attended Columbia. He had been a stockbroker. He was living in Princeton. So I wrote down his e-mail and made a note to one day get in touch with him.

A couple of weeks after writing to Father Trigilio, I hadn't heard anything back from him, so I pulled out Father McCloskey's e-mail address thinking it was Father Trigilio's and wrote to ask if he had received my e-mail. Father McCloskey wrote to say that I had confused Father Trigilio with himself, but based on my e-mail, he said that he would be happy to speak with me.

Thus began my relationship with Father McCloskey. We began to meet monthly and e-mailed each other frequently, often several times daily. He also put me in touch with other good Catholics and close friends of his such as Lew Lehrman, Bowie Kuhn, Bernie Nathanson and [Register columnist] George Sim Johnston.

Was there a specific turning point for you?

By late 1998, I knew that this was no limited intellectual interest. As if the Holy Spirit were not enough, the combination of the Holy Spirit and Father C. John McCloskey was an irresistible team. When the Holy Spirit works through Father McCloskey, it's like the Super Bowl.

By late 1998, early 1999, I was meeting and studying weekly with Sim Johnston (author of Did Darwin Get It Right?). We were going through the Catechism and would have many deep theological discussions.

They were the highlight of the week for me. There were many times when Sim would say something from the Gospels that would spark a connection in my mind to one of the five books of Moses, the Torah, the psalms or the prophets. He found the connections fascinating and talked of how they tied in with Catholic doctrine or scriptural exegesis. When you put all that together, you have true joy, true good news. I was also doing a great deal of spiritual reading, going on retreats and remaining in constant touch with Father John.

Eventually, the evidence was overwhelming in my mind that the truth to which Judaism pointed was Catholicism. It completes Judaism. I don't think one can fully understand, appreciate or fully receive the benefit of Catholicism without understanding the Torah, psalms and prophets. So much of what we believe as Catholics is foretold in those books. They are as alive as the Gospels.

When you read the Gospels in the light of the books that preceded them, you are indeed reading them in the light. If you don't, you're reading them in the dark.

How did your wife accept the news of your conversion?

My wife knew everything from the beginning, when she found out about EWTN.

She said, “It's great if it keeps you on the treadmill. More power to you!”

She had no reaction when I met with Father McCloskey. At one point, I told her, “I'm falling in love … not with another woman, but with the Catholic Church.” She knows that I have a lot of interests and that when something grabs my interest, I really plunge into it. She thought this was another one of those interests, and said, “It will pass.”

There came a point when I was so serious that I wanted to be baptized. When she learned that, she said, “I married a Jewish man. You're changing the rules in the middle of the game. I'm so unnerved and sick at heart about this, I don't want you to talk to me about it anymore.”

So I didn't, but I fixed a date for the baptism. It was scheduled for February 2000.

Randy, my wife, was opposed. I called the whole thing off the intended morning of my baptism, and I told Randy, “I will not set a date without your consent.”

She said, “You know, I may never consent.”

“Let's not talk about that,” I said. About a month and a half later, we were in our home reading on a Friday night.

Randy said, “Okay, do it.”

I said, “Do it?”

“Get baptized, become a Catholic,” she responded.

“What brought this on?” I asked.

“I've been thinking about it for days and thinking, how can I deprive you of this? This is something you really believe in. It hurts me to the extent that I'm still Jewish and you'll be Catholic, but I know how badly you want this.”

I was ecstatic. I waited until the following Monday, and when she woke up, I asked her if she was still okay with it. She was. I called Father McCloskey, and we set a date for April 25, 2000, at St. Thomas More Church in Manhattan. She told me that she wasn't going to attend the ceremony, but without me knowing it, she was planning on attending.

Before the ceremony, I looked to see if she was there. She wasn't. She was stuck in traffic. Then, just before I was to receive the Eucharist for the first time, there, sitting in the back row, was Randy. A chill came over me.

Afterward, we had a wonderful lunch and Randy had a thoroughly good time. She told me, “There was a young priest there who I really liked. I wouldn't mind talking with him again.” It was Father McCloskey.

I told her, “If you wouldn't mind talking to him, I'm sure he wouldn't mind talking to you.”

In your financial misconduct case, did the prosecution attempt to use your conversion against you?

The fact that I had converted played a role in the way that the prosecutors tried to use it. They used it in the press. They tried to bring it up in court, but were unsuccessful.

The very fact that they tried to bring it up tells a story. What did my conversion have to do with the case?

What was it like facing the prospect of 25 years in prison? Is life different now?

It was a nightmare beyond description. Since the acquittal, every day seems more important.

Freedom, which too many Americans take for granted, including me, I no longer take for granted. I tried not to think about prison too much.

I prayed with confidence that the system would work and that I would be acquitted. Sometimes, while sitting in church at Mass on Sunday, the thought would cross my mind that I might not be able to do this were I convicted. I'm sure prisons have Masses, but they won't be like this. If I want to go on a retreat, I wouldn't be able to do that.

When my daughter spoke of medical school and family day in the spring, or my son spoke of family day at college in the fall, it struck me that I could write these dates on my calendar, but it might soon be irrelevant.

Freedoms to take a walk, pick up a book or be with my family are so precious to me that I will never again take any of them for granted.

Through it all, how did your newfound faith help you?

It was critical. I had been going regularly to Mass long before I was baptized, and I certainly kept that up.

I talked to Jesus. I was taught that one of the great blessings of the Catholic Church was that one could sit down and talk to Jesus. I would do this in front of the Blessed Sacrament and when I was sitting alone. I would complain to Jesus about having to bear this cross of false charges.

I also had a battalion of saints on whom I relied. By the time I was done, I had such a list that I might as well have had Butler's Lives of the Saints in front of me. I also entrusted the trial to Our Lady, remembering that the Holy Spirit had entrusted her to carry the Word Incarnate. I entrusted the trial to her and asked her son to listen to her. I asked her to show that she was my mother, too.

What's next?

I don't know. My family and I have been through a lot. Imagine what your body would look like if someone had been punching you non-stop for 25 months. That's what we look like on the inside. We need rest and relaxation. There is civil litigation with Tyco ahead, but it is frivolous and I can handle that. I expect a favorable outcome. In terms of what I'm going to do with the rest of my life professionally, I want to give back. Whatever I choose, a significant part of it will involve giving back.

Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.

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CHESHIRE, Conn. — It's time for “people of faith” to stand together and let public officials know that they cannot use taxpayer money to offend them.

That's the response of Brian Brown, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut, to a town-sponsored play which, critics charged, bashed Catholics and celebrated homosexuality.

“We are receiving more and more reports of towns supporting these sorts of attacks on people of faith,” Brown said.

Residents who protested a town-funded adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in Cheshire, Conn., believe their fight can serve as an example for Catholics in other small towns. They stood outside a public school building in which the play was performed three nights in late July and attended a regularly scheduled meeting of the town council to urge more careful screening of taxpayer-funded productions.

After reading the script, the leaders of the protest, residents Lynne O'Luanaigh and Kerri Davison, contacted the Connecticut Catholic Conference and the Family Institute, a non-denominational group fighting moves to liberalize Connecticut's marriage laws to include same-sex couples. The Family Institute sent an email to its members, urging them to call the town's councilors and arts committee.

O'Luanaigh and Davison based their complaints about the play, Shakespeare's R&J by Joe Calarco, on the script and published comments made by the director of the Cheshire production.

As produced in Cheshire, a town of 28,500, the play featured four young women in a strict Catholic boarding school. (The original script calls for four young men.) The women secretly act out Romeo and Juliet, and two of the actresses engage in courting and kissing.

Calarco posted a response to what he called “Shakespeare's R&J Connecticut Censorship Controversy” on his website.

“As American citizens, we have the right to protest, just as we all have the right to free speech,” he wrote. “I created the piece as a celebration of the timeless appeal of Shakespeare and as a depiction of the transformative power of art.”

Deacon David Reynolds, legislative liaison for the Catholic Conference, wrote to Michael Milone, Cheshire's town manager.

“It is important to understand that some forms of prejudice or offensive stereotyping may go unnoticed by some, except those who are members of the group that are the focus of the actions and comments,” Reynolds wrote. “Many Catholics are beginning to become very offended by the Catholic stereotyping that has been so commonplace, and apparently socially acceptable, in our society.”

Taking Offense

Sylvia Abbate, executive producer of the play and a member of the town's arts committee that staged it, said the play was not intended to be anti-Catholic or about homosexuality. Three of the four actresses are Catholic, she said, including her daughter Elizabeth, who is 23 years old. The other three actresses are 18 or older.

“We had advertised widely that the play would have four young women and was rated PG,” Abbate said. “People who weren't comfortable with that could decide not to come.”

Abbate said an important aspect of the play is the fact that young women get to play male roles in a Shakespeare production. She also pointed out that in Elizabethan England, women's roles were usually played by male actors.

“Art is supposed to stretch us a little bit,” Abbate added. “If you start writing guidelines so that you'll never offend anyone, you can't do it. You might as well forget about art.”

Diane Visconti, a member of the town council, said the production was about the interplay of the passion of Shakespeare's genius and the passion of youth, which can lead to extremes of behavior. She said she saw no signs of anti-Catholic sentiment or promotion of homosexuality.

But Richard Rinaldi, a Catholic who traveled from Waterbury, Conn., to see the performance, said, “It was Catholic bashing.”

“It opens with the girls marching in a regimented manner as one reads a passionate passage and the others kneel to recite pious Catholic prayers,” he said. “It highlights the strains on the students in a repressive environment. It all leads up to this scene that went on for an uncomfortably long time, with flirting between the two girls and a kiss…. You shouldn't be introducing young people to these sort of ideas.”

Abbate said she would take the observations of the protestors into consideration in the future.

But a town meeting Aug. 10 ended without a resolution. O'Luanaigh and Davison asked for an apology from the Cheshire Performing and Fine Arts Committee and asked the town council to appoint an official to oversee the committee, stop inappropriate projects and help make people aware of what offends the Catholic community.

“Basically, we got no answers at all,” O'Luanaigh said. The call for a town official to check future projects was dismissed as a form of censorship, she said.

Although no member of the New York City-based Catholic League was involved in the meeting or the initial protests, Louis Giovino, the league's director of communications, said that in general, when Catholics have something to say in these situations, there is talk of censorship. “These organizations have a legal right, but it doesn't mean they have a moral right,” he said.

“Either artistic freedom or censorship is thrown up,” Giovino said.

Cheshire mayor and town council chairman David Orsini saw the meeting as a good first step but said it would take several months to resolve the issue. “Now we can begin the process of working through the comments to see if we can't resolve the issue to the satisfaction of as many people as possible,” he said.

In the meantime, O'Luanaigh said council member Tim White invited her to sit on the performing and fine arts committee to give a more socially conservative perspective. She's decided to accept the invitation. “The best way to go,” she said, “is to sit on the committee.”

Stephen Vincent is based in Wallingford, Connecticut.

Joseph Pronechen is based in Trumbull, Connecticut.

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Investigation Cost Albany Diocese $2.4 Million

THE TROY RECORD, AUG. 6 — The Troy, N.Y., newspaper reported that the Albany diocese paid more than $2.4 million to look into allegations of sexual misconduct against Bishop Howard Hubbard. The investigation, led by former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, concluded that the allegations had “no merit.”

The Record story quoted attorney John Aretakis, who represents alleged victims of clergy sex abuse, as saying that the bishop “spared no expense” in a “false effort” to clear himself.

Mark Furnish, the local leader of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, was quoted as saying, “It's nice that Hubbard could spend that much money to clear his name and find closure for himself… He's lucky, but there is no amount of money that could reverse all the things that happened to victims of clergy abuse (in the Albany diocese).”

Madonna and Children — Kabbalah Style

THE STAR ONLINE, Aug. 6 — Former “Material Girl” and lapsed Catholic Madonna is starting a Kabbalah school for children in New York. Scheduled to open at the end of the year, the Kabbalist Grammar School for Children will combine standard school curriculum with Kabbalah teaching.

The Kaballah is a Jewish practice of meditative, devotional, mystical and magical activity. Throughout much of its history, it was taught selectively and is often viewed as esoteric. The word “Kabbalah” is derived from the root “to receive, to accept”, and in many cases is used synonymously with “tradition.”

Madonna, 46, converted to Judaism from Catholicism and has taken the Hebrew name of Esther. She was born Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone in Bay City, Mich. As a performer, she became known as Madonna.

“The school has been a dream of Madonna's for some time,” the story quoted a source as saying. “Education means a lot to her, and she was keen to make the most of her money by leaving a lasting mark, as well as helping kids.”

Canadian Abortionist Claims Procedure Lowers Crime

LIFENEWS.COM, Aug. 1 — Mother Teresa once said that society can never expect to have peace in the streets if abortion remains legal. Henry Morgentaler would disagree.

The Canadian abortionist, who defied his country's abortion laws in the 1960s, reiterated claims that abortion and contraception play a major role in the decline in his nation's violent crime rate, the pro-life website reported. The Canadian homicide rate is now the lowest it has been since 1967. Children that are wanted, his reasoning goes, are less likely to be abused and neglected, and therefore less likely to commit violent crimes later in life.

Morgentaler suggests that “violent crimes are usually committed by young men with a rage in their heart, a result of maltreatment they received as babies and children.”

But a number of researchers point out that child abuse has actually risen since Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed abortion nationwide. Canada's abortion law began to be loosened in 1969 and was finally struck down by the country's Supreme Court in 1988.

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PIERRE, S.D. — The right of a Catholic bishop to communicate with public officials has come under attack by pro-abortion, propromiscuity organizations in South Dakota.

After Bishop Robert Carlson of Sioux Falls wrote a letter to Republican Gov. Mike Rounds, pointing out inappropriate links on a section of the state library website aimed at teen-agers, Rounds investigated the section and asked the State Library Board to take it down temporarily after he found several objectionable components.

In response, Planned Parenthood and the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union have begun a campaign against the bishop's intervention and the governor's action. The website had links to Planned Parenthood and to “Go Ask Alice!”, an explicit, pro-perversion website run by Columbia University.

“I'm a moral leader, not a politician,” Bishop Carlson told the Register. “I think the real issue is whether or not I can bring these issues into the public sector in the exercise of my faith. . . . Do we have the right to teach as the Church, or do we not?”

Whether it is the issue of denying Communion to pro-abortion Catholic politicians or preventing a government website from promoting abortion to children, Carlson said, the other side doesn't want “religious institutions to teach against the culture.” He noted that the question is not whether law will have moral content, but which content. “Every law that's passed has some moral content to it,” he said.

Rounds, who is Catholic, said in an interview that after he received Carlson's May 12 letter, he looked at the website himself.

“I thought the information on the website was in violatiaon of our state website policy,” he said. “I asked [the state library board] to take them off pending a review.”

Rounds said that he did not take action because a bishop asked him to, but because a resident of South Dakota had raised a valid concern. “I know the bishop,” he said. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. But my response to the bishop is the same I would have made to any other resident of this state.”

He said the web links included explicit material, in violation of state policy, and “requests for our children to become politically active and motivated for pro-choice.”

Pro-abortion forces have threatened a lawsuit, but Rounds said, “I don't know what the lawsuit will be based on. . . . There is no one, including no political organization such as Planned Parenthood, that has a right to be advertised on an official state website.”

Asked if he thought anti-Catholic bias motivated the protests, Rounds replied, “I would suspect that the pro-choice side would do anything they could to discredit those who believe abortion is wrong.”

Charge of Censorship

Jennifer Ring, director of the ACLU of the Dakotas, told the Associated Press on July 20, “We are investigating what appears on the surface to be a case of censorship. The government has opened a public forum by including links to websites. When the government opens a forum, it can regulate it in terms of time, place and manner, but not in terms of content.”

“I'm a little shocked it's become such a big deal,” said Robert Regier, executive director of the South Dakota Family Policy Council. He said that grassroots Christians were not aware of the website before, “but they are now. It's not uncommon for Bishop Carlson to get involved like this.”

The whole controversy was actually sparked by Marilyn Mendenhall, a Catholic library media specialist at Huron Middle School in Huron, S.D. She first wrote to the state library board complaining about the site for teens last fall, she said in an interview. She attended two State Library Board meetings to explain her objections. “I thought that they weren't aware of the content and when I told them about the objectionable content, they would say, ‘Oh, thank you,’ ” she said. “Instead, no one agreed with me.” Mendenhall told Bishop Carlson's office about the site, and the bishop eventually wrote the governor.

The state's largest newspaper, the Argus Leader, and the Associated Press have written several stories on Rounds’ decision. The Argus Leader editorialized on July 25: “Our governor should have better things to do than review individual websites to determine if they're appropriate. Rounds also ought to be careful about appearances that he took action, just because someone powerful had access and a librarian didn't. It's very likely that Rounds would have taken the same action, if he'd stumbled on the sites all on his own. He didn't. The appearance is that special-interest influence got access and action.”

“We should present the values that help young people grow into good and faithful citizens,” Bishop Carlson said. “We have ‘True Love Waits’ and other successful programs in this state.” The bishop said that he did not know if there would be a lawsuit, but if one is filed, it would not be directed at him. “I was informed by one law firm that they had been approached by someone,” he said. “They declined to take the case.”

Joseph A. D'Agostino writes from Washington, D.C.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph A. D'Agostino ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Vatican: Non-Catholics Can't Have Eucharist 'Guest Status' DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Msgr. John Radano holds an unusual position: The American priest is the senior Vatican representative on the World Council of Churches’ Faith and Order Commission, even though the Catholic Church is not a member of the council.

From his perspective as a member of the commission and as an official with the Western Section of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Msgr. Radano has years of experience of dealing with the prospects and pitfalls posed by ecumenical dialogue. He spoke with journalist Friedrich Degenhardt during the Faith and Order Commission's July 28-Aug. 6 meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

What is your hope for this Faith and Order Plenary Commission meeting?

Msgr. Radano: For me the study on ecclesiology — the nature and mission of the Church — is very important. It's a central question in most of the bilateral dialogues between different confessional families, and now it has become more and more central in Faith and Order.

I hope that out of the discussion on the study, ecumenical perspectives on ecclesiology might be brought further so that separated Christians may, more and more, see a common perspective on the church. This study touches on a number of things that we can say together.

What is it that we can say together?

The study speaks, for example, of biblical images of the Church: the “people of God,” the “body of Christ,” the Church as temple of the Holy Spirit, or the Church as communion. And then it also points to particular issues where we are divided, like the nature of episcopacy and the authority and questions of ministry.

Will a common understanding on ecclesiology lead to a common Eucharist?

Our understanding of the Eucharist is very much tied to our understanding of the Church. So this study, by promoting common perspectives on the Church, will help in terms of our common understanding of the sacraments, including the Eucharist.

The point is to come to full unity. We need, among other things, to have a common understanding of what is the nature and purpose of the Church which Christ founded.

Could you imagine some sort of guest status at the Eucharist?

No. We don't. Maybe other Christians do, but we don't. For us, the Eucharist is a sign of unity achieved. An expression of perfect communion which exists. It's not something you do to achieve unity.

The Eucharist is the summit and the source of the whole life of the Church. So we don't envision guest membership along the way. We have to be very honest about that, although we do everything we can to promote unity. That is why we are here.

And baptism is the starting point on the way to unity?

If we can recognize each other's baptism, that is a very important starting point. Theologically, the 1982 Faith and Order document “Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry” (BEM) helped us to develop a common understanding of baptism. And in the official Catholic response, we had a very positive assessment of that. We had some questions too, things that still needed to be discussed.

But basically, if Christians could accept this view, I would say they have a basic common understanding of baptism.

But there are still large numbers of Christians who hold the position that infant baptism is not acceptable. And for some, baptism is not the entrance into the body of Christ but the affirmation of their personal commitment of faith.

So there are a number of those questions still outstanding, and other problems are emerging. There are some churches which don't use water. And other churches are developing a formula that substitutes for the language of “Father, Son and Holy Spirit”. These practices make mutual recognition of baptism very difficult.

The work of BEM and the text on baptism we have here have brought us a long way towards the possibility of mutual recognition of baptism.

What is your personal motivation to work in this process?

I believe that the work for Christian unity reflects the will of Christ. It's basically a question of theology and faith. Christ prayed that his disciples might be one so that the world might believe: that is the connection between the unity and the mission of the Church.

The divisions among Christians go against the mind of Christ. And they are a scandal to the people, to the world. And they are an obstacle to the preaching of the gospel. My motivation is to contribute within our Church and in the ecumenical settings to overcome those divisions.

Is this what makes the work of Faith and Order so important?

I think the ecumenical movement is a gift of God to help us try to reverse centuries of separation, and move Christians together where they should be according to the mind and prayer of Christ.

Can we find a shared identity with all these traditions here in Faith and Order? It's a marvelous task, a challenging task, for which we all need a spirit of conversion of heart, creating new attitudes.

It's a constant effort to change our minds and begin to trust each other more and more. And a way to do that is to enter sincerely into dialogue.

Friedrich Degenhardt is a trainee for the ministry in the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church, Germany.

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Christianity Is The Real ‘Da Vinci Code’

THE NEW REPUBLIC, Aug. 16-23 — Renaissance scholar Ingrid Rowland has a clue for Dan Brown, author of the controversial novel The Da Vinci Code — if you really want to know the hidden meaning of Leonardo Da Vinci's famed Last Supper fresco, study the New Testament.

Brown's potboiler claims that Jesus and Mary Magdalene secretly married and had children, and that this shocking fact has been kept hidden by the Catholic Church.

The key “evidence” cited by Brown is his assertion that the androgynous figure to the right of Jesus in Da Vinci's Last Supper is actually Mary Magdalene, and that the painting contains other coded symbolism that discloses their marriage.

Rowland, who is Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at the American Academy in Rome, dismisses Brown's bizarre thesis in a lengthy article in The New Republic magazine. The Last Supper is symbolic, she agrees, but like most great Renaissance art its symbolism comes straight from the Bible.

“The Gospels were as demanding in the fifteenth century as they had been in the first, with their threats to overturn society and to transform souls, and they remain the single most reliable key to Italian Renaissance art,” wrote Rowland. “They are the real Da Vinci Code.”

Kazan Icon Is Already a Symbol of Unity

WWW.CHIESA,July 31 — On Aug. 28, in a gesture that Pope John Paul II hopes will promote Catholic-Orthodox unity, a papal delegation will deliver a prized copy of the Icon of Kazan to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II.

And should the patriarch send the sacred artwork back to Kazan — as the city's Muslim mayor has already requested — it will become a visible symbol of the unusual harmony that exists there already.

In an article published in the Italian newspaper Il Foglio and translated by www.chiesa, Pigi Colognesi notes that Orthodox Christians and Muslims each account for about half of Kazan's population.

Relations between them — and with Kazan's tiny Jewish and Catholic minorities — are remarkably peaceful, the journalist reported after a trip there. Summed up Colognesi, “even if Tatarstan is not heaven on earth, at least it shows a way of coexistence that until now has proven attainable and fruitful for all.”

Ratzinger: Church's New Springtime Is Underway

CATHNEWS.COM, Aug. 10 — Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, says that Pope John Paul II's “new springtime” of the Church is already a reality.

Cardinal Ratzinger told the Polish Catholic news agency KAI in a recent interview that new Catholic groups are sprouting up, Australian-based Cathnews reported.

But, Cardinal Ratzinger cautioned, “we should not think that in the near future Christianity will become a movement of the masses again, going back to a situation like Medieval times.”

Instead, the cardinal said committed Catholics will exist as “powerful minorities, which have something to say and something to bring to society, [and] will determine the future.”

Pope's Pilgrimage Captivates Chinese Catholics

ASIANEWS.IT, Aug. 10 — Chinese Catholics were preparing to join themselves spiritually with Pope John Paul II on his Aug. 14-15 pilgrimage to Lourdes, an unnamed Chinese priest told Asianews.

“Your Holiness! Please, remember us always in your prayers, especially when you are in Lourdes,” the Chinese priest said. “Most Chinese Catholics will not be there but in spirit shall accompany you on your journey, and shall remember you in their prayers as they recite the Holy Rosary.”

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Prayer and Penance Are the Way to Christ's Victory DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Register Summary

Pope John Paul II met with pilgrims who gathered in the courtyard of his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo for his general audience on Aug. 11.

He spoke to them about his upcoming pilgrimage to Lourdes on Aug. 14-15. It will be the Holy Father's 104th apostolic trip and his first visit to Lourdes since 1983.

Pope John Paul II expressed his gratitude to the Lord for the opportunity to return to Lourdes, especially in light of the fact that this year marks the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. His visit also coincides with the feast of the Assumption.

As the Holy Father pointed out, these two Marian mysteries “constitute the beginning and the end of Mary's life here on earth and are joined together in the eternal presence of God, who called her to share in a most unique way in our Lord Jesus Christ's saving work of redemption.”

Mary's message at Lourdes was one of prayer and penance, Pope John Paul II said, which “are the way through which Christ's victory can be affirmed in every single person and within society.”

Yet men and women today have at time lost any concept of sin. “We need to ask for an inner awakening, so that we will be open to fully rediscovering the sanctity of God's law and its ensuing moral commitments.”

Pope John Paul II invited the faithful to accompany him spiritually throughout his pilgrimage.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Next Saturday and Sunday, I will be making an apostolic pilgrimage to the Marian shrine at Lourdes. I will have the joy of celebrating the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in that blessed place.

The reason for my pilgrimage is the 150th anniversary of the dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception, which was defined by Blessed Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1854. Four years later, the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Bernadette in the grotto at Massabielle, where, in her own words, she presented herself as the “Immaculate Conception.” Therefore, I consider it a special gift of God's providence to be able to return to Lourdes at a time when this truth of faith shines forth.

Two Marian Mysteries

Through a single act of praise to God and to the Blessed Virgin, I will embrace two great Marian mysteries of faith: the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption into heaven in body and soul. Indeed, they constitute the beginning and the end of Mary's life here on earth and are joined together in the eternal presence of God, who called her to share in a most unique way in our Lord Jesus Christ's saving work of redemption.

There will be three public events during my pilgrimage: the recitation of the holy rosary on Saturday afternoon, the traditional candlelight procession on Saturday evening, and, lastly, the solemn Eucharistic celebration on Sunday morning. Moreover, I will have the opportunity to spend time in silent prayer in front of the grotto when I arrive at the shrine and before I leave.

The Message of Lourdes

At every moment, I will carry within my heart the thanksgiving and the petitions of the entire Church, and, I might add, of the entire world, which can find peace and salvation only in God.

What, then, is the message that the Lord spoke to all mankind through the Blessed Virgin at Lourdes? In brief, it can be summarized with a well-known quote from Sacred Scripture: “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, but rather in the wicked man's conversion, that he may live” (Ezechiel 33:11). When Mary spoke to Bernadette, she reminded her of this basic message from the Gospel: prayer and penance are the way through which Christ's victory can be affirmed in every single person and within society.

However, in order to change the way we act, we need to listen to the voice of our conscience, where God has placed an awareness of good and evil. Nevertheless, modern man appears at times to have lost this concept of sin. We need to ask for an inner awakening on his behalf, so that we will be open to fully rediscovering the sanctity of God's law and its ensuing moral commitments.

With these intentions in my heart, I am about to leave for the Blessed Virgin Mary's shrine at Lourdes. I ask all of you to accompany me spiritually, so that this pilgrimage of the Successor of Peter may be fruitful for all God's people.

(Register translation)

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Encounter With the Pope In Castel Gandolfo DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

What is it like to meet the Pope in his summer residence? Is it different from seeing him in general audiences or public Masses at St. Peter's?

Let me describe what you might experience on a typical Sunday morning in Castel Gandolfo.

After a half-an-hour car or bus ride through the highway and small town streets, you get to the hills of the Castelli Romani and the parking lot of Castel Gandolfo. Walking up the slope toward the town center, for many yards you will take shade from the imposing walls of the large apostolic palace on your right, while a breathtaking view of Lake Albano fills the vista on your left.

The lake speaks volumes of history — according to legend, Aeneas settled here after the destruction of Troy. But what you notice when you see it is God's beauty — the sky-blue placid waters are protected by small hills full of pine trees. Climbing the hill completes the pilgrim-like flavor of the journey.

If you get to the town's main square by 9:30 or 10 a.m., you will see between 150 and 250 pilgrims already queuing up in front of the orange, Renaissance-style facade of the papal palace. They chant and talk enthusiastically. Two Swiss Guards face them from the arched bronze door. The excitement has begun.

By 11 a.m., about 500 people cluster between the palace and the artistic stone fountain in the middle of the square. Half an hour later, 700 pilgrims merge with dozens of local parishioners coming out of Sunday Mass from the beautiful Baroque church of the square. Another 300 people or so queue up from the street that meets the palace from its left side.

Italian police and carabinieri are all over the place, yet an unusual calm reigns over the crowded square. People don't seem to mind waiting in the sun. They sing and chant in English, Polish, German and Spanish.

Ten minutes to noon, people cramp to get through the open doors after being checked by the police. In less than five minutes, everyone is in the palace courtyard. A huge awning protects us from the sunrays. People's exploring looks show that most of them have never been here.

By noon, the Holy Father comes out from the front door and goes up to a wooden stage. For a couple of minutes, people's cheers and claps return the affection of the Pope's smiles and waving of his hand.

John Paul II begins his Sunday midday meditation. Adults, children, young men and women gaze at him reverently and silently, as if they all understood Italian. After the address, the Holy Father greets representative groups of pilgrims in Italian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German and Polish.

When the speaking ends, more songs, claps and cheers of “Long live the Pope!” resound. In exchange, the Pope waves his hands and smiles more widely. This “dialogue” lasts for several minutes until the Holy Father is wheeled into his apartments.

Doesn't it all look like a Pope's ordinary audience in Rome?

Not really. I found three differences.

First, the Holy Father himself looks different. His relaxed time in the summer residence shows in a healthier face and a stronger voice. On the other hand, since he meets the faithful less often than in Rome, he seems to enjoy these encounters more. He shows no rush. It looks like he has missed the pilgrims, as a father misses his children in a trip overseas. And the physical closeness to people allows him to interact with them more easily.

The second difference regards the faithful. Since meeting the Pope at Castel Gandolfo implies a great deal of knowledge, effort and ingenuity (especially if you don't have a car), everyone in this audience is more pilgrim than tourist. No wonder people's voices and faces never tire of being excited.

The setting is different, too. Yes, we miss the glorious splendor of St. Peter's Basilica, but we also get to skip the hustle and bustle of crowds and traffic. In a small courtyard the encounter is less ceremonial and more informal.

Finally, waving a hand or a flag to the Pope three hundred yards away is not the same as waving up close. The otherworldly feeling of being so close to the Vicar of Christ is deeply moving.

The encounter is, so to speak, more “human,” more relaxing. It is less of a teaching moment and more of a get-together.

The Son of God knew well we all needed some vacations. After the Apostles worked hard preaching the good news in many villages, “he said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while’” (Mark 6:31). To me, meeting the Holy Father in Castel Gandolfo is like going to a deserted place and resting a while with Jesus.

Legionary of Christ Father Alfonso Aguilar teaches philosophy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome aaguilar@legionaries.org

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Alfonso Aguilar, Lc ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: St. Benedict Still Rules DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

LONDON — At first, it sounds like an odd combination: an English monk leading workshops for business leaders on spiritual values in the workplace. But Father Dermot Tredget believes that the Rule of St. Benedict has much to teach the modern business world.

Archbishop John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, recently addressed a meeting of the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools in Loyola, Spain, and spoke of the “terrible dilemmas faced by married people with children in a tight job market who are asked to do something that is dishonest or, at least, open to ethical discussion — and who are fearful of questioning, of protesting or quitting, because they do not know where the next meal for themselves or their family might come from.”

Father Tredget has been running residential retreat workshops on spirituality in the workplace at Douai Abbey, Berkshire, England, since 1998. His approach to the thorny problems identified by Archbishop Foley: Apply the 1,500-year-old Rule of St. Benedict to modern business practice.

Participants in the weekend courses have included senior executives in multinationals and government agencies, IT consultants, coaches and sales managers.

Prior to joining the Benedictines, Father Tredget held senior management positions in the hotel and catering industry and in education. He is currently an associate tutor in the School of Management at Cranfield University, England, and visiting professor in business ethics at the University of Piacenza, Italy.

“The rule was based on earlier rules for monks who lived in the desert. The important thing about Benedict's rule is that it was written for monks who lived in a community under the direction of an abbot. It integrates work, spirituality and prayer,” he said.

The workshops explore issues such as why people work, what role “soft skills” such as humility and sensitivity have in the workplace, coping with anger, recognizing co-workers’ talents and gifts, and transforming failure into something positive.

“It's a fairly loose structure, which can be adapted to a particular group,” Father Tredget said.

Parallels

There are many parallels between running a monastery and running a business, Father Tredget said. “The Benedictine order is sometimes described as the world's first multinational. Apart from being a spiritual community, Benedictine monasteries have always had to be economically viable and able to adapt to modern technology without losing sight of their core values,” he said.

The businessman-turned-monk has taken St. Benedict's ideas even more directly into the workplace. “I've led workshops in several large international food production companies,” he said. “I think they are trying to make their workplace more spiritually friendly and give people permission to talk about spirituality — the ‘s’ word.”

Father Tredget has delivered his message to Protestants and non-Christians, as well as to Catholics. David Wescott, an executive coach and former human resources director of KPMG, one of the world's largest accounting firms, says that he knew nothing about the Rule of St. Benedict before taking the course run by Father Tredget.

“I'm an Anglican, and I'd never heard about the rule. What really impressed me was the simplicity and insights of St. Benedict,” Westcott said. “The rule deals with the nitty-gritty of life. I don't think I learned anything new. It was more a case of having my views reinforced.”

Businesses, he believes, can learn about the meaning of community from the monastic rule. “The monastic community exists with common purpose and to serve each other,” Westcott said. “So often in business, there is a common purpose, but we don't serve each other. If, as a result of their work, the Benedictine community has an abundance, then it gives the excess to the poor. This doesn't happen in business. Enough is never enough in business, but enough is enough in a monastic community.”

Added Westcott, “The Christian has a prophetic voice here. I made my views known when I was advising a major company on pay scales. There is much about capitalism that makes it the best system that we have, but it is also flawed in many ways. It needs a healthy dose of Christian morality to make sure it doesn't give in to unbridled greed.”

Finding Balance

Mary Maher, a Catholic and director of a public-sector company, said she took the course to look for a way to balance her active spiritual life and her job.

“One of the questions we looked at was if it was taboo to declare your faith in the workplace,” Maher said. “I was working in retail banking when I went on the course and I found the work alien to me. I felt a lot of conflict — all the motivation was money. There was no room to discuss ethics in a spiritual sense. It was difficult to have discussions that were not based around money. I felt I was drowning.”

Father Tredget's insights changed all that.

“The course encouraged me to have the courage to explain my beliefs at work,” Maher said. “I did it, and I discovered that other people at work were also trying to integrate a spiritual life with their job.”

Added the businesswoman, “I learned that the rule is not just for monks. It can be translated and adapted for work, family life and the wider community.”

Greg Watts writes from London.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Greg Watts ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Zambian Nun: Western Fashions Fuel AIDS

THE POST (Lusaka, Zambia), Aug. 4 — Sister Petronella Bweupe's message to Zambian women may not be fashionable to Western ears, but she believes it's a lifesaver: Modest dress is key to preventing AIDS.

Sister Bweupe, the HIV/AIDS coordinator for the Diocese of Mansa, told the Lusaka Post that Western styles of dress are contributing to risky sexual activity among young Zambians.

The nun bluntly advised Zambians to discard the immoral habits that are contributing to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

“Under our traditions, Zambian girls are taught how to hide what men are not supposed to see in public,” Sister Bweupe said. “We cannot talk about behavioral change when people see what they are not supposed to see in public.”

Chile's ‘Anonymous Superheroes’ Honored

CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY, Aug. 6 — The Chilean office of Aid to the Church in Need has launched a campaign called “Superheroes Anonymous” to highlight the selfless dedication of Catholics who make their daily lives a “heroic adventure” of service.

Aid to the Church in Need, an international apostolate founded 52 years ago in Holland by Father Werenfried van Straaten, said individuals singled out for recognition are “real people whose names have been changed to respect their anonymity. They are people who give of themselves completely to those threatened by drug use, delinquency, persecution or the loss of values.”

Catholic News Agency reported that the “Superheroes” singled out for recognition include: “Pedro, a young man who has built three chapels and is not an engineer. Tom's, a priest who travels thousands of kilometers on foot in order to minister to the faithful. Carmen, a cloistered nun, and Juan, a lay Catholic, who risk their freedom distributing thousands of Bibles in Cuba.”

Said Aid to the Church in Need, “In a world in which entertainment celebrities have become the primary role models, we need to highlight the examples of thousands of anonymous superheroes who not only give of their financial resources, but also give of themselves completely.”

Philippines Cardinal Rejects Two-Child Policy

PHILIPPINES DAILY INQUIRER, Aug. 8 — Cardinal Ricardo Vidal of Cebu has denounced a proposed two-child population policy that some legislators are currently pushing in Asia's only predominantly Catholic country.

“Life is a gift,” Cardinal Vidal said. “I don't think we have to limit God's gift to us, otherwise he will limit his gift for us.”

The Philippines Daily Inquirer reported that the cardinal also rejected the alleged link between poverty and the Philippines’ robust fertility rate, saying that vices like greed were actually to blame.

Cardinal Vidal stressed that while parents have a right to control their family size, it is only moral to do this through the use of natural family-planning techniques.

Estrella Yapha, chairman of the province of Cebu's health committee, agreed that the proposed bill would violate the right of couples to determine the number of their children. She told the Daily Inquirer that instead of population control, the Philippines’ government should focus on programs that would help couples meet their families’ needs.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: The Register's Mission in Iraq DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Register correspondent James Brandon was blindfolded and shirtless in photos his Basra, Iraq, kidnappers sent to the media.

He had only just begun to write for us — his first assignment appeared in the issue dated Aug. 15-21 — when he was captured in Basra on Aug. 13 by Islamic militants who threatened to kill him.

He was freed within 24 hours.

Brandon told reporters, “Initially I was treated roughly, but once they knew I was a journalist, I was treated very well.”

After the harrowing ordeal, which left him with a black eye, Register readers may not hear again from him soon. When reporters asked what he might do now, the Londoner answered with a weak smile and said: “I might take a holiday.”

Brandon, who writes for several publications, knows how lucky he was. The story he wrote for us was his account of the Church bombings in Iraq.

He reported on the suffering of Christians at the hands of Islamic extremists — and also their gratitude for the help they received from Muslim neighbors.

The truth is, there is a spiritual battle going on in Iraq as fierce as the violence of combat and terrorism. The Register has been engaged in this spiritual battle from the beginning — and we're about to send reinforcements.

Thanks to our correspondents, we've accomplished a lot in Iraq, journalistically. We conducted exclusive interviews with the bishops of Baghdad on the first day of combat. We looked at the war with commentators from many perspectives. And we provided interviews with chaplains on the ground during combat — interviews that ended up being quoted by many others in the national news media.

But we can thank the generosity of readers and CatholicMil.org for our spiritual contributions in Iraq: We printed and delivered tens of thousands of our Guide to the Rosary to troops.

The covers of the military editions of our booklets are printed in desert camouflage, so that they can be used in the field. Inside, the content is the same as in our popular Guide to the Rosary (see ad on page 2).

Our military rosary booklets were in high demand in Iraq. Father Timothy Vakoc, the Catholic chaplain who was critically wounded by a roadside bomb May 30 used to deliver the booklets to troops.

We have heard reports from those returning from Iraq that some of the most famous photos Saddam Hussein statues being taken down feature marines who were carrying our rosary guides at the time.

U.S. Military Archbishop Edwin O'Brien has asked twice that Catholic military personnel use the booklets not just for themselves, but as a means for evangelizing their Protestant brothers and sisters.

“Might I recommend that our Catholics make these meditations available to the many young non-Catholics invariably attracted to the mystery of Our Lady's Rosary?” he wrote last year. In fact, friends in the military tell us that Protestant Christians have been reading the booklets, appreciating their use of scripture.

Now it's time for reinforcements. This August, we plan to reprint the military edition of the Guide to the Rosary and send tens of thousands more copies to Iraq.

With the help of CatholicMil.org — and the parishioners of two California parishes, Sacred Heart Church in Palm Desert and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Indio — we'll be able to send 32,000 more copies. We would love to be able to send more.

The U.S. military archdiocese would love it if we could, too.

“The first edition was created in the spring of 2003,” wrote Archbishop O'Brien earlier this month. “Thousands of copies of the Guide were mailed to Catholic troops overseas. Demand was so great, that our supply was soon exhausted.”

Register development director Michael Lambert is raising money to pay for yet another military printing of the Guide to the Rosary. Send donations or inquiries to:

Michael Lambert

Register Rosary Mission

432 Washington Avenue

North Haven, CT 06473

MLambert@CirlcleMedia.com

(800) 356-9916 x3805

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Three Cheers

I was especially pleased with the July 11-17 issue of the Register.

First article to praise: you have once again addressed the issue of unjustly accused priests and the painful lack of due process, “In Today's False Climate, Can a Priest Clear His Name?” (July 11-17). I have been embarrassed by our actions because our Church gave in to the media spotlight by reacting in such an unjust manner, expelling priests with only an accusation!

I am privy to the knowledge that priests, like law officers, teachers, and others in authority, are often accused of crimes simply because of who they are and not because of what they have done.

It is an infantile way of retaliation from a perceived wrong such as a bad grade, a correction, jealousy or rejection.

Children today know they have the power to remove a person from their lives with a simple word, “abuse.” There are many who will eagerly use it, even against parents! There are many others who will “cash in” on it, for money, for attention, or for vengeance.

Beyond that there is also the door that has now been opened for those who are looking for ways to destroy the Church and her influence on our society. “Strike the Shepherd and the flock will scatter.” They can make one accusation and remove a priest. It is as effective as murder. And our Church fell for it! Thank God, the bishops seem to be stepping back and taking another look at what they have done.

I agree, applaud and thank Joseph Maher and all who support Opus Bono. I too would like to see real justice — a fair shake.

Second article to praise is the commentary by Renee Schafer Horton — “Careful, Priest: The World Is Watching” (July 11-17); excellent observations about those who “enjoy their job” as priests and how they attract youngsters to the vocation. Translate that to “Filled with the Holy Spirit and using the Gifts.” Amen.

Third article to praise is the very timely article about the “Conversion of ‘Jane Roe’” (July 11-17) since Angel network just aired the Roe v. Wade story and it portrayed the decision as a good thing for “women's rights.” Too bad this article cannot be made an addendum to that documentary, and tell “the rest of the story.”

CHARLOTTE HUTCHENS

Ralston, Oklahoma

Most Important Issue

Regarding “Kerry Admits Life Begins at Conception” (July 18-24):

As Catholics, it's our time to stand up and be counted. There's no middle of the road regarding this issue. We must choose our leaders. Either we follow “cafeteria Catholic” leaders such as Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, or we follow our true leaders who are Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa.

Just a brief quote from each to convey a vital message:

Pope John Paul II said: “A nation that kills its own children is a nation without hope.”

Mother Teresa said, “It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”

Their message is clear. It's up to us to make the right choice.

VICTOR MAESTRI

Old Forge, Pennsylvania

Abortion and Death Penalty

I am writing in response to Catholics who equate the evil of abortion to capital punishment (“Kerry's Catholicity Quotient” July 4-10). A Catholic can be opposed to abortion and support the use of the death penalty and still be in communion with the Church.

The Church teaching is clear. “No one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2258). Further, “the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion” (CC, 2271). Every direct abortion, without exception, is evil and wrong. A member of the Catholic Church may not support abortion or promote the continuation of its legality.

However, the Church allows for the use of lethal means against an aggressor when it is necessary for the defense of oneself, others, or society as a whole. Legitimate defense is not considered an exception to the fifth commandment, but rather killing an aggressor in defense is an unintended consequence of insisting on respect for life. In fact, “legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for someone responsible for another's life, the common good of the family or of the state” (CC, 2265). In addition, “the Church has acknowledged as well-founded the right and duty of legitimate public authority to punish malefactors by means of penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime, not excluding, in cases of extreme gravity, the death penalty” (CC, 2266). A member of the Catholic Church may support the use of the death penalty and be in full communion with its teachings.

Capital punishment is not lawful “if bloodless means are sufficient to defend human lives against an aggressor and to protect public order and the safety of persons” (CC, 2267). However, I would argue that the prison system in the United States has failed to protect public order and the safety of persons from known aggressors. Witness the failure of our prison system to incarcerate convicted killers for life, the failure to protect prison security personnel, and the failure to protect prisoners from each other. Even the United States cannot guarantee that a convicted killer will not strike again.

My point is not that I want everyone to support capital punishment. Obviously, people of good conscience can disagree on the use of the death penalty in the United States. There is no room to disagree on abortion. Catholics must fight to end all abortions and not be distracted by those who wish to focus on the death penalty as an equivalent evil.

SCOTT FLOOD

Sidney, Ohio

Stem Cells Plea

Regarding “Meet the Catholic Voter” in the June 27-July 3 issue.

With all the talk about our country's future it seems as if the abortion issue is squeezing out another that will become as troubling as the abortion issue is. It is the stem cell embryonic research debate. It troubles me greatly because in January of 2002 I was part of a protocol program at the National Institute of Health, involving a stem cell transplant. I underwent a bone marrow transplant that consisted of harvesting my own cells, killing my bone marrow off thru chemo, and restarting my bone marrow thru my stem cells. People need to understand that embryonic stem cell research is the growing of embryos in labs for the sole purpose of killing them to harvest their cells. It amounts to growing people and killing them for medical research.

Adult stem cell research is what our medical community should be focused on. It doesn't require any loss of life and it has proven to be very beneficial in finding breakthroughs to fight diseases like the rare one I had.

If embryonic stem cell research is allowed to expand the way Sen. Kerry wants the progress that has been made on fighting abortion on demand will be lost.

The growing understanding of life beginning at conception will be lost in the name of medical research. I hope this issue will receive the attention this election cycle it deserves.

ROB HIRSCHMAN

Saginaw, Michigan

Lady Macbeth, Catholic?

Catching up on some recent issues of the National Catholic Register, I came across the excellent article by Jennifer Roche, “Did William Shakespeare Die a Papist?” (May 2-8). Roche cites certain facts of his life and quotes from his works that suggests Shakespeare may have harbored Catholic sentiments at a time when such ideas guaranteed his persecution.

However, one important piece of “evidence,” if you will, that was omitted from the article is Lady Macbeth's quote, “Out damn spot, out, I say!” (Act V, scene 1.) This scene is strongly reminiscent of the Lavabo from the Latin Mass, Lavabo inter innocentes manus meas, from the gesture of Pontius Pilate, following his implicit condemnation of Jesus.

Shakespeare would certainly have been familiar with it if he were indeed a secret Catholic.

My thanks to Ms. Roche and to all of your writers for your fine newspaper.

WILLIAM STIMSON

Charlottesville, Virginia

Bishop's Busy Week

I thoroughly enjoyed Father Raymond De Souza's coverage of President Regan's funeral in D.C. (“The Week America Mourned,” June 20-26). Well done!

Curious was his comment about the Episcopal Church's great elan mixing civic religion and Christianity. Fox TV's Brit Hume noted Bishop Chane's probable discomfort in his very brief appearance. The next day Bishop Chane performed a “marriage” ceremony between one of his male priests and male partner in a Maryland church. The bishop was resplendent in gold and white vestments — not so at the funeral.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Register to Vote DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Thanks for your editorial calling on pro-life groups and others to register voters. You may be shocked to know how many pro-lifers aren't registered to vote. Considering the last presidential election, I don't have to tell you that every vote counts!

Life Issues Institute has made it easy for pro-lifers to register to vote. Simply go to www.lifeissues.org and it will take you through the process, regardless of where you live. You can even download an absentee ballot if you need! You will also find lots of valuable information relating to the voting process.

Please make sure you are registered to vote. Then please pass this information along to everyone you know who is pro-life. Make it count!

BRADLEY MATTES

Cincinnati

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: The Letter: Vatican on Women DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Recent years have seen new approaches to women's issues.

So begins the section titled “The Question” in the new Letter to the Bishops Of The Catholic Church On The Collaboration Of Men And Women in the Church and in the World, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In this excerpt, we've also included “The Conclusion.”

A first tendency is to emphasize strongly conditions of subordination in order to give rise to antagonism: women, in order to be themselves, must make themselves the adversaries of men. Faced with the abuse of power, the answer for women is to seek power. This process leads to opposition between men and women, in which the identity and role of one are emphasized to the disadvantage of the other, leading to harmful confusion regarding the human person, which has its most immediate and lethal effects in the structure of the family.

A second tendency emerges in the wake of the first. In order to avoid the domination of one sex or the other, their differences tend to be denied, viewed as mere effects of historical and cultural conditioning. In this perspective, physical difference, termed sex, is minimized, while the purely cultural element, termed gender, is emphasized to the maximum and held to be primary. The obscuring of the difference or duality of the sexes has enormous consequences on a variety of levels. This theory of the human person, intended to promote prospects for equality of women through liberation from biological determinism, has in reality inspired ideologies which, for example, call into question the family, in its natural two-parent structure of mother and father, and make homosexuality and heterosexuality virtually equivalent, in a new model of polymorphous sexuality.

While the immediate roots of this second tendency are found in the context of reflection on women's roles, its deeper motivation must be sought in the human attempt to be freed from one's biological conditioning. According to this perspective, human nature in itself does not possess characteristics in an absolute manner: all persons can and ought to constitute themselves as they like, since they are free from every predetermination linked to their essential constitution.

This perspective has many consequences. Above all it strengthens the idea that the liberation of women entails criticism of Sacred Scripture, which would be seen as handing on a patriarchal conception of God nourished by an essentially male-dominated culture. Second, this tendency would consider as lacking in importance and relevance the fact that the Son of God assumed human nature in its male form.

In the face of these currents of thought, the Church, enlightened by faith in Jesus Christ, speaks instead of active collaboration between the sexes precisely in the recognition of the difference between man and woman.

To understand better the basis, meaning and consequences of this response it is helpful to turn briefly to the Sacred Scriptures, rich also in human wisdom, in which this response is progressively manifested thanks to God's intervention on behalf of humanity. …

In Jesus Christ all things have been made new (see Revelation 21:5). Renewal in grace, however, cannot take place without conversion of heart. Gazing at Jesus and confessing him as Lord means recognizing the path of love, triumphant over sin, which he sets out for his disciples.

In this way, man's relationship with woman is transformed, and the three-fold concupiscence described in the First Letter of John (1 John 2:16) ceases to have the upper hand. The witness of women's lives must be received with respect and appreciation, as revealing those values without which humanity would be closed in self-sufficiency, dreams of power and the drama of violence. Women too, for their part, need to follow the path of conversion and recognize the unique values and great capacity for loving others which their femininity bears. In both cases, it is a question of humanity's conversion to God, so that both men and women may come to know God as their “helper”, as the Creator full of tenderness, as the Redeemer who “so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16).

Such a conversion cannot take place without humble prayer to God for that penetrating gaze which is able to recognize one's own sin and also the grace which heals it. In a particular way, we need to ask this of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the woman in accord with the heart of God, she who is “blessed among women” (see Luke 1:42), chosen to reveal to men and women the way of love. Only in this way, can the “image of God”, the sacred likeness inscribed in every man and woman, emerge according to the specific grace received by each (see Genesis 1:27). Only thus can the path of peace and wonderment be recovered, witnessed in the verses of the Song of Songs, where bodies and hearts celebrate the same jubilee.

The Church certainly knows the power of sin at work in individuals and in societies, which at times almost leads one to despair of the goodness of married couples. But through her faith in Jesus crucified and risen, the Church knows even more the power of forgiveness and self-giving in spite of any injury or injustice. The peace and wonderment which she trustfully proposes to men and women today are the peace and wonderment of the garden of the resurrection, which have enlightened our world and its history with the revelation that “God is love” (1 John 4:8,16).

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Men and Women in The Church and in The World DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Vatican's Feminism Letter Rich in Insight

The Vatican's Letter on Feminism, written in May 2004, was not approved and officially released until early August.

Its authorship is Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and its sesquipedalian title is, “Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World.”

The letter addresses all women because its argument is based on what it holds to be an objective anthropology that is not narrowed or distorted by current trends or fashionable ideologies. Yet it is especially directed to Christian women inasmuch as it is also centered on the biblical understanding of woman created in the image of God as a relational being. In this regard, women and men share a fundamental dignity and equality: “God created man in his image and likeness, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). This biblical understanding “constitutes the immutable basis of all Christian anthropology.”

The sexual differentiation of humanity into male and female characterizes man and woman in an original way, one that is rooted in their specifically distinctive bodies. Yet sexuality permeates their psychological and spiritual, as well as their biological, dimensions.

Man and woman are both whole and unified beings. A woman is a woman because her womanliness is an irremovable mode of her fundamental identity. She is not a woman because of external factors such as historical or cultural conditioning. A woman's femininity, therefore, is an essential aspect of her humanity. As the letter emphasizes, feminine values are “above all” human values.

The fundamental distinctiveness of man and woman does not imply separation or alienation. Indeed, man and woman stand in relationship to each other in a complementary way. Through their fundamental relationship with each other, which is essentially a loving one, they complete and fulfill each other. They do not find this completion and fulfillment in isolation. The letter warns against a “solipsism nourished by a false conception of freedom.”

Much of the letter reflects Pope John Paul II's “Theology of the Body.” Referring to the Pope's extensive treatment of man and woman, the letter reiterates that the human body, marked as it is with the sign of masculinity and femininity, “includes, right from the beginning, the nuptial attribute, that is, the capacity of expressing love, that love in which the person becomes a gift and — by means of this gift — fulfills the meaning of his being and his existence.”

The relationship between the sexes is fundamentally ordered to be harmonious and fulfilling. Yet, as the letter emphasizes, it is only too evident that many view the relationship between the sexes in terms of “competition” or “retaliation.” In this way, the sexes become adversaries instead of friends, enemies instead of collaborators. This adversarial relationship, the letter states in its most strongly worded passage, “has its most immediate and lethal effects in the structure of the family.”

At the same time, many others deny the basic differences between the sexes and “make homosexuality and heterosexuality virtually equivalent, in a new model of polymorphous sexuality.”

The letter, predictably, has been met with a great deal of criticism. But in fairness, one must appreciate its balance and logic, as well as its humanity. For example, it states that, “Women should have access to positions of responsibility which allow them to inspire the policies of nations and to promote innovative solutions to economic and social problems.”

Yet, the letter recognizes that this particular role of women is inseparable from the specific gifts women have — “the genius of women,” the Holy Father writes — which are distinctively relational and caring. In the absence of these womanly gifts, “society as a whole suffers violence and becomes in turn the progenitor of more violence.”

The fact that women can play an important role in the world, however, does not exclude or minimize the importance of their role in the home. Citing the Pope, once again, the letter says, “It will redound to the credit of society to make it possible for a mother — without inhibiting her freedom, without psychological or practical discrimination and without penalizing her as compared with other women — to devote herself to taking care of her children and educating them in accordance with their needs which may vary with age.”

The letter honors women, both in their humanity and in their distinctiveness. It emphasizes their relational responsibilities toward men without ignoring the same responsibilities men have toward women. It recognizes their importance both in the world and in the home. It respects their freedom and their genius. It harmonizes Scripture with anthropology, Christology with history.

The letter will be attacked and criticized, but one will search in vain for a feminist tract that is equal to this Vatican document in balance and comprehensiveness.

Dr. Donald DeMarco is adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College & Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut.

----- EXCERPT: A Symposium on The Vatican'S New Letter ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Sciences Backs Up Vatican on Men and Women DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Cardinal Joseph Rat– zinger's recent letter to Catholic bishops, while

championing women's rights to equality in the workplace, sharply criticizes feminists who seek to advance women's interests by treating men as adversaries and by denying psychological and spiritual differences between the sexes.

But the thousands of books and articles in science and social science that I read in preparation for writing my book Taking Sex Differences Seriously support the main themes of the Vatican letter.

In particular, the Vatican letter emphasizes the crucial importance of feminine love for the well being of children and families. Women are inclined, by nature, to be superior nurturers within families. As the Vatican letter notes, feminist theorists do tend to explain sex differences by reference to culture, and they promote a fluid, polymorphous understanding of sexuality.

Yet many feminists change their minds about these matters upon having a child of their own. For example, when feminist author Naomi Wolf had her first child, she said, “The ways in which the hormones of pregnancy affected me called into question my entire belief system about ‘the social construction of gender.’”

Oxytocin is a peptide that promotes bonding, nurturing and a calm, relaxed emotional state. It is released in large quantities during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Women have more neural receptors for oxytocin than men do and get even more of them during pregnancy. When nursing releases oxytocin in the mother, it is believed that some of the oxytocin reaches the child through the breast milk.

By inducing a mutually plea surable experience for mother and child, oxytocin increases the feeling of mutual attachment.

Infants become familiar with their mothers’ voices and heartbeats in utero, and both calm the babies after birth. A mother is better than a father at distinguishing a cry of pain from one of hunger or of anger. Mothers are also better than fathers at reading body language and other nonverbal signals. Indeed, women in general are quicker and more accurate than men at identifying infant emotions such as joy, interest, sadness, fear, surprise and distress.

Prior experience as a mother or babysitter does not explain these sex differences.

Women are better listeners than men, and the evidence shows that time with mom is also important after infancy. Children's reactions to their parents are often remarkably gendered. For example, lower maternal work hours increase student achievement, but lower paternal work hours decrease it.

The Vatican letter argues that the interrelationship between family and work has, for women, “characteristics different from those in the case of men.” It warns that women who work should not have a schedule that forces them to relinquish their family life or endure “continual stress, with negative consequences for (their) own equilibrium and the harmony of the family.”

The evidence strongly supports the Vatican on these points. Studies of married couples show that employed mothers with minor children feel far more psychological stress than do employed fathers, and this is true even if their husbands are fully supportive of their wives’ careers. The stress of their wives’ work also takes its toll on fathers. Husbands of wives who work long hours are more depressed and less satisfied with their jobs, marriages and life in general. There is no difference in these reactions between men with nontraditional sex role attitudes and other men.

In this country, in families where mothers and fathers try to share child-care equally, both husbands and wives say that the mothers are more emotionally involved with the children and find it harder to concentrate on other tasks when away from them. Even in Sweden, which has made concerted efforts to meld the roles of fathers and mothers, women are far less likely than men to report pleasure at returning to work at the end of their parental leaves.

A father's chemical makeup does not promote nurturing nearly as well as a mother's does. In fact, in the words of one study, there is evidence of “an inverse relationship between free testosterone and nurturance — both within and between the sexes.” Thus, the bonding and nurturing instincts are not as strong in men as in women.

This is the case even though testosterone drops when men have a child, facilitating nurturing. Fathers do not like childcare as much as mothers do. When men do care for children, they are more apt to play than to do less agreeable chores. Mothers do the less agreeable, as well as the agreeable tasks, and yet they, not fathers, report significantly higher satisfaction with parenting.

Interestingly, the Vatican letter suggests that all family members, husbands as well as children, learn to love by seeing how women love within the home. In support of this understanding, three separate studies have concluded that father-son attachments are less secure “when non-maternal care is initiated on a full- or near-full-time basis in the first year (after birth).” This suggests that men's paternal love is strengthened by observing the example of maternal love. In other words, in addition to naturally loving their children, mothers facilitate the entrance of new love into the world.

Steven E. Rhoads has taught public policy at the University of Virginia for more than 30 years. His new book is

Taking Sex Differences Seriously.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven E. Rhoads ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: John Paul's Feminine Genius in The Passion DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

The Vatican's letter on feminism was released at the beginning of August. Now The Passion of the Christ is coming to DVD at the end of the month. The two have one thing in common: a culturally challenging presentation of women.

The Vatican's letter on feminism was released at the beginning of August. Now The Passion of the Christ is coming to DVD at the end of the month. The two have one thing in common: a culturally challenging presentation of women.

When The Passion of the Christ arrives in video stores, it will likely be greeted the same way it was in theaters: with robust sales from the general public and a fresh round of denunciations from the critics.

But this film about the suffering and death of Jesus Christ forces us to confront the truth claims of Christianity and the values of our secular culture. One of its most powerful challenges to the secular worldview is embedded in one of its most endearing qualities: Its focus on the quiet strength of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

That's a focus the Vatican shared in the letter on men and women.

As in Scripture, Mary has few spoken lines in The Passion. But she appears in frame after frame, as her quiet presence sustains her son throughout his suffering. The camera frequently captures the connection between mother and son, as Jesus and Mary lock eyes during his most agonizing moments.

Often, Mary's unwavering willingness to witness his suffering seems to stir Jesus to stand up again, to bear still more beatings, to walk still more steps. In Mary, Jesus has a disciple who will not flee suffering, one who will follow him and love him to the bitter end.

Mary witnesses her son's crucifixion without turning on his enemies in rage, turning in on herself, or turning away. She is a true contemplative — one who gazes on the face of her God and her child, one whose greatest strength lies not in what she does or says, but in who she is. She exemplifies what Pope John Paul II calls the “feminine genius.” As he says: “The moral and spiritual strength of a woman is joined to her awareness that God entrusts the human being to her in a special way.”

This feminine genius — in compassion for others and contemplation of God — has been largely ignored by modern feminists.

They almost seem to tell us that a woman can only be strong if she imitates the worst qualities associated with masculinity: callousness, careerism, cold rationalism. They say that the child entrusted to her womb is often an impediment to her freedom; that her willingness to sacrifice for her family is a sign of weakness. A strong woman, they say, avoids suffering and prizes her own interests — her own choices — above all else.

The image of Mary in The Passion is a rebuke to radical feminism.

It is also a rejoinder to our cultural obsession with self-assertion, self-reliance and the avoidance of pain.

By her quiet example, Mary shows that it takes more strength to watch and pray than to rant and rave, to face suffering than to run from it. She does not use force or cleverness to “fix” the problem of her son's suffering. Neither does she rely on positive-thinking techniques to blunt her pain. Instead, she faces the awful reality of her son's agony and accepts the mystery of his death even as she mourns it with all her soul.

Mary's example reminds us how countercultural our Catholic understanding of suffering really is. Living in a society that shuns suffering, we often forget that our trials can be the means of our sanctification. If we embrace them and offer them to God as a gift, he will use them to bring about greater good in our world and in our souls.

That lesson, like the mother of God herself, is often overlooked in a society consumed by noise and action, power politics and self-help schemes. But The Passion brings it home again, in the form of a character whose silent surrender reminds us of an enduring truth: God's strength is made perfect in our weakness, and true strength lies in surrender to his will.

Familiar as it may be, that truth never loses its power to shock. And it always endangers the status quo.

Colleen Carroll Campbell, a former White House speechwriter, is the author of The New Faithful:

Why Young Adults Are Embracing

Christian Orthodoxy.

www.colleen-campbell.com

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Colleen Carroll Campbell ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Abortion Is The Issue DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

“We are unconditionally pro-life, since respect for the right to life is necessary for a human being to be able to exercise any other human right.”

— Cardinal William H. Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore, Chairman, Pro-life Committee of the U.S. Catholic Bishops and Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza, Bishop of Galveston-Houston, U.S. bishops president, 2000.

“[Abortion is] a defining issue not only personally but also socially. Poverty can be addressed incrementally, but the death of a child is quite final.”

— Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago, Oct. 2000

“It is impossible to advance human dignity by being ‘right’ on issues like poverty and immigration, but wrong about the most fundamental issue of all — the right to life.”

— Archbishop Charles Chaput, OFM Cap., Archbishop of Denver, American and Catholic: thoughts on responsible citizenship, Oct. 11, 2000.

“Many Catholic leaders both clerical and lay have urged that citizens not vote for anyone who does not have a strong pro-life position. I do not see how a disciple of the Lord could ignore the fundamental importance of public policy protecting human life…To support candidates who would continue or even expand the possibilities for more people to die by human choice is seriously wrong.”

— Bishop John Myers, Bishop of Peoria, Oct. 17, 2000

“Abortion is the issue this year and every year in every campaign. …The taking of innocent human life is so heinous, so horribly evil, and so absolutely opposite to the law of Almighty God that abortion must take precedence over every other issue. I repeat. It is the single most important issue confronting not only Catholics, but also the entire electorate.”

— Bishop James C. Timlin, D.D., Bishop of Scranton, “The Ballot and the Right to Life” Fall 2000.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Summer Silences DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

It took a week at a lake cottage in the woods of northern Maine to convince me, but now I know it is true: I have been deprived.

Yes, I — a modern woman with a contemporary home featuring ready access to a washing machine and dryer, dishwasher, television, computer, telephone, refrigerator and air conditioning — have been deprived.

The fact is, I've been missing out on a lot of quiet. I usually blame the kids for the interminable ruckus around here and, for sure, they are responsible for a lot of it. Before taking a “quiet” vacation, however, I hadn't realized just how much of the nerve-fraying noise in my life is self-imposed.

There are radio programs in the car, e-mail inbox pileups throughout the day, “important” conversations whenever the telephone happens to ring and television news reports every evening. It's not so much the actual sounds of these things that add stress to my life, but the mental clatter they create. All together, they can add up to a stress-inducing information overload.

My husband, Dan, has long recognized the “noise” of modern conveniences, and he is not afraid to rebel against it. For starters, even if he is sitting within arm's reach of a ringing telephone, he doesn't stir. When I come racing in from another room and trip over a pile of Matchbox cars in my slavish frenzy to answer it, he gently reminds me that the telephone is there for our convenience, not the convenience of others.

To add to my angst, years ago Dan insisted that we get rid of our home answering machine. Why? “Because we keep getting messages,” he explained.

Dan is not immune to the noisy lure of all modern technology and entertainment, however. During our stay in Maine, we both felt a little awkward when an unfamiliar silence settled over the cottage after the kids went to bed at night.

“Maybe this is too quiet,” he ventured that first peaceful evening.

“It's good for us,” I told him. “Now you can hear your inner voice.”

“I hear my inner voice,” he responded. “It's saying, ‘What's on SportsCenter?’”

Funny thing, though. During our “quiet” week, we heard plenty of noises. There was splashing and laughter as the children played on the beach. There was the calling of loons and the gentle lapping of water on the shores of the lake at night. There was the crackle of a campfire as we toasted marshmallows and then the peaceful chirp of crickets when we retired to our tent. There was a wild whir as the kids reeled in their catches and triumphant shouts when a fish landed in the boat with a satisfying thump.

On the sunniest day of our vacation, we packed a lunch, piled the kids into the boat and made our way to a small island in the middle of the lake. We swam in the clear, cool water and soaked up the sun. After lunch, Dan and I lounged in the shade beneath the trees while the kids went “treasure hunting” and collected mussel shells, smooth colored rocks and giant gull feathers. At the end of the day, we returned to our cottage, bathed the sun-kissed baby and put her to bed where she slept while we fried fresh fish for supper.

That night as I lay in bed, I thanked God for the blessing of my family and listened intently to the quiet that filled my ears. Something in the silence seemed to tell me: “Ever ything in the world that matters is right here with you now.”

Danielle Bean writes from Center Harbor, New Hampshire.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Danielle Bean ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: A Castle Befitting a Queen DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

If ever you're advised by a well-meaning Catholic traveler not to miss the cathedral in Baltimore, Md., make sure to ask: Which one?

For this mid-Atlantic melting pot boasts not one cathedral, but two.

Well, okay, let's be precise. Downtown, the first Catholic cathedral in the United States is now a basilica. It's undergoing major renovations. It successor as the bishop's seat is the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, a mid-20th-century marvel on the city's outskirts.

When the missus and I were told about the latter's charms recently, we hurried to Maryland on pilgrimage. We discovered the splendid sanctuary honoring our queen on 25 serene, park-like acres in a neighborhood of large homes, quiet colleges and the St. Mary Seminary. We'll travel back in our hearts and minds come Aug. 22, feast of Mary's Queenship.

When we do, we'll recall the modern lines of the cathedral, which ought to stand as a grand model on how to design a contemporary Catholic church not for its time but for all times.

Approaching in our car, we spotted generous Gothic influences from the front to the back of the cathedral's 373-foot length. These noble elements appear in such places as softly pointed arches, the buttresses and a wealth of stained-glass windows. Drawing from the Middle Ages, the massive cathedral was built rock-solid. Not a sliver of structural steel mixes with the Indiana limestone walls and North Carolina granite foundation. The stones’ light pastel-grays practically glow in the sunlight.

You could spend an hour meditating just on the outside, with all its liturgical art. For example, above the main doors, there's an eight-foot carving of Mary our Queen. Even bearing a scepter and globe, she's the model of humility. Above her, the Holy Spirit presides over angels crowning her.

Higher still, Christ the King stands in carved relief in front of a massive window and giant arch. Life-sized statues of the apostles form an honor guard around this arch.

Below Mary, carved panels reminded us of the Nativity and the Assumption, replete with joyous angels. The huge bronze center doors under them have detailed reliefs of 12 saints who were fervently dedicated to Mary, among them Joseph, Louis de Montfort and Catherine Laboure.

Stepping inside, we quickly grasped that the cathedral had taken a page from the Gothic masterpieces of old. Bas-relief carvings and stained-glass windows fill the interior like a compendium of the Bible, the liturgical calendar and the Catechism. It occurred to us that, yes, literacy is widespread in our day — but that doesn't mean we shouldn't study the faith in works of art like our forebears in antiquity.

In the narthex, the Latin and Greek doctors of the Church greeted us in carved reliefs. One of them, St. Athanasius, said, “If the son is a king, the mother who begot him is rightly and truly considered a queen and a sovereign.”

That was in the fourth century, long before this cathedral was consecrated on Oct. 13, 1959. It was in 1954, the year the groundbreaking took place, that Pius XII officially instituted the Aug. 22 feast of the Queenship.

Royal Resplendence

The nave is enormous and awe-inspiring. High in the choir gallery, a familiar statue of Christ the King reappears. On either side are the windows considered by many to comprise the finest collection of stained glass in the country. Nine firms — seven in the United States and two in France, including Chartres — crafted most with two basic themes: liturgy and saints.

As the 348 panels making up the windows progress up toward the sanctuary — all things lead to Christ, of course — they follow the main events of the Church's year from first Sunday of Advent to the end of November, and they follow the Bible from Genesis to the Acts of the Apostles. The colorful windows picture main events and biblical topics of each season, and include saints commemorated during those times. All the scenes and portraits on sparkling backgrounds of regal red and royal blue evoke a 20th-century sensibility.

We could have spent days meditating and marveling over each detail, then stayed another doing the same with the 46 carved-stone panels in the arches along these windows. They present briefly the story of Jesus and amplify the events of the Church year in the order they're celebrated.

These carved panels also commemorate area church milestones. In one transept, the panels of the Good Friday window form a modern masterpiece. Jesus is crucified in agony. Around and below Christ are images of the consecration at Mass, the Pieta, St. Joseph of Arimathea, the Good Thief. The opposite transept shows us Jesus scourged.

There are 13 Italian marble altars around the cathedral. We lingered at the one dedicated to St. Michael, and in the largest three chapels radiating off the aisles and gallery around the enormous sanctuary.

The Lady Chapel extends out like a small church itself. Because it's dedicated to the Assumption, the reredos centers on Mary's rising into heaven and adds key scenes in her life.

We were awestruck by the wondrous shades of blue — Mary's color — from light sapphire to deep ultra-marine in the stained-glass windows. The themes are the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption, with all kinds of Marian references appearing, like Jacob's Ladder, the Ark of the Covenant and the Baltimore council naming Mary patroness of the United States.

The Stations of the Cross are unique in this chapel. They're carved along like a frieze under the windows on both sides.

The Pope Prayed Here

The beautiful St. Joseph Chapel honors the modest saint in the altar and 40 stained-glass panels honor him as protector of the Holy Family and the patron and model of workers. It was easy to figure out how the tools surrounding St. Joseph in one scene represented Baltimore's workers and their jobs.

Off the gallery, we stopped at the quiet corner Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Cardinal Karol Wojtyla prayed in it in September 1969. He revisited in October 1995 as Pope John Paul II and prayed in the stunning Blessed Sacrament Chapel with its many windows honoring the Sacred Heart, the Blessed Sacrament and Christ the Priest.

Although we didn't hear the great Moller pipe organ built down the road in Hagerstown — it's the largest in the state, with 7,231 pipes — we could well imagine its eloquent power playing the great Marian hymns to accompany the cathedral's hymn in stone and glass honoring Mary our Queen.

Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.

----- EXCERPT: Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, Baltimore ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Where Have All the Lassies Gone? DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

What can you say about a family film in which the climactic turning point is when the father gets arrested?

True, the father, known only as Hatchett (Chris Kendrick), is a swine — an emotionally and physically abusive boor who not only bullies his spiritless wife Claire (Christy Summerhays) and sensitive 14-year-old son Colby (Nick Whitaker), but is also guilty of cruelty to animals. He's got a brutal puppy-mill operation in his backyard. In fact, Hatchett is so rotten that at one point Colby asks his mother, “Why do you stay with him? He doesn't love you.”

To this Claire can only offer rationalizations. “Two parents are better than one,” she says unconvincingly, adding, “Besides, we have to eat.” Claire goes on to speak wistfully of the degree she never finished and the career she never pursued, having believed (wrongly, obviously) that “my place is home with you.”

While Claire's foolish choice to be a stay-at-home mom and consequent lack of financial independence means that divorce is unfortunately out of the question, it also leaves it an open question, when Hatchett is finally arrested, how Claire and Colby will now eat. In this regard it may or may not be comforting to reflect that, realistically, Hatchett's offenses won't keep him off the streets long, and perhaps before long this dysfunctional family will be together again.

Aren't the Benji movies supposed to be about a cute, shaggy little white terrier running around performing canine heroics? Yes, and thanks to writer-director-producer Joe Camp, the creative force behind all the Benji films, Benji Off the Leash has two of them. This time out the little rascal has a cute puppy sidekick, variously called “Puppy,“ “Shaggy,“ and “Lizard Tongue.” Benji and Puppy are both portrayed by dogs who, like the canine stars of all the Benji movies, were rescued from animal shelters — an inspirational factoid that may be some consolation to viewers unlucky enough to suffer through this production.

Camp, who financed Off the Leash independently to avoid studio control, says he's proud to bring back Benji at a time of diminishing standards in family entertainment. And he certainly talks the talk: He says parents are “screaming for good and safe entertainment for their kids. Not stupid and safe. Not vacuous and safe. Good solid material that involves kids’ emotions with story and character, and perhaps leaves a residue of something positive. Something more meaningful than memories of someone rolling around in a pile of dog poop.”

I'm sure you'll be edified to hear that when the two buffoon-ish dogcatchers take a pratfall in a field, that's good clean mud they're rolling in, not dog poop. But when the dogcatchers appear in the next scene with immaculate uniforms and faces, it's clear that, despite its independent pedigree, Benji Off the Leash is as sloppily crafted as any big-studio product from the Hollywood family-film puppy mill.

There was a family film this year starring a pair of animals that nicely exemplified the virtues Camp talks about but woefully fails to deliver. It was called Two Brothers and it sank at cineplexes with hardly a ripple, though it is much better than Benji Off the Leash. Some families who saw Two Brothers found the tigers’ hard-knocks lives too stressful for young or sensitive children. They had better watch out for Off the Leash, which opens with Hatchett hurling an adorable puppy across the room, and largely centers on the plight of Puppy's overbred mother, who spends much of the film near death, too sick and dispirited even to move.

As Hatchett, Chris Kendrick succeeds in making his character so persuasively unpleasant and overbearing that he not only sucks all conceivable joy out of every moment he's on the screen, but also effectively poisons the rest of the film as well. His character exists in a different, darker film than pretty much everything else in Off the Leash, from the slapstick antics of the cartoonish dogcatchers, to a colorfully eccentric old codger who adopts one of the dogs, to Benji's over-the-top heroics.

I call the hero “Benji,” though Camp's latest canine star isn't actually playing the hero of previous Benji movies. In this movie, as in real life, “Benji” is not the name of a real dog, but of a film series about a fictional dog. The hero of Off the Leash isn't the Benji, but a nameless stray who, in the end of the story, gets cast as Benji in an upcoming movie.

This real-world setup makes a jarring contrast with the nameless pooch's clearly super-canine intelligence and skills, which are only found in movie dogs like Benji, Lassie, and Rin Tin Tin. Even before getting cast in the film, our stray is a one-dog humane society, rescuing abused animals, placing other strays in good homes, and much more.

Benji-to-be is so smart, not only can he rescue a puppy from two dogcatchers with a tranquilizer gun, but later he knows to turn to those same dogcatchers for help when a sick animal he's rescued needs attention. A dog that smart, why should he be playing a fictional dog hero? Isn't that kind of like getting a real super-hero to star in a comic-book movie? Why not just make a documentary about him instead? Why waste this kind of talent in Hollywood, when he could be making the world a better place?

Those questions may be moot, but here's one that isn't: Why, in the end, does Off the Leash conclude that Benji-to-be would be happier and better off working in Hollywood than in a loving home with Colby? Colby clearly loves the dog and wants to keep him — yet, in a stunningly phony climactic scene, he tells a Hollywood scout that the dog “has had a hard life” and “deserves something special,” and that he should have “a chance to be a star.”

First came Hidalgo and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, celebrating the bond between horses and humans by telling us that what our horses really want is to be wild and free. Now comes the world's first (and, please God, the last) dog movie that suggests that a dog would rather star in a movie than belong to a boy. Poor Lassie, wasting the best years of her life with Timmy when she could have been in pictures.

I applaud Joe Camp's principles. I deplore his execution. He is right that families deserve better than “vacuous and safe” pap. Vacuous and unsafe is not a step in the right direction.

Content advisory: Depiction of an abusive household including references to wife beating and child abuse; depiction of cruelty to animals in a puppy-mill operation; an instance of minced profanity.

Steven D. Greydanus is editor and chief critic of DecentFilms.com.

----- EXCERPT: Benji Off the Leash! should be thrown to the dogs ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video Picks DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Bonhoeffer (2003)

Executed in a Nazi concentration camp for nothing less than conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Protestant theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was not merely a silent conspirator, but an outspoken critic of the Nazi regime — one of the few German Christian voices that dared to openly oppose Hitler. Martin Doblmeier's fine documentary examines Bonhoeffer's life and thought in an expressly theological light, from his early influences to his eye-opening ecumenical and interreligious experiences.

Bonhoeffer deals briefly and fairly with Rome's concordat with the Nazis, explaining that at that early date the full extent of subsequent Nazi atrocities was unguessed and Church leaders supposed that Hitler would to some extent be bound by Christian principles. The appalling image of Catholic clergy making the Nazi salute is unfortunately not balanced by any discussion of Catholic resistance. Then, too, the documentary goes so far as to implicate Martin Luther's own virulent theological anti-Semitism for the level of receptiveness to Hitler's message in the German Lutheran churches.

Content advisory: Some disturbing Nazi-related imagery; discussion of theological and moral ideas requiring critical interpretation.

Intolerance (1916)

Stung by cries of racism over Birth of a Nation, with its romantic depiction of the Ku Klux Klan and offensive black stereotypes, D. W. Griffith responded with an even more ambitious, and deeply moralistic, project: Intolerance, an audacious composite silent epic interweaving four separate morality plays in different eras and settings, from 20th-century America to the ancient Near East.

Artistically, Intolerance is a stunning though flawed tour de force. Even casual viewers will be impressed by the awesome spectacle of the epic Babylonian sequences. But the stories are lop-sided; the Babylonian and modern stories dominate, while the French story is under-developed, and the story of Christ is reduced to a few Gospel vignettes. Still, the rolling climax and edifying finale retains their power.

One of the 15 films on the Vatican film list under “Art.”

Content advisory: Graphic battlefield violence; fleeting nudity and discreet sexual references.

Birth of a Nation (1915) Everyone who cares about film must eventually come to Birth of a Nation. Artistically, technically, culturally, the importance of D. W. Griffith's celebrated, vilified, deeply flawed Civil War masterpiece cannot be overstated: It is “the first great narrative film,” according to Roger Ebert, and the first true cinematic epic; its unprecedented impact helped usher in the dominance of the feature film and the end of the silent age of one-reel shorts.

At the same time, the film's third act, with its outrageously racist imagery and view of the postwar reconstruction, was deeply controversial even in its own day, and has only become more disturbing over time. Had Griffith ended the film at the end of Part I with the assassination of Lincoln, controversy over the film would be a mere footnote. Yet the film's final act celebrates the founding of the original Ku Klux Klan.

Naively surprised by the outcry and controversy, Griffith went on to make Vatican film list honoree Intolerance as his response to his critics. Cinephiles differ which of the two films is Griffith's masterpiece — but it was Birth of a Nation that changed the world.

Content advisory: Battlefield and mob violence; much racist imagery.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

SUNDAY, AUG. 22

School Lunch Sunday

Food Network, 7:30 p.m.

Just in time for “back to school,” this slate of shows serves up lunch facts and ideas. At 7:30 p.m., Unwrapped: School Lunch; at 8, Emeril Kicks Up Your School Cafeteria, II; at 9 p.m., Unwrapped: Lunchbox Treats; at 9:30, Food Finds; at 10 p.m., The Secret Life of Sandwiches; and at 10:30, Top 5: Lunchbox Faves.

MON.-FRI., AUG. 23-27

St. Augustine Week

EWTN, various

Eighteen years of prayers and tears by St. Monica (ca. 332-387, feast day Aug. 27) led to the conversion of her son, St. Augustine (354-430, feast day Aug. 28). At 4:30 a.m./6 p.m. Mon., see St. Augustine, with Thomas Dillon and Father C. John McCloskey. At 9 p.m. Mon., Super Saints: Augustine and Monica. At 4:30 a.m./6 p.m. Tue., Ss. Ambrose and Augustine, with Father Charles Connor. At 4:30 a.m./6 p.m. Wed.-Fri., Augustine, with Franciscan Father Benedict Groeschel.

TUESDAY, AUG. 24

North Korea

History Channel, 8 p.m.

At 8 p.m., the special Inside North Korea depicts horrors that atheistic communists commit against the people. At 9:30 p.m., in the 2003 BBC documentary The Real Dr. Evil, ex-associates expose the crimes of dictator Kim Jong-Il.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 25

Skunkworks

Discovery Channel, 7 p.m.

Examines advanced research and design at a Lockheed Aircraft facility in Southern California.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 25

EWTN Live

EWTN, 8 p.m.

Tonight's guest is Father Frank Pavone, head of Priests for Life, whose latest projects include a Christian voter registration drive and a pre-election nine-week novena for our Nation. He notes at www.priestsforlife. org that both are permissible activities for parishes and other tax-exempt groups.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 25

Great Performances

PBS, 10 p.m.

In this 90-minute “All-Star Piano Extravaganza: The Verbier Festival & Academy Concert,” a Swiss music festival celebrates its 10th anniversary by staging classical favorites for four to 16 hands on one to eight pianos. Look for pieces by Bach, Gottschalk, Mozart, RimskyKorsakov, Smetana, Sousa and Wagner.

FRIDAY, AUG. 27

The World Over

EWTN, 8 p.m.

This week's program features excerpts from host Raymond Arroyo's previous interviews about The Passion of the Christ with actor James Caviezel and director Mel Gibson. The film's DVD debut is Aug. 31.

SATURDAY, AUG. 28

Little League World Series: U.S. Championship

ABC, 7:30 p.m.

This game will determine the best Little League baseball team in the United States. The victor will go on to play for the world championship the next day.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Daniel J. Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Closer to Home

THE NEWS-SENTINEL, Aug. 2 — The Diocese of For t Wayne-South Bend will transfer all eight of its seminarians this fall to Pontifical College Josephinum in Ohio from St. John's in Brighton, Mass., the seminary of Archdiocese of Boston, reported the Indiana daily.

Bishop John D'Arcy is an alumnus of and taught at St. John's, and had been sending his seminarians to Brighton since soon after leaving Boston to become bishop of the Indiana diocese in 1985.

The latest decision was based on the recommendation of a search committee of Fort Wayne-South Bend priests who preferred the Josephinum, based on the quality of its faculty and its location in a neighboring state.

Cardinal Pell's Boots

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, Aug. 3 — Sydney's Cardinal George Pell is turning a “disused” school building into a Sydney campus for Notre Dame University of Fremantle, reports columnist Paul Collins.

The cardinal has also “been a leading light in the foundation of Campion College, a liberal arts-theology faculty to be established soon in Parramatta diocese.”

The addition of these institutions “will mean four Catholic universities in greater Sydney,” which, says Collins, is “surely enough for anyone.”

Despite the secular nature of Australian society, the columnist sees it as yet-another example of the cardinal's “boots-and-all” effort to promote fidelity to Church teaching.

Christian Paper OK

CHRONICLE.COM, July 30 — The University of Oklahoma at Norman, settling a religious-discrimination lawsuit filed by two student editors of Beacon OU, a Christian undergraduate newspaper, has changed its policy on financing religious groups on the campus and awarded the students $2,500, said the Web site of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The university removed a policy that prohibits financing for “religious ser vices of any nature,” the grounds on which the newspaper was denied funding. In 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that denying such financial support for a religiously oriented student publication violated the First Amendment.

East Timor Roundup

COUNTRY NEWS, Aug. 2 — Fuiloro Catholic College in East Timor is home to 32 cows and two bulls donated by ranchers from the Goulburn Valley region of Australia as part of East Timor's first mechanized dairy.

The newspaper speculated that cows are not a regular sight in East Timor, especially as local grasses “were not very digestible,” and that “local people formed a human chain to prevent the cattle escaping” while the cows were transferred from crates.

New Beginning

WAUSAU DAILY HERALD, July 30 — The Catholic schools of Wausau, Wisc., have united under a common logo, motto (“Faith in Education”) and name (the Newman Catholic Schools) in order to streamline administration and improve finances, which have been stressed.

The system hopes the name change — and a new emphasis on its specifically “Catholic” education — will help make the schools better known.

The system's flagship, Newman High School, is now Newman Catholic High School, St. Matthew Middle School has become Newman Catholic Middle School, and the elementary schools are each known as Newman Catholic Elementary School followed by the parish name.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: New Newark Auxiliary Bishops: Catholic Education Key to Vocations DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Two new auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Newark spoke at their Aug. 4 episcopal ordination of the influence of their parents and teachers, and even of a car accident, in shaping their approaches to priesthood.

Auxiliary Bishops Thomas A. Donato and John W. Flesey were ordained on the feast of St. John Vianney, patron saint of parish priests, in a ceremony attended by 1,500 people at the Cathedral Basil-ica of the Sacred Heart.

Newark Archbishop John J. Myers was the principal celebrant of the Mass and principal ordaining bishop. The main co-consecrators were two former auxiliaries of the archdiocese, Bishop Michael Saltarelli of Wilmington, Del., and Bishop Arthur Serratelli, who was installed a month earlier as bishop of Paterson, N.J.

Concelebrants included Washington Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, former Newark archbishop, and 20 others bishops; 400 priests and deacons were also in attendance.

Bishop Donato, 63, spoke of the many people who influenced his decision to serve the church.

“Little did I know the road that I would take as I made a response to my second-grade teacher, Sister Jeannette (De Sena), that I was going to be a priest when I grew up,” he said.

“That journey began from seeds of faith planted within me by my mom and dad and my sisters and brothers, united with the neighborhood that was Holy Rosary Parish” in Jersey City, he added.

Applause echoed through the cathedral at the mention of the parish and of Sister De Sena, a member of the Religious Teachers Filippini, who did the first Scripture reading.

Bishop Donato, a native of Jersey City, graduated from New Jersey Catholic schools, Seton Hall University and Immaculate Conception Seminary before his ordination for the Newark Archdiocese in 1965.

Bishop Flesey, who turned 62 two days after his ordination as a bishop, spoke of learning that he needed to listen for the call of the Lord because of a near-fatal car accident he was involved in shortly after he was ordained a priest.

“As I stared at the tree facing the windshield I realized how lucky I was,” he said. “Later, as I opened the Liturgy of the Hours and started to pray, a voice inside of me said, ‘Unless you slow down and pray more, you will crash and ruin the priesthood that you value infinitely more than that car.’ I think from that moment forward I really became a priest of prayer.”

Bishop Flesey is also a Jersey City native. He graduated from St. Peter's College and studied for the priesthood at The Catholic University of America in Washington.

After his 1969 ordination for the Newark Archdiocese, he received a master's degree in counseling from Iona College and a licentiate in sacred theology from the Gregorian University in Rome. He also holds a doctorate in spiritual theology from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

In his homily, Archbishop Myers said the messages proclaimed by priests in a line back to the apostles “and the mysteries we celebrate, are not of our own creation — they are not of man, but of God. They call us, assist us, and prepare us for eternity.”

“This is why we must attend to them and welcome them, for therein is our salvation,” he said. “And that is why we welcome the bishops and their cooperators, the priests and deacons, who are charged with handing on the divine tradition from generation to generation.”

Archbishop Myers said his two new auxiliary bishops “are wonderful priests, rich in experience, each with the heart of a pastor. They care tenderly for people, knowing that mercy and gentleness are properly placed in service of the truth of the Gospel. They know well, as did the Blessed Virgin Mary, that the story is not about them or any one of us, but about God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”

During the most solemn moment of the ceremony, the laying on of hands, each bishop in attendance laid his hands on the head of the two new bishops. Then they invoked the Holy Spirit in the prayer of ordination.

Archbishop Myers anointed each new bishop with chrism, signifying his consecration into the fullness of the priesthood of Christ. He then presented them with the Book of the Gospels, which was held by deacons above their heads during the ordination prayer, reminding them that one of their responsibilities is to preach the Good News.

He also gave each man a ring, symbolic of the seal of fidelity; a miter, saying, “May the splendor of holiness shine forth in you …”; and a pastoral staff, “the sign of your pastoral office” to keep “watch over the whole flock.”

In his remarks, Bishop Donato recited a quote from Pope John XXIII that he said has helped him through the years: “At my window a light will be burning. All may come in; the arms of a friend will always be waiting.”

He said that in his most recent assignment as spiritual director at Immaculate Conception Seminary, helping men with their priestly formation, he was reminded that “I am called not to be successful, but rather faithful to the call, no matter what the cost of discipleship.”

Bishop Flesey noted that “some people say this is a time of darkness for the Church and especially for bishops and priests. But as Archbishop Fulton Sheen once observed, if you want to get out of the darkness, walk into the light. When we pray, that is just what we do.”

Bishops Donato and Flesey filled vacancies created in May by the retirement of Auxiliary Bishops David Arias, 74, and Charles J. McDonnell, 75.

In addition to their duties as regional bishops, the new auxiliaries will continue to be pastors: Bishop Donato at St. Henry Parish in Bayonne, and Bishop Flesey at Most Blessed Sacrament Parish in Franklin Lakes.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Brian Fores ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Biblical at Heart DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Scripture Matters

by Scott Hahn

Emmaus Road, 2003

216 pages, $15.95

To order: (800) 398-5470

www.emmausroad.org

Once again, Scott Hahn sets out to motivate Catholics to soak long and often in the Word of God. And once again, the popular Catholic apologist and Steubenville professor excites in his readers a heightened appreciation for the Bible's inextricable link to the Church.

In Scripture Matters: Essays on Reading the Bible from the Heart of the Church, Hahn gives an insightful overview of the four traditional ways Scripture can be understood and argues that the Bible must be read with each sense in mind. In addition to the literal sense of Scripture, the Bible should be read in the moral, allegorical and anagogical senses, as well. The Bible conveys moral truth about how Christians should live, allegorical truth in the allegories and symbols that point to the person of Christ, and anagogical truth about heaven. Hahn insists the Bible is best understood only when one integrates all four of these senses.

In what is perhaps the book's most challenging (and challenged) chapter, Hahn explains what he believes is “the one key that unlocks the mysteries of faith … the family of God.” He argues that God, as Trinity, is a family — and is constantly calling the human family to union with him. “The whole of the Scriptures,” he points out, “can be viewed as the story of how God, as Father, repeatedly strove to invite people into his household … and to draw his wayward children home.”

Hahn includes two chapters about the centrality of Scripture in the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. In another, he provides a moving tribute to the recently canonized St. Josemaria Escriva and the preeminent place he gave to the Scriptures in the spiritual life. In one essay, he states that we must learn to speak of the Eucharist as a kind of “second coming” as the early Christians did.

Elsewhere, Hahn explains the importance of Jesus’ “hour” as the climax of his mission. Particularly in John's Gospel, this “hour” refers to Jesus’ suffering and death — the culmination of his saving work. Understanding the term in this way makes sense of many Gospel passages, from the miracle at Cana to the conversation with the Samaritan woman.

In an essay that's particularly helpful in current debates about marriage and the priesthood, Hahn offers an insightful look at the priestly vocation of fatherhood and the fatherly vocation of the priest-hood. He ends with a thoughtful critique of current trends in biblical scholarship. In each essay, Hahn's style is accessible to a wide range of readers — some might even call it “talky” — yet even seasoned theologians can benefit from his clear and enthusiastic elucidation of the basics.

As can happen in a collection of essays, some points end up being made more than once. Then again, as any student will tell you, with repetition comes recall. The essay format also allows for skipping through to the topics of greatest interest at any given time. Taken all together, they provide an integrated study of the way the Scriptures should be read and the importance they should have in the Christian life.

Scriptures Matters is an invitation to penetrate the mysteries of God's word more deeply, always within the tradition of the Church. If it finds the wide readership it deserves, it will succeed in its aim to help Catholics become Bible Christians and Bible Christians to become Catholics. After all, the Word of God is the heart of the Church. Just so, the Church should be the heart of every Christian.

Ryan Connors is a philosophy major at Boston College.

----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Ryan Connors ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Love, Responsibility and Zeal DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Prolife Profile

It started as a New York City discussion group on Pope John Paul II's teachings on love, marriage and sexuality. Three years down the road, it's a multi-chaptered organization with international reach that has helped launch an intensive pre-Cana program, inaugurated an annual “Pope Day” and even sparked a few marriages.

The Love and Responsibility Foundation — named for the Holy Father's book Love and Responsibility, written in 1960 when he was Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow — is a case of God writing straight with crooked lines if ever there was one.

Peter McFadden returned to New York City in 2001 after spending eight years in Eastern Europe. In Prague, he had formed the Central Europe Institute to help people make the transition from Communism to a democratic society.

While reflecting on the time he organized 67,000 young people in Slovakia to set a record for the world's largest dance, McFadden discovered that the Guinness World Book record for gathering the world's largest crowd belongs to Pope John Paul II. (On Jan.15, 1995, well over 4 million people turned out for the Holy Father in Manila, the Philippines.)

At the time, all McFadden knew of the Pope then was that “he looks good in white,” he admits. “What a shame on me. I hadn't taken the time to read anything he wrote.”

He picked up Love and Responsibility and had something of an epiphany. “All of a sudden,” says McFadden, “I understood why I had been called back to New York. It was to take this beautiful teaching of the Holy Father and share it with others.” At a men's evening of recollection at the Church of Our Savior on Park Ave., he met Alberto Mora. Together, they co-founded the first Love and Responsibility group.

“We were getting on in years,” says now-40-something McFadden. “It was time to make getting married a priority. We figured that the kind of women we would like to marry would be the kind who would show up and participate in this discussion group.”

“So the initial motivation,” McFadden adds with a chuckle, “was to meet eligible women. But the Pope's teaching was so beautiful and so much bigger than myself, I couldn't put myself before it.”

The group attracted 40 like-minded adults in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. “It took us two years to read and discuss Love and Responsibility,” says McFadden. “Then we discovered that, if you meet for two years discussing the same theme, you really develop a sense of unity.” Inevitably, friendships formed and deepened.

Spreading Out

Diane Virzera from Long Island joined the group and appreciated the discussions of “what the Church teaches and why the Church teaches it,” she says, singling out as examples “the beautiful vision on chastity and contraception” and “the sincere gift of self and seeing the good of the other person.”

The group developed into what McFadden calls “a Srodowisko, which he defines as a ‘milieu’ and the name given to university groups that gathered around John Paul when he was a young priest.

The foundation began to inspire Srodowisko not only in the U.S. but elsewhere as well. So far L&R groups have popped up in places like Boston, Toronto, Halifax, Port-au-Prince, Trinidad, Washington, D.C., and Providence, R.I.

Lee Pion formed the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, chapter after discovering the foundation's Web-site. Studying John Paul II's book at Franciscan University in Steubenville, he says he “saw the need for young adults to have a deeper look at the Holy Father's teaching on sexuality, so often misinterpreted.” When he advertised the initial meeting in the bulletin of Holy Spirit parish, 40 people signed up in two days. Today, two 40-member groups meet weekly to discuss the Pope's book and plays.

During discussions, Pion says, it's common to hear people spontaneously calling out things like “That's amazing!” and “I had no idea!” and “How come no one ever told me this before?” He remembers the time the “light bulbs came on” for him while the group was discussing celibacy according to the Holy Father's “sincere gift of self completely to another — in this case, to Jesus.”

Touting the Truth

“In New York, we have a special responsibility to lead,” says McFadden. “Often we lead for ill — the ‘western wind’ coming from New York was undermining Slovakia's family values. But what our group learned we could share with others.” That happened at World Youth Day 2000 in Toronto, when the foundation printed a booklet on John Paul II with some of the best of his writing on love, responsibility, sex and marriage. They handed out 13,000, one at a time.

Last Oct. 16, as part of the foundation-initiated Pope Day to celebrate the Holy Father's 25th anniversary, members handed out loads more titled “John Paul II on the Dignity & Genius of Women” and “John Paul II's Theology of the Body.”

Diane Virzera took her place in front of the New York Times building. “The concept of taking the Holy Father's teachings and evangelizing, promoting a Catholic culture, is coming at the right time,” she says. “People are searching for the truth and this provides it to them in a very topical way. Without this group, this would not have been possible. I can really reach out to society on the streets of New York City.”

So far the foundation has inspired more than 30 Pope Days across the United States and in six other countries.

Next, McFadden says the Holy Spirit inspired him to give the Pope an anniversary present: a commitment to help establish “a truly comprehensive pre-Cana program.” This, too, was soon off and running.

“Peter and his wife assist with…the parish's new pre-Cana program,” says Father George Rutler,” pastor of Church of Our Savior in Manhattan, a nationally known speaker, noting that the foundation proposed the idea. “We have quality control to make sure they get sound doctrine.”

Besides the archdiocesan-approved pre-Cana, the foundation is gearing to support newlyweds with monthly talks on problems common to young couples. The reason? “We discovered not everyone appreciates the challenges of married life,” McFadden says, “and that first year many need help.” Plus, the foundation will soon launch the first Theology of the Body discussion group in New York City.

And what of that original motivation? McFadden met Anna at World Youth Day 2000 in Toronto, indirectly through the foundation. Not a member at the time, she had asked to join the group for a meeting with the Pope. Peter and Anna were married in 2003 at the Church of Our Savior.

Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: OLD Testament, New Testimonies DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Children love stories of the Old Testament. And why not? Like other early-reader favorites, Bible stories brim with high adventure, bravery, heroism and clear moral themes in which goodness is rewarded and evil punished.

From Eden to the ark to the lion's den and beyond, the oldest written records of our faith not only offer engaging stories but also introduce salvation history, communicate Judeo-Christian values and nurture the beginning of an early Catholic literary life.

Stories of the Old Testament are about many things, but most of all, they are concerned with relationships — not only the fascinating relationships among God's people, but also about the all important, continuously faithful love relationship that God has with his children.

Here, we offer an invitation to explore these relationships with some Old Testament favorites for a wide range of young readers, toddlers through adolescents.

THE WONDERFUL STORY OF CREATION

written and illustrated by Magdalena Kim, FSP translated from Korean by Gratia Chang, FSP edited and adapted by Patricia Edward Jablonski, FSP

Pauline, 2001

32 pages, $6.95

To order: (800) 836-9723 or www.pauline.org/store

Two little angels are eyewitnesses to the creation. Toddlers will enjoy shadowing these mischievous cherubs as they playfully dart through clouds and hop rides on porpoises, delighting in God's handiwork. “God, what will you make today?” they ask.

From flowers to fish to flying birds and, finally, to the first man and woman, God's loving responses prove eye-openingly awesome. Ages 2 to 5.

NOAH's ARK

retold and illustrated

by Lucy Cousins

Candlewick, 2004

22 pages, $6.99

www.candlewick.com

The story of Noah's Ark is more than a rainy-day diversion — it's a reminder of God's call to holiness, a sign of his work in our lives and a promise of his ongoing faithfulness. These are worthwhile lessons for even the littlest of readers. This version is true to the biblical text, complete with animals marching two-by-two, forty days of rain and a rainbow reminder of God's covenant. Features vivid, primitive-styled illustrations and easy-to-understand language, all in durable board-book design. Ages 2 to 5.

MIRIAM AND HER

BROTHER MOSES

retold and illustrated

by Jean Marzollo

Little, Brown, 2003

32 pages, $15.95

www.twbookmark.com/children

The story of Moses takes on a whole new dimension when viewed through the eyes of big sister Miriam. Jean Marzollo breathes new life into the record of the great liberator, leader, lawgiver, prophet and historian — all while highlighting the impact of Miriam's gentle acts of faith, courage and love. This picture book is full of Bible history and enhanced by engaging watercolor illustrations. Chatty fish swim along the bottom of each page, where they ask relevant questions and clarify historical elements. Children will be encouraged to join in by singing a whole series of songs with Miriam, all set to the simple tune of You Are My Sunshine. This warm, interactive text serves as a reminder that even God's heroes were children at one time and that no one is ever too young to make a difference. Ages 4 to 8.

THE MOSES BASKET

by Jenny Koralek

illustrated by Pauline Baynes

Eerdmans, 2003

28 pages, $16.00

www.eerdmans.com/youngreaders

Yet another Moses book? Sure enough! More than just a memorable account of how Moses was rescued from his floating cradle, this book also has colorful illustrations that offer a glimpse of his times. Teachers and homeschooling parents can use the pictures to introduce young readers to this Bible story or to prompt discussion among older kids about the Nile, water fowl, animals, clothing and slavery in ancient Egypt. Ages 4 to 8.

THE STORY OF DANIEL

IN THE LIONS’ DEN

by Michael McCarthy

illustrated by Giuliano Ferri

Barefoot Books, 2003

32 pages, $16.99

To order: (866) 417-2369

or www.barefoot-books.com

Jealous members of the court conspire to kill Daniel, charging that his faith in God has made him disloyal to the king. In this rhymed retelling of a favorite Old Testament story, Father Michael McCarthy sets the stage (“Soon the lions were on their feet/It was long past their time to eat”) and creates suspense (“When Daniel stepped inside the pit/The lions thought, ‘Mmm! This is it!’”). An inspired choice for helping children to understand the power of faith and prayer in times of trouble. Ages 4 to 8.

QUEEN ESTHER

THE MORNING STAR

written and illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein

Simon & Schuster, 2000

32 pages, $16

To order: www.simonsays.com or in bookstores

This picture book introduces Queen Esther and her cousin Mordicai, along with King Ahasuerus and Haman, the evil prime minister. When Mordicai refuses, out of love for God, to bow down to Haman, the prime minister schemes to have all Jews killed in Persia. Esther, who has not revealed to the king that she is a Jew, must find a way to save her people. This is a great story for kids in which the good folks prevail and bad boy Haman comes to a sorry end. Being true to oneself and true to God is the underlying theme. Ages 5 to 10.

GOD AND HIS CREATIONS: TALES

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

retold and illustrated by Marcia Williams

Candlewick, 2004

40 pages, $15.99

To order: www.candlewick.com or in bookstores

Using a creative comic-book format, Williams delivers eleven Old Testament tales in an informative yet whimsical manner. Similar in style to the popular Magic School Bus series, this book presents information through multiple modes. Readers can follow the basic storyline by reading just the text. More insights (and fun facts) appear in the illustrations and accompanying dialogue. Best of all, the author-illustrator never allows readers to lose sight of the supernatural elements in these familiar stories. Each tale clearly depicts God's role in the lives of his people. Ongoing commentary from sidebar angels and a wily serpent figure presents a child-appropriate glimpse of spiritual battle. The meaty content and clever format of this book should appeal to book lovers and reluctant readers alike. Ages 9 to 12.

A TIME TO LOVE: STORIES

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

written by Walter Dean Myers

illustrated by Christopher Myers

Scholastic, 2003

127 pages, $19.95,

To order: (800) 770-4662 or www.scholastic.com

In this provocative collection, six Old Testament stories are retold from a first-person point of view. Each story has a “you-are-there” feel that will help readers to imagine what it might have really been like to walk in Ruth's shoes as she followed Naomi, to experience toxic sibling rivalry like Reuben and Joseph, or to feel the pulls of love and loyalty like Delilah and Samson. Yellow-washed pages, collage illustrations and creative design work make this a remarkably attractive young-adult text. Thoughtful reading for adolescents. Ages 13 and up.

Patricia A. Crawford writes from Winter Park, Florida.

Kerry A. Crawford writes from Pittsburgh.

----- EXCERPT: Children's Book Picks ----- EXTENDED BODY: Patricia A. Crawford and Kerry A. Crawford ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Aging Parents Nursing Debt DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Family Matters

My mother just turned 70. She lives on a very modest fixed income and is running up her credit cards to make ends meet, with a current balance of about $8,000 and growing. Would it be wise for me to take out a loan in order to pay down her debt?

I remember the story Erma Bombeck relayed about the changing roles that occur between aging parents and their adult children. She was driving her mom to an appointment and had to make a sudden stop at a traffic signal. She instinctively reached her arm out to protect her mother and at that moment they both realized their roles had shifted. While her mother had spent many years caring for Erma as a child, it was now Erma's turn to assist with the needs of her mom.

Clearly there is a lesson in Erma Bom-beck's story for all of us. We are given the fourth commandment in Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you.”

Section 2218 of the Catechism draws on the book of Sirach and its beautiful description of how we are called to love, respect and support our parents (Sirach 3:2-6, 12-13, 16). Verse 13 speaks of showing forbearance even when our parents lack understanding.

So clearly we are called to assist our parents. However, given your present question, we should also keep in mind Pope Leo XIII's words in Rerum Novarum (On the Condition of the Working Classes) that, “No one, certainly, is obliged to assist others out of what is required for his own necessary use or for that of his family.”

Before choosing to pay your mother's bills, I would encourage you to consider the following issues:

As a general rule, I would look to your mom's resources first as a source of her debt repayment. Does she have assets that can be liquidated in order to pay the debt?

Make sure you have considered all possible sources of income available for your mom, including social security.

You may want to contact her credit-card companies to see if the terms of the debt can be modified to make it easier for your mom to repay.

You will want to determine if the underlying cause of her growing debt has been dealt with. I don't see how it would help your mom for you to take the burden of her current debt if new debts will just be created. It may be an appropriate time for you to sit down with your mom and develop a budget that brings spending in line with her income and avoids the use of credit. In fact, your mom may be at the stage where she would appreciate one of her children taking over her financial responsibilities. That may be another way you can help.

If your mom just doesn't have the resources to pay the debt and it is something you want to consider doing personally, review whether you have adequate resources to pay the debt without inappropriately impacting your other family obligations. If your financial position is such that the only way for you to pay down her debt is to go into debt yourself, it seems to me you really don't have adequate resources, and a different answer should be sought. If you have exhausted all other avenues, you may want to visit the web site of the National Foundation for Consumer Credit at www. nfcc.org to locate a local affiliate credit counseling office.

God love you!

Phil Lenahan is director of media and finance at Catholic Answers in El Cajon, California.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Phil Lenahan ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Moving Pictures DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Facts of Life

Here's proof that what we watch really does affect how we think and feel — and, thus, how we behave. Researchers at the University of Michigan have documented that hormone levels significantly rise and fall with the mental and emotional stimuli on the screen. For example, male study subjects watching The Godfather Part II had their testosterone levels rise by upwards of 30%.

Source: News-Medical.Net, July 23

Register illustration by Tim Rauch

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 08/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: August 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:

Ron Jr. Wrong on Stem Cells

BUSINESS WIRE, Aug. 3 — More than 2,000 doctors associated with the Christian Medical Association have signed a letter to Congress and President Bush urging investment in adult stem-cell research that is already providing therapy for patients suffering from heart muscle injury, diabetes and brain damage from stroke.

The CMA's Dr. David Stevens said, “Cloning human beings for stem cells, as Ron Reagan Jr. has urged, would produce abnormal embryonic stem cells while exploiting women to gain the millions of human eggs needed for human cloning. He said the son of President Reason's offered “political science of the worst sort.”

Stevens noted that private investors are not investing in the so-called “miracle cures” some hope for from fetal stem cell research.

Pro-Life Nurses Prevail

LIFESITE NEWS, Aug. 4 — The Bush administration has informed the Alabama Department of Public Health that its clinics are not required to distribute the morning-after pill. The action was taken in the wake of resignations by several nurses who were told that offering the drug was mandated.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said that, while the clinics are expected to offer a “broad range” of contraceptives, state clinics are not required to distribute the morning-after pill, which has been denied over-the-counter status by the FDA.

The nurses resigned because the pills sometimes work as an abortion drug and the pills are dangerous for teenagers.

Marriage Matters Down Under

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, Aug. 5 — In a sign that laws protecting traditional marriage are a political winner just about everywhere, Australian Prime Minister John Howard plans to push legislation banning same-sex “marriage” through the country's federal parliament by as early as some time in August.

Speaking at a marriage forum organized by Christian groups, Howard candidly admitted that doing so would help ensure that his Labor Party would not suffer defeat in the forthcoming election campaign.

Black and Pro-Life

EAST TEXAS REVIEW, July 22 — The regional weekly newspaper cited a Black Enterprise magazine poll that showed nearly 60% of African Americans at odds with the NAACP's decision earlier this year to endorse the “pro-choice” position.

The paper reports that the Life Education And Resource Network (LEARN), the largest African American pro-life group in the United States, has decried the NAACP move, and the widespread practice among government and health officials to promote abortion among minority women.

Claiming that abor tion has decimated black communities, it cites the fact that the abor tion rate among black women is three times higher than of white women. Three of every five pregnancies of black women end in abortion, and more than 14 million black unborn children have lost their lives to abor tion since 1973.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prayer and Politics DATE: 08/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:

OMAHA, Neb. — Labor Day is going to feel a lot like the beginning of Lent for Joe and Monica Hejkal.

The brother and sister have begun an interdenominational crusade called Nineveh Journey, which asks Christians to fast and pray for the outcome of November's presidential election. The campaign will begin on Labor Day, Sept. 6, and end Nov. 2, Election Day.

“Our family was sitting around worrying about the state of our country,” Monica Hejkal explained. “It seemed hopeless, so we felt we had to do something. Prayer and fasting seemed like the answer.”

Monica, a 21-year-old Catholic student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said America is in astate similar to Nineveh, the biblical city Jonah called to repentance.

“Jonah was sent to tell the people that if they didn't repent, the city would be destroyed in 40 days,” she said. “It's a story of hope because all of the Ninevites, great and small, put on sackcloth and ashes and repented and their town was saved. We see our country bringing destruction on itself if we don't repent…. This is a way of turning that around. It's also a journey. We do it step by step.”

The Hejkals are not lone voices crying in the wilderness. There are at least four other prayer initiatives tied to the fall elections.

Priests for Life, the organization that encourages priests to promote the sanctity of life from the pulpit, is urging Christians to engage in “intense prayer” over the course of nine weeks, from Aug. 31 to Nov. 2. Father Frank Pavone, director of Priests for Life describes the urgency to the prayer campaign as twofold.

“First of all, the magnitude of whom we're electing — the president and senators,” Father Pavone said in an interview. “Secondly, we seem to be at a point where the country is so divided on such basic issues. Life continues to be primary, and the candidates are clearly opposite each other on this question.”

The group is asking participants to sign up at its website (www. priestsforlife.org) so it can collect a “spiritual bouquet” for America.

Americans are, in Father Pavone's view, “beginning to wake up to the problem of judicial activism because of events over the last couple of years.” Pro-lifers have long blamed that kind of “legislating from the bench,” as some observers call it, for the Roe v. Wade decision. Father Pavone spoke of a more recent kind of judicial activism: the “redefinition of marriage,” most notably in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's order to the state to issue marriage licenses to members of the same sex.

”The only way people can change judicial activism,” Father Pavone said, is through the presidential and senatorial contests. It is likely, he observed, that the next president will appoint one or more Supreme Court justices, for example.

Nonpartisan Prayer

If all that sounds like an endorsement of one candidate over the other, Father Pavone points out that his organization is interested in principle, not party. “The message we proclaim would always be the same, no matter where the candidates come down on it,” he said.

Priests for Life has set out four intentions for the novena:

that the nation will “embrace the moral values of a culture of life”;

”that America will reclaim her founding principles of faith and dependence upon God in public life”;

that believers will take an active role in the elections;

and “that candidates will understand their responsibility to serve the people, to protect life and family, and to adhere to the law of God.”

Like Priests for Life, Deacon Bob Ellis is campaigning for Catholics to participate in a 54-day novena of prayers for “an outcome of the November election which is pleasing to almighty God and provides most effectively of the implementation of his holy will in the lives of all.” The 59-year-old permanent deacon in Green Bay, Wis., emphasized that the effort is entirely non-partisan.

He hopes the Internet will help the prayer campaign become “a global effort.” After all, the outcome of the election has global ramifications, he said. “What happens in this country affects what happens around the world,” said Ellis, who runs an automotive supply business.

Amy Ginski, 48, of Memphis, Tenn., has signed up to pray a daily rosary for the election from Sept. 9 through Nov. 1.

”There's such power in praying the rosary — it's a very hopeful prayer,” said Ginski, who will pray the novena with her husband and 11 children. “We're so glad that someone has organized this novena,” she said. “We pray the rosary novena on many occasions for different intentions. It's just so powerful.”

Bishop Thomas Doran of Rockford, Ill., said he is encouraged by the effort. “Whenever people get together to pray for a good cause like this, it is a wonderful thing,” he said in a statement.

Like the Nineveh Journey, the Mercy Project USA is based on an Old Testament event — Abraham's pleading with God to spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Margaret Miller, administrator of Holy Cross Academy in Oneida, N.Y., and the woman who started Mercy Project, proposes that participants pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy each day through Nov. 1 for the protection of the nation, an end to abortion and “all anti-life practices,” the preservation of marriage and “a good outcome of the presidential election.”

And Magnificat, a “ministry to Catholic women” based in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, has set Sept. 8, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the beginning of a rosary novena. The group also is calling on Catholics to pray and fast each Tuesday and spend an hour each week before the Blessed Sacrament. “Life may hang in the balance” in this year's vote, the group says.

Father Michael Orsi, research fellow in law and religion at Ave Maria School of Law, says layled prayer efforts like these are important. “Prayer invokes God's inspiration at a time when people are trying to decide who is going to lead the country,” he said. “Prayer should guide all of our important choices in life.”

Ellen Gianoli of Bieber, Calif., said prayer is essential for America's elected officials to turn back to God. “If we don't have people at the top who believe in basic natural law and morality,” Gianoli said, “things are going to get worse, not better.”

Patrick Novecosky writes from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

----- EXCERPT: Groups Campaign For November On Their Knees ----- EXTENDED BODY: Patrick Novecosky ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Florida Court Nixes Vouchers for Students DATE: 08/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida court has dealt a blow to a program that allowed low-income students to attend private schools.

A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee decided on Aug. 16 that the state's Florida Opportunity Scholarships Program is unconstitutional. The program has given students in the state's lowest-performing schools an out to transfer to better schools, including religious ones — most of them Catholic.

The issue has been politically charged in this campaign season. The Black Alliance for Educational Options says that the Florida decision, unless it's overturned on appeal, will be a disaster for families like Tracy Richardson's.

Her daughter Khaliah was able to use a voucher to attend the Montessori Elementary School in Pensacola.

”It works for Khaliah,” Richardson told reporters. “She is one of those children who does not want to pay attention. She needs that one-on-one attention, and now she's getting it.”

But teachers’ unions and their allies oppose vouchers, which are based on the assumption that the public-school system fails kids. They argue that vouchers violate church-and-state restrictions.

President George Bush says he supports school vouchers. He created a White House office to promote programs that help the poor with government money, even if religious organizations are involved. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry opposes these efforts and is against school vouchers.

Some experts worry that the Florida court's decision has the potential for a ripple effect throughout the nation.

Jay Greene, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute's Education Research Office, says, “The court's opinion not only might be devastating to Florida's students, it could also prove a significant obstacle to the enactment of school choice throughout the nation. If legislators in other states believe that voucher programs will simply be struck down because of their states’ Blaine amendments, they might hesitate to implement these programs even though research consistently shows that they benefit students.”

Blaine amendments prohibit public aid to religious schools. The anti-Catholic relics remain in the constitutions of more than 30 states.

The new decision upheld a 2002 ruling that the program violated the Florida Constitution's prohibition on state money going to sectarian institutions. The case now goes to the state Supreme Court.

”The decision is a devastating harbinger for thousands of Florida schoolchildren who have been able to leave failing schools for good ones,” said Clint Bolick, president and general counsel of the Phoenix-based Alliance for School Choice. “It is also bad news for Florida schoolchildren as a whole, whose schools have improved as a result of the threat of competition.”

Rebecca Nieves Huffman, president of the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options, added, “The Florida ruling is an outrage and is another example of how the opponents of parental choice are out to best serve those who work in the system rather than the students who are supposed to be educated in it.”

In the court's majority opinion, Judge William Van Nortwick Jr. wrote that, “We recognize the salutary public policy supporting the legislation to enhance the educational opportunity of children trapped in substandard schools. Nevertheless, courts do not have the authority to ignore the clear language of the Constitution, even for a popular program with a worthy purpose.”

More than 600 students are currently enrolled in the scholarship program, which was established by the Bush administration in 1999. None of the students currently enrolled in the program will be affected by the litigation until the state high court rules.

In a statement, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said, “This decision is particularly disappointing given the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision finding Ohio's choice program constitutional. This ruling is also troubling because it suggests that the Florida Constitution requires aid programs to discriminate against parents who choose religious schools. Moreover, this decision could undermine many other vital initiatives that benefit countless Floridians …. This interpretation of our state's constitution cannot be correct.”

Of course, some are hoping for exactly what the Manhattan Institute's Green describes. The Florida case was celebrated as a victory by opponents of school choice, including Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

The organization's spokesman, Joe Conn, said, “The Florida voucher decision is extremely important. This case is being closely watched across the country. Two-thirds of the states have constitutions with language barring tax aid to religion. The Florida ruling is one more reason for legislators in other states to consider other options.”

Ron Meyer, lead attorney for the Florida Education Association, one of the plaintiffs in the case against the Florida program, told reporters the decision was “a monumental win for taxpayers.” He said, “It means they'll no longer be forced to pay tax money for unaccountable schools.”

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Ricky Polston worried that the damage of the ruling will go beyond education. “The Florida Constitution should not be construed in a manner that tips the scales of neutrality in favor of more restrictions and less free exercise of religion.”

School-choice proponents, however, have different reads on the extent of the Florida ruling's damage.

Bolick, of Alliance for School Choice, has a more positive take than Greene. “The decision will have little impact outside of Florida,” he said, because Florida “has a ‘super’ Blaine amendment, which forbids aid for religious schools ‘directly or indirectly.’”

In two other states with Blaine amendments but without the clause forbidding “indirect” aid, the supreme courts have upheld school-choice programs. Their reasoning? “They provide aid to children, not to schools,” Bolick said. “If the decision is affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court, we hope the U.S. Supreme Court will review the decision and ruled unequivocally that a state may not exclude religious options from the range of school choices made available to children.”

Richard W. Garnett, a professor at the University of Notre Dame's law school, is also hopeful.

”In its recent decision, Locke v. Davey, the Supreme Court left open the question whether the Constitution would permit a state to exclude religious schools entirely from a general school-voucher program,” he said. “The appeals court in Florida has answered Yes to that question, holding that the Florida Constitution requires, and the free-exercise clause permits, such discrimination. In the months and years to come, we can expect a number of other courts — and, eventually, the Supreme Court — to tackle the same issue.”

He said the reasoning of the Florida court is vulnerable on at least two fronts. “First, that the U.S. Supreme Court permitted Washington to refuse to fund college-level studies in ministry and theology does not mean that the justices would allow a state to exclude religious schools across the board from a general choice program,” Garnett said.

“Second, the Florida court failed to confront or engage the anti-Catholic purposes — and effects — of that state's ‘no-aid’ provision, a provision that was, as Justice (Clarence) Thomas has observed, designed to hamstring Catholic schools and reduce perceived Catholic power.”

Kathryn Jean Lopez is the editor of National Review Online.

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kathryn Jean Lopez ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Christ on the Air DATE: 08/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:

WYOMING, Mich. — In the life of a parish, church bells act as a reminder for prayer, and the bell tower at the Holy Name of Jesus Church in Wyoming, Mich., is no exception. Starting this summer, however, the tower will also be used in a different way.

An antenna will be placed there in August, and after several weeks of testing, the church's very own micro radio station will begin airing Catholic programs, Deacon Tom Jurek said. Deacon Jurek, who has more than 25 years of broadcasting experience, including ownership and management of four Midwestern radio stations, hopes the radio launch will be in September.

”The real heart of this whole thing is evangelization,” he said.

Because Holy Name's pastor, Father Stephen Dudek, was trying to figure out how to reach out to the town's growing Hispanic population, Deacon Jurek said he approached him last November with the idea.

Realizing that many Hispanics listen to the radio, they agreed that the medium could help immigrants adjust to life in the town and help nourish them spiritually.

It's also relatively inexpensive, Deacon Jurek said. The total cost for all the equipment and wiring: about $6,000.

Holy Name of Jesus Radio will operate at one-tenth of a watt – known in the business as a “part 15” micro station – and won't need a Federal Communications Commission license, he said. All that's needed is a transmitter, an antenna, several computers and other basic and inexpensive radio equipment and software.

Once the station becomes operational, anyone who turns on 1610 AM within a two-mile radius of the church will get to listen to about 12 hours each of Hispanic and English programming, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Deacon Jurek said.

The station will be housed in a locker in a room in the church used by brides before their weddings. The locker will store the microphones, amplifiers, audio mixer and two computers, he said. Today's technology allows stations of any size to use computers to run pre-recorded programs with minimal maintenance and attention, said Deacon Jurek, who plans to monitor the station from his home computer, using special software called “PC Anywhere.”

He contacted various Catholic organizations and apostolates – including Catholic Answers, St. Joseph's Radio, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Radio Maria – to get Spanish and English programs for free, he said. Some of the shows include “Tu Compañero Católico” and “American Catholic Radio,” a new program by the Franciscans that includes the “Saint of the Week.” Music and news will also air in Spanish and English and will be provided for free, he said.

Call to Prayer

With Spanish-speaking help from various lay people and clergy of the Diocese of Grand Rapids, the church also plans to produce local programs in Spanish, he said. The information provided, such as where to find a good doctor, will help Hispanics adjust to life in the community, he said. Parish news – including Mass times – and a program involving students and teachers from the church's school will air, as well, Deacon Jurek said.

The Spanish Mass, which started a month ago and draws around 300 people, will also be broadcast, along with one Mass in English, said Father Dudek, who added that he's excited by the “great potential” of this “work-in-progress.”

”It's using technology to call people to prayer in the 21st century,” said Father Dudek, who is also the pastor at St. Joseph the Worker, a church in nearby Grand Rapids that also has a large Hispanic population.

Radio's popularity among Catholics is growing, as evidenced by the almost 100 Catholic-owned stations around the country now, said Stephen Gajdosik, executive director of the Catholic Radio Association. He added that there are about 14 low-power Catholic stations. These stations have more power than a micro station but require a license, which the FCC only makes available during limited time periods.

Even though Holy Name's station has a weak signal, Gajdosik said what really matters is the message and the transformation of hearts.

”The power of the Gospel itself is what builds Catholic radio,” he said. “It's not our adeptness in marketing or programming. It's the person of Jesus Christ within the program… Obviously, it won't have the impact of a larger station. But for the people who are able to use, it will have as great an impact as a 100,000-watt station. Because, if I can paraphrase it, ‘It's the message, stupid.’ Whoever you can get to listen to it, if it's only a half-dozen people who are listening, well, that's a half-dozen people that are growing in holiness.”

Using the media to help in evangelization is encouraged by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in their national plan for evangelization, “Go and Make Disciples,” said Paulist Father John Hurley, executive director of the conference's Secretariat for Evangelization.

”Radio can be an integral way to communicate the Gospel,” Father Hurley said.

Costs and Benefits

Other churches have also understood how radio can be a powerful evangelizing tool. For instance, in Breckenridge, Texas, a small town about 120 miles west of Dallas, Father George Foley, the pastor of Sacred Heart Church, paid around $31,000 for the equipment necessary to start a low-power FM radio station. Called Galilee Radio, the station has aired 20 hours of Spanish programming and four hours of English programs, seven days a week, since February 2003, Father Foley said. The shows are all from EWTN, he added.

Father Foley is the administrator at two parishes and provides the sacraments in three others while conducting a prison ministry. He said his time and knowledge of Spanish are limited, so he needed someone -- or something, in this case – to present the faith to Hispanics.

He turned to low-power radio and, because he bought the best equipment, is able to reach between 15,000 and 20,000 people within a 45-mile radius, he said.

”We're talking to everybody,” not just Catholics, he said. “Who knows where and when God's grace is going to fall on somebody in a particular place during a particular time when a particular radio program is being played?”

He said a woman told his secretary that she was contemplating suicide because of marital and financial problems. She would often turn on the radio at night when she was feeling particularly desperate. Listening to the programs gave her the strength not to kill herself, Father Foley said.

He estimated it costs him around $120 a month to run the station. “If I can save one person from committing suicide, this radio has paid its way,” he said.

Father John Trigilio, president of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, said the benefits of running a micro station far outweigh the costs and encouraged pastors to take advantage of today's technology. He said having a micro station gives a pastor the ability “to make a teleconference call to all his parishioners.”

“This isn't the substitute for being in the parish,” he said. “This is the means to bring people into the parish — and keeping them in the parish.”

Carlos Briceno writes from Seminole, Florida.

----- EXCERPT: Parish Turns Bell Tower Into Micro Radio Tower ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceno ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Hollywood 'Ratings Creep' Gets Creepy DATE: 08/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:

HOLLYWOOD — Today's movies contain significantly more violence, sex and profanity on average than movies of the same rating a decade ago.

That's the conclusion of a study released last month by the Kids Risk Project at the Harvard School of Public Health that examined 1,906 movies released between 1992 and 2003.

This conclusion led to the study's authors to suggest that the Motion Picture Association of America — the MPAA — “has become increasingly more lenient in assigning its age-based movie ratings.” As an example, USA Today employed the same Kids-in-Mind (www. kids-in-mind.com) movie database employed by the study to demonstrate that 1994's The Santa Clause was rated PG, yet it had less sex, nudity, violence, gore and profanity than 2002's The Santa Clause 2, which was rated G.

Parents are agreeing — and pointing to this summer's hits as further evidence.

Shrek 2 is already one of the most popular movies ever. More than 40 million Americans, mostly children, have seen it. It will be seen by millions more, repeatedly, after its DVD and video release before Christmas, and the movie has been hailed as another example of the supposedly wholesome animated fare that has made billions for Hollywood in recent years.

But how appropriate is it for pre-adolescents to see a movie that reveals Pinocchio to wear women's thong underwear, includes several sexual references, and which Screenit.com rates as violent?

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has given Shrek 2 a PG rating “for some crude humor, a brief substance reference and some suggestive content.” PG stands for “parental guidance suggested,” and ads for the film warn, “Some material might not be suitable for children.”

Despite these caveats, the movie has been marketed primarily to kids, through saturation TV advertising and tie-ins with Burger King and toy and video game makers. Shrek 2 is a particularly lucrative example of “ratings creep,” the process whereby movies that until recently would have been rated suitable only for adults are now rated suitable for teenagers, while movies once rated suitable for teenagers are now rated suitable for small children.

Profits Before Morals

Steve Sailer, a Catholic and the movie reviewer for The American Conservative, said one explanation for “ratings creep” is Hollywood's increasing dependence on young ticket buyers. Children go to the movies more often than adults, and they often see their favorites more than once.

Of course, the most profitable movies are those that appeal to the broadest audience. So, Sailer said, “What the studios were doing up to 2000 was making R-rated films and marketing them like crazy to children.” In 2000, however, “There were congressional hearings on this issue, and (departing-MPAA head Jack) Valenti got the studios to stop advertising R-rated films to kids and got the theaters to do a better job of preventing children from sneaking into R-rated films.”

In response, “The studios started making a lot more PG-13 movies and a lot fewer R-rated movies,” Sailer said.

In theory, this should have resulted in lower profits, as Holly-wood's audience for adult material was smaller. Instead, according to Sailer, “The ratings categories keep getting degraded.” What was once rated NC-17 is now rated R; R has become PG-13; and so on down the list.

MPAA director of public affairs Phuong Yokitis suggests another explanation for “ratings creep.” She said, “The ratings board tries to keep up with the acceptability bar in America. If you ask me if society has changed from 10 years ago, I'd have to say Yes.”

Few would deny American society has been transformed since 1968, when the MPAA ratings were introduced. Certainly not the man who introduced them: 82-year-old Catholic Jack Valenti. Interviewed recently by Catholic News Service, Valenti said he is proud of his role in brokering the end of Hollywood's Hays Office, “which I thought was abominable censorship and could not last.”

Many would argue the lowered “accessibility bar” is what's abominable, but Valenti refused to pass judgment on that. “I don't know whether that's good or bad,” he said. “All I know is that it's change, and I don't fight change.”

According to Valenti, the MPAA system “put[s] the authority of which kid goes to which movie in the hands of parents,” but he admitted the MPAA is only one source of information. He urged parents to consult others, such as the ratings and reviews issued by the Office of Film and Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (www.usccb.org/movies/index.htm).

Bishops’ conference media reviewer David DiCerto told the Register, “The MPAA's audience is more pluralistic. Their barometer is what the average parent would like their children to see. Our audience is informed by a faith perspective.”

As for “ratings creep,” DiCerto said, “There seems to be somewhat of a downward trend.”

Ultimately, however, he agreed with Valenti: “The buck stops with parents.”

No Escape

This has always been the case, but Barbara Nicolosi stresses that parents must understand that “We live in degenerate post-Christian times. We are called to be saints and martyrs.”

A Catholic who founded and directs the Act One: Writing For Hollywood program, Nicolosi advises parents who seek to totally insulate their children from the degeneracy of so many movies and TV programs that this is unrealistic.

“Even if you go to the grocery store, they're going to be assaulted by Britney Spears half-naked in the aisles,” Nicolosi said. “There's no way to avoid this stuff. I see many families that are all about protecting their kids, but eventually they leave the family, the home school or Catholic college and must learn to take their place in society as someone who can be a signpost or a hero.”

Added Nicolosi, “We've got to stop all this ‘The way it used to be’ talk. It's not that way anymore. Now is the time for absolute full engagement of parents with the culture and their kids. You don't stop taking them to the movies; this is the art form of their times. They need to know how to read a movie.”

Parents might object that there are hardly enough hours in the day for such engagement. To this, Nicolosi responded, “There's no fix for that. You either head for the caves, or you say ‘We have to make time for this.’ ”

The good news is that Catholics have faced degeneracy before — and triumphed. Nicolosi concluded, “One thing I do know about human history is that it never goes backwards. It goes forwards, and then it crashes and burns, and then a new society comes out.”

Kevin Michael Grace writes from Victoria, British Columbia. (CNS contributed to this report)

----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kevin Michael Grace ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Making The Passion Changed His Life DATE: 08/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:

Stephen McEveety thought he was working on a film that wouldn't do well when he agreed to produce The Passion of the Christ.

Instead, he got the blockbuster of his career — and an experience of God that changed him and his family forever.

Mel Gibson's film about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ will be released on video and DVD on Aug. 31. The movie's producer talked to Register correspondent Andrew Walther.

How did you start producing movies?

I worked my way up through the industry. I climbed the ladder; I was born basically on a movie set. My dad was in the business; my uncles were; my grandfather was an actor.

I did a little bit of acting as a child, just bit parts on TV shows and a couple features. Then I ran away from it for a few years, and then I ended up going to Loyola Marymount University and studying film in their film school. And during that time, I was able to work as a stand-in on shows, so I got a double education. I went to school and then I would go on the set and see if what they were teaching me was correct.

So I was really fortunate. I loved it and learned it, but I had to really climb the ladder and was production assistant and then got into the directors’ guild. My education in film was pretty extensive so I understood the medium, but filmmaking is something you never quite fully conquer. You are always learning something new, and the day you stop learning something new, it's time to retire.

Before The Passion, how much did your faith figure into the work that you do?

Oh, it does, a lot. I went to16 years of Catholic education, so that's drilled into you. But, like most people, my faith has been tested throughout the years, and I don't know that I have been the best Catholic in the world. I am far better today than I was three or four years ago.

I think making The Passion had a lot to do with it. I was witness to a lot of graces, a lot of mini-miracles, and confronted with the dark side, as well. So I was very fortunate that I was able to personally experience the existence of the spiritual world.

There are numerous occasions where special things happened. The better-known ones are “lightning boy” — Jan Michellini — the guy who got hit by lightning two times on the same movie, which is not a normal occurrence, to say the least. Years ago, he was the first baptism the Pope ever performed.

Jim Caveziel — who played Jesus — got hit by lightning, too.

That's just a big slap in the face, but there are a lot of smaller ones, a lot of quieter slaps. They are still happening. I was very fortunate to be able to do this film. It changed my life and my family's. It was just an overall great experience, and a tough one.

So The Passion made your faith stronger — but not easier.

That is a very true statement. It is not always an easier thing. It makes you feel a little more responsible than you'd like to be. Or at least you have to acknowledge your responsibility. It's easier to close your eyes to moral responsibility.

And there is so much to learn about the Catholic faith and the Bible. It has made me more prayerful, absolutely.

What has been the most memorable moment of your work?

Certainly, it's the freshest, too, but it's the whole experience with The Passion. I wouldn't isolate one moment of it, though; it's all a combined experience. Your memory doesn't remember 1985; it remembers the movie you did at the time. My child was born when I was making what movie? My wife and I reflect back on our marriage, and the big events are always recalled from the movies we have done.

The experience of making The Passion will never leave. Something like that never leaves you. If it does, then I'll pay for it.

There was a great deal of negative publicity surrounding The Passion. How did you cope with that?

We coped with it on a day-today basis. We were in a defensive mode the entire time; we tried to understand it the best we could, and deal with it in such a way that it wouldn't be offensive to our detractors, yet would keep the film moving forward, propel the film to some success.

But, gosh, we weren't expecting much.

When the studios tell you that they don't want to distribute it and back away from it and don't want to have anything to do with it, you're kind of figuring, well, this doesn't appear to be a profit center. When Mel Gibson has to spend his own money on a movie, that's quite a signal there, you may be barking up the wrong tree.

The Passionwas overtly Christian, but in general, do you see a way that people in the industry can have a positive moral influence with movies that aren't explicitly religious?

Well, absolutely they can. Right now, we're at a point where it's not, “Can they have a positive influence?” It's, “Can they stop having a negative influence?” I think that the individuals in Hollywood are — for the most part — very decent, intelligent people, which is contradictory to what their reputation is.

I think we tend to leave our conscience on the nightstand at home and not take it to work with us. Encouraging people to do the opposite, I think, will have a great effect on the product that comes up.

It's not so much faith as just conscience. Just accepting moral responsibility for their work. Many people have that, and there are some really great films out there.

Does the financial success of The Passion bode well for what other people might produce down the road?

Certainly it does. I think it says that there is a huge audience that would love to be entertained in a positive way. It hasn't been tapped into for a long, long time. I don't think a lot of religious films are the answer. Just films that explain that it's okay to be good; in fact, it's better than okay. Heroes are made from goodness.

Andrew Walther writes from Los Angeles.

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O God, we acknowledge you today as Lord, Not only of individuals, but of nations and governments.

We thank you for the privilege Of being able to organize ourselves politically And of knowing that political loyalty Does not have to mean disloyalty to you.

We thank you for your law, Which our Founding Fathers acknowledged And recognized as higher than any human law.

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We thank you for the opportunity that this election year puts before us, To exercise our solemn duty not only to vote, But to influence countless others to vote, And to vote correctly.

Lord, we pray that your people may be awakened.

Let them realize that while politics is not their salvation, Their response to you requires that they be politically active.

Awaken your people to know that they are not called to be a sect fleeing the world But rather a community of faith renewing the world.

Awaken them that the same hands lifted up to you in prayer Are the hands that pull the lever in the voting booth;

That the same eyes that read your Word Are the eyes that read the names on the ballot, And that they do not cease to be Christians When they enter the voting booth.

Awaken your people to a commitment to justice To the sanctity of marriage and the family, To the dignity of each individual human life, And to the truth that human rights begin when human lives begin, And not one moment later.

Lord, we rejoice today That we are citizens of your Kingdom.

May that make us all the more committed To being faithful citizens on Earth.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

— Father Frank Pavone, Priests for Life

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