WASHINGTON — Prolife activists lament that pro-abortion Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., will be chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the crucial years ahead. But some Washington prolife activists see a silver lining in their failed attempt to block him from the chairmanship of the important committee.
Although a short-term loss for pro-life groups, the effort might have yielded consequences that could be crucial to judges who uphold the right to life making it to the Supreme Court.
Specter's comments the day after winning re-election to his fifth term, which were read as a warning to President Bush against naming pro-life nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court, set off a media and Internet firestorm leading to tens of thousands of phone calls from pro-family grass-roots organizations to Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee and in the party leadership.
Two weeks after the comments, Specter met with the key senators, and the pro-lifers forced him to make a public statement of support for Bush judges and, most striking, support for a bold change to the Senate rules — one that could clear the way for Bush's nominees by effectively disarming the filibuster in confirmation battles.
In this light, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a pro-lifer, called Specter's controversial comments “a gift” because they focused attention and criticism on Specter, forcing him to pledge allegiance to Bush judges and push a dramatic rules change that could lower the effective threshold for confirming judges to 51 senators, down from the current 60.
To win the support of his Judiciary Committee colleagues, necessary for becoming chairman, Specter was forced to issue a public statement, which began, “I have not and would not use a litmus test to deny confirmation to pro-life nominees.”
Specter's statement stops short of promising to vote for all Bush court nominees, but it does pledge a quick up-or-down vote in the committee. That would save Bush's nominees from the fate many encountered in the Senate when Senate Democrats held a one-vote majority in the 107th Congress and Bush's nominees were being held up indefinitely by the committee chairman.
Most notably, Specter said, “If a rule change is necessary to avoid filibusters, there are relevant recent precedents to secure rule changes with 51 votes.”
Cornyn explained that this left open many options, including a straightforward change to Senate rules (which itself would take 60 votes) or simply a ruling from the president pro tempore of the Senate, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, that the 60-vote threshold for presidential nominees was unconstitutional.
Because of the boldness of the latter idea — one of the tactics dubbed a “nuclear option” — few senators want to be seen as sponsoring it. Specter, however, might have no choice after his Nov. 3 comments in which he called Roe “inviolate,” compared it to the 1954 anti-segregation ruling Brown v. Board of Education and said confirmation of anti-Roe judges “would be unlikely.”
One pro-family activist called the Nov. 3 comments “a marketing opportunity,” saying that Specter was unfit for the chairmanship because of his entire record in the Senate. Most notably, Specter claims credit for sinking President Ronald Reagan's nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. In his memoirs regarding that episode, Specter cites concern for the “balance” of the court and Bork's rejection of the Constitution as a “living, growing document.”
Instead of Bork, Anthony Kennedy was named to the high court, and Kennedy was the deciding vote in favor of preserving Roe in the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision. Accordingly, Specter has been labeled “the man who saved Roe.” Specter has also voted many times for a Senate resolution asserting Roe was correctly decided and ought not be overturned.
Specter's chairmanship victory was all but clinched by the unanimous vote by Judiciary Committee Republicans on Nov. 18. All 55 Republican senators must still vote it on when the new Congress convenes in January.
The victory was disheartening to many.
Retired pro-life Notre Dame law professor Charles Rice said of Republican senators: “What they did with Specter is despicable. I think Bork is right; this guy can't be trusted.”
Pro-life blogger Mike Krempasky ran NotSpecter.com for two weeks, generating thousands of faxes, phone calls and petition signatures. Krempasky said the battle was worth fighting and will yield good results. Beyond Specter's pledges to clear the way for Bush's nominees, this was a good trial run for the big battles — the confirmation fights.
“On any court nomination fight, if we wait for the vacancy before we start moving, then we're too late,” Krempasky said, explaining that because of the Specter battle, he has gathered the names, e-mail addresses and zip codes of 25,000 people who care deeply about the courts. The need for early mobilization is “one lesson from the Bork fight,” he said.
The nuclear option might be critical, at least as a bargaining chip, for Bush's nominees to make it to the high court. In 2003, Democrats dug in their heels when they mounted an unprecedented filibuster against Bush court picks, refusing to allow floor debate to end and blocking GOP cloture motions (cloture ends debate automatically, but the motion requires 60 votes).
There is some hope no drastic moves will be required because some Democratic senators will drop support for use of the filibuster. In an April 7, 2003, memo to Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., a staffer wrote, “We have heard that several Democratic senators have expressed concern about any filibuster of a judicial nominee based on substance, as opposed to process.” That memo listed 15 Democrats, 11 of whom are still in the Senate. With unanimous Republican support, a Bush pick would need only five Democrats in order to break a filibuster.
Cornyn's not holding his breath. “I don't think we can rely on our adversaries across the aisle dropping their weapons,” he said. But if Specter is willing to loudly call for a nuclear option, Republicans can possibly “negotiate from a position of strength,” Cornyn said, and secure Democratic support for a standard permanent rules change, limiting the ability of the minority to filibuster presidential appointments.
One former Senate staffer said Specter in private has long supported a rules change and the threat of the nuclear option. Specter is known as a “knife-fighter,” in the words of a top Senate staffer who has fought with and against him. His tactics in elections and in the Senate, most notably his cross-examination of Anita Hill in the confirmation hearings of Justice Clarence Thomas, have won him the name “Snarlin' Arlen.”
Notre Dame law professor Rice does not share the optimism. He believes if Specter gives enthusiastic support to Bush's nominees, it will be only because the nominees are more like Anthony Kennedy than like Thomas.
“The idea you'll get some hard-charging Supreme Court justice,” he said, “is fantasy.”
Timothy P. Carney writes from Washington, D.C.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Timothy P. Carney ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Pope Okays Movement; 59 Ordained DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — The Holy See has granted definitive approval of the statutes of Regnum Christi, an ecclesial movement established by Father Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ.
Archbishop Franc Rodé, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, read a formal statement of the approval on Thanksgiving Day at the end of the Mass at which he presided in the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
The archbishop ordained 59 Legionaries to the priesthood during the Eucharistic celebration.
The Vatican dicastery's decree of approval, dated Nov. 26, the 60th anniversary of Father Maciel's priestly ordination, “establishes that the Regnum Christi Movement is the specific instrument of the apostolate of the Legion of Christ, to which it is united in an indivisible way.” John Paul II praised the service rendered to the Church by Father Maciel in a letter read in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, in Rome by Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, substitute of the Secretariat of State for general affairs, at the end of the thanksgiving Mass at which Father Maciel presided.
In his message to Father Maciel, John Paul II recalled that day 60 years ago when the founder was ordained a priest in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Mexico City.
“Your 60 years of priestly life, Reverend Father,” he wrote, “have been characterized by significant spiritual and missionary fecundity.”
Read full coverage in next week's issue of the Register.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Mother of Unity DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:ZANESVILLE, Ohio — In 1854, Pope Pius IX made a decision that changed Catholic-Protestant relations forever. Some thought his proclamation of the Immaculate Conception — the dogma that Mary was conceived without original sin — would cause a rift between Catholics and their separated brethren. For many, it has.
But for many Protestants, the way the Church defined Mary's immaculate conception made a difference — such a difference, in fact, that they became Catholic. Former Presbyterian minister Marcus Grodi still remembers his reaction to Mary shortly after he converted to the Catholic Church. “I had been a Catholic for about five months when I was invited to participate in a Marian procession,” said Grodi, president of the Coming Home Network and host of EWTN's “The Journey Home” television program. “They were carrying a Mary statue on a platform, and I thought, in some pagan country, this could look like we were carrying our goddess. If you don't understand what it's all about, it would seem pretty weird and could pose problems for unity.”
The Marian procession struck at the heart of Grodi's Protestant misconceptions about what Catholics believe about Mary. Often seen as a sign of division between Catholics and Protestants, Mary is increasingly becoming a sign of unity.
“Mary can be a sign of unity for all Christians by studying her life and impact together,” said Dwight Longenecker, a former Protestant and author of Mary: A Catholic Evangelical Debate. “Mary can be the starting point for a discussion on the Incarnation which can be fruitful and illuminate the things we do share. Remembering that unity is not conformity, we can acknowledge shared hopes and beliefs while still being quite clear on our differences, and Mary can be a catalyst for these discussions.”
Among those differences is the Catholic doctrine of Mary's immaculate conception.
Many Protestants have difficulty with this teaching because it is not explicitly found in Scripture. Neither is the Trinity, say many Catholic apologists.
“The Immaculate Conception, while not explicitly set forth in Scripture, is nonetheless a biblical teaching,” said Leon Suprenant Jr., president of the Steubenville, Ohio-based Catholics United for the Faith. “The first promise of a redeemer in Genesis 3 contains a reference to the enmity, or complete opposition, between the redeemer's mother and Satan.”
Furthermore, Suprenant points out that when Mary conceives of the Holy Spirit, she is greeted by the angel as already being “full of grace,” even though Christ has not yet died on the cross for sinners. “All generations call Mary ‘blessed’ [Luke 1:48] not because of her own merit, but because the Lord had done great things to her, including preparing her as the immaculate vessel by which he would enter the world,” Suprenant said.
Suprenant emphasized that “this teaching should not be understood as a point of conflict with Protestants so much as a further basis for recognizing them as our brothers and sisters in Christ.”
“Of all the people I've interviewed, the No. 1 barrier that slows them down is Mary,” Grodi said. Grodi has worked with nearly 1,000 Protestant ministers and has interviewed more than 400 on his television program. “The No. 1 issue that draws them is authority. Once many of them accept the issue of authority, it gets them over the speed bump of Mary.”
Still, issues with Mary often remain.
“It always lingers,” Grodi said. “The immediate underlying issue is not the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception or her Assumption, but the fact that she creeps into one's prayer life. When converts are used to praying only to God, Mary remains a barrier because of their misunderstanding on the communion of saints.”
Kenneth Howell, a Presbyterian convert to Catholicism, agreed.
“Mary played little or no role for me with my Calvinist background,” said Howell, who serves as director of the Newman Institute of Catholic Thought at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. “Yet the more I came to understand the biblical foundations for Catholic doctrines, the more I became open to seeing her as a vital part of my spiritual life.”
After his conversion, in June 1996, Howell remembered that becoming Catholic meant having a close relationship with the Mother of God.
“I said, ‘Lord, help me to love your mother the way that you do,’” Howell said.
Over the next several months, Howell's prayer life became more Marian.
“I felt the need for the inter-cession of the saints, but wasn't sure how to do that. As I began to pray more and include Mary in my prayers, I noticed that my love for Christ was growing,” Howell said. “We go to Jesus the way that he came to us — through Mary.”
He also recalled the first time he prayed the rosary.
“I told God, ‘If I'm doing something wrong here, please forgive me,’” Howell said. “I had all the natural Protestant fears of honoring Mary too much.”
Mary also often plays a role in bringing lost Catholics back home.
Catholic attorney Larry Behr flirted with agnosticism, Buddhism and atheism during his college years. After returning to Christ at the age of 21, he rediscovered Mary through a confrontation with a sinful man in a bar.
“The man told me that his best friend was Mary,” Behr said. “I was struck by the fact that Mary had been caring for him despite his sinfulness.”
Behr immediately set out to read more about Mary.
“Mary brought me into the Church,” said Behr, who is now working to erect the Arch of Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary — the world's tallest monument as a tribute to Mary and a call to conversion — in Buffalo, N.Y. “I'm appreciative of her power to draw people to the Church. That is who she is in God's plan of salvation. She is our mother, and the mother is the unifying force in any family.”
Misconceptions and prejudice lay at the heart of many Protestants' feelings toward Mary.
“Many of our separated brethren don't even know that the Reformers had a devotion to Mary,” Grodi said. For example, even after his break with the Church, Martin Luther continued to describe Mary as the Mother of God. Some Protestants are rediscovering that.
Embracing Mary
In recent years, an increasing number of Protestant scholars and laypeople have become more open to examining Mary and her role in salvation history. Last year, Mary graced the covers of the Methodist publication Good News, the magazine Christianity Today and The Lutheran, the official publication of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Some are even finding a place for Mary in their devotional life.
The British-based Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been bringing Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox together for more than 30 years to focus on the role of Mary. Founded by Catholic layman Martin Gillett, the international society exists to advance the study of the place of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Church and promote ecumenical devotion.
Swedish Lutheran emeritus bishop Martin Lönnebo developed a Lutheran “rosary” called the “Wreath of Christ.” Created with a set of 18 beads or pearls, the wreath is meant for silent meditation upon the life of Christ from Bethlehem to the resurrection.
Former Anglican Longenecker said the rosary is something Protestants are willing to share if it is used to penetrate the love and mystery of the Gospels.
“Their prayer lives are lacking in the area of meditation and contemplation,” he said. “This is an easy and scriptural way for them.”
Grodi noted that Pope John Paul II often references Mary in his documents on ecumenism.
“The Holy Father's lead has called us to see Mary as the key way to bring people together,” Grodi said.
“Mary's consent was the human cooperation of God's plan of salvation,” Howell said. “In her saying, ‘Let it be done unto me,’ she was uniting heaven and earth by allowing the Son of God to be a part of her life. She was uniting her humanity with Christ's divinity. In that, she becomes a sign of unity. That is true whether people recognize it or not.”
Tim Drake is the author of Young and Catholic:
The Face of Tomorrow's Church.
----- EXCERPT: 150 Years Later ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Activist Quits Over Abortion DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:DALLAS — When is a breast-cancer group offensive to women? When it supports abortion, says one breast-cancer advocate.
Eve Sanchez Silver, a two-time breast cancer survivor and Hispanic outreach director for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, found out in September that the organization provided funding to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider. She was stunned and disappointed to the point of resignation — from her job, that is.
“It was hard to leave people I worked with, but it was easy to separate myself from an organization that I believe is accessory to murder. It all boils down to that. I didn't come there to assist Planned Parenthood, so I quit,” Sanchez Silver said.
The Komen Foundation insists the grants are not being used for anything to which Sanchez Silver would object. According to Rebecca Garcia, the foundation's vice president of health services, about $38 million was disbursed last year to breast-health education screening and treatment programs; of that, $475,000 went to Planned Parenthood clinics to provide mammograms and health education.
“In a lot of areas, especially rural and even some urban areas, one of the only sources of breast-cancer screening and education that serves low-income, uninsured women between 40 and 50 years old is Planned Parenthood,” Garcia said. “They're restricted by contract to use these monies for the services indicated and must report to us on an annual basis. We know that the money is being spent on the services intended.”
But Sanchez Silver wasn't convinced. The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer reported that in December 2001, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment ordered an independent audit of Planned Parenthood to see if it had effectively separated its privately funded abortion services from its cancer screening and family services in accordance with a 1999 law banning state-funded abortions. The audit found that Planned Parenthood's family-planning arm was subsidizing rent payments of the abortion provider in violation of the law.
“Money is fungible,” Sanchez Silver said. “If you put a dollar in an account, you can't track that money. As a life-affirming organization, this is a dreadful mistake with far-reaching problems for the Komen Foundation. I asked them if there was any chance that this could be re-examined, and they assured me that this is not something they would re-examine.”
“We're very transparent about all that we do, and all of our grants are up on our website,” countered Garcia.
Deadly Link?
Also troubling Sanchez Silver is what may be the most ironic part of all: Recent medical studies have shown that a link could exist between abortion and breast cancer.
Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, explained that women are born with cancer-vulnerable breast tissue. When a woman becomes pregnant, estrogen levels increase up to 2,000% by the end of the first trimester and continue to rise through the second trimester.
The only mechanism that protects breast tissue from overexposure to estrogen, and matures the tissue into cancer-resistant, milk-producing tissue, is a process known as differentiation that begins at 32 weeks of pregnancy. If a woman has an abortion, or a pre-term birth before 32 weeks of gestation, her breast-cancer risk may increase. Most first-trimester miscarriages, however, have not been linked to increased cancer risk because there is no estrogen overexposure.
Joel Brind, professor of biology, chemistry and endocrinology at Baruch College of the City University of New York, compiled and analyzed many abortion/breast-cancer studies from around the world in 1996. He found a 30% average increase of breast cancer in women who had abortions.
“Abortion prevents the lowering of risk that full-term pregnancy provides, and it increases risks even beyond not having been pregnant in the first place,” Brind said. “Abortions have caused about 5% to 10% of breast cancers in this century, and it's the most preventable because it's a matter of choice. This is well worth talking about.”
“Abortion prevents the lowering of risk that full-term pregnancy provides, and it increases risks even beyond not having been pregnant in the first place,” Brind said. “Abortions have caused about 5% to 10% of breast cancers in this century, and it's the most preventable because it's a matter of choice. This is well worth talking about.”
Some organizations are not talking about this possible link, though, citing inconclusive or faulty evidence.
“The National Cancer Institute had a big meeting of scientists, including the ones who do say there is a link, that looked at all of the evidence. They had a good variety of people on the panels that looked at the possible connection between abortion and breast cancer but they found no conclusive evidence based on all of the studies. That's where the state of the science is now,” said Garcia of the Komen Foundation.
“We remain open to looking at the science as it evolves, informing women of things that change their risk factors. If they ask us about that, we point them to the studies, but we're very careful to not provide advice, but information,” she said.
Sanchez Silver said that not sharing the information with breast-cancer patients, or women at risk of breast cancer, could be deadly.
“All women — it doesn't matter whether pro-life or pro-choice, whether feminists or not feminists — need to know this information. You can't kill someone in one room and affirm life in the other,” Sanchez Silver said.
“For Komen to give money to Planned Parenthood is akin to a cancer group giving money to Philip Morris to perform lung-cancer screenings on cigarette smokers,” Malec said. “These organizations only tell women when the studies show that there's no risk, or when there's a risk decrease…. Women need to start screaming about this and become activists for their daughters' sake.”
Brind said that some in the medical field are simply avoiding or denying what he believes are very clear results. “Probably the most important aspect of the link is not even disputed science. No one denies that not carrying a pregnancy to full term increases the risk for breast cancer,” Brind said. “Colleagues have told me point-blank that they don't want to say anything or defend an abortion/breast-cancer link because it's too political and they would take a lot of heat for this.”
“They have a lot of the positions in scientific and cancer research, and those of their colleagues who don't feel that way are intimidated and go along with it so that they don't lose their grants,” he said. “The mainstream scientific research establishment is not a benign or even benevolent objective group of investigators. The U.S. National Cancer Institute and other groups are representative of the most virulent pro-abortion extremists you can find. It's shameful.”
As Hispanic outreach director of the Komen Foundation — and in her current role as director of Cinta Latina Research, an organization she founded in 1999 that researches breast-cancer issues and their effects on minorities — Sanchez Silver works to promote awareness of breast-cancer risks in Hispanic women and other minorities. An added concern of hers is the charge that Planned Parenthood targets minorities for population control.
“Margaret Sanger, who started Planned Parenthood, was interested in destroying people of color. Sanger's program is right on schedule,” Sanchez Silver said.
Astrid Bennett-Gutierrez, former president of Hispanics for Life, says that Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers target a disproportionate number of areas with large minority populations. Within one mile of a low-income Los Angeles neighborhood that is predominantly Hispanic, there are seven abortion clinics, she said.
“There are billboards and commercials on Spanish radio for Planned Parenthood. They're giving people the impression that they're family-oriented, which is very insidious because it hides that they're the No. 1 abortion provider,” Bennett-Gutierrez said.
“They're training housewives to teach one another and promote the Planned Parenthood agenda in a program called Promotoras Comunitarias [Community Promoters], and they're undermining our values. The Hispanic community embraces children and supports life. If Hispanics knew that they provide abortions and contraceptives, they would realize that they're betraying their own values.”
Calls to Planned Parenthood for comment were not returned.
Angelique Ruhi-Lopez writes from Miami.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Angelique Ruhi-Lopez ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Election 2004: End of the 'Catholic Vote'?: DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:George Marlin has politics in his blood.
At the tender age of 12, he shook Robert Kennedy's hand. Thirty years later, Marlin was running for mayor of New York City, only to lose to Rudolph Giuliani.
In the late 1990s, Marlin was the chief executive officer of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owned the World Trade Center. His successor died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the twin towers. Marlin has written and edited more than two dozen books, including this year's The American Catholic Voter.
Register correspondent Patrick Novecosky spoke with him recently to discuss growing up Catholic in New York, the 2004 elections and the future of the Catholic vote.
What was it like growing up in Brooklyn?
Greenpoint, Brooklyn, was a microcosm of what the Church was nationally. It was an inner-city, blue-collar ethnic parish. Life centered around the parish.
I was an altar boy, and that was a step above everybody in those days. The worst was 6 o'clock in the morning. Not only was it early, but the nuns from the school would go to that Mass. I remember sort of dozing off on the altar, and the nun I had at the time waited outside the sacristy doorway and grabbed me by the hair when I went running home to get breakfast.
It was an ethnic neighborhood. There was a parish in every direction from my house three or four blocks away. We exemplified what I did not learn until I was in college and heard the term “subsidiarity.” We lived it and didn't know there was a philosophical term for it. That was what growing up was in the old-fashioned neighborhood, and things worked.
Your dad and grandfather were New York City cops. Why didn't you follow in their footsteps?
The Irish mentality, of course, was civil service, civil service. But my father took a slightly different attitude. It was like, “You're going to go to college.” He had this mentality that it was going to be different for me.
Tell me about your family's faith life growing up.
There were assumptions that the Church was always right and you, as a youth, were wrong if you ever dared question something. But it wasn't wear-your-religion-on-your-sleeve type. It was just neighborhood parish life, and it was a simple life. There was unity among people because we all belonged to the parish. Mothers would sit outside in the afternoon and keep an eye on kids. Most mothers stayed at home at that time. So it was the Catholicism of the '50s, of the old neighborhoods.
How did you get such an early start in politics?
I remember as a kid in 1964 waiting in line for three hours in a mob scene, waiting for Bobby Kennedy to drive by. He was running for United States senator in 1964, and I shook Robert F. Kennedy's hand that day. It was a year after John F. Kennedy was killed and before everything we know about the Kennedys that we do today. When he arrived, it was like the second coming. He came in an open convertible Cadillac. It was just an incredible moment.
I remember seeing (National Review founder William F.) Buckley debate when he was running for mayor of New York. I was still in grammar school in November 1965. He added respectability to conservative politics again, and he excited a whole young generation of people in New York City. I was out on street corners handing out fliers for him at the age of 13.
I didn't play basketball. I didn't play baseball. I debated and was involved in politics — street-corner politics through the '60s and '70s. Politics was certainly not my vocation, because one doesn't make a living out of it. But it was certainly a lifelong avocation and my first love.
Tell me about the run for mayor in 1993. What led to that?
It was an extraordinary period. David Dinkins was the mayor of New York. Things were falling apart rapidly. We had great battles. Rudy Giuliani, a baptized Roman Catholic, was [endorsed by] the New York State Liberal Party. In the late '80s, he was pro-life, but he became pro-abortion, pro-gay rights, pro-partial-birth abortion, pro-funding of abortion, be it federal, state or city level.
Even though the city was going to hell in a handbasket, we wanted to stand on certain pro-life and cultural principles that mattered to us. I understand the fun Bill Buckley had running for mayor in 1965. When you know you can't win, you go out there and broker ideas. On some of the fiscal, economic ideas, we pushed Giuliani to the right on those issues where he didn't want to be.
Giuliani refused to debate me. I debated Mayor Dinkins on a few occasions and pulled out a rubber chicken. That hit front-page news nationally, saying Rudy was a chicken.
What led you to write The American Catholic Voter?
Two years ago, I wrote Fighting the Good Fight: A History of the New York Conservative Party. That was sort of the microcosm for The American Catholic Voter.
I was thinking about the book for over a decade, and my wife was delighted when I finally got started because I had 20 boxes of paper sitting in the basement gathering dust for 15 years. I firmly believe there was a story to tell about those inner-city, blue-collar ethnics, the immigrants who came to this nation — how they got involved in the political process and how they lived the concept of subsidiarity without knowing what that term meant.
The Catholic voter decided many presidential elections, many of them for the right reasons. The idea of this book was to show a rich history, show how the vote is relevant, show how the Catholic voter came of age with Al Smith. [They evolved into] what became known as Reagan Democrats. They were part of the base that voted in November and is still relevant, voting along cultural lines for the issues that matter to all of us.
People have said that today there is no Catholic vote.
You can't just look at a generic number. They say 52% of Catholic voters went for George Bush. You have to break it down between the practicing Catholic and the “cafeteria Catholic.” John Kerry carried the cafeteria Catholics while generically he lost the Catholic vote because the practicing Catholic came out in greater numbers and voted for George Bush. Four years ago, Bush got about 57% of the practicing Catholic vote. This year, he got 64.
Who's winning the culture war?
I live in New York and so it seems we're losing every time you turn around. People like George Pataki and Rudy Giuliani, both baptized Catholics. They've walked away on everything.
However, I gave a couple of speeches to the Legatus group in St. Louis a couple of months ago, and I see “red America.” There is still a coterie of solid citizens. To see those red states is encouraging. It's a part of America I didn't grow up with, but I'm grateful it's there.
What we're seeing is a new generation. The mothers having babies are pro-life. The guys who enter the seminary these days are solid guys. They're genuine. So I think the tide is turning. Time is on our side. The numbers are on our side. I think it's going to get better.
Is politics in your future?
To quote Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, “Never say never.” The book I wrote on the Catholic voter was a book that I was thinking about for years. It was a labor of love writing it. Thanks to Mr. Kerry, it got a lot of attention and had a very good run. The next couple of years, we'll see what happens.
Patrick Novecosky writes from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Patrick Novecosky ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Collection Set to Aid Those Who Taught, Healed, Consoled DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:SARASOTA, Fla. — Every year, Clara Shea, a member of St. Martha's Parish in Sarasota, gives generously to the Retirement Fund for Religious collection.
“I'm grateful for what the sisters have done over the years to help in the formation of my children,” the mother of five said. “I'm proud of that, and thankful.”
SECOND COLLECTION
Shea admits, however, it wasn't until this year that she learned how the money is used and why it's needed. “I used to think that the Catholic Church paid the health-care costs of religious women and men,” she said. “I was surprised when I learned it doesn't. The sisters have to support themselves. So do religious men, such as the Trappists.”
Religious institutes in the United States are independent organizations whose income and expenses are separate from diocesan structures. Religious communities have to provide for themselves and, finding themselves short, are turning to the Retirement Fund for Religious.
Nationwide, parishes will take up a collection for the fund Dec. 11-12. The appeal has produced a greater response than any in U.S. Catholic Church history — $440 million has been donated since the appeal began in 1988
The fund hopes this year to match the amount collected last year, $28 million, said Most Precious Blood Sister Andree Fries, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based fund. The proceeds will be distributed to religious institutes within six months.
Sister Fries believes Catholics are generous for a reason. “They remember the influence of religious on their lives which was formative as children, or consoling and healing as hospital sisters,” she said.
Among those who have been helped by the fund is the Baltimore Carmel, which has received $355,000 from supplemental and special-assistance grants. The aid has helped transform the Carmel into a modern facility, according to Discalced Carmelite Sister Constance Fitzgerald, spokeswoman for the community.
“The project has given us a beautiful new kitchen and dining room, air conditioning for the first time in our bedrooms and dining/kitchen areas, a new roof and an elevator providing disabled/elderly access to the floors of the residence, including the laundry, hermitage, dining, bedroom levels,” she said.
Sister Fitzgerald said the money helped make the living quarters safe and functional. “Much of the work corrected dangerous deficiencies in basic structures, infrastructures, mechanical and electrical systems. We replaced nearly all the electrical wiring and pipes, removed asbestos and installed new fire and life-safety systems,” she said. “All this has made it possible to care for our elderly sisters in the monastery and keep them a significant part of our multigenerational community where their wisdom and companionship is valued in a special way by our six sisters in initial formation.”
‘Profound Holiness’
Church officials launched the Retirement Fund for Religious in response to a crisis caused by low salaries and stipends paid to nuns and brothers who taught in schools and staffed hospitals through the 1970s. Their low earnings, compatible with their vows of poverty, kept costs down, but, as a result, today's retired religious receive on average only $3,874 a year in Social Security benefits, compared to the average individual benefit for the general population, $10,836. Normally, younger religious would help offset retirement expenses, but due to a decline in vocations, elderly members far outnumber young, income-earning members.
Hundreds of institutes have sold property and other assets, but many do not have saleable real estate.
The Retirement Fund collects and distributes money on a per-capita basis to communities in need. “The rationale for a national collection to be distributed to mother-houses nationally with a per-capita formula is that the religious who may retire at their motherhouse in one state may have worked in many other dioceses/states,” Sister Fries said. “Also, the folks the religious served may have moved from one diocese to another.”
More than 96% of donations are applied directly to the mission. Administrative, educational and assistance programs constitute less than 3%. Of the $28 million collected last year, $20 million was distributed to underfunded retirement programs and $6.4 million was distributed for emergency assistance to religious orders with critical needs.
“The depth of the appeal is found not in the soaring numbers” of retired religious, said Sister of St. Joseph Sherryl White, writing in a recent issue of America magazine, “but in the profound holiness of those religious who, after offering their entire adult lives in service, find themselves having to rely on the generosity of others.”
Mary Ann Sullivan writes from New Durham, New Hampshire.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mary ann Sullivan ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Democrats Need More Faith in Faith, Some Say
Democrats are also increasing efforts to gain the support of churches and religious groups that lean toward party positions. Abortion poses a special challenge. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, told the newspaper that in the all-important Midwestern states, the party's apparent unbending proabortion stance hurt its candidates. Ryan supports abortion rights, but believes Democrats should be less rigid on related measures, such as the partial-birth abortion ban and parental notification laws.
He asked, “In middle America, how do you argue that killing a pregnant woman is not a double homicide?”
Mel Gibson Shows Passion for Integrity
REUTERS, Nov. 19 — Mel Gibson will not be part of the growing, multimillion-dollar trend by film companies that use paid advertising, publicity campaigns and parties before Oscar night to increase the chances of their films getting an Academy Award, Reuters reported.
The competition for the coveted Oscar has become negative in past years — so much so that last year Academy officials formed a committee to tighten guidelines governing the promotion of eligible films.
Bruce Davey, Gibson's Icon Productions partner, was quoted as saying that The Passion of the Christ should be “judged on its artistic merit, not on who spends more money for advertising. That's really what the academy was meant to be and to celebrate.”
Frank Pierson, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, praised Gibson for working to restore the Oscars as a “celebration and appreciation of excellence” and for resisting the “crass commercialism that was threatening the integrity of the award.”
‘Monday Night Football’ Crosses Line
The two were interviewed by The Indianapolis Star about the promo, which included a towel-dropping incident featuring “Desperate Housewives” co-star Nicollette Sheridan. “I thought it was uncalled for,” Dungy told the Star. “I thought it was in really bad taste.”
Smith was “shocked, just like most other people were at the time. It should not have happened, and I can't believe it did happen.”
Many viewers and fans were upset that the spot aired at 9 p.m., when many children are watching television, according to the newspaper. Commenting about ABC, which is owned by the Walt Disney Co., Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell said two days after the incident, “I wonder if Walt Disney would be proud.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Parish-Closing Struggles Continue in Boston DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:BOSTON — Difficult times continue in the Archdiocese of Boston. Its effort to reconfigure the alignment of priests and parishes to better serve the needs of all Catholics in the area has been met with resistance in some corners and resignation in others. Angry laypeople in a handful of parishes have staged around-the-clock vigils. One parishioner who refused to leave his church was arrested for trespassing, though the archdiocese declined to press charges.
And Archbishop Sean O'Malley in mid-November put the properties of 16 closed parishes up for sale.
Archbishop O'Malley also issued a public letter to more clearly explain the necessity of closing 83 of 357 parishes. The letter, which was read at Masses the weekend of Nov. 14, revealed that the financial situation of the archdiocese is much worse than many people thought.
The archbishop, a Capuchin Franciscan who early in his tenure declined to live in the archbishop's mansion, urged Catholics to remember the sacrifices made by the early Church, their own ancestors and more recent immigrants, and called on Catholics to make the needed sacrifices to benefit their descendents.
“The human and material resources that we took for granted are no longer there,” he wrote. “The only way to avoid a catastrophic debacle is for us to downsize.”
He appealed to Catholics: “I know that we all have a great love for our parish and parish church, but our first love must be for Christ and the Body of Christ which is the Church.”
In response to angry parishioners who view their parishes as “viable,” he wrote: “Viability must be seen not at the parish level but at the level of the whole archdiocese. The viability of the Church's mission is at stake.”
Though he did mention the priest shortage as being a factor in the closures, perhaps the most stunning revelations concerned finances. The archdiocese is faced with a $10-million annual deficit and an unfunded pension liability of $80 million, he said. The abuse settlements are not the cause of the financial woes, according to his letter. Those were largely paid for by sale of Church property and by insurance. Rather, he referred to a 50% decline in annual income due to fallout from the scandal and stock-market troubles as major causes of the current fiscal situation.
The archbishop also described the toll the crisis is taking on him. “Closing parishes is the hardest thing I have ever had to do in 40 years of religious life. I joined the monastery knowing that I would have to do difficult things for the rest of my life, but I never imagined I would have to be involved in anything so painful or so personally repulsive to me as this.
“At times, I ask God to call me home and let someone else finish the job,” he said.
Public response varied. Stephen Pope, a theology professor at Boston College, was quoted in The Boston Globe as saying, “This is the best thing he's said — it's clear, it communicates his own anguish in a persuasive way, and he really pushes us hard to see the universality of the Church, and that sometimes individual parishes have to make sacrifices for the sake of the whole, which is the way the New Testament sees the Church.”
The letter was not received as well in other quarters. Bill Bannon, a spokesman for parishioners at St. Anselm's parish in Sudbury who are conducting a vigil, said he could empathize with the archbishop, but he was not mollified. He criticized what he termed “the mismanagement” of archdiocesan finances and said, “They're closing us because of actions or lack of actions on the part of the bishops. They need money.”
A statement released by the Council of Parishes, an alliance of parishes that have been closed or are slated to close, said, “Today's statement reflects many years of mismanagement. The Archbishop is asking for more sacrifices to atone for this mismanagement.”
The group recommended a moratorium on the church-closing process for at least six months. The archdiocese announced Nov. 11 that six parishes had been granted extensions of their closing dates and another 12 were offered extensions. None were parishes where vigils have been held, however.
Peter Borre, co-chairman of the Council of Parishes, said, “I have spoken directly to some of those parishes' representatives, and without naming names, in one case with a pretty lengthy extension, this is good news for the parishioners. In other cases, I think there is anything between skepticism and caution. This, to my mind, is piecemeal, put forward very late in the process, and I see this as an attempt by the archdiocese to stave off something they really fear, namely more vigils. Our recommendation is for a moratorium on this entire process until the middle of next year.”
Phil Lawler, publisher of Catholic World Report, described the situation outlined in Archbishop O'Malley's letter as “just horribly sad to the point of being frightening.”
“This is a horrible situation that has been building up for decades,” said Lawler, former editor of The Pilot, the Boston archdiocesan newspaper, and a resident of South Lancaster, Mass.
Asked to comment on the genesis of the problems, Lawler said, “The overwhelming cause is: Catholics don't go to church in Boston. They aren't passing the faith on to their children. They aren't sending their sons to seminary. … They aren't contributing, so there isn't any money.”
Archbishop O'Malley closed his letter with a plea for unity. “I pray that the unity Christ desired as the hallmark of his followers be ours. Only in unity can the Church's mission flourish.”
John Moorehouse is the editor of Catholic Men's Quarterly (www. houseonthemoor.com). He writes from western Massachusetts.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: John Moorehouse ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: New Irish Ambassador Sees Partnership With Vatican In New European Union DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:ROME — Philip McDonagh, the Republic of Ireland's new ambassador to the Holy See, is one of his country's most senior diplomats. His appointment, coming at a time when the Irish government has been giving an unusual amount of support to the Church, has given rise to speculation that he was given the posting to increase the chances of a papal visit next year.
McDonagh spoke Nov. 16 with Register correspondent Edward Pentin at the Palazzo Orsini in Rome.
How important is your faith to your work?
I suppose if we have a Christian faith then our work is bound to be an important expression of our relationships with other people. And work includes caring for one's children, it includes one's professional work, or it includes acting or painting or whatever activities we undertake.
But if you're a Christian, all your activities have to be undertaken with a perspective — the encyclical of the Holy Father, Laborem Exercens, which is one of his first encyclicals, brings out some very important themes about the world of work. He makes, to me, a really striking point that Adam and Eve worked in the Garden of Eden. Work was part of the creative expression of man before the fall, so it shouldn't be regarded simply as a means to an end or a necessary evil.
Now there's always the question of how one translates that into practice — for all of us. Newman said that only one man has been able to say with his dying breath, consumatum est (it is finished). Most people probably are always conscious there are things they could do better.
How have you found the job since you took up the position?
I've found it very interesting. We recently had a visit of the Taoiseach, the prime minister [Bertie Ahern], who came to Rome to sign the treaty providing for a European Constitution. But he took the opportunity to meet with all the Irish religious here in Rome, and also to visit a number of churches associated with Ireland, and we were involved in that as an embassy. He used the occasion of a reception, which my wife and I had the honor to host, to make a statement, a speech, about the Church in Ireland.
And then, of course, just last weekend, we had a visit of our own minister — the foreign minister — to mark the 75th anniversary of the embassy. Minister Dermot Ahern was invited to meet the Holy Father, and we met many other senior figures in the Curia. We had a wonderful Mass in San Giovanni Laterano, which was celebrated by many Irish bishops and where the principle celebrant was Cardinal Sodano, the secretary of state.
So the two visits of the Taoiseach and the foreign minister have been a very privileged opportunity for us at the embassy to understand what the work is about.
Did any impetus for Article 52 of the European Constitution come from Pope John Paul's emphasis on interreligious dialogue or ecumenism and his stress on the importance of dialogue?
Yes, it was influenced by suggestions made by John Paul II. I think if one looks at his statements in the year leading up to the concluding of the negotiations, I think you can see that that article does respond in some way to what the Pope had been saying.
So even though there wasn't the reference to Christianity in the Constitution, there was this provision that acted as kind of compromise?
I think this article of the European Constitution is there because it is recognized as something worthwhile. I wasn't personally involved in the negotiations of the European Constitution so I don't know the negotiating history, but this article, or something like this, was always under discussion in its own right as something worth having. It belongs in the general context of civil society and the relationship between civil society and the state or the government — the increasing recognition about Europe that the efforts of governments are best situated in the context of a thriving civil society.
How closely will you work with the Holy See to promote the Catholic faith in Ireland?
Well, that's not how I would describe the mission statement of an embassy to the Holy See. How many countries have diplomatic relations with the Holy See? It's the great majority of countries. There are, I suppose, approaching 100 residences here to the Holy See, and what are those embassies here to do?
The minister, when he was here at the weekend, referred to the voice of conscience represented by the Holy Father and the Holy See. He referred to the way in which the Holy See serves to set the direction of international life.
We know the Holy See supports the U.N. and its charter, that the Holy See favors unity and reconciliation on the continent of Europe, the Holy See wants us to overcome the gap between the rich and poor. The Holy See draws our attention to Africa. The Holy See encourages the peaceful resolution of disputes. So the Holy See is a voice of conscience that we want to relate to at a diplomatic level.
Also, the Holy See is a great source of insight on particular situations if you want to understand what's happening in certain parts of the world. The Holy See, because of the presence of the Church on the ground, often has a particularly fine understanding.
Now there is also, of course, the dimension of relations between the state and the Church, but I'm saying all this because I wouldn't characterize the role of an embassy to the Holy See in quite that phrase, but I would say that a fruitful relationship between the government and the Holy See is good for the Church. Without doubt, it's good for all the churches; it's good for society.
Do you think the Pope will visit Ireland next year as planned?
I think the possibility is there, but no decision has been taken and we don't expect any decision to be taken for several months. The bishops have issued an invitation to the Pope, which is the way these things are done, and the government, through the minister who was here at the weekend, and in other ways, has indicated that the Pope would be extremely welcome — the government and the people would warmly welcome the Pope to Ireland.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Cardinal Ratzinger Warns of Europe's ‘Decadence’
DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR, Nov. 19 — Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has condemned Europe's “decadent” new order that has made it “almost indecent to speak about God.”
In a Nov. 19 interview with the Italian daily La Repubblica, the 77-year-old Bavarian prelate charged that Europe is now dominated by a “secularism [that] is no longer that element of neutrality which opens up space for freedom for all.” Instead, he said, “It is beginning to change into an ideology which, through politics, is being imposed.”
Referring to the rejection of Rocco Buttiglione as a European Union commissioner because of his Catholic morality, the cardinal declared, “A society in which God is totally absent self-destructs. We have seen this happen during the totalitarian regimes of the past century.”
Cardinal Ratzinger said the transformation of Europe by birth control and mass immigration had resulted in a period in which “churches were emptying,” but added he was certain Christianity would recover, even if that recovery would likely occur first on “other continents.”
Pope Assails Communist Restrictions on Religion
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, Nov. 22 — Pope John Paul II has spoken out against religious oppression in Asia, demonstrating his concern for “those who suffer especially (because they) are not free to profess their faith.”
The Holy Father's Nov. 19 speech to a council of Asian bishops did not mention any specific countries, but it is believed he had in mind China and Vietnam, where governments control episcopal appointments and have forced underground Catholics loyal to the papacy. Although this has resulted in the Church being reduced to “a little flock,” the Pope stressed that “the effectiveness of evangelization does not depend on numbers,” proven by Christ himself, who began his conversion of the world with only 12 followers.
Although Le Dung, a Vietnamese government spokesman, insisted, “Religious believers, including Christians, are free to practice their beliefs,” the State Department, in a September report, cited Vietnam and China as “countries of particular concern” because of “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”
Vatican Brings Stones to Life
For instance, “There is an Athena who looks more like a Central American goddess than a Greek one, and a Trojan archer wearing multicolored matching top and leggings that could easily have been designed by Missoni,” the Guardian wrote about the exhibition.
The reconstructions are based on painstaking historical and scientific investigations. Reviewers have professed themselves amazed. Il Messagero wrote that the pieces were “disorientating, shocking, but often, splendid,” while Corriere della Sera said, “Suddenly, a world we had been used to regarding as austere and reflective has been turned on its head to become as jolly as a circus.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: African Synod Responds to Continent's Dynamic Development DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — It seems like only yesterday that Pope John Paul II convened a series of continent-wide synods of bishops to prepare for Holy Year 2000.
So it came as a bit of a sur-prise when the Pope announced in mid-November that he was calling a second African synod, to deal with new pastoral and social challenges on the continent
“Again?” was the perplexed refrain heard in more than one Vatican office after the Pope's announcement.
But a closer look reveals the reasons behind the decision, many of them tied to the fast pace of change — for good and bad — that has visited the African continent since the last synod ended in 1994.
Consider these Church devel-opments:
• Of Africa's 426 active bishops, nearly half were named between 1995 and 2004, so they never experienced the synod.
• The continent's Catholic popu-lation has increased over the same period by an estimated 30%.
• The number of parishes has increased more than 20%, the number of priests and seminar-ians around 30% and the number of women religious about 18%.
All these factors help explain why Africans on the synod's fol-low-up council began floating the idea of a second synod a few years ago.
Social Changes
The changes in Africa's social situation over the past decade have been no less dramatic:
• Ethnic and political conflicts have raged in places like Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Liberia and Ivory Coast, with estimates of up to 4 million people killed. Some 4 million more have been made refugees, and more than 10 million have been internally displaced.
• More than 20 million Africans have been infected with AIDS/HIV since 1994. In sub-Saharan Africa today, about 7.5% of all adults aged 15-49 are HIV-posi-tive.
• While Africa still lags behind the rest of the world in commu-nications technology, use of the Internet in Africa has soared in recent years. About 13 million Africans are now online.
• Urbanization in sub-Saha-ran Africa jumped by more than 15%, taxing city social services and creating a whole new urban landscape of poverty.
Vatican sources said the deci-sion to hold a second African synod came only after African bishops were quietly polled in recent months. Not everyone wanted a synod, which tradition-ally is held in Rome and con-trolled by Rome. But many African Church leaders think there will be plenty of opportunity for grass-roots participation before the synod actually takes place.
“For the people in Africa, the preparatory period is as impor-tant as the synod. And in this case, we are probably looking at several years of preparation,” said one Vatican official.
Successes
African Church leaders can point to some successes after the 1994 synod, which resulted in 76 final recommendations and a 149-page papal document outlining a pastoral plan of action for Africa.
One focus of the synod was Catholic education, and over the past decade — despite a shortage of resources — the number of Church-run schools in Africa has grown more than 10% and the number of students risen nearly 40%.
Another big change has been the higher number of African priests and laity studying abroad and even working outside Africa.
Some Catholics in Africa feel there also have been some missed opportunities since the first synod. Earlier this year, the Kenyan Catho-lic magazine New People signaled three challenges that remain:
• Permanent deacons. Despite encouragement from the 1994 synod, the permanent diaconate has not caught on in local African com-munities. There are fewer than 350 deacons in all of Africa. Part of the reason may be economics: Perma-nent deacons, like catechists, are often married and supporting fami-lies, so need a commensurate salary.
• Women. The Pope's post-synod letter recommended that bishops' conferences set up commissions to study women's problems in the Church and in society — an idea that has not been fully implemented.
• Interreligious dialogue. With many people now speaking of a global clash between Christianity and Islam — and with interreligious anxiety growing in places like Nige-ria — it is important for Africans of both faiths to deepen efforts at real dialogue and cooperation.
Perhaps more than anything, the Pope's call for a second African synod recognizes that the Church is undergoing dynamic development on the continent. For that reason, the pastoral blue-print for Africa's third millen-nium must be seen as a work in progress.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: John Thavis ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Why the Holy See Opposes All Human Cloning DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:On Nov. 19, the United Nations decided to shelve efforts to obtain a global ban on all forms of human cloning. During the debate that preceded that decision, the Holy See outlined the moral and scientific reasons for the Church's unequivocal opposition to human cloning. The statement follows:
1. The Holy See is convinced of the need to support and promote scientific research for the benefit of humanity. Thus, the Holy See earnestly encourages investigations that are being carried out in the fields of medicine and biology, with the goal of curing diseases and of improving the quality of life of all, provided that they are respectful of the dignity of the human being. This respect demands that any research that is inconsistent with the dignity of the human being is morally excluded.
2. There are two potential sources of stem cells for human research, firstly “adult” stem cells, which are derived from the umbilical cord blood, the bone marrow and other tissues and secondly, “embryonic” stem cells, which are obtained by the disaggregation of human embryos. The Holy See opposes the cloning of human embryos for the purpose of destroying them in order to harvest their stem cells, even for a noble purpose, because it is inconsistent with the ground and motive of human biomedical research, that is, respect for the dignity of human beings. However, the Holy See applauds and encourages research using adult stem cells, because it is completely compatible with respect for the dignity of human beings. The unexpected plasticity of adult stem cells has made it possible to use this type of undifferentiated, self-renewing cell successfully for the healing of various human tissues and organs, particularly in hearts damaged after myocardial infarction. The multiple therapeutic achievements that have been demonstrated using adult stem cells, and the promise they hold for other diseases, such as neurodegenerative disorders or diabetes, make efforts to support this fruitful avenue of investigation an urgent matter. Above all, it is universally agreed that the use of adult stem cells does not entail any ethical problems.
3. By contrast, research using human embryonic stem cells has been hampered by important technical difficulties. Embryonic stem cell experiments have not yet produced a single unqualified therapeutic success, not even in animal models. Moreover, embryonic stem cells have caused tumors in animal models and might seed cancer if administered to human patients. Unless these grave hazards are removed, embryonic stem cell experiments would not have any clinical application. Technical problems aside, the need to extract these cells from living human embryos raises ethical questions of the highest order.
4. The so-called “therapeutic cloning,” which would be better called “research cloning” because we are still far from therapeutic applications, has been proposed in order to avert the potential immune rejection of embryonic stem cells derived from a donor other than the host. However, the use of cloned embryonic stem cells entails a high risk of introducing cells from abnormal embryos into patients. It has been well established that most of the non-human embryos produced through nuclear transfer cloning are abnormal, with a deficiency in several of the genes (imprinted and non imprinted) necessary to the development of the early embryo. Embryonic stem cells harvested from abnormal and unfit embryos will carry their “epigenetic defects” and transmit at least part of them to their daughter cells. The transfer of such cloned embryonic stem cells into a patient would be therefore extremely hazardous: These cells might provoke genetic disorders, or initiate leukemias or other cancers. Moreover, a non-human primate model of cloning, which would be necessary in order to conduct experiments to establish safety before attempting therapeutic experiments in human beings, has yet to be developed.
5. The health benefits of therapeutic cloning are hypothetical, in as much as the method itself remains mainly a hypothesis. Thus the crescendo of hyperboles extolling the promise of this type of research might in the end undermine the very cause it pretends to serve. Indeed, even putting aside fundamental ethical considerations other than the patient's expectations, the present state of “therapeutic cloning” precludes, now and in the near future, any clinical application.
6. Scientists, philosophers, politicians and humanists agree on the need for an international ban on reproductive cloning. From a biological standpoint, bringing cloned human embryos to birth would be dangerous for the human species. This asexual form of reproduction would bypass the usual “shuffling” of genes that makes every individual unique in his/her genome and would arbitrarily fix the genotype in one particular configuration, with predictable negative genetic consequences for the human gene pool. It would also be prohibitively dangerous for the individual clone. From an anthropological standpoint, most people recognize that cloning is offensive to human dignity. Cloning would, indeed, bring a person to life, but through a laboratory manipulation in the order of pure zootechnology. This person would enter the world as a “copy” (even if only a biological copy) of another being. While ontologically unique and worthy of respect, the manner in which a cloned human being has been brought into the world would mark that person more as an artifact rather than a fellow human being, a replacement rather than an unique individual, an instrument of someone else's will rather than an end in himself or herself, a replaceable consumer commodity rather than an unrepeatable event in human history. Thus, disrespect for the dignity of the human person is inherent in cloning.
7. However, some would like to leave the prospect of “therapeutic cloning” out of this proposed international prohibition, as if it were a process different from the reproductive one. The truth is reproductive cloning and “therapeutic” or “research” cloning are not two different kinds of cloning: They involve the same technical cloning process and differ only in the goals being sought. With reproductive cloning, one aims to implant the cloned embryo in the uterus of a surrogate mother in order to “produce” a child; with “research” cloning, one aims to utilize immediately the cloned embryo, without allowing it to develop, thus eliminating it in the process. One can even affirm that any type of cloning is “reproductive” in its first stage, because it has to produce, through the cloning process, an individual autonomous new organism, endowed with a specific and unique identity, before attempting any other operation with that embryo.
8. “Therapeutic cloning” is not ethically neutral. Indeed, ethically speaking, it would even be worse than the “reproductive cloning.” In “reproductive” cloning, one at least gives the newly produced human being, innocent of his/her origin, a chance to develop and be born. In “therapeutic” cloning, one uses the newly produced human being as mere laboratory material. Such instrumental use of a human being gravely offends human dignity and humankind. The term “dignity,” as used in this position paper and in the Charter of the United Nations, does not refer to a concept of worth based on the skills and powers of individuals and the value that others may attribute to them — a value one might call “attributed dignity.”
The notion of attributed dignity allows for hierarchical, unequal, arbitrary and even discriminatory judgments. Dignity is used here to mean the intrinsic worth that is commonly and equally shared by all human beings, whatever their social, intellectual or physical conditions may be. It is this dignity that obliges all of us to respect every human being, whatever his or her condition, all the more if he or she is in need of protection or care. Dignity is the basis of all human rights. We are bound to respect the rights of others because we first recognize their dignity.
9. Honesty suggests that if one specific course of research has already demonstrated conditions for success and raises no ethical questions, it should be pursued before embarking on another that has shown little prospect of success and raises ethical concerns. Resources in biological investigations are limited. “Therapeutic cloning” is an unproven theory that may well turn out to be a dramatic waste of time and money. Good sense and the need for goal-oriented, serious basic research therefore calls on the world's biomedical community to allocate the necessary funding to research using “adult” stem cells.
10. The world cannot take two different roads: the road of those who are willing to sacrifice or commercialize human beings for the sake of a privileged few, and the road of those who cannot accept this abuse. For its own sake, humanity needs a common basis — a common understanding of humanity and a common understanding of the fundamental bases upon which all our ideas about human rights depend. It is incumbent upon the United Nations to exert every effort in the search for this basis, so that human beings may be respected as they are. To bring forward the project for an international, global prohibition of human cloning is part of this U.N. mission and duty.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Immaculate Conception Feast Highlighted This Year DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Pope John Paul II's schedule for December 2004 is, for the most part, a mirror image of preceding years: Mass for university students on Dec. 14, the blessing of the statues of baby Jesus brought to St. Peter's Square by Roman children, an exchange of Christmas greetings with members of the Roman Curia, Midnight Mass on Dec. 24 in St. Peter's Basilica, the Urbi et Orbi blessing on Christmas Day in St. Peter's Square, and Vespers and the Te Deum of thanksgiving in the Vatican Basilica Dec. 31.
And, as he always does on Dec. 8, the Holy Father will mark the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, first with Mass in St. Peter's Basilica and then with the traditional mid-afternoon visit to Rome's historic Piazza di Spagna to crown this statue of Our Lady in the heart of the Eternal City.
Dec. 8 will stand out for two reasons this year. Not only does 2004 mark the 27th time that John Paul has come to the piazza to pray and to pay homage to Our Lady, but it also celebrates the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX.
The Pope in 1996 dedicated several of his weekly audience catecheses to this dogma. At the June 12 gathering, he told the faithful: “Down the centuries, the conviction that Mary was preserved from every stain of sin from her conception, so that she is to be called all holy, gradually gained ground in the liturgy and theology. At the start of the 19th century, this development led to a petition drive for a dogmatic definition of the privilege of the Immaculate Conception.
“Around the middle of the century,” he continued, “with the intention of accepting this request, Pope Pius IX after consulting the theologians, questioned the bishops about the opportuneness and the possibility of such a definition, convoking, as it were, a ‘council in writing.’ The result was significant: The vast majority of the 604 bishops gave a positive response to the question.”
Finally in 1854, with the Bull Ineffabilis Deus, Pius IX solemnly proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception: “We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which asserts that the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of original sin is a doctrine revealed by God and, for this reason, must be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful.”
On Dec. 10, 1854, two days after proclaiming this dogma, Pius IX dedicated the newly restored patriarchal basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls in the presence of all who had been there to hear the momentous proclamation: the complete College of Cardinals, the patriarch of Alexandria and 140 bishops. Their names, in fact, are inscribed on large memorial tables that appear below the mosaics in the basilica's semi-circular apse.
When the Pope arrives at Piazza di Spagna — named for the Palazzo di Spagna, a magnificent building on the square that has housed the Spanish embassy to the Holy See since 1647 — he will place flowers at the foot of the statue of Mary Immaculate. Early in the morning of Dec. 8, Roman firemen place a garland atop the statue of Mary, and by day's end, thousands of Romans will have followed in their footsteps, offering floral homages to Mary.
Single flowers, as well as bouquets, are placed on a table at the foot of the column bearing the statue where Conventual Franciscan Friars and Minim Friars arrange them in an orderly fashion, often creating elegant wreaths.
The ancient Roman column of cipolin marble came to light in 1777 in the monastery of Our Lady of the Conception in central Rome. Brought to Piazza di Spagna in 1856 by renowned architect Luigi Poletti to celebrate the proclamation of the dogma two years earlier, the column was topped by the bronze statue of Mary Immaculate by Giuseppe Obici and rests on an octagonal base decorated by statues of the prophets Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel and David.
John Paul has celebrated the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception for 27 years — in summer-like warmth, under brilliant sunshine, in bone-chilling cold and under pouring rain. One of the most memorable visits was Dec. 8, 1993, the first time he had left Vatican City since dislocating his shoulder the previous Nov. 11.
Joan Lewis works for Vatican Information Service.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joan Lewis ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Roman Students Send Backpacks Stuffed With Love to Iraqi Kids DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:ROME — In coming weeks, countless young students in Iraq will go to school with new backpacks, notebooks, pens and pencils, crayons, construction paper, rulers, glue and pencil boxes, thanks to an initiative at another school, thousands of miles away.
Operation Backpack Iraq was launched in early October at Mary-mount International School in Rome at the behest of the school's head-mistress, Dr. Yvonne Hennigan, and its elementary- and secondary-school principals, Terrence McAndrews and Sister Paulita Kuzy.
In a letter to parents and students, Hennigan, who has a son serving in Iraq, noted that the mission statement of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, who run Marymount, includes the goal of “awakening a consciousness of social justice” and “actively and compassionately responding to the needs of others, especially the powerless, the deprived and the marginalized.”
“There are many places in the world today where people are powerless, deprived and marginalized,” Hennigan said. “However, at this time of war, the children of Iraq came to mind. Therefore, Mary-mount International is privileged to collect and send school supplies and personal goods to these needy children. The children in Iraq, some of them attending school for the first time in their life, have nothing in the way of learning instruments to assist the educational process.”
Backpack Iraq took off on Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the saint of peace and patron saint of Italy who, for centuries, has been an example of what it means to help the needy. The drive was scheduled to last until Oct. 16, Founder's Day at Marymount, but it was so successful that the deadline for donations had to be extended.
Staff, students and families worked together to collect school and personal items for young Iraqis, including small teddy bears, shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, bandages, soap, wash-cloths and towels.
Maj. Hennigan
The first shipment of the more than 60 large boxes filled with gifts — and packed with love by Mary-mount students and staff — is on its way to Iraq courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Rome. The boxes are being sent to Hennigan's son, Maj. J. Mark Hennigan, who will oversee distribution of the gifts.
Major Hennigan is commander of the 1st Battalion, 201st Field Artillery, based in Fairmont, W. Va., which provides security to convoys bringing supplies and fuel into Iraq for coalition forces and Iraqis. Though this is the battalion's primary mission, it also has the opportunity to conduct civil-affairs projects, such as Operation Backpack, to help local Iraqi villages.
“This is a great opportunity for us to provide to the Iraqi children something that they have not had in the past,” said Maj. Hennigan from his headquarters in southern Iraq. “Also, it is a great example to the Iraqi children that there are people in the world, especially other children, who care about them and their situation. I personally would like to applaud the students and families of MMI for their dedication and generosity to this project. I will personally ensure each item that has been donated gets into the hands of a needy Iraqi child.”
Marymount's Operation Backpack is a one-time initiative, but the needs of Iraqi schoolchildren will continue. Maj. Hennigan said Americans who want to make similar donations should get in touch with their local congressman (on the Internet at www.house.gov/writ-erep/), or contact the office of the adjutant general in their state (www. agaus.org/State%20Adjutants%20G eneral.htm) to ask what programs might be available.
How did the Marymount students feel about Backpack Iraq? Goff-sredo, a third-grader, said, “When the Iraqi kids wake up and can go to school with my things, then we will both be happy.”
Another third-grader, Raffaele, added, “I think the Iraqi children will feel good going to school. They can use our notebooks when they are with their friends.”
Bridget, in sixth grade, said she felt “it is important to donate these things to Iraq, a war-torn country, because I think it is so sad that innocent people are suffering. This really made me happy to see the bundles of stuff being sent to them. If Marymount was in need or Rome was in need, they would probably help us. I think it is the best thing to help people, rather than to see them suffer while we sit in luxury.”
Marymount
Marymount International is a private Catholic day school serving children from age 3 through grade 12. The current enrollment of 786 represents 62 nationalities. More than 120 students are children of ambassadors or other officials at 16 different embassies.
The school is well known in Rome for strong academics, modern facilities, a caring atmosphere and staff, and an attractive campus.
Hennigan pointed out that there are 38 Muslim students enrolled at Marymount, adding that their excitement at Backpack Iraq was “palpable.” She emphasized “the interaction at Marymount between Muslims and Christians. We also have Jewish students enrolled in our school, and all students attend the same classes and participate in sports and after-school activities. The school builds relationships among all students by recognizing the same qualities and strengths common in all of our students.
“The very diversity of our student body,” Hennigan said, “is what makes our student population so special.”
The generous reaction of those students to Backpack Iraq will doubtless make them special in the hearts of Iraqi students and their families.
Joan Lewis works for Vatican Information Service.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joan Lewis ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Scots Back St. Andrew's Holiday
BBC NEWS, Nov. 22 — The proposal to make Nov. 30, St. Andrew's Day, a national holiday is garnering increasing support in Scotland.
A poll by the whiskey distiller Glenlivet shows more than three-quarters of Scots back the idea, up from 68% in 2001. Cardinal Keith O'Brien, archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh and primate of Scotland, says his country's patron saint is “taken for granted.” Political supporters include the Scottish National Party, which believes St. Andrew's Day should be as important to Scots as St. Patrick's Day is to the Irish.
St. Andrew, brother of St. Peter, was crucified on an X-shaped cross, which became known as the St. Andrew's cross and became Scotland's national symbol after the apostle's relics were transported from Constantinople to Scotland in the eighth century.
Church Cautions Kenyan Leaders on Abortion
Speaking Nov. 21, Archbishop Nzeki supported “abstinence from sex as the best option for youth, saying it had no costs or side effects.”
Abortion has come to the forefront in Kenya after Dr. John Nyamu was charged with murder after 15 aborted babies were found in garbage bags in Nairobi earlier this year. Dr. Nyamu's defense is supported by the Kenya Medical Association.
African Priests to Re-evangelize Britain
One hundred bishops met with the blessing of Pope John Paul II in Rome in November to consider trading African parish priests for European teaching priests. England and Wales have ordained only 18 priests this year, while Nigeria has 5,000 candidates for the priest-hood.
Archbishop John Onaiyekan, president of the African Council of Bishops' Conferences, said, “Just 150 years ago, it was Europeans who were doing the evangelizing. Now we should have two churches doing the work—Africa and Europe.”
Bishop Tom Burns, representing the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, welcomed the proposal, but cautioned, “I don't think there are any real answers to the vocations crisis unless we are able to foster our own vocations and let our people feel that they have their own priests.”
Christmas Is for Charity, not Consumerism
CATHNEWS, Nov. 23 — The Australian director of Catholic Mission has called on his countrymen to celebrate the birth of Jesus by giving to charity as “a great counter-balance to the over-commercialization that all family members, particularly children, are bombarded with in the weeks before Christmas.”
The 160-year-old Catholic Mission assists children in such under-developed countries as Albania, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya and Madagascar.
In a Nov. 19 press release, Father Terence Bell wrote, “It's timely to remember that for many of the world's children, it's not a choice between computer games and (cell) phones at Christmas but a matter of where their next meal is coming from.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- **********page 7 ************ TITLE: America Needs A Mother DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:That's because it's the feast of the Immaculate Conception. This year is the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX. The doctrine, he explained, means that Mary was preserved from original sin “from the first moment of her conception” by a “singular grace and privilege” given by God “in view of the merits of Jesus Christ” as redeemer of the human race.
But Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, was named America's patron by the First Council of Baltimore in 1846 — eight years earlier.
The decision was prescient — it both anticipated the proclamation of the doctrine itself and, argues Legionary Brother Shane Johnson, the needs of the nation in our day. His reflection, our guest editorial, follows:
My country was conceived in the original sin of slavery and born on the bloody fields of revolution. My country is living in the sin of abortion and the ignorance of God. America needs the Immaculate Conception.
No matter how big and grown-up we think we are, America is still a child who needs a mother. That's why it is no simple historical coincidence that the patroness of the United States has been the Immaculate Conception for nearly 160 years. The virtues that America most needs are the virtues that Mary best exemplifies.
Prayer. Sometimes my country seems like a 7-year-old boy kneeling beside his bed at night to whip through his prayers, mumbled words he doesn't understand. He doesn't know who Jesus is but hopes that he will bless him on his math test. His favorite saint is Santa Claus. How will my country learn to pray? My country needs a mother to teach her.
Charity. My country is like a 15-year-old girl who spends an hour in the morning making herself beautiful and falls in and out of love daily. She has memorized the doctrines of her movies and her pop tunes; she is a latter-day Rapunzel pining after Mr. Right. How will my country learn what true love is? My country needs a mother to teach her.
Family. My country is a 4-year-old boy jealous of the attention lavished on his newborn sister. He doesn't understand that he is his mother's favorite, and that she has other favorites, too. How will my country learn its place in the human family? My country needs a mother to teach her.
Sacrifice. My country is a 6-year-old girl with a weight problem who just plain refuses to finish the salad on her plate and throws a temper tantrum in middle of the restaurant until she gets more fries. When will my country learn to value sacrifice? My country needs a mother to teach her.
Suffering. My country is an 11-year-old boy who has just been beaten up after school. He saw in the eyes of those who surrounded him a hatred he couldn't comprehend. The insults and the laughter hurt as deeply as the punches and the bruises. Who will console him in the darkness of his suffering? My country needs a mother who first learned to weep silently at the foot of her Son's cross.
Integrity. My country is a 13-year-old girl who has the answers to the history exam programmed into her cell phone. After all, why work hard when you can beat the system? All the CEOs do it, too; if you get caught, just buy your way out of trouble. How will my country relearn honesty and sincerity? My country needs a mother to teach her.
Simplicity. My country is a 17-year-old boy who reads Nietzsche and Camus because he knows his parents can't stand it. With the distant frown of the postmodern academic, he has written off “meaning” as “irrelevant.” He is eagerly convincing himself that morality doesn't exist because, frankly, things are just easier that way. The siren song is drowning his conscience, and he calls it “being open-minded.” How will my country learn right from wrong? My country needs a mother to teach her.
There is no substitute for a mother. Others may love me, but never as unconditionally as my mother. I may trust others, but never quite like I trust my mother. No one prays for me like my mother prays for me. And no one, not even my college professors, can teach me as much as what I learned from my mother.
What will America grow up to be? Will America save its soul? Open questions. That's why, now more than ever, America needs the Immaculate Conception.
----- EXCERPT: Dec. 8 is America's feast day. ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Board Certified?
Regarding “Abuse Board Member is Abortion Activist” (Oct. 31-Nov. 6):
The background of persons to be nominated to serve in the U.S. Bishops' National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People should be evaluated more carefully.
That one of its current members, attorney Pamela Hayes, is an abortion activist is ludicrous. Somebody who brags about promoting a practice that leads to the killing of innocent unborn children certainly does not meet the qualifications to serve on this board. When questioned about her support for abortion, she answered: “So what? What are they going to do about it?” The answer to her arrogant comment is quite clear: She should be removed from the board at once!
Raoul Carubelli
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Editor's note: Shortly after the Register published the article cited above, Pamela Hayes resigned from the National Review Board.
When a Whim Becomes a Law
Regarding “Judge Casey: Pro-Life, ProLaw?” (Editorial, Sept. 5-11):
I agree with you that it's “only through the rule of law that we will end abortion.” It is precisely Roe v. Wade itself, however — more than any other judicial decision in our history — that shredded the rule of law in this nation. The servile obeisance of the executive and legislative branches to any utterance of any justice anywhere in the United States — an obeisance often given willingly — has transformed our former republic from a government of laws to a government of men.
Thus does the right of free political speech get perverted (literally) into the right to produce and market pornography. Thus do the courts command tax increases (the Kansas City school system being the most infamous example). Thus do California judges order (order!) that Catholic charities pay for contraception. Thus do judges order (order!) the Massachusetts Legislature to allow gay “marriage.” Justices throughout the United States, often appointed for life and impeachable only with enormous difficulty, have become a “law” unto themselves: each a Caesar, basing their rulings upon nothing but their whims. And those whims now encompass even so-called “international law,” as explicitly and publicly stated by several of our current Supreme Court justices. I consider this last development to be outright treason: a betrayal of our Constitution, a betrayal of our heritage, a betrayal of the wishes of the American people.
As for Roe itself: That the Court should have discovered in our founding documents the right to abortion as having been somehow “overlooked” and “there,” in the Constitution's penumbras, all along, is preposterous. (This is actually what Roe asserts!) The truth is that Roe never has been “law.” It was the end of law as God gave it, and as originally acknowledged and respected by our Declaration of Independence and Constitution as actually written.
Aside from courageous civil disobedience, we can all pray. We must re-dedicate ourselves to our faith and to our families every day. And then we must go forth and work to overturn the prevailing view that the courts have the final say in every aspect of our lives.
John Gerard Boulet, M.D.
Austin, Texas
Silence Spurs Suspicions
Archbishop Alexander Brunett from Seattle deserves congratulations and thanks for having had the wisdom to appoint a 10-member lay review board to evaluate the 13 allegations against that diocese (“Abuse Rooted in Poor Preparation for Life of Celibacy,” Nov. 7-13). It took courage for him to take this action and to openly report the board's findings.
Wisdom and courage must be his hallmarks. I found it telling that, as a young priest serving as an academic dean at a seminary in Michigan, Archbishop Brunett tried to warn his bishop about potentially problematic seminarians, but he was branded “counterproductive” and moved to parish work. It is pathetic that his good instincts were thwarted. Back then, many priests knew about sexual abuse by fellow clergy — and they kept it a secret to avoid looking bad.
I would like to know how our Church leaders developed the mentality of silencing men of wisdom and stubbornly defending the unfit. Is this mentality still prevalent today? My guess is that it is.
That article only addressed abuse of children by homosexual priests. But what about priests who are disobedient to God (and their bishops) by having sex with women? What about all the priests who have fathered children but are shielded from all responsibility by morally clueless bishops? Why do priests who know about fellow priests having sexual relations with women stay so quiet? Is it possible that, somewhere, there is a still small voice of God questioning all these injustices, but it is branded “counterproductive”?
Ronna Devincenzi
Palo Alto, California
Incorporating Indulgences
The best way of encouraging prayers for the poor souls in purgatory is by performing indulgences. Thus I was disappointed to see that your otherwise excellent article “Prayers to Purgatory” (Nov.14-20) failed to make more than a passing mention of indulgences.
The doctrine of indulgences is still critical to Church teaching. Indeed, the Holy Father made a point of granting a special set of indulgences for the recent Jubilee Year, just to highlight their importance. And doing indulgences is easy. The Calendar of Indulgences produced by Bridegroom Press (bridegroompress.com) lists every indulgence the Church offers us in a 128-page appointment calendar that can also double as a prayer journal.
The Church has honored 20 days during the year by attaching special plenary indulgences to those days. For those who want to live the liturgical year the way the Church intends, this calendar demonstrates how to follow the bright lights of indulgenced days and prayers toward a fuller life of holiness throughout the year.
Steve Kellmeyer
Peoria, Illinois
The writer is founder of Bridegroom Press.
Online Singles Resource
Regarding “Dating for Life” (Prolife Profile, Nov. 7-13):
It is a great blessing that you recognize this ministry to singles for the pro-life apostolate it is. I've had several people respond to the dating and courtship article asking for more resources.
Please let your readers know that there are lots of resources on the single life and on dating at our website, GodofDesire.com.
I ask you and all of your readers to pray for this purity apostolate.
Dave Sloan
Atlanta
The writer is director of the singles ministry “God of Desire: From Dating to Courtship to Paradise.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Sing A Timeless Song Unto the Lord DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Regarding “Why Catholics Will Want to Sing Again” (Sept. 26-Oct. 2):
I have noticed that a number of Catholic publications, including the Register, have printed articles and editorials concerning the state of Church music — suggesting a growing or continued concern by the faithful about the state of the liturgy. The state of music, liturgy and the arts in the United States has alienated and caused disheartenment with many Roman Catholics. This should never have been the case.
The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy gives guidelines, but they are ignored by most parish music directors today. Unfortunately, the overall appreciation of the fine arts has waned in recent years. The only solution to this problem is by continued exposure to the fine arts by children — particularly sacred music. The art of sacred music can have enormous spiritual benefits to the soul, but not necessarily in an instant. All of the recent popes have referred back to St. Pius X's Motu Proprio on sacred music, Tra le Sollecitudini. It is the only concrete and practical guide to discern what constitutes sacred music. This document, too, is largely ignored (if not refuted) by most parish music directors today. The phrase “active participation” is what I believe is the source of the problem.
It is suggested by many “liturgists” that people cannot be completely involved in the sacrifice of the Mass if they do not physically use their voice and ramble through every “congregational” part of the Mass. Perhaps the words “consummate participation” should be examined and adopted by the Church. “Active participation” is far too limiting. The profane (secular) musical styles, which are used in many churches today, are categorically opposed to the purpose of music in the liturgy. St. Pius X warned of the influence of theatrical and sentimental music, which became prevalent in his time.
It is already sad that many Catholics do not have the opportunity to reap the benefits of authentic, sacred Catholic music. I hope the art of sacred music can be re-discovered and re-used in our liturgy today.
As far as “why Catholics can't sing”: Congregational singing was never a significant part of our tradition. Many Protestant traditions lacked the completeness of the Mass and Eucharist and filled the void with hymns. Also, just as not everyone is a musician, so not everyone should be forced to sing. Some people benefit far more, and absorb far more, by listening than by using their own tongues.
Steven M. Anisko
Director of Music
St. Mary of Mercy Church
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven M. Anisko ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Faith Is the RealForgotten Message Of the Declaration DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:The worst moments of Disney's new action picture, National Treasure, come at the very beginning and the very end.
The film opens with the young Benjamin Franklin Gates learning from his grandfather (played by Christopher Plummer) about the family obsession: a secret passed down from an ancestor who served as Charles Carroll of Carrollton's coachman. We see a dying Carroll, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, rushing to the White House to tell Andrew Jackson that the Founding Fathers had hidden the legendary treasure of the Knights Templar.
Not finding Jackson at home, Carroll spills the beans to the coachman, an indiscretion that ultimately spurs the grown-up Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) to steal the declaration.
It was inevitable, I suppose, that the Dan Brown approach to history would eventually be applied to the American Revolution. A flashback introduces us to the usual cast of characters, who apparently wandered off the Da Vinci Code set: pharaohs, Templars, freemasons.
George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Paul Revere are correctly identified as masons; Charles Carroll, too, incorrectly. Having looked at many sources on Carroll's life, I have never run across the claim that Carroll was a mason.
Maybe the filmmakers confused him with his cousin Daniel Carroll II, indeed a mason, or perhaps they thought nobody would care if they took liberties with the truth about a long-dead politician.
Disney might not know that the charge of masonic membership would cast doubt on the sincerity of the signer's Catholic faith, or it might not care. In a pluralistic society, artists should have the liberty to create whatever characters they find in their imaginations; but when they borrow the names of specific persons or organizations, even creative people must be bound by the essential truth of history.
The filmmakers never raise the question of how the Founding Fathers got hold of the Templars' treasure. Presumably, their masonic buddies in Europe gave them the loot to help them fight the Revolutionary War. If so, one must wonder why they buried it in a hole in the ground instead of spending it on the war, when the continental paper money was worthless and Franklin himself was moving heaven and earth to obtain money from France. Financial mastermind Alexander Hamilton must be spinning in his grave in Trinity Churchyard (which plays a prominent role in the story).
Which leads to the ending. I won't reveal what happens but will just mention one possible ending, as I would have written it, which doesn't come to pass.
In my version, Cage and company follow the clues and find the treasure room only to find it empty because the founders spent the money obtaining American freedom, a real “national treasure.” End of story. But, of course, I'm writing articles instead of big-budget action screenplays.
I must confess that I liked almost everything between the beginning and the end of National Treasure more than I probably should have. Fortunately, the screenwriters do not take the Templar theme as seriously as Brown and his disciples do — it merely serves as an excuse for a lively treasure hunt.
The fine cast, which includes stunning Diane Kruger, the endearing Justin Bartha and a scary Sean Bean, manages to enliven some very mediocre dialogue. Once one suspends disbelief in the preposterous story line, the narrative flows in a brilliantly cinematic style. Film editor William Goldenberg deserves an Oscar for his creativity.
Although National Treasure pleases as a thriller, it is depressing to see all this talent thrown away on an essentially false view of history and society. The public longs for heroism and mystery (in the film, the young Ben expresses this in his eager question, “Are we knights?”) But the filmmakers waste this impulse on Da Vinci-style nonsense. Cage's postmodern and vaguely paranoid Ben drinks a toast to the “high treason” of the Founding Fathers. But the founders were not nihilistic “rebels without a cause.” They struggled to establish a just and stable society in a vacuum of real authority.
Ben's favorite passage in the Declaration of Independence argues that when people find themselves under “despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security.”
Taken out of context, this sentence would be a recipe for anarchy. It makes sense only in the light of Jefferson's argument about the “Laws of Nature and of Nature's God.” The new American society was meant to conform to the decrees of a divine personal Lawgiver in whom the great majority of founders believed, whether they were masons or not.
Thus, from the point of view of the Catholic historian, Ben Gates' fight for recognition by an “arrogant historical community” is ironic.
It's not secularists such as Ben who are spurned by professional historians. Rather, those who see the founding for what it was, the first attempt to create a government explicitly based on the principles of natural law, are the ones denied a fair hearing. But the real “national treasure” is not a mythical hoard of antique gold. It is the natural law as described in the Christian tradition and in the declaration, still the foundation of our society and clearly legible on American hearts.
Scott McDermott's biography, Charles Carroll of Carrollton: Faithful Revolutionary, is currently available at www.scepterpublishers.org.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: What's Missing From Catholic Radio DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Never has the future of Catholic radio looked brighter. In the early 1990s, fewer than 10 Catholic stations existed around the country. Now there are about 90 stations with full Catholic programming. Groups of committed Catholics in cities such as Denver and Washington, D.C., are mounting fund-raising drives to buy more stations. Across the country, airwaves are humming with faith-filled music and information. The Gospel is being proclaimed. Hearts and souls are being converted. But something is missing.
If you love radio like I do, you will listen to a lot of it. And in tuning in to different programs, on Catholic and public radio stations, the difference in the styles of presentation is startling. Notice that I'm not talking about the content. The content of any Catholic radio show has to remain faithful to the magisterium. That is because there is only one truth, and the Church possesses it. However, the way a program or segment is presented can be just as important as the content.
The Medium
The reason is simple: Radio is the most creative, intimate and personal of the mediums. But you wouldn't know it if you listened to a typical Catholic station. In comparison, tune in to a public-radio program, especially “All Things Considered,” “This American Life” or “A Prairie Home Companion.” Or hear the documentaries or feature stories done by radio producers David Isay, Joe Richman or the Kitchen Sisters.
These shows and producers bring to life different topics pertaining to the human condition and in the news by using various radio storytelling techniques such as ambient sound, sound effects and background music. The stories are crafted to have a definitive beginning, middle and end with conflict, emotion and humor sprinkled in throughout. As a result, the listener is often rewarded with “driveway moments” — the time spent in your car in the driveway after you arrive at home, waiting to see how a story ends before turning off the ignition and going inside.
Meanwhile, the majority of talk programming on Catholic radio stations are lecture or talk shows, with a host and guests and some phone calls from listeners with questions or comments. I love listening to those shows; they are faith-filled and faithful. But oftentimes the content presented only fills people's heads with catechetical information.
My hope is that Catholic radio includes more programs that offer stories from people's souls, aimed at listeners' hearts — the kind of stories that captivate a listener into having those driveway moments. As a journalist who has been trained at National Public Radio and has taught radio, it makes me sad to know that the full, intimate power of radio is not being unleashed on Catholic airwaves. The Gospel message demands it.
For Catholic radio to mature, for it to gain new listeners, for it to fulfill the Holy Father's call for “a commitment not to a re-evangelization but to a New Evangelization — new in ardor, methods and expression,” Catholic radio has to utilize the entire range of storytelling forms available — from audio diaries to vox pop (“voice of the people” segments) to radio dramas to skits to documentaries to feature stories.
It needs more stories that put a human stamp on the vibrant faith of lay and religious Catholics who are striving to be holy and working hard to bring the good news to others in their lives, actions and ministries. It also needs more programs that illustrate faith in action.
What I would like to see is a radio production and training company that would gather together talent. I'd like to hear from Catholics, across the country and from all cultures, with radio or journalistic experience who know how to tell stories — playwrights and actors who want to create radio dramas, imaginative and creative people who might not have a radio background but who are interested in learning how to interview and gather sound.
We need to produce, coordinate, teach and inspire others to produce faithful-to-the-magisterium and faith-filled stories and programs that would evangelize and catechize using public radio production values and storytelling techniques.
One example would be a Catholic variety show — think “A Prairie Home Companion” — a show filled with skits, music and short dramas that would entertain while educating. Another would be a show on Divine Mercy that would profile Catholics — the ones you sit next to in the pews but know nothing of their lives — who have experienced God's mercy or are striving to incorporate the Divine Mercy message as a way of life. Excerpts from the diary of St. Faustina Kowalska, whom Jesus revealed the Divine Mercy devotion to, would be weaved in throughout the show.
The means are there to make programs such as these available to Catholic stations across the country. Catholics must also train people at stations that want local shows to offer content that moves beyond the talk-show format. The technology is out there to make all of this possible. Donors to support this kind of production company, I'm praying, are out there, too. What is needed are people willing to become disciples with microphones.
In dreaming and praying about Catholic radio, I see a new generation of Catholics who have the necessary training, passion and God-inspired desire to use the creative talents God blessed them with — but who don't have the outlets or the resources — to create and place imaginative programs on the Catholic airwaves.
In 1999, Pope John Paul II issued a call that should be heeded by storytellers and radio people:
“Art must make perceptible, and as far as possible attractive, the world of the spirit, of the invisible, of God,” the Holy Father said in his “Letter to Artists.” “It must therefore translate into meaningful terms that which is in itself ineffable. Art has a unique capacity to take one or other facet of the message and translate it into colors, shapes and sounds that nourish the intuition of those who look or listen. It does so without emptying the message itself of its transcendent value and its aura of mystery. The Church has need especially of those who can do this on the literary and figurative level, using the endless possibilities of images and their symbolic force.”
Carlos Briceño writes from Seminole, Florida.
He can be reached at Catholicradio123@aol.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceno ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Sued for Speech: Catholic Answers and Archbishop Burke DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:The power to tax is the power to destroy, Chief Justice John Marshall wrote in 1819.
Two recent cases are trying to use that power against two outspoken defenders of Church teaching. In late October, just before the presidential election, the archdioceses of Denver and St. Louis were hauled before the Internal Revenue Service to have their status as tax-exempt charitable organizations revoked. The reason? Setting out Catholic teaching for Catholic voters.
These cases seek to silence religious institutions, especially Catholic ones, in the public square by threatening to ruin them financially. While these particular suits might not succeed, they further normalize the hostile treatment of religious institutions in America. They are also the latest examples in a disturbing trend: excluding religious organizations from benefits otherwise generally available simply because of faith. For example, a federal court in Washington, D.C., recently ruled that volunteers teaching in Catholic schools could not be eligible for the nationwide AmeriCorps program because of the risk their participation would constitute “impermissible government indoctrination.”
Other courts have gone one step further and required actions that directly contradict Catholic teaching. Courts in California and New York, for example, have both ruled that Catholic hospitals must provide contraceptives as part of their employee health insurance coverage despite acknowledging that doing so violates Catholic teaching. The Supreme Court has refused review of the cases, and so they remain the law for the foreseeable future.
Behind these complaints against the archdioceses is an organization called Catholics for a Free Choice. It is not Catholic at all but merely a front group for anti-Catholic propaganda. “Catholics” for a Free Choice has also targeted several other Catholic organizations such as Priests for Life and Catholic Answers Inc. through additional IRS complaints. The bishops have admonished the group on several occasions for improperly calling itself Catholic. The bishops are right to condemn the group: These lawsuits are clearly designed to exile the Catholic voice from American politics.
The complaints argue that written statements by archbishops Raymond Burke of St. Louis and Charles Chaput of Denver run afoul of IRS regulations that forbid a tax-exempt charitable organization such as a church from campaigning for or against a particular candidate. Specifically, the lawsuits target written statements by the archbishops in the months leading up to the election.
One complaint cites a pastoral letter by Archbishop Burke in which he set out the requirement that Catholic voters consider a candidate's stance on abortion, embryonic stem-cell research and euthanasia, what the archbishop called “intrinsic evils,” before voting. The complaint against the Denver Archdiocese is similar. It focuses on Archbishop Chaput's column in the diocesan newspaper in which he stated that politicians “who publicly ignore Catholic teaching about the sanctity of human life are offering a dishonest public witness.” He further stated that Catholics should vote based on the application of Church teachings on issues such as stem-cell research and abortion.
However, the archbishops did not support one particular candidate over the other, which is what the IRS regulations forbid. The press release accompanying one of the complaints acknowledges that the archbishops did not identify individual politicians in their statements. Instead, the complaints rely on supposed “code words” used by the archbishops to disguise their intent, such as “pro-life.” Accordingly, the argument goes, the bishops were implicitly campaigning for President George W. Bush, or against Sen. John Kerry, based upon these candidates' positions on abortion and other life issues.
In return for the “privilege” of tax exemption, the group argued in its press release, the archbishops “agreed not to participate in election campaigns in ways that constitute an endorsement or opposition to specific candidates, explicitly or implicitly.” But the regulations do not forbid organizations from presenting positions rooted in religious teaching.
There are many troubling things about these complaints. First, if successful, they would completely eviscerate the bishop's office of preaching Catholic teaching to his flock. While every person must vote according to his or her own conscience, the bishops have the responsibility to help Catholic voters form their consciences in the light of Catholic teaching and to clearly express that teaching on a range of issues. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to express Catholic teaching in a vacuum.
Must the bishops cease speaking on issues such as the environment, labor or poverty and social justice? These complaints seek to impose a gag order on the Catholic hierarchy and in doing so deliberately seek to undermine the Church institutional teaching authority.
The complaints also make an implicit assumption about religious belief that has become enshrined among secular elites and in the courts. Specifically, the complaints create a false separation between faith and action that requires voters to act according to an objective standard shorn of any religious content. Choosing to act according to faith is perceived as somehow illegitimate. Not only is this untenable from a Catholic perspective but also, as religiously-inspired movements from abolition and temperance to the civil rights movement demonstrate, contrary to American history.
“Catholics” for a Free Choice argues that it is not infringing “on either the right to free speech or the practice of religion” in bringing these complaints, but that is disingenuous, at least from an organization that claims to be Catholic. The practice of religion is inseparable from action for Catholics, and faith should inform every action, including voting.
The IRS complaints, combined with the recent decisions against Catholic institutions, herald a new era in the attack on religious expression.
This new era will focus on making the existence of religious organizations more difficult through the application of seemingly neutral bureaucratic rules. Catholics need to be alert to this new tactic and prepared to assert their right to be equal participants in the nation's political life.
Gerald J. Russello is a fellow of the Chesterton Institute at Seton Hall University.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Gerald J. Russello ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Juan Plus One DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:One of my early preoccupations after I became a Catholic was Mary. I was taken, in particular, with Marian apparitions. I read all I could on the phenomena, trying to overcome all my negative prejudices.
While I enjoyed, and was intrigued by, the accounts from Fatima, Lourdes, Medjugorje, LaSalette and Garabandal, I had a problem. Based on the people involved in each story, I was coming to the conclusion that Mary only appeared to children or teen-agers. She also seemed to have a preference for the company of females. This seemed unfair to me since I was, by that time, as far from being a teenager as I was from being a female.
I wondered: Is it possible for a full-grown man to identify with — and have a relationship with — Jesus' mother?
The answer began unfolding as my wife and I started planning a trip to Mexico City. Our itinerary called, of course, for a stop at the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
As I read about Mary's celebrated appearance to a man — Juan Diego — I assumed he must have been young, too. I soon learned that I was wrong. Many historians now believe that, instead of being a poor peasant, he had a successful mat-making business, owned a good deal of property and was quite well off. Such accomplishments would not be likely for a youngster. Then I read that he was a widower, his wife having died about two years before he met Our Lady on Tepeyac Hill. So how old was he?
It took a little research, but I ended up reading in three different books that Juan Diego was likely between 55 and 58 when Mary first appeared to him. I jumped for joy. At last there was an “apparition person” an older guy could identify with.
That was exciting to me. But then came the really exciting part: Juan Diego lived for 17 more years after the Marian encounters. That was much longer than the average life expectancy in 16th-century Mexico.
When Archbishop Juan de Zumarraga built a chapel to display the cloak (or tilma) upon which the Blessed Mother's likeness had been miraculously impressed when she spoke to Juan Diego, he needed a caretaker for it. What better choice than Juan Diego?
There he lived in a little room attached to the chapel, spending the days telling his stor y to visitors. They were people living under a religion that told them child sacrifice was necessar y in order to appease the gods. I can picture him explaining the differences between the Aztec religion and Christianity, telling them that God himself is the one who offers the child in order to make atonement for the people, and urging them to embrace a religion of love in place of a religion of fear. What a relief that must have been to the Indians.
And what a difference it made in the culture. In an eight-year span, 8 million people converted to the Catholic faith, and the culture of death was eventually vanquished. Even today, Mexico is one of the more pro-life countries in the world.
Learning about Juan Diego gave me the realization that anyone could get to know Mary — at any age and with tremendous results.
Dec. 9 is the feast of St. Juan Diego. Do you know where your Marian devotion is?
Bob Horning writes from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Bob Horning ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Motherly Magnanimity One Mile High DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Saint Mother Frances Cabrini prayed here. So did “Buffalo Bill” Cody, the “unsinkable” Molly Brown and, during World Youth Day 1993, Pope John Paul II.
They were drawn here for different reasons, but it seems safe to say that all were moved by the sight of this French Gothic Revival fortress in the heart of downtown Denver, just three blocks from the gold-domed Colorado Capitol.
It's the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, the first U.S. church the Holy Father designated a minor basilica (in 1979). What a fitting place it will be to observe the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary come Dec. 8, a holy day of obligation.
Having visited more than once, I can attest to the edifice's worthiness to bear the title of minor basilica — which is bestowed on churches outside of Rome whose presence is considered vital to the functioning of the Catholic Church.
Outside, the twin 210-foot stone spires command attention even from disinterested passers-by. Fifteen bells, visible from the open Gothic windows of the east tower, form one of the most resonant chime systems in the country.
Topped with a green ceramic-tile roof, the exterior was built to last: an Indiana Bedford limestone superstructure and a foundation of granite quarried from Gunnison, Colo. Sculpted brass doors commemorate the 1993 papal Mass.
Singing Walls
Stepping inside during the day, you'll find the nave bathed in light streaming in through some 75 stained-glass windows. Dating to 1912, these were hand-crafted at the Royal Bavarian Art Institute, a Munich studio that would later be destroyed in World War II. The colorful windows contrast with the white marble of the altar, statuary and bishop's chair imported from Carrara, Italy, the famed quarry Michelangelo favored.
Marble from Marble, Colo., forms the bases of the white Corinthian columns and is used in other elements in the vestibules, balustrades and stairs. The Stations of the Cross are ivory.
The cathedral parish began in 1860, at a different location, with a humble structure dedicated to the Blessed Mother. It was known simply as St. Mary's. When its founder, Father Joseph Machebeuf, became Colorado bishop, he changed its name to Immaculate Conception.
The cathedral building was envisioned by Bishop Nicholas Matz, who succeeded Bishop Machebeuf. Though the cornerstone was laid in 1906 in its current and third location, it was not dedicated as the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception until Oct. 27, 1912.
The cathedral has a storied legacy as a musical powerhouse. This was established by Msgr. Joseph Bosetti, its first choir director, an Italian known as a Western musical pioneer. A prominent choir loft contains the original Kimball 3,000-pipe organ. According to Dr. Horst Bucholz, the current music director, the cathedral has some of the nation's best acoustics for choral and organ music. Traditional hymns are featured at the 10:30 a.m. Sunday Mass, as well as in the annual cathedral-concert series. The 6:30 p.m. young-adult Mass on Sunday is the best attended of all Masses here and features a contemporary choir.
Archbishop Charles Chaput is a frequent celebrant.
“For nearly a century, our cathedral has been a sign of Christ's presence against the backdrop of the Rockies,” he has said. “As the mother church of our archdiocese, it belongs to all Catholics in northern Colorado, and I hope more and more Coloradans and visitors rediscover its beauty in the coming months through personal visits and prayer.”
Worth Traveling For
The inner-city parish, which comfortably seats 900 people, has long been home to a broad range of parishioners, from the rich and famous to the poor and destitute.
It is such a compelling place that most of its 800 registered families do not even live in its boundaries. Mary Ellen Lederman, parish administrator, says that number is deceptive since many more people are in unofficial regular attendance — a telling indicator of just how strong a draw the cathedral remains.
Father Philip Meredith, the cathedral rector and a Colorado native, extends a welcome to all to “come and avail yourself of one of the crown jewels of the Queen City of the Plains.”
Dr. Thomas Noel, a University of Colorado history professor and an author known locally as “Dr. Colorado,” has long promoted the cathedral as a regional and national landmark. In his 1989 book Colorado Catholicism, he called the cathedral the “cornerstone” of the Catholic faith in the state.
Webster's defines “corner-stone” as “the basic, essential or most important part; foundation.” Dr. Colorado knows whereof he speaks.
Mary Manley writes from Littleton, Colorado.
----- EXCERPT: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Denver ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mary Manley ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- **********page 13********** TITLE: Making Christmas Reverent DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Now that we're well into Advent, the time has come to make more immediate preparations for Christmas.
A few families we know actually wait until Christmas Eve to put up the tree and decorate their homes. Their perseverance in swimming against the cultural current is admirable.
In our own family, we've compromised a bit, and decorate during the last week or so of Advent. A number of signs in the Church's liturgy indicate that this is fitting.
Gaudate Sunday
On the third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, the pink candle is lit at Mass, and we're called to “Rejoice! The Lord is near!” (Entrance Antiphon).
As a family, we take this as our cue to begin playing Christmas tapes and compact discs. Sometimes, we do a little simple decorating, such as laying fresh evergreen branches on the windowsills. We also replace the branches in our home Advent wreath with fresh ones.
Then, on Dec. 17, the liturgy moves into high gear in anticipation of our Lord's birth. At each Mass until Christmas, we beg our Savior to come into our lives, using one of his messianic names drawn from Old Testament prophecies.
These petitions are called the “O Antiphons” (“O wisdom, who came from the mouth of the most high …” “O Lord and ruler …” “O root of Jesse …”). If you attend daily Mass during this time, you'll hear them in the Alleluia verse before the Gospel. They're also recited at evening prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours.
The O Antiphons are meant to stir our souls to the very depth of longing for our Savior, and they will if we meditate on them. Whether the children and I make it to Mass on these days or not, we make it a point to read the day's O Antiphon very slowly and solemnly at dinner each night just after we say grace.
When dinner ends, we sing the appropriate verse of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” because this hymn is really a musical setting of the O Antiphons. (If you try this, note that the hymn's first verse is often skipped until Dec. 23.) Each succeeding night, we add a new verse of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” and sing the previous ones, until by Dec. 23 we're singing all seven verses.
The Fourth Sunday
By this point, it feels more appropriate to shop for a Christmas tree, decorate the house, and do all the holiday baking. Traditionally, our tree and house lights go up the weekend before Christmas. (Since my husband routinely threatens the kids with his childhood practice of no-tree-till-Christmas-Eve, they're more than relieved that we do it as soon as this!)
Around this time, too, the manger figures of Mary, Joseph and the donkey begin traveling from one end of the house to the living room. The youngest children love to move them closer each day. They arrive on the morning of Dec. 24.
Every family has its own Christmas Eve customs, many based on ethnic traditions. All are lovely.
Because of my heritage, we follow some Polish traditions. We scatter clean bits of straw over the tablecloth to remind us of the stable, and set one empty place to let our Lord know how much we want him to be with us. We share an unleavened wafer called Oplatki, a sign of family love and unity.
Following dinner, we shift back to American customs and take a driving tour of neighborhood light displays. By the time we return, it's close to bedtime for those who are too young for midnight Mass. Our last Christmas Eve ritual is a candlelight procession carrying the figure of the infant Jesus to the manger while singing “Silent Night.”
Long Christmas
There is no need to describe our family's routine on Christmas Day — it must closely resemble everyone else's. But we continue to celebrate Christmas during the 12 days that follow.
On Christmas night, following a European folk custom, we place one more present for each child under the tree. This custom comes from the notion that the generous three kings are known to leave presents for good boys and girls. (We don't trek out to the stores to buy something extra. We simply hold back some of the Christmas stash for this.)
On the morning of Dec. 26, the figures of the three kings embark on a journey from the eastern side of the house. They'll arrive at the manger on Epiphany Sunday.
We try to do most of our holiday entertaining during the 12 days of Christmas rather than before. It's more relaxing both for us and our guests, as well as liturgically suitable. Our home-schooling group also holds an Epiphany party during early January.
Another way to keep the 12 days interesting is to observe the various feasts — the Holy Innocents, Saint Stephen, Saint John the Apostle, the Holy Family. You can explain each feast as it comes, go to Mass or do the day's Scripture readings at home. Festive recipes to accompany these feasts can be found in A Continual Feast (Ignatius Press) (Ignatius Press) and Catholic Traditions In Cooking (Our Sunday Visitor).
If Advent and Christmas are observed by incorporating some of the ideas described here, I believe some positive things will happen.
That harried pre-Christmas feeling that comes to parents who try to do everything at once will decrease. You'll help your children channel their high holiday spirits in more positive unselfish directions. Most importantly, having spent Advent as a true preparation for Christ's coming, your family will approach his altar on Christmas Day “caught up in the love of the God we cannot see” (from the Preface to Eucharistic Prayer for Christmas).
Daria Sockey writes from Venus, Pennsylvania.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Daria Sockey ----- KEYWORDS: Eduction -------- TITLE: Do They Know It's 'Jesus Time' At All? DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:It's not lost on kids that, this time of year, everywhere they turn their attention — from store windows to neighborhood light displays to songs on the radio — someone is doing something to rev them up for Christmas.
The good news is: This most electric of seasons provides parents with plenty of opportunities to focus tuned-in little ears and eyes on what, exactly, Catholics really celebrate each Dec. 25.
We can start by helping children understand that December is not just a long footpath between Thanksgiving and Christmas, nor simply a time of year to be especially jolly. December means Advent — a time of active, yet introspective, waiting.
How to communicate that message to racing young minds? Few activities calm the preoccupied gift recipient like a read-along. Here are some titles that can help turn mad materialism into joyful — and peaceful — anticipation.
JESUS IS BORN
written by Ester de Pilato
translated by Patricia Edward Jablonski, FSP
illustrated by Maria Grazia Boldorini
Pauline, 2002 10 pages, $6.95
To order: (800) 836-9723 or www.pauline.org/store
The birth of Jesus is presented for very young children in this chunky board book. Toddlers will be engaged by the extra thick pages, which give the impression of a three-dimensional manger scene. Meanwhile, the simple language (“Jesus is God's Son. He came to earth as a little baby. This is how it happened …”) and cheerful illustrations will appeal to slightly older children. A great introduction to the Christmas story, presented in a durable and inviting format. Ages toddler to 5.
I SEE A STAR
written by Jean Marzollo
illustrated by Suse MacDonald
Scholastic, 2002
32 pages, $7.95 Available in bookstores
In this unique rebus book, 20 children join forces to perform a Christmas pageant. Young readers will enjoy seeing children similar to themselves as they dress up and pretend to be Mary, Joseph, angels, manger animals, the star of Bethlehem and even the baby Jesus. Best of all, children will enjoy decoding the story, which is written completely in a rebus format, without the inclusion of conventional spelling. Thus, a picture of an eye means “I”, the letter C means “see” and so on. Perfect for budding readers; with a little assistance, even preschoolers will be able to decode and enjoy this warm, fun-filled text. Ages 3 to 8.
TO HEAR THE ANGELS SING:
A CHRISTMAS POEM
written by W. Nikola-Lisa
illustrated by Jill Weber Holiday House, 2002 32 pages, $16.95 Available in bookstores
This rhymed retelling of the story of Jesus' birth is a perfect choice for preschoolers and grade-school children alike. The illustrations are large, vibrant and sufficiently detailed to draw in young readers. The words provide a good match. They are simple, repetitive and singable. The poem's cadence fits well with “Mary Had a Little Lamb” (“She gave Him birth in Bethlehem, Bethlehem, Bethlehem/ She gave Him birth in Bethlehem, among the hay and sod”). Add a few simple hand motions and you have the start of a classroom performance or a delightful family Christmas tradition. Ages 4 and older.
BABUSHKA
retold by Sandra Ann Horn
illustrated by Sophie Fatus
Barefoot Books, 2002 32 pages, $16.99 Available in bookstores
In this Russian folktale, Babushka is too busy cleaning to join the kings following the star. One night as she sleeps, an angel sings of a baby born in a stable. Babushka wakes with a start. Placing her shawl and a few presents in a basket, she sets out for Bethlehem. She meets others on the way needing her help and gives to them what she has. Babushka arrives at the stable empty-handed and embarrassed. There she finds the infant wrapped snugly in her shawl. “Everything you gave away with love,” Mary consoles Babushka, “you gave to my son, also.” Ages 5 and older.
BRIGID'S CLOAK:
AN ANCIENT IRISH STORY
written by Bryce Milligan
illustrated by Helen Cann
Eerdmans Books, 2002 32 pages, $16 Available in bookstores
In this legend, a Druid from the deep forest knocks on the door of a hut where a Christian slave woman has just given birth. He wraps the infant, Brigid, in a blue cloak, saying, “This cloak will be the sign of your God's favor.” Some years later, the young girl, now a shepherdess, lays fresh hay in the stable and kneels to pray. Upon rising, she realizes she is in a different stable in a different land. There Brigid wraps her tattered cloak around Mary and goes to fetch water. When she returns, Joseph hands her the newborn, whom Brigid lovingly settles in the manger. Brigid awakens to her own mother calling her name. Has she been dreaming? Her cloak — now sparkling with the stars of the sky — tells another tale. Historical profile of St. Brigid included. Ages 5 and older.
THE FIRST NOEL
designed by Jan Pienkowski
Candlewick Press, 2004 5 pages, $12.99 Available in bookstores
Many books tell the story of Jesus' birth, but few as cleverly as this “artwork in the round.” Pienkowski — with the assistance of a paper engineer, no less — has c r e a t e d a series of three-dimensional silhouettes. Just open the book and the white silhouettes pop away from the s t r i k i n g red background. Push the front cover to meet the back cover and tie the covers' decorative red shoestrings together. The result is a carousel in the shape of a standing star. Each of the five panels presents a scene of the Nativity, starting with the Annunciation and ending with the visit of the Wise Men. Biblical text accompanies each tableau. Ages 8 and older.
THE DONKEY'S
CHRISTMAS SONG
written and illustrated
by Nancy Tafuri
Scholastic, 2002 32 pages, $16.95 Available in bookstores
When baby Jesus is born, each of the stable animals welcomes him in its own special way. The doves coo, the cows moo, and the sheep bleat. But it's the shy donkey whose funny braying makes the baby laugh with joy. The reassuring storyline, repeated animal sounds and oversized watercolor illustrations offer readers a great invitation to think about the very first Christmas. Ages 3 to 8.
BETHLEHEM
text from the RSV Bible,
Catholic edition
illustrated by Fiona French
Ignatius, 2001 32 pages, $15.95 To order: (800) 651-1531 or www.ignatius.com
The traditional biblical narrative is recorded here and accompanied by stunning illustrations done in the style of stained glass.
Although the formal language may be challenging for very young children, readers of all ages will find themselves caught up in the beauty of the Christmas story as it unfolds in these beautiful and inspiring scenes. Ages 6 and older.
Patricia Crawford writes from Winter Park, Florida.
Kerry Crawford writes from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
----- EXCERPT: Children's Book Picks: Advent Special ----- EXTENDED BODY: Patricia A. Crawford and Kerry A. Crawford ----- KEYWORDS: Eduction -------- TITLE: Mother's Little Helper DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:A MOTHER'S RULE OF LIFE: HOW TO BRING ORDER TO YOUR HOME AND PEACE TO YOUR SOUL
by Holly Pierlot
Sophia, 2004 224 pages, $14.95 To order: (800) 888-9344 or sophiainstitute.com
Running a home and caring for a family can be a messy, disorganized business. Like many mothers, I've tried various “home organization” schemes over the years in an effort to balance my priorities and make more efficient use of my time. Many of these programs have worked for a little while. Eventually, though, I've rejected each as ill-suited for my family's lifestyle.
I didn't need to look any further than the back cover of Holly Pierlot's A Mother's Rule of Life: How to Bring Order to Your Home and Peace to Your Soul to figure out that this book would be different. Pierlot is a Catholic homeschooling mother of five. Now here was a woman I could take seriously.
Pierlot's approach to household and family organization is distinctly Catholic. Her Mother's Rule is similar to the Rules that govern many religious communities; it seeks to recognize the various duties of a mother's vocation and then create a detailed, comprehensive schedule of daily activities so that all obligations are met and days flow smoothly.
The Mother's Rule is organized into five “P's” that Pierlot considers the most basic priorities of the married vocation: prayer, person, partner, parent and provider. She devotes a chapter to each of these priorities, drawing on personal experiences in these areas and discussing how she went about translating each of them into her daily schedule of activities.
While using her own family as an example, Pierlot stresses the importance of setting one's own priorities and designing personalized schedules according to one's unique responsibilities and their family's particular needs. She also discusses some of her own struggles since beginning the “Rule” and offers constructive suggestions of ways to handle them.
In describing the processes she went through in establishing her rule, Pierlot shares many details of her own spiritual history and personal struggles. Some readers might even be a bit uncomfortable with her intimate descriptions of her experiences with “spiritual warfare” and need for “deliverance.” It worked for me.
“It was only when I reached the point of getting bored, after my Rule was established, that I was free enough to open my mind and my heart to God; to be internally attentive to him and to be conscious of doing all for the love of him,” she writes. “It was then that I experienced his profound presence, which, in turn, inspired a new love for my family. So a Mother's Rule leads to recollection: that deep calm and quiet of the interior life of our souls. Freed from outside concerns, we become more peaceful, more in touch with our inner nature, and we discover our hearts.”
Pierlot has written a practical book that is a useful resource for any Catholic mother who struggles to maintain spiritual health and an active prayer life while still meeting her obligations to husband, children, friends, work, home and herself. In other words, A Mother's Rule of Life is beneficial reading for any Catholic mother.
Danielle Bean writes from Belknap, New Hampshire.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Danielle Bean ----- KEYWORDS: Eduction -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Persistent but Poor
Sister Francesca “has no worldly concerns,” said the Chronicle feature. But when it comes to the af fairs of the university, “she is shrewd and persistent.”
A successful fundraiser for the 2,800-student, commuter university, she leads an independent board of tr ustees composed of what the newspaper called “strong-willed, successful professionals.” Says one: “Sometimes it's tough to say ‘no’ to somebody in a habit.”
Land Rich
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, Nov. 19 — The university announced that recent purchases of land, including 50 acres of adjacent proper ty formerly owned by the federal government, has made CUA, at 200 acres, “by far the largest campus in Washington.”
The expansion was noted by Vincentian Father David O'Connell, president of the university, in a repor t at the U.S. bishops' recent meeting in Washington.
Father O'Connell also repor ted that current enrollment, at 2,760 undergraduate and 2,900 graduate students, is the highest it has been since the mid-1970s to the late 1970s.
North American College
NORTH AMERICAN COLLEGE, Nov. 19 — The U.S. national seminar y in Rome has under taken a $25 million capital campaign with more than half that sum slated to increase the college's endowment.
Some $10.7 million would be used to make improvements at the seminar y and at the 400-year-old Casa Santa Maria, the graduate house for priests in the center of Rome.
A national fundraising campaign will begin this coming spring.
New President
An author, newspaper columnist, speaker and retreat director, Father Rol-heiser recently completed a term as general councilor for Canada for his religious community, the Oblates of Mar y Immaculate. He will take up his new assignment in August.
Throughout his priest-hood, he has taught theology and philosophy at Newman Theological College and at Seattle University in Washington state.
Per fect 100%
AVE MARIA SCHOOL OF LAW, Nov. 5 — For the second consecutive year, the school's graduates achieved the highest pass rate among all Michigan law schools on the state bar examination.
The law school's second graduating class achieved a 100% pass rate among its first-time exam takers — significantly higher than the 73% pass rate of all first-time test takers in the state.
The graduates of the University of Michigan finished second with 89% of its graduates passing. The only other Catholic law school in the state, the Jesuits' University of Detroit Mercy, saw 63% of its graduates pass the bar.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Eduction -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Covenant Marriages
FOXNEWS.COM, Nov. 9 — Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and his wife plan to renew their marital vows in a “Covenant Marriage” ceremony on Valentine's Day. He hopes to encourage the Covenant Marriage Movement, which requires couples to obser ve a waiting period before marr ying and to complete pre-wedding counseling — thereby reducing the divorce rate.
Doctors Unite With Church
EWTN, Nov. 15 — Joining forces with Chile's bishops, the Medical Federation of Ecuador has denounced the abor tifacient nature of the “morning-after” pill and announced its suppor t for calls to have the drug removed from pharmacies. Despite the claims of the manufacturers, Luis Sanchez, president of the medical federation, said the drug works as “a micro abor tion.” The bishops have petitioned the national Ministr y of Health to take the drug off the market.
Islamic ‘No’ to Euthanasia
Reason 1 It's your way to relive the Last Supper.
Reason 2 When was the last time you prayed too much?
Quick Tip Be early. Would you come late to your wedding? (Women, don't answer!)
Reason 3 If you want to spend an eternity with Christ, you need to get to know him now.
Reason 4 It's the central, necessary activity of Christian worship (Luke 22:14-23; John 6:53ff; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
Reason 5 It's your best way to identify yourself with Christ's sacrifice on the cross.
Reason 6 Some of the greatest people in history made it a habit to go to Mass (St. Francis, Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II …)
Quick Tip Be well dressed. Would you come dressed for jogging if you were invited to the White House?
Reason 7 Wise people invest money for the future. How much more should we invest in eternal life?
Reason 8 It has to be better for you than TV.
Reason 9 If you've been to confession, you get to receive Jesus Christ. If you find a better deal, do that instead.
Quick Tip Forgotten what to do at Mass? You'll remember. It's like riding a bicycle! Follow the Mass closely with a helper: missalette, missal or Magnificat.
Reason 10 If you knew Jesus would be somewhere, would-n't you go see him?
Reason 11 Guaranteed Bible readings. Countless lives have been changed by Scripture. Might yours?
Reason 12 Statistics say that people who go to church are happier and less stressed out.
Reason 13 It's the best way to pray for your family and friends — and to cope with troubled times.
Reason 14 One out of Ten Commandments asks us to go to Mass every Sunday.
Quick Tip Communion is open to all who are not conscious of committing a serious sin (anything from missing Sunday Mass to infidelity) since their last confession.
Reason 15 You'll become a better person at Mass. The more you are part of God's life, the better you'll be.
Reason 16 Life is complicated. Get directions that work — from the One who created life.
Quick Tip In prayer after Communion, make one resolution about how you'll live your life differently. (Think back on the homily for ideas.)
Reason 17 It's your way to go most directly through Jesus Christ to God the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit in prayer.
Quick Tip Bow your head as a sign of reverence before receiving Communion. (Do it while the person in front of you is receiving Communion.)
Reason 18 Is one hour too much to give to God? How many do you spend on other priorities?
Quick Tip Feel alone and unsure at church? Bring a friend!
Common Good Excuses
What's in it for me? life.
Everything! God desires only and always your good. He became a man in large part to give us himself in the Mass. Why should you deny yourself such a gift?
I don't need to go to Mass to get close to God.
At Mass, you receive God himself — Jesus Christ truly present in the sacrament. Even a beautiful mountain vista can't compare to that.
I had a bad experience with the Church.
This is always sad. But many of us also had bad teachers — and we know the whole education system isn't bad. Jesus wants to bring you healing at Mass.
I don't get anything out of Mass.
Don't expect it to be entertainment. Learn about what it does: joins us to Christ, separates us from sin, wipes away venial sins, commits us to the poor, prepares us for heaven.
I don't have the time.
There are 24 hours a day, 168 hours a week. Mass takes one. That's less than 1% of your week. You have the time; find it.
I'm a sinner. I don't deserve to be at Mass.
Welcome to the club! We are a Church of saved sinners. None of us deserves to be here. See you at the confessional …
Content: Mar tha Fernandez-Sardina (www.adw.org/evangel/office.html); Father Richard Gill (www.legionofchrist.org); Curtis Martin and Edward Sri (www.focusonline.org); Father C. John McCloskey (www.cicdc.org); Father Rob Panke (www.gwu.edu/~catholic). Art: Tim Rauch. Photos: Pope and clock, CNS; Mother Teresa, KRT; Last Supper by Juan de Juanes, The Spanish Arts Gallery.
----- EXCERPT: How (and Why) to Return to Sunday Mass ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Our Advent Guides DATE: 12/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Pope John Paul II outlined a clear program for the future of the Church in his 2001 apostolic letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the Beginning of the New Millennium).
His plan is brilliant in its simplicity: promote Sunday Mass, confession, prayer and community service. These four things are easy to promote and life-changing.
To help Register readers take up the Holy Father's challenge we have produced four guides.
Clip, photocopy and pass out as many as you like!
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: A GIFT TO REMEMBER DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — At Midnight Mass last Christmas, Pope John Paul II prayed spontaneously to the Christ Child: “May the gift of your life make us understand ever more clearly the worth of the life of each human being.”
The Pope recognizes that the best Christmas gifts aren't what the advertisers are selling. Some well known Catholics recalled their most memorable gifts in recent interviews with the Register.
Catholic Brownies in Chantilly, Va., got to meet the president this month (see above). Actor Jim Caviezel, who portrayed Jesus in The Passion of the Christ did them one better. “The best gift I ever received,” he says, “was meeting the Pope last year during Christmas.”
The Pope figures into the 2001 Christmas gift Jerry Coniker remembers. He's the co-founder of Apostolate for Family Consecration and Catholic Familyland with his late wife Gwen, and a member of the Pontifical Council for the Family.
“The greatest Christmas gift I gave and received was being together with Gwen and the whole family on that special day, knowing that Gwen would definitely be going home to the Lord within the next number of months,” he said. The Conikers have 12 living children and 49 living grandchildren. She died the following June 15.
“Our Christmas was a very deeply moving one for everyone. And it was a joyful one, as Gwen always would want things joyful. On Jan 8, we received a beautiful blessed medal from the Pope with a letter from the Holy See saying the Holy Father was praying for her. She treasured that medal, pinned it on her gown and wore it when she died. It was a great gift God gave her — to know and to prepare, and prepare the family.”
“The best gift I received,” said Cathy Cleaver Ruse, director of planning and information for the Secretariat for Pro-Life activities, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, “was a string of pearls from my husband-to-be, Austin, the Christmas before our wedding. We were married the following year. Those were the pearls I wore on our wedding day. This was one of those gifts that keep on giving. I had four pearls removed from it and made into earrings for my bridesmaids. So we all had jewelry from the necklace for the bridal procession.” (See the Ruses’ column on page 9.)
Karl Keating, president of Catholic Answers, sees his best Christmas gift every day. “It's my wife Teruko,” he said. “We were married eight days before Christmas. And we've been married 27 years this month.”
For Camille De Blasi, president of Healing the Culture, “The best Christmas gift I ever received — after Jesus, of course — was when I was stranded at the last minute and couldn't make it home for Christmas,” she recalled. “I was so sad, until a friend decided to fly out on Christmas Eve, just so that I wouldn't have to spend the holiday alone. It was like Jesus coming to me all over again, except that he was in a Boeing 747.”
Janet Smith, chairwoman of Life Ethics at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, “really liked the pair of cross country skis I got in my mid-20s,” she said. “It was a new sport for me, and a sport that allows me to enjoy the winter. I spend Christmas with my family in Pennsylvania, and I can go right out the front door and have some great runs.”
As far as the best gifts given, those go to her mother. “She has a great squeal of delight when she receives a gift that really pleases her. I strive to get that squeal whether through something funny, something beautiful, something really apt. One great success was a sequined vest and cap made to resemble the flag. She loves to wear them to parades and civic events and always causes a stir. I gave her a bright red woolen cape from Ireland; she wears it with a red hat, red gloves and red boots. My dad stays home when she does.”
For Karen Santorum, wife of Senator Rick Santorum, the gifts of two different years stand out. One was 1990.
“The best gift of that year was a beautiful and sacred marriage, and the fact that we were expecting a baby,” said the mother of six living children and author of Letters to Gabriel and Everyday Graces.
“The best Christmas present I ever gave my husband was my little Sarah Maria — she was our Christmas baby, born two days after Christmas,” Santorum adds. “It was the best Christmas gift we ever got. She was the baby who came after Gabriel, the baby we lost. It was just the most tender, emotional birth to have a baby after you just lost a baby. We were weeping tears of joy. It was a great healing moment for us. God gave us so much peace during that pregnancy. Only by the grace of God could that happen. Sarah Maria turns 7 this year. We call her our Christmas baby.”
Franciscan Friar of the Renewal Father Stan Fortuna put together two pairs of gifts. “On the one hand the best that I ever received was the gift of Christ being born into this world,” he said. “On the other hand, the best gift was a guitar my father got me when I was in the second grade.”
“The greatest Christmas gift I ever gave, on the one hand, is the gift of giving of myself every day of my life. And on the other hand, the greatest gift I ever gave was something to a child who had nothing.”
For Peter McFadden, founder of Love & Responsibility Foundation, there's “no contest what my favorite Christmas present ever was,” he says. “A red bicycle, which I got when I was 7 years old. I'll never forget how the lights of the Christmas tree reflected off chrome.”
The best gift he gave is better than an O. Henry story. “I had run a nonprofit in Eastern Europe and had come back to the United States penniless. I had no money to buy presents for family or friends. I wrote a very personal Christmas story instead and gave that to my family and friends. (It's reprinted at www.petermcfadden.com.)
“I often meditated on the theme that Christ was born homeless, and why Christ went out of his way to be born homeless. The story was about how one Christmas I had the opportunity to help a homeless man. I finished writing it on Christmas Eve and then printed it. My brother said it was the best Christmas present he received. I think it helped bring home the true meaning of the Christmas season.”
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Catholics and Protestants, Together DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — On the night before he died, Christ prayed that all his followers might be one. Pope John Paul II has called disunity of believers the single gravest Christian scandal.
A new group doesn't think it will end that scandal altogether, but its founders say they want to take steps in the right direction. The U.S. Catholic bishops agree.
“We will work by discernment and consensus only,” said the Rev. Robert Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches.
Edgar and the National Council of Churches are behind the push for a new organization called Christian Churches Together in the USA, which the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Nov. 17 voted 151-73 to join.
“It's the will of Christ that all be one,” said Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, Calif., who chairs the bishops’ committee on ecumenical and interreligious affairs. He said at the bishops’ fall meeting in Washington, D.C., that the new organization is a “forum for participation” through which Christian churches can “pray together, grow in understanding together and witness together.”
“In this organization, no one can speak for anyone else and any church can speak for itself,” Bishop Blaire told the Register.
U.S. bishops have declined to join the National Council of Churches throughout the organization's 55-year history. The National Council of Churches consists of 36 denominations and 130,000 congregations comprised of about 50 million people.
Edgar said Catholic bishops have always refused to join because the structure of the organization gives small churches the same influence over decisions as large churches. He said the disparity in size between the Catholic Church and member churches of the council simply made it a bad fit for Catholics.
“The challenge has always been: ‘How do you get fair representation when the Quakers have one vote and here come the Catholics with 67 million people and they also get one vote?’” Edgar explained.
Bishop Blaire told the Register that Christian Churches Together, though inspired by the National Council of Churches, is organized in such a manner that nothing happens without majority consensus or if any member objects.
“The National Council of Churches is a highly organized membership body,” Bishop Blaire said. “Christian Churches Together, by contrast, is a new ecumenical table. … The emphasis will be on spiritual ecumenism and praying together.”
In his 1995 encyclical Ut Unum Sint (That They May Be One) Pope John Paul II reminded bishops that working for unity was a duty: “I therefore exhort my brothers in the episcopate to be especially mindful of this commitment. The two Codes of Canon Law include among the responsibilities of the bishop that of promoting the unity of all Christians by supporting all activities or initiatives undertaken for this purpose, in the awareness that the Church has this obligation from the will of Christ himself. This is part of the episcopal mission and it is a duty which derives directly from fidelity to Christ, the Shepherd of the Church” (No. 101).
Forming Relationships
Edgar said the organization will mainly focus on issues of “peace, poverty and justice,” but he's not sure what it will do practically to address the issues. He said Christian Churches Together is unlikely to address issues that would undoubtedly stir controversy and objection among members, such as abortion, euthanasia and fetal stem-cell research.
“Reporters keep asking, ‘What will it do?’ and it's very difficult to answer that question because this is a whole different paradigm,” Edgar said. “It will be an organization in which Roman Catholics, evangelicals and black churches can pray together, build relationships and think together. As long as we don't know each other, we'll continue to carry on myths about each other. We are less interested in action than in relationships.”
The organization will have a full-time staff of two, and it's undetermined where the headquarters and staff will be located. Bishop Blaire said the cost of joining is nominal, with bishops agreeing to pay about $20,000 this year.
Edgar said the “movement” toward creation of Christian Churches Together began with a meeting hosted by Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore the weekend before terrorists attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. In attendance were Cardinal Keeler, representatives of the Salvation Army and several evangelical leaders.
“At that meeting, we decided to move forward very slowly and that if this was going to be successful it would need to be created by the member churches themselves, and that's what has been happening,” Edgar said.
A steering committee will meet in January to make practical decisions about going forward, now that Catholics and nearly 25 other denominations have signed up. Representatives from each member church will meet again in June, Edgar said. He hopes representatives of each organization will then meet twice a year to “talk, learn and live together.”
At those meetings, Edgar said, it's possible the organization will vote on statements and come to consensus on plans for Christians to help the poor and bring about enhanced peace and justice.
“But if even one member objects, it can't move forward,” Edgar said. “We have a whole society that thinks God's will is what more than one-half of people think it should be when they vote. This organization won't work that way.”
But none of it makes sense to representatives of the Southern Baptist Convention, who attended an early meeting about Christian Churches Together and decided not to join.
“We have no involvement and we have no intention of any involvement with Christian Churches Together,” said Martin King, director of public relations for the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board. “We see no reason for anyone to establish this organization, because it's not going to do anything unless there's consensus without condescension, and getting consensus in a group as diverse as that is not likely.”
Asked whether his organization was concerned about members of Christian Churches Together not sharing Southern Baptist values such as opposition to abortion, King said, “It certainly would be a concern for us.”
“Our purpose as a denomination is to help our churches to share Christ with people, and being involved in an organization like that wouldn't help us with that,” King said.
Bishop Blaire said it's true that some of the organizations joining Christian Churches Together are substantially different from the Catholic Church. He said the Salvation Army is probably the church farthest from Catholicism.
“I understand the reservations of the Southern Baptist Convention, because they're pretty conservative and fundamentalist in their approach to Christianity,” Bishop Blaire said. “But to join Christian Churches Together, you have to believe in the Trinity, so that's a pretty good foundation on which to begin building and developing relationships. The Salvation Army believes in the Trinity.”
Edgar said those who oppose joining Christian Churches Together do so out of certainty that “they're right and everyone else is wrong.”
“There's this misunderstanding from wealthy, independent radical-right churches that God called them to ministry and everyone else is an infidel,” Edgar said.
Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput said the structure of Christian Churches Together, requiring consensus and no objections for action to go forward, would prevent the organization from embarrassing Catholics or forcing them to cooperate in anything contrary to traditional Church values.
“There's always pressure on Catholics to compromise,” Archbishop Chaput said, “but I don't think we will compromise and I'm not worried, considering the structure of this effort.”
Wayne Laugesen writes from Boulder, Colorado.
----- EXCERPT: Bishops Join Forum With Christian Denominations ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: High Court Skips Case On Marriage DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — Marriage supporters are planning ahead for the new year — and recent developments, they say, make those plans tricky.
The issue of same-sex “marriage,” a hot-button item during the recent presidential election, was passed over by the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 29.
The court refused to review the 2003 decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court which ordered the state Legislature to allow same-sex “marriage” in that state.
“We view this as a regrettable decision,” said C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts. “It failed to redress the usurpation of democratic self-government by the SJC.”
The case the Supreme Court declined to hear was filed by the Catholic Action League and 11 Massachusetts legislators. They argued that the state court's action violated the republican form of government.
“There is a provision in the U.S. Constitution called the ‘guarantee clause’ which says that every state operates according to a republican form of government,” said Dan Avila, assistant director for policy and research at the Massachusetts Catholic Conference. “This means that the people are in charge through their representatives. What the plaintiffs argued in this case was that the Massachusetts Supreme Court, by redefining marriage, had become a super-legislature — usurping the power of the Legislature and, indirectly, the power of the people. So now it's a government by the court and not by the people.”
When this lawsuit went to lower federal courts, however, judges ruled that the guarantee clause did not actually address the issue of separation of powers. “They argued that this clause had been written to prevent something more dramatic,” Avila said, “such as the act of someone declaring himself to be king. In essence, the court said, ‘You may have a separation-of-powers problem, but it's not a monarchy.’”
The group Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, which represented plaintiffs in Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health, the case challenging the state's marriage laws, said in a statement Nov. 29 that it “was pleased but not surprised” that the court declined to hear Largess v. Supreme Judicial Court of the State of Massachusetts.
“Since May 17, 2004, more than 4,000 same-sex couples have applied for marriage licenses in Massachusetts,” the group said. “In the November legislative elections in Massachusetts, all incumbents who supported the Goodridge decision were returned to the statehouse.”
Not a Setback
Attorneys at Liberty Counsel, a non-profit, pro-family organization which represented the plaintiffs in Largess, knew that getting a hearing from the Supreme Court was a long shot.
“This was a very difficult constitutional provision to interpret,” said Erik Stanley, chief counsel for Liberty. “This was more their decision not to get involved in confronting the guarantee clause, than confronting same-sex ‘marriage.’”
The Supreme Court does not give reasons for refusing cases and only accepts 1% of all cases presented each year. Supporters of traditional marriage do not believe they've suffered a setback.
“Eventually the Supreme Court will have to look at this issue,” Stanley said. “We are involved in two dozen cases on same-sex ‘marriage’, and we're going to see a conflicting decision that the Supreme Court will have to” resolve.
Most legal observers believe the Supreme Court will take up the issue when same-sex couples who were wed in Massachusetts move to other states and sue to get their “marriage” recognized. There is already one such lawsuit in Florida.
“These groups are as determined on this issue as the abortion forces were determined to get the ‘right to choose’ by distorting the language of the Constitution,” said Matt Daniels, president of the Alliance for Marriage — the group which wrote the Federal Marriage Amendment defining marriage as the union between one man and one woman. “Some of them are now trying to find a way to move more gradually to deceive the American people and not get a backlash. What we can say with certainty is that our side will lose in the courts — sooner rather than later.”
Supporters of traditional marriage interviewed for this article believe that, ultimately, the only solution to the problem of same-sex “marriage” will be to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment.
Doyle at Catholic Action League thinks so. “This issue must be removed from the hands of imperious and unaccountable judges and placed squarely in the hands of the people — where it belongs,” Doyle said.
Damage to Society
What worries supporters of traditional marriage is not so much the legalization of same-sex “marriage,” but the social and cultural changes that follow such legal decisions.
“If same-sex marriage succeeds, it will change the moral and social DNA of our culture forever,” Daniels said. “We have a solid mountain of social-science data that say kids do best with a mom and a dad.”
When Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in 1973, it caught the pro-life movement unprepared. In contrast, supporters of traditional marriage have been hard at work for years.
“We have a viable Federal Marriage Amendment already in play. President Bush supports us, as do the leaders of the House and Senate,” Daniels said. “We have a fighting chance, but we must use it now. Our generation decides for our kids and grandchildren. We better not blow it.
“The good news,” he said, “is that it's in God's hands.”
Sabrina Arena Ferrisi writes from Jersey City, New Jersey.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Sabrina Arena Ferrisi ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: In Bethlehem Pilgrims Find Peace DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:BETHLEHEM — On the surface, it doesn't feel very much like the Christmas season in the place of Christ's birth.
That's because Palestinians in this West Bank town and elsewhere are still marking Islam's traditional 40-day mourning period for Yasser Arafat, even if they themselves are not Muslims.
Still, Bethlehem officials promise the decorations will be up in time for Christmas and that pilgrims will find the mood both festive and spiritual.
Despite the Palestinian leader's death last month — or perhaps because of it — Holy Land Christians seem more hopeful than they have been in four years, since the start of the Palestinian intifada(uprising), in September 2000. “We hope things will be better this Christmas,” said Michel Nasser, the Catholic director of the Bethlehem Peace Center, looking out toward Manger Square on a cold, blustery day.
Nasser said both Christians and Muslims “are more optimistic because right after Christmas we will have elections.” Palestinian elections to choose a new president are scheduled for early January.
Until the intifada, local Christians reaped the benefits of the huge upswing in pilgrimages that came in the wake of Pope John Paul II's visit during Jubilee Year 2000. Christian-owned souvenir shops, hotels and restaurants were packed, and the small community began to hope for a better future.
But the intifada and the ensuing violence virtually put an end to tourism in the Palestinian-ruled West Bank, which is home to such biblical sites as Bethlehem, Hebron and Jericho, and shattered the dreams of local Christians. In recent years, several hundred — perhaps even more — have emigrated to other countries as jobs dried up and violence intensified.
Today, Christians comprise only 1.8% of the Israeli and Palestinian populations, according to officials on both sides.
Just when the situation seemed to be deteriorating further, signs of improvement began to emerge. Last month, leaders from various churches, including the Vatican's representative to Israel, Msgr. Pietro Sambi, met with Israeli officials and jointly announced plans to encourage millions of Christians worldwide to visit the region.
The Pope has long advocated a visit to the Holy Land, not only to experience spiritual growth but to assist suffering Christians there.
Israeli officials have said all tourists who wish to enter the West Bank will be able to do so, provided there is no violence at the time that could make such a visit hazardous. It is unlikely that Israel will loosen its travel restrictions on Palestinians wishing to enter Jerusalem.
Although the Israeli army has sometimes clamped curfews on Bethlehem residents, things have been quiet and safe in recent months. Jerusalem and other parts of Israel have also been unusually peaceful, thanks to an almost complete halt of terror attacks during the past year.
The Israeli government attributes the reduction in attacks to the huge barrier it has erected between most of the Jewish state and the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinians, in contrast, say the barrier — a wall in some places, a fence in others — has severely restricted their access to schools, workplaces and even churches.
Pilgrims entering Bethlehem from Jerusalem will get a first-hand look at the enormous concrete wall Israel is building around the town. They will also have the opportunity to speak with Holy Land Christians, who attend the same church services as pilgrims.
Due to the mourning period for Arafat, Bethlehem's annual Christmas Market will take place Dec. 22 rather than Dec. 5, which will provide tourists an unusual opportunity to purchase Christmas gifts from around the world.
“Different countries sell their products at a very low price, and the money will go to help the local poor,” Nasser said. The prices are kept low to enable even the most impoverished local families to provide gifts to their children, he said.
The desire for religious tourists is so strong that the Israeli and Palestinian Authority tourism ministers put aside their differences long enough to sit together for the first time in four years. They jointly called on pilgrims to come for Christmas.
“We are telling everyone that they can come freely to the Holy Land,” Palestinian Tourism Minister Mitri Abu Aitah said. Israeli Minister of Tourism Gideon Ezra said, “We are here to open a new era in relations between the two sides, and nothing is better than tourism to do good for both sides.”
In Bethlehem, residents are waiting to see whether these gestures are simply words or if they will indeed lead to better things.
Like most Palestinians, Nasser believes “peace is in the hands of the Israelis” and that they alone have the power to improve the situation.
“While it's true that more pilgrims are coming,” Nasser said, “the Israelis don't always allow in every pilgrim who wishes to pass through the checkpoint” between Jerusalem and the West Bank. It's also a hardship when we (West Bank) Christians are prohibited from going to Jerusalem to pray during Christmas and other times.”
Michelle Chabin writes from Jerusalem.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Michele Chabin ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: The Real Kinsey: Who He Was, What He Wrought DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Judith Reisman got to know Alfred Kinsey long before Hollywood did.
An author and researcher on human sexuality, her 20 years of research on the celebrated sexolo-gist is summarized in Susan Brink-mann's The Kinsey Corruption, published this year.
Reisman testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space Nov. 18 on the effects of pornography on the brain.
Register correspondent John Severancespoke with her.
What is new in the research on pornography addiction?
There are now studies under way on the effect of pornography on the brain. But many of these are being produced by institutions like the Kinsey Institute that are committed to the normalization of pornography. These “researchers” certainly cannot be objective.
I am one of the few specialists in human sexuality that have not been Kinseyan trained — one of the few that have scientific credentials that allow me authoritatively to identify the frauds that underpin that entire “field” — a pseudoscience created by Alfred Kinsey's followers.
What did you tell the Senate committee?
Thanks to the latest advances in neuroscience, we now know that emotionally arousing images imprint and alter the brain, triggering an instant, involuntary, but lasting, biochemical memory trail.
Pornography triggers a myriad of endogenous, internal, natural drugs that mimic the “high” from street drugs. Addiction to pornography is addiction to what I dub erototoxins — mind-altering drugs produced by the viewer's own brain.
Can you describe the addiction?
The brain experiences a confusing neurochemical “high” that the mind mislabels as sexual arousal. But this is not just sexual. If pornography triggered mere sexual arousal, it would have little or no addictive properties. You'd be similarly aroused to your beloved spouse.
What pornography does is to simultaneously trigger other allied emotions — these would arguably be feelings of shame, fear and hostility. Those are the psychopharmacological emotions that are going to go off the charts. It is an arousal the brain cannot understand. That is one reason it so often becomes addictive.
You're talking about Nobel Prize winners, presidents of universities, prosecuting attorneys, doctors and judges who have been arrested because they have gotten involved in actual child pornography, leading from their initial hit in Playboy and Penthouse. And they have spent their lives in utter confusion, seeking to understand what this arousal is, and they can't understand it.
How did you get involved in this research?
I was delivering a paper in Wales for the British psychological association on children's sexual images in Playboy. A psychologist came up to me afterwards and said, “If you are concerned about child sexual abuse, you have to look at the Kinsey reports.” That changed my life.
Also, I had a child who, at age 10, was raped by a 13-year-old boy upstairs. His father had stacks of Playboy. I later found out the boy had sexually assaulted children in the local neighborhood. He was in sex therapy at the time so no one claimed responsibility. Hugh Hefner said he was Kinsey's pamphleteer.
I then followed the trail to the Kinsey reports.
What do you research now?
I specialize in the communication effects of images on the brain, mind and memory, fraud in the human sexuality field and the addictive properties of sexually explicit images.
Mary Anne Layden, co-director of a sexual trauma program at the University of Pennsylvania, said pornography's effect on the brain mirrors addiction to heroin or crack cocaine. Do you agree with this?
Yes, it could be more addictive than crack cocaine because cocaine can be excreted from the body. Pornographic images cannot. They remain, structurally and neurochemically, with a person forever.
So, once you're exposed, what can you do about it?
Well, people certainly need to try to remain unexposed and to purge themselves of it. It is helpful to understand what has happened to your brain. No one is exempt; it's just one's neurochemistry. We are designed to believe what we see, so highly stimulating images are instantaneously processed. The most important thing is to become part of the solution, to become knowledgeable and then to actively inform others. It is difficult to get rid of pornography as a society — although Americans are capable of amazing change. But, as with Alcoholics Anonymous, you've got to understand that it is there forever. And it can be triggered by inadvertent things.
So, we have a few lone voices crying out for changes. Where are we headed?
Well, we had a few lone voices crying out about drunk driving. And now people are getting that under wraps. We had certainly just a few people crying out against the toxic qualities of tobacco. So, there are lone voices crying out, but we're a really resilient people. And I have a lot of faith in the public if we can get past the controlled media. In fact, the controlled media is more of a problem than pornography.
Why is that?
Because no matter what facts we uncover, the public cannot read it and learn it in the press. Many “legitimate” media institutions now have corporate interests and various “ties” to this profitable business. Briefly, Madonna's pornographic book, Sex, was published by Warner Books (a subsidiary of Time Warner). Disney subsidiaries, such as Miramax, market what was once fully understood to be pornography, such as Kids and the scandalous teen film Powder, directed in 1995 by convicted child molester Victor Salva, just after he served seven years for sodomizing a young boy he directed in the film Clownhouse.
The pubic cannot make the appropriate decisions. Plato said to know the thing is to know what to do about it. The public cannot know what to do if the media are censoring the contrary facts as they have been doing. And now they have done the Kinsey film.
How about the Kinsey film?
The puppet press has been dancing all over the country. They say: Great film. Great pioneer. A little wacky — because he is a tragic hero. He was sexually repressed under the Judeo-Christian tradition. The Kinsey film is full of lies, and it is a million-dollar cover-up.
What's Kinsey's legacy?
He brought us all this terrific freedom. We've had a 418% increase in reported forciblerape from 1960 to 1999, and that does not include children. And from 1960 to 1999, we've had a 400% increase in outof-wedlock births. Each year, we contract 70,000 new cases of syphilis, 650,000 cases of gonorrhea, 64,000 cases of AIDS, 3,000,000 cases of chlamydia, 1,000,000 cases of genital herpes and 5,500,000 cases of human papillomavirus. Sixty-seven percent of our sex-abuse victims are now under the age of 18. Thirty-four percent are under age
12. So, it's really great. This sexual revolution was so helpful. Thank you very much, Dr. Kinsey and your covetous cadre.
What's the effect on children in our schools?
Now children are exposed to this in the classroom because all pornography is pornography, whether it's called sex education or not. Children have little or no cognitive capacity even to begin to grasp the stimuli. So they are overwhelmed and captured, seduced into addiction, very quickly.
What's next for you?
I am coming out with a new book called The Impotence Pushers after my next book, Kinsey's Attic. Pornography is implicated in impotence, as well as in other forms of violent abuse, from harassment to sexual crimes. If a man cannot sexually respond to his wife, but has to picture someone else, he is rendered impotent, without power. And it isn't his wife's fault. I don't think that's too hard to understand.
John Severance writes from Chicago.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: ACLU Wins Another Boy Scout Case DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:CHICAGO — The U.S. military surrendered Nov. 15 — to the American Civil Liberties Union. That's when the Pentagon warned its bases not to sponsor Boy Scout troops.
Most Scout troops have institutional sponsors. In spite of longstanding rules prohibiting direct sponsorship of outside groups, the military has often sponsored troops on bases, especially overseas when no other sponsor is available.
But under the terms of an agreement reached with the ACLU in Chicago, the Pentagon is now warning bases not to do so any longer. It would be unconstitutional, the ACLU says, because the Boy Scouts require members to believe in God.
The city of Chicago also promised not to officially support the Boy Scouts in order to resolve a significant portion of the ACLU's complaint. Still to be worked out are issues related to government Scout-related expenditures at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, where the Boy Scouts Jamboree is held every four years.
The 1999 lawsuit by the ACLU took issue with government expenditures favoring the Boy Scouts because of the requirement of a belief in God and its exclusion of openly homosexual members and troop leaders. According to the Boy Scouts, the impact will be minimal — though many within and outside the nearly-95-year-old organization have expressed dismay and anger at the ACLU's tactics.
The Boy Scouts have long had to defend against the ACLU — whose fees are paid in certain cases by taxpayer dollars. In 2000, the Supreme Court upheld the organization's right to exclude members who don't believe in God or who are homosexual.
“The moral compass of the ACLU is turned around 180 degrees,” said Bob Bork, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America in Washington, D.C. “They don't believe in free speech for the Boy Scouts, but they will defend a nudist colony in Virginia that wants to have unsupervised nudity of kids.”
“I thought (the ACLU) had given up, but they are still at it,” said Father Jim Maher, a member of the Los Angeles Archdiocesan Committee on Scouting and a priest at St. Maximilian Kolbe Church in Thousand Oaks, Calif. He said that before he was contacted by the Register, the Committee on Catholic Scouting was “unaware that this action was still pending.”
“Our experience with the ACLU goes back decades. The ACLU is like a dog with a bone; they just have to keep coming after the Boy Scouts,” Bork said. “It's amazing that they don't have other things to worry about.”
According to Bork, there has been a great deal of outrage against the ACLU as a result of their continual attacks on the Boy Scouts.
“People want to know why the ACLU is continuing to chase after the Boy Scouts,” Bork said. “They are furious about what the ACLU is doing.”
The ACLU office in Chicago could not be reached for comment, but in a statement concerning the settlement, Adam Schwartz of the ACLU of Illinois said: “If our Constitution's promise of religious liberty is to be a reality, the government should not be administering religious oaths or discriminating based upon religious beliefs.”
Interestingly, the military will continue to administer such oaths. The oath taken at the start of one's military service includes the words “so help me God.”
“This agreement removes the Pentagon from direct sponsorship of Scout troops that engage in such discrimination,” Schwarz said.
But there never was a constitutional problem and the ACLU has “overstated its victory,” according to John Eastman, a constitutional law expert and law professor at Chapman University in Southern California.
Eastman said the military was only barred from activities with the Boy Scouts in an official capacity, “but continues to permit the ongoing sponsorship by (military) officers in their personal capacity, and to continue to allow Boy Scout troops to use base facilities — and it is perfectly constitutional to do so.”
Allowing military officers to sponsor Boy Scout troops in their official capacity is also entirely constitutional, he said.
New Sponsors
The Defense Department admitted no guilt in the sponsorship part of the case. It will also continue hosting the Jamboree.
According to Charles Miller, a spokesman for the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., the settlement represents “a clarification of a pre-existing rule” banning the sponsorship of any outside group by the military. “This rule has been on the books for a long time,” Miller said. “There can be no official sponsorship, but individuals (in the military) can obviously participate,” he said.
“We understand that the military had regulations about sponsorship of non-military organizations,” agreed Bork, “and these regulations existed before, so they gave the ACLU a chance to take another shot at the Boy Scouts.”
Bork said the Scouts have “shifted sponsorship from a small number of military bases to non-military groups like the Veterans of Foreign Wars.”
He added that he thinks the Scouts will prevail on the issues related to the Jamboree.
But even if individual Scouts remain largely unaffected, the impact nationally could be significant. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist introduced a bill Nov. 20 that would permit federal support for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. It failed, but Frist said he would reintroduce it in the next Congress.
“Scouting is a noble and honorable tradition that inculcates the very best of our values,” Frist said in a statement. While acknowledging the importance of the separation of church and state in the United States, he said, “the ACLU's continued attacks on the Boy Scouts are starting to become its own form of persecution.”
“Of course, the Scouts group has every right to set its own membership standards as a private organization, yet the ACLU wants to impose atheism… upon it,” said the Rev. Lou Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, in a statement. “The ACLU has a godless agenda and has no interest in preserving religious liberty or freedom of association.”
The implication of this settlement “could mean that no one could place his hand on the Bible when he swears an oath in court or in congressional hearings,” he said. Rev. Sheldon warned that “Congress could be forced to shut down the offices of the Senate and House chaplains, and that the Supreme Court's decision upholding ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance is really invalid for all practical purposes.”
Andrew Walther filed this story from Chicago.
Wire services contributed to this report.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Andrew Walther ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Congress Acts to Save Mount Soledad Cross
Paulsen was quoted in the story as saying, “Jihad Jesus Republicans need to understand that the separation of church and state has kept this country from getting into religious wars. If God was powerful, there would not be a need for the government to go in and force a religious agenda on non-believing citizens.”
President Bush must still approve and San Diego must donate the land, the North County Times said. San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy, who has supported efforts to save the cross, said, “I hope this will resolve the issue for good.”
Two Important Truths About ‘Roe’
NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE COMMITTEE, Nov. 29 — A Nov. 19-21 poll sponsored by the Associated Press in which 59% of respondents said President Bush should nominate Supreme Court justices who support Roe v. Wade was misleading, according to a National Right to Life Committee press release.
“Today's AP story is another example of the news media using two forms of distortion to paint a greatly exaggerated picture of public support for the Supreme Court's abortion policy — first by minimizing the actual scope of the Roe v. Wade ruling, and second by distorting what it would mean to ‘overturn’ Roe,” the organization's legislative director, Douglas Johnson, said.
According to National Right to Life, poll respondents were told Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion in the first three months of pregnancy; in fact, it permits abortion for any reason until nearly six months. The poll also suggested that overturning Roe v. Wade would make abortions illegal. According to National Right to Life, it would remove federal constitutional protection for a woman's right to abort and give each state the authority to establish abortion policies.
Saving St. Gelasius
ASSOCIATED PRESS, Dec. 4 — At a time when many Catholic churches are closing, St. Gelasius in Chicago is opening back up.
The 81-year-old neo-Renaissance building was saved from the wrecking ball by Latin Mass devotees after being closed in 2002 because of a lack of parishioners.
When St. Gelasius is restored, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, headquartered in Italy, will use it to celebrate the Tridentine Mass, which is spoken in Latin,” reported the Associated Press. The services will be a stark contrast to the guitar music, drumming and sacred dance many churches use to reach out to their communities.”
“I believe it gives people a sense of the mystery of God,” Msgr. Michael Schmitz is quoted saying. “They try to pray, and the Latin and chants and the beautiful music and the vestments — all the details of the Latin mass gives them the feeling that God is greater than our human heart can think of.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Don't Mention the 'J Word' at Parade DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:DENVER — The rule is perfectly clear: While some expressions of faith are welcome, Christian themes are not tolerated in Denver's annual Parade of Lights.
“I feel offended, as an individual and as a Christian,” said the Rev. George Morrison, pastor of Faith Bible Chapel in the Denver suburb of Arvada.
Throughout the country, says American University law professor Daniel Dreisbach, Christians are being told this year that they can't express Christmas traditions in public. An election that showed mainstream support for traditional family values, he said, may have motivated anti-Christian organizations to work even harder toward silencing Christian expression in the public square.
Dreisbach, author of Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State, said there are dozens of such cases. “It's almost always reported as ‘those Christians demanding their religious themes in public,’ when in fact these conflicts are being initiated not by Christians but by people seeking to remove Christian expression from public view.”
Last year, Rev. Morrison attended the Parade of Lights — one of the largest Christmas-season parades in the country — and felt excluded.
“I noticed that as the parade went by, there were no Christmas carols, nothing about the birth of Christ or anything about Christmas at all,” Rev. Morrison said. “There were all of these other winter holidays being celebrated, and many of them seemed overtly religious to me.”
Rev. Morrison thought he could add a small Christmas touch by motivating musicians and artists in his church to prepare an exhibit for the 2004 parade. It would express the Christmas traditions of his diverse 4,000-plus congregation.
“Leaving that parade, I thought the Christian community had simply been remiss in putting together some kind of a parade entry,” Rev. Morrison said. “I had no idea this was active exclusion of Christian content.”
The pastor had his music and out-reach coordinator contact the Denver Downtown Partnership, a non-profit business coalition that organizes the parade, held the first weekend in December.
“We told them we wanted to do something that would involve a small choir, yuletide hymns and Christmas carols,” Rev. Morrison said. “They said No, we couldn't participate, because they don't allow yuletide hymns, Christmas carols, Christmas songs of any kind, and no references to Christmas, such as ‘Merry Christmas’ signs.”
About ‘Diversity’
That's true, says Susan Rogers-Kark, vice president of the Denver Downtown Partnership. She said all Christian-themed applications are automatically disqualified from the parade, which consists of 2,000 participants and attracts hundreds of thousands who line downtown streets.
“It's a holiday parade, not a Christmas parade,” Rogers-Kark said. “We try not to have it representing a religious message, but bringing community together. It's about a season of giving and community.”
Michael Krkorian, spokesman for the Downtown Denver Partnership, told the Rocky Mountain News “We want to avoid that specific religious message out of respect for other religions in the region.”
The parade features elaborate floats, performances by an array of dance schools, marching bands, pageantry and ice skaters on floats. Mostly, Rogers-Kark said, the parade is designed to reflect Denver's racial and ethnic diversity. She explained that musicians and artists from Faith Bible Chapel were excluded for the sake of “inclusion.”
“It's not something where we want to exclude anyone,” Rogers-Kark said. “And I realize this feels like it's excluding someone, but it's about a concern for someone else watching it and not feeling that it's a specific reflection on, perhaps, what their own religion is or what their beliefs are.”
Former U.S. Attorney Mike Norton says that's an outrageous claim.
“How can you be inclusive by being exclusive?” asks Norton, a lawyer with the Alliance Defense Fund, a pro-life nonprofit with 700-plus lawyers ready to defend against attacks on traditional Christian organizations and individuals.
Rev. Morrison said what he saw last year was not a secular celebration but a “parade with a lot of religious content, except for Christianity. When there's a Chinese dance that represents the chasing away of evil spirits, to me that's very religious.”
As well, the Two Spirit Society featured homosexual American Indians as holy people participating in religious ritual and dance.
“People of various cultures will see things that represent part of their cultural traditions and their holiday,” Rogers-Kark said, conceding that religion and culture intertwine.
“Again, we are not accepting those (parade entries) and saying we want to present your religious traditions and not someone else's. What we're saying is, it's more about the ethnic diversity of the community, and that's what we're trying to represent.”
Counters Rev. Morrison: “My congregation is ethnically diverse…. The only problem they have with us is our Christian beliefs.”
Catholic League President William Donohue said discrimination against Christian expression is rampant throughout the country as Christmas approaches.
“In the name of diversity, they crush it,” Donohue says of free speech and religion. “In the name of tolerance, they obliterate it. Which is why we need to call them for what they are — cultural fascists.” Donohue reports that efforts to ban Christmas in Maine's Scarborough school district have become so intense that parents have resorted to calling Christmas the “C-word.”
Back in Denver, the mayor's office planned to remove the “Merry Christmas” sign from the massive multi-holiday display outside the government complex and replace it with “Happy Holidays.” After public outcry, however, the mayor said “Merry Christmas” would remain.
“It's not just Christmas that's being censored; it's all Christian expression,” said law professor Dreisbach, citing efforts to purge county seals, courthouses and war memorials. He said anti-Christian sentiment stems from hysteria about cultural and religious diversity, and a perception that Christianity stands in the way of it.
Though the First Amendment protects freedom of religion and expression, courts have allowed exclusion of some Christmas displays on government property and in public schools. Whether a Christmas display is allowed on public property, Dreisbach explained, involves legal complexities often specific to each individual case.
The Downtown Denver Partnership, he said, may be within its rights to exclude Christian expression from its parade because the organization is private. He said the issue of content discrimination in parades was settled in 1995, when the Supreme Court ruled that organizers of Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade could exclude a homosexual-oriented group. The court said that for the government to force organizers to include content they did not desire would amount to coerced speech, forbidden by the First Amendment.
Still, Rev. Morrison wants to know why homosexual Indians can parade their religion and he can't.
Wayne Laugesen writes from Boulder, Colorado.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayney Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Legionary Founder Father Maciel Celebrates 60th Anniversary as Priest DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:ROME — God is never outdone in generosity. On Nov. 26, Father Marcial Maciel experienced this truth once again as he incensed the main altar of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome to thank God on the 60th anniversary of his priestly ordination.
Joining Father Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement, were thousands of people from all over the world, cardinals, bishops and hundreds of priests who con-celebrated the thanksgiving Mass.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City, six other cardinals, three Legionary bishops and 25 other bishops from the Vatican and various dioceses concelebrated at the Mass.
Pope John Paul II also joined the celebration. In a personal letter to Father Maciel, he wrote, “I am pleased to join spiritually in the joy and the thanksgiving that rise up to God, the source of all good, from you, Reverend Father, and from the hearts of all the members of this religious family on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of your priestly ordination on Nov. 26, 1944, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.”
On behalf of the Holy Father, Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, substitute of the Secretariat of State for general affairs, read the Pope's letter at the end of the Eucharistic celebration.
Father Maciel's ordination was indissolubly linked to the founding of the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement. “On that day,” John Paul II said in his message, “you reached the goal of the priestly formation you undertook at 16 years of age, with the heartfelt dream of stirring up priests totally dedicated to proclaiming the Gospel and to improving the moral and social standards of the poorest and most marginalized brothers and sisters. This project of love for Christ, fidelity to the Church and service to mankind began in Mexico City on Jan. 3, 1941, with the birth of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ, whose constitutions I definitively approved in 1983.”
The religious community was established by then-20-year-old seminarian Marcial Maciel with 13 adolescents in the borrowed basement of a novelty store in Mexico City. Sixty-three years later, the congregation numbers nearly 2,500 seminarians and 650 priests serving the Church in 18 countries.
Fidelity
Father Maciel's priestly fidelity was never easy. For decades, he had to look for vocations, form his seminarians and priests, raise funds and guide the congregation and the Regnum Christi Movement in the midst of misunderstanding, slander, persecution, and physical and moral suffering. “The cross,” Father Maciel once wrote, “is the only prerogative, the only right of a priest.”
The cross, indeed, is the tree of bountiful fruits. “Your 60 years of priestly life, Reverend Father,” the Pope said in his letter, “have been marked by outstanding spiritual and missionary fruitfulness, with various institutions and apostolates, such as the Regnum Christi Movement, the network of Mano Amiga schools for the poor, numerous schools and charitable institutions with the purpose of promoting the values of the family and the human person, and university centers for study and formation. Particularly worthy of mention are the Legionary priests’ apostolates and the entire congregation's commitment to providing integral formation for future diocesan priests, especially in Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenaeum and the two Mater Ecclesiae international seminaries in Rome and Sao Paulo.”
All these apostolates were created to serve the Church's needs. Throughout his life, Father Maciel has never tired of repeating that the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement exist from the Church, within the Church and for the Church.
The Holy Father also marked the anniversary by recognizing Regnum Christi as a work of God by granting definitive approval of the movement's statutes. Archbishop Franc Rodé read and signed the decree of approval at the end of the ordination Mass.
Papal Surprises
John Paul had more surprises for Father Maciel. On Nov. 26, he issued an apostolic letter motu proprio(on his own initiative), in which he entrusted the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center Pontifical Institute — an institution of the Holy See in the Holy Land for religious, cultural, social and educational purposes — to the direction of the Legionaries of Christ.
The Holy Father also sent several gifts to Father Maciel — an ornate chalice, vestments and an autographed papal blessing. On Nov. 30, the Holy Father granted a special audience at the Vatican's Paul VI Hall to the Legionaries of Christ, Regnum Christi members and friends who participated in the diamond jubilee celebration.
“In your presence, I would like to express my immense gratitude to our Lord,” said Father Maciel at the end of his jubilee Mass. “Gratitude to God for allowing me to fulfill and dedicate my priesthood to the service of the Church during these 60 years. He is the one who has sustained me at every moment throughout my long service. He is the one who has strengthened and comforted me. He is the one who has led me along his mysterious and providential paths.”
For more information about the jubilee celebrations, see www. legionariesofchrist.org or www. regnumchristi.org.
Legionary of Christ Father Alfonso Aguilar teaches philosophy at Regina Apostolorum Pontifical College in Rome.
aaguilar@legionaries.org
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Alfonso Aguilar, Lc ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Fifty-Nine Legionary Priests Ordained in Rome DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:On Nov. 25, the day before Father Marcial Maciel's 60th anniversary as a priest, Archbishop Franc Rodé, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, ordained 59 Legionaries to the priesthood in Rome's Basilica of St. Mary Major.
Legionary Bishops Jorge Bernal and Pedro Pablo Elizondo — the former, emeritus of the missionary Prelature of Cancún-Chetumal in the state of Quintana Roo, southeast Mexico; the latter, his recently appointed successor — joined Archbishop Rodé in anointing the newly ordained.
In a display of the Church's catholicity, the new priests hail from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, Vietnam, New Zealand, Spain and Ireland.
“You are a priest forever in the line of Melchizedek,” the Legionary choir sang as the newly ordained priests gave Communion to their parents. “The Lord has sworn an oath he will never regret.” Parents cried and kissed their sons’ hands as they knelt or stood to receive the Body of Christ.
“Alejandro's vocation has changed not only his life, but the whole family,” said Enriqueta Acevedo, mother of Father Alejandro García Acevedo. “Now we pray more, now we are closer, and now we continually thank God for our son's vocation. We have discovered that the distance which separates us — that at first shook us — is only a physical distance; for the priestly vocation keeps us closely united, intimately united, in love for God.”
“I'm the happiest mom on earth,” said Mrs. Patty Brooks, originally from Milwaukee, Wis., and mother of one of the 15 Americans ordained Nov. 25. “My son's priesthood will touch the life of many, many souls. What more can I wish for?”
— Father Alfonso Aguilar
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Alfonso Aguilar ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: 'A Project of Love For Christ' DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — The following is the text of the letter Pope John Paul II addressed Nov. 24 to Father Marcial Maciel, superior general of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ:
I am pleased to join spiritually in the joy and the thanksgiving that rise up to God, the source of all good, from you, Reverend Father, and from the hearts of all the members of this religious family on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of your priestly ordination on Nov. 26, 1944, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. On that day you reached the goal of the priestly formation you undertook at 16 years of age, with the heartfelt dream of stirring up priests totally dedicated to proclaiming the Gospel and to improving the moral and social standards of the poorest and most marginalized brothers and sisters. This project of love for Christ, fidelity to the Church and service to mankind began in Mexico City on Jan. 3, 1941, with the birth of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ, whose constitutions I definitively approved in 1983
Your 60 years of priestly life, Reverend Father,” the Pope said in his letter, “have been marked by outstanding spiritual and missionary fruitfulness, with various institutions and apostolates, such as the Regnum Christi Movement, the network of Mano Amiga schools for the poor, numerous schools and charitable institutions with the purpose of promoting the values of the family and the human person, and university centers for study and formation. Particularly worthy of mention are the Legionary priests’ apostolates and the entire congregation's commitment to providing integral formation for future diocesan priests, especially in Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenaeum and the two Mater Ecclesiae international seminaries in Rome and Sao Paulo.
I cannot, of course, forget the service that you have rendered in these years to the Holy See, which has benefited on various occasions and manners by your generous and competent collaboration, whether during one of my apostolic trips or in the activity of branches of the Roman Curia.
The profound inspiration which has guided your educational, cultural, and pastoral action — an inspiration that you have transmitted as a precious treasure to the religious family you founded — has been the constant concern for an integral promotion of the person, and especially as regards the human formation, that as I had the opportunity to write in the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis, “when it is carried out in the context of an anthropology which is open to the full truth regarding the human person, leads to and finds itscompletion in spiritual formation” (No. 45).
Reverend Father, the joyful recollection of your 60th anniversary of priestly ordination falls during the Year of the Eucharist. This providential coincidence constitutes an invitation to meditate upon the centrality of the Eucharist in the life of the Christian community and especially in the formation of future priests and in their subsequent dedication to ordained ministry. This is what I underlined in the previously cited document, recalling “the essential importance of the Eucharist for the priest's life and ministry and, as a result, in the spiritual formation of candidatesfor the priesthood” (No. 48).
For all the se reasons I am happy to join in with the canticle of praise and of thanksgiving to the Lord that rises up from many hearts for the “great things” (see Luke 1:49) that the grace of God has accomplished in these 60 years of your intense, generous, and fruitful priestly ministry.
As I invoke a renewed outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that your priesthood may continue to bear abundant good fruits, I entrust you, dear Father Maciel, to the heavenly protection of the Virgin Mary, Mother of priests, and I send you affectionately a special apostolic blessing, which I willingly extend to all the Legionaries of Christ, to the members of the Regnum Christi Movement, and to all who participate in the jubilee celebration.
From the Vatican, Nov. 24, 2004 Joannes Paulus II
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Templars Crusade for Apology
The Vatican is reported to be giving “serious consideration” to the request, which comes from English Templars claiming descent from the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, as they were properly known.
Founded as a monastic order in 1118, shortly after the Christian capture of Jerusalem, the Templars protected Holy Land pilgrims and fought in the reconquests of Spain and Portugal. Their great wealth, based on property and banking, excited great jealousy. France's Philip IV moved against the order in 1307 (spawning the legend of “Friday the 13th”), executing its members and expropriating its holdings, and Pope Clement V dissolved it in 1312.
Three years ago, a previously secret Vatican document revealed that Clement V had in fact absolved the Templars of heresy. Since the Middle Ages, the Templar myth has inspired Walter Scott's Ivanhoe, Richard Wagner's Parsifal and innumerable fanciful treatises and occult sects.
AIDS Best Fought by Abstinence, Vatican Says
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, Nov. 30 — In a statement released for World AIDS Day, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán, president of the Pontifical Council for Health, has recapitulated Pope John Paul II's view that AIDS is as much a disease of the mind as of the body.
Cardinal Barragán explained, “To fight (AIDS) in a responsible way, you have to increase prevention, through education on the respect of the sacred values of life, as well as the correct practice of sexuality.” He called also for cheaper AIDS treatments and the elimination of discrimination against those with the disease.
Pope Marks Start of Advent
CATHNEWS, Nov. 30 — Speaking from St. Peter's Square Nov. 28, Pope John Paul II welcomed the first Sunday of Advent and the beginning of a new liturgical year.
The Holy Father promoted the theme of next year's Italian Eucharistic Conference, “Without Sunday, We Cannot Live,” and urged his 30,000 listeners and Christians everywhere to “rediscover with new intensity the meaning of Sunday: its mystery, its celebration, its significance for Christian and human life.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: God Defends the Poor DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Register Summary
During his general audience Dec. 1, Pope John Paul II devoted his catechesis to Psalm 72, one of the “royal psalms” found in the Book of Psalms.
According to the Holy Father, Psalm 72 “opens with a powerful cry unto God in song, asking him to grant the king the gift of justice, which is fundamental for ruling righteously, especially in relationship to the poor, who are usually the victims of power.” He pointed out that any act that violates the rights of the poor is not only “politically unfair and morally unjust” but an offense against God, who is the “guardian and defender of the poor and the oppressed.” Just as the Lord rules the world in truth and justice, likewise the king, his visible representative on earth, according to the Bible, must imitate God's actions.
Pope John Paul II pointed out references in the psalm that indicate how God's rule transcends time and space. “On one hand, the continuity of his reign throughout history is exalted with vivid images of a cosmic nature: The sun and the moon mark the rhythm of each passing day and the passing of the seasons is marked by the rhythm of the rain that falls and the flowers that bloom,” he noted. “On the other hand, the psalmist also describes the spatial reality where the king and Messiah's reign of justice and peace is situated,” the Holy Father said. “Its perspective extends across the entire map of the world as it was known at
Evening prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours, on whose psalms and canticles we have been commenting over time, divides Psalm 72 into two parts. It is one of the most beloved psalms of both the Jewish and Christian traditions — a royal psalm upon which the Fathers of the Church meditated and that they interpreted in a messianic light.
The Gift of Justice
We just heard the first part of this solemn prayer (see verses 1-11). It opens with a powerful cry unto God in song, asking him to grant the king the gift of justice, which is fundamental for ruling righteously, especially in relationship to the poor, who are usually the victims of power.
The special emphasis that the psalmist places on the moral obligation to rule the people according to justice and the law is noteworthy: “O God, give your judgment to the king; your justice to the son of kings; That he may govern your people with justice … That he may defend the oppressed among the people” (verses 1, 2 and 4).
Just as the Lord rules the world with justice (see Psalm 36:7), likewise the king, who is his visible representative on earth, according to the ancient biblical concept, must imitate God's actions.
Defender of the Poor
If the rights of the poor are violated, an act is carried out that is not only politically unfair and morally unjust. According to the Bible, it is also an act against God, a religious offense, because the Lord is the guardian and defender of the poor and the oppressed and of widows and orphans (see Psalm 68:6), namely, those people who do not have any human protectors.
It is easy to understand how tradition has substituted — as early as the collapse of the monarchy of Judah in the sixth century B.C. — the bright and glorious figure of the Messiah for the often disappointing figure of King David, along the lines of the prophetic hope that Isaiah expressed: “But he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land's afflicted” (Isaiah 11:4). Likewise, Jeremiah proclaims: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; As king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land” (Jeremiah 23:5).
The Lord of History
After this animated and impassioned plea for the gift of justice, the scope of the psalm broadens as it contemplates the reign of the king and Messiah as it unfolds along the coordinates of time and space. On one hand, the continuity of his reign throughout history is exalted (see Psalm 72:5 and 7) with vivid images of a cosmic nature: The sun and the moon mark the rhythm of each passing day and the passing of the seasons is marked by the rhythm of the rain that falls and the flowers that bloom.
Thus, it is a reign that is fruitful and peaceful, but that is always characterized by those values that are crucial: justice and peace (see verse 7). These are the signs of the Messiah's intervention in history as it unfolds. In this perspective, a commentary from the Fathers of the Church, who saw in this king and Messiah the face of Christ, the eternal and universal king, is enlightening.
Thus, St. Cyril of Alexandria, in his Explanatio in Psalmos, observes that the judgment that God gives to the king is the judgment of which St. Paul speaks: “a plan for the fullness of time, to sum up all things in Christ” (Ephesians 1:10). In fact, “that abundance may flourish in his days” seems to indicate that “in the days of Christ, justice will flow forth for us through faith, and an abundance of peace will flow forth as we turn toward God.” Moreover, we are the “the oppressed” and “the poor” whom this king rescues and saves: If, at first, “he calls the holy apostles ‘the oppressed’ because they were poor in spirit, he has saved us then, insofar as we are ‘the children of the poor,’ justifying and sanctifying us in the faith through the Spirit” (PG, LXIX, 1180).
The Lord of the Universe
On the other hand, the psalm-ist also describes the spatial reality where the king and Messiah's reign of justice and peace is situated (see Psalm 72:8-11). Here we see a universal dimension that extends from the Red Sea or Dead Sea to the Mediterranean, from the Euphrates — the great “river” of the East — to the outermost ends of the earth (see verse 8). Reference is also made to Tarshish and the islands, the remote territories of the Far West according to ancient biblical geography (see verse 10). Its perspective extends across the entire map of the world as it was known at that time, encompassing Arabs, nomads, rulers of remote states and even enemies in a universal embrace that the psalms often exalt (see Psalm 47:10; 87:1-7) as well as the prophets (see Isaiah 2:1-5; Isaiah 60:1-22; Malachi 1:11).
Therefore, an ideal conclusion to this vision might be formulated with words from the prophet Zechariah, words that the Gospels will apply to Christ: “Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he… He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; The warrior's bow shall be banished, and he shall proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth” (Zechariah 9:9-10; see Matthew 21:5).
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Regnum Christi Builds Civilization of Love DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:“What is the charism of Regnum Christi?” people often ask its members. By charism, most people understand the core of a movement's spirituality. Regnum Christi members’ answer is typically simple, short and deep: “love of Christ.”
This is also how the Holy See defined Regnum Christi's charism in the Nov. 26 decree that publicized the definitive approval of its statutes: “Its specific charism is the same as that of the Legion of Christ. It consists in knowing, living and preaching the commandment of love that Jesus Christ the Redeemer came to bring us by his incarnation. Well known, in fact, is the work carried out by the Legionaries of Christ and the members of the Regnum Christi apostolic movement in building a civilization of Christian justice and love.”
In an unprecedented move, John Paul II personally granted the approval of the movement's statutes. Ordinarily, the approval is given by the appropriate Vatican congregations, not directly by the Holy Father.
“The founder of the Legion of Christ and of Regnum Christi,” states the decree, “presented to the Apostolic See the Statutes of the Regnum Christi Apostolic Movement requesting their definitive approval. The Vicar of Christ paternally welcomed this request and with his supreme authority has approved them.”
The statutes of an ecclesial movement are analogous to a religious order's rule or to a congregation's constitutions. Regnum Christi's statutes spell out the goals, the spirituality and the internal structure of the apostolic movement. The Holy Father's approval signals official recognition of the organization as a work of God at the service of the Church.
John Paul has frequently indicated the Church's approval of Regnum Christi. His first in-depth contact with the movement and its founder, Father Marcial Maciel, occurred three months after his election to the See of Peter in October 1978. Father Maciel and Regnum Christi members helped organize the Pope's first apostolic pilgrimage, which was to Mexico.
In various countries and on numerous occasions, the Pope has met Regnum Christi members and encountered its apostolates, such as Adoration for Vocations, Mano Amiga schools for the poor, family and retreat centers, schools and colleges, youth clubs, medical and door-to-door missions, and international seminaries for future diocesan priests.
These and other apostolates share the same purpose. The movement's goal “is to establish the Kingdom of Christ among men and women,” declares the decree, “through the sanctification of its members, in the state and condition of life to which God has called them, and through individual and organized apostolic action at the service of the Church and of her shepherds.”
Affiliation with Regnum Christi is a free response to a call from God's love. It entails a commitment to dedicate oneself body and soul to help others to know and love Jesus Christ, through prayer, sacrifice, holiness and apostolate in communion with the Holy Father and the local bishop.
Lay Service
Regnum Christi includes lay men and women — some of whom are consecrated — deacons and diocesan priests. It has some 65,000 members worldwide.
“I joined one of Mexico's first groups of Regnum Christi women in 1972,” said Alejandra Quintana. “Witnessing the movement's growth as if it were the growth of a mustard seed has been like witnessing a never-ending miracle.”
Joseph and Jean Smith are the parents of five children, two of whom are Legionary seminarians. The couple joined the movement 10 years ago in St. Paul, Minn., and say they “can't begin to count the many blessings God has given” through the movement “for our spiritual growth, for our family life and for our apostolic work with young families.”
Regnum Christi is, as the decree notes, “united indivisibly” to the Legion of Christ. In fact, the religious congregation and the apostolic movement form one family of people united by the same love for Christ to help the Church in the new evangelization.
John Paul II wanted to mark Father Maciel's 60th anniversary as a priest with the definitive approval of the statutes. In an emotional ceremony, Archbishop Franc Rodé, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, read a formal statement publicizing the approval at the end of the Nov. 25 ordination Mass of 59 Legionary priests in Rome's Basilica of St. Mary Major.
The Blessed Virgin Mary's role in such a significant event was obvious to the 3,000 people who attended the reading and signing of the Holy See's decree. Twenty-one years earlier, Father Maciel had received the approval of the constitutions of the Legionaries of Christ in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Rome.
At the end of the ceremony, Archbishop Rodé, Father Maciel and the 59 newly ordained priests presented the Vatican decree to Our Lady, Health of the Roman People, Patron-ess of the Eternal City, whose image is venerated in St. Mary Major.
With this symbolic gesture, the Regnum Christi Movement wanted to publicly declare its commitment to bring Christ's love to all men and women, as the Mother of Christ did 2,000 years ago.
Legionary of Christ Father Alfonso Aguilar teaches philosophy at Regina Apostolorum Pontifical College in Rome.
aaguilar@legionaries.org
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Alfonso Aguilar, Lc ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: U.N. Cloning Showdown DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:NEW YORK — Attempts to get the United Nations to produce a treaty banning human cloning around the world have so far failed, but a vote on a compromise resolution may actually give a boost to pro-life efforts to halt such biological manipulations.
On Nov. 19, the legal committee of the U.N. General Assembly “averted a divisive vote on the question of an international convention against human reproductive cloning by deciding to take up the issue again as a declaration at a resumed February session,” said a U.N. press release.
The process started three years ago when France and Germany proposed an international treaty to ban reproductive cloning — in which the resulting human being is allowed to develop and be born — but which would have allowed so-called “therapeutic” cloning for research, a practice opponents call “clone-and-kill” because cloned embryos are destroyed soon after conception so that experiments may be conducted with their cells.
A human embryo is a unique boy or girl from conception to eight weeks, with DNA, life-expectancy — and right to life.
In 1987, the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith taught that cloning was immoral.“Attempts or hypotheses for obtaining a human being without any connection with sexuality through ‘twin fission,’ cloning or parthenogenesis are to be considered contrary to the moral law,” the Congregation wrote in its instruction Donum Vitae (The Gift of Life), “since they are in opposition to the dignity both of human procreation and of the conjugal union.” (Question No. 6).
When the French-German proposal was presented, Costa Rica put forth a counterproposal that would result in an international treaty banning all forms of cloning. Eventually, the main sponsorship of the “clone-and-kill” resolution was picked up by Belgium.
What happened, explained Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, is that 60 countries co-sponsored the Costa Rican proposal, but there weren't enough votes for passage by the General Assembly. But the Belgian resolution only had 22 co-sponsors, along with the support of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
After two years of discussion and debate, neither side was able to recruit enough support to force a conclusive vote. One country did change sides, however; Australia's recently re-elected government of Prime Minister John Howard switched from the “clone-and-kill” resolution to the total ban.
In an attempt to break the impasse, Italy, which had signed on to the Costa Rican ban, introduced a compromise calling for a resolution that would be non-binding and would urge member states to pass comprehensive cloning bans in their own countries. The Italian proposal was “a fallback position,” Ruse said, so that something could be said against cloning.
As it now stands, the Italian resolution reads, “Member states are called upon to prohibit any attempts to create human life through cloning processes and any research intended to achieve that aim.”
As is often the case in the United Nations, much of the debate over the Italian proposal centered over its specific wording. Pro-cloning nations wanted “human being” substituted for “human life,” because they believe the term “human being” can be interpreted to allow life-destroying embryonic research on the grounds that embryos are only “potential” human beings.
Ruse defended the term “human life” as a pro-life victory because “human being” has been defined narrowly in European Union court cases as someone who is already born. But he did concede that if the compromise resolution is passed, cloning advocates will also claim victory “because experimental cloning was not banned.”
But while pro-life delegations and activists believe they have gained important ground with the Italian resolution's current wording, Bishop Elio Sgreccia, vice president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said the compromise language was practically “useless.”
In an interview with Vatican Radio, Bishop Sgreccia said, “Verbally, what is said turns out to be ambiguous because the term ‘human life,’ which replaces that of ‘human being,’ is vague and even — I would say — useless, because a cell could also be ‘human life.’”
For its part, the U.S. delegation is continuing to actively pursue a less ambiguous ban. Rick Grinnell, a spokesman for the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Danforth, said they are “working feverishly to beat back” the Belgian proposal and get the Costa Rican one back on the table, and the Italian compromise will provide breathing room to achieve that.
Pia de Solenni, director of life and women's issues at the Family Research Council, agrees that the next couple of months could afford an opportunity to lobby the numerous countries that have not signed on to either side.
But which countries might sign on to the Costa Rican proposal? In most life issues debates at the United Nations, Muslim countries have sided with the United States and the Vatican. However, they have been silent on cloning because there is no theological consensus among their imams on when life begins, Ruse said.
Where de Solenni finds hope is in the predominantly Catholic Latin American countries, most of which have not declared their position. Besides Costa Rica, only Chile, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Paraguay have signed the resolution banning all forms of cloning. That gives room for larger countries like Mexico to get on board, she said.
Even if the Costa Rican proposal for a total ban were to be re-introduced next year and ultimately passed, it would take some years to officially enact since it would require the convening of a treaty commission and then ratification by individual member states’ governments. And then it would only be binding on those states that sign the treaty — meaning that countries like Britain that want to sanction “therapeutic” cloning will still have the capacity to do so.
Still, its passage would have an impact, particularly on Third World and smaller countries, de Solenni said. That's because if the United Nations decides to support something like cloning, then funding for the activity can take place through the organization. Conversely, if the United Nations votes to ban something and a country is doing the banned activity, then funding requests from that country can be denied.
Consequently, de Solenni said, “there's a certain amount of weight” that goes with a U.N. resolution or vote for a treaty. And though many American critics of the United Nations deride the international organization as ineffective, that's definitely not the case when it comes to influencing the world's less powerful countries, she added.
Said de Solenni, “The fact is, this is a game we can't get out of.”
Thomas Szyszkiewicz writes from Altura, Minnesota.
(Zenit and Register staff contributed to this report.)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Thomas A. Szyszykiewicz ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Europeans Want God in Their Constitution
The petition, which is to be delivered to European leaders, asks that each country be given the right to publish its own preamble to the constitution, including Christian references. The petition is supported by the European Parliament and the Pope, who has said, “One does not cut the roots to one's birthright.”
The constitution's author, former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, deliberately excluded Christianity from the preamble, but welcomes the petition as a means to determine the depth of European commitment to the faith, the Telegraph reported. But other officials, giving credence to the claim the union has become actively anti-Christian, say it is too late to change it. According to one official, “These Christians could at least have the good grace to accept that they lost the argument.”
Cuba: Bishop Sí, Rosaries No
Archbishop Favalora led a delegation of 12 American Church leaders to Santiago, where a bicentennial Mass was celebrated Nov. 28 by Archbishop Pedro Meurice Estiu.
The next day, the Americans were told their gifts were illegal. “We will try to deliver them later, by different means,” Archbishop Favalora said.
Despite this unpleasantness, the Miami archbishop was impressed by the fervor of the Cuban believers. “The Church was filled by people of every age,” he said. “You might expect that, 40 years after the revolution, it might not have many young people. But they were there … The grace of God is abounding because of it.”
No Christmas for Britain's Red Cross
Hitchens contrasted the “cowardice” of the British Red Cross with its Irish counterpart, whose “website advertises packs of Christmas cards which ‘contain a selection of traditional, modern and religious images.’”
St. Francis Xavier's Body on Display
St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish nobleman and one of the founders of the Society of Jesus, lived from 1506 to 1552. He is regarded as the greatest missionary of modern times and is known as the “Apostle to the Indies.” Every 10 years since 1964, his body has been displayed for 40 days in a glass-topped silver casket.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Christmas Where Christmas Started DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:BETHLEHEM — Msgr. Denis Madden, the associate secretary general for the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, loves Christmas in the Holy Land. He spent nine years there, working on behalf of the local Christian community.
“When you celebrate Christmas in the Holy Land, there's not the same drive to shop and buy. I think the atmosphere makes it easier to focus on what we're celebrating: the birth of Jesus Christ.”
Now based in the United States, Madden recalled spending Christmas Eve in Shepherds’ Field, which is next to Bethlehem.
“The Shepherds’ Field Mass was outdoors, and you could hear the dogs barking and the sounds of all the people. I imagine it was much the same all those years ago.” Msgr. Madden said he felt “privileged” to celebrate Christmas in the Holy Land because it afforded him the opportunity to show his solidarity with local Christians during a very difficult period.
“For me, it was so important to be with Palestinian Christians who are the living Christian community,” Msgr. Madden said. “They have a very difficult life, a very difficult time making a living, and they are so grateful for our presence.”
On Christmas Eve, the patriarch of Jerusalem will lead a colorful procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem accompanied by other clergy and more than 800 Boy Scouts. An international assemblage of choirs will perform in the city, and Christmas Mass will be celebrated in St. Catherine's Church, in the stone compound of the Church of the Nativity.
Bethlehem's Michael Nasser noted that “to a large degree, Christmas is still celebrated here the way it was 2,000 years ago. The people have the same simplicity. It doesn't matter whether you're Catholic or Protestant or Orthodox. It's first and foremost a religious experience.”
Still, life is hard for Holy Land Christians. Maryam Azizeh, a Catholic who assists visitors at Bethlehem Peace Center's front desk, told the Register that her husband, a former driver who taxied around tourists, has been unemployed for more than two years. The $220 she earns every month is supplemented by occasional gifts from her brother, an immigrant in the United States.
“We're nine brothers and sisters, but three have left,” Azizeh said. “And I've heard that Muslims are leaving, too.” The reason, she said, is simple. “There are no jobs. Our young people graduate from good universities but don't have jobs to go to. They get depressed and decide to leave,” Azizeh said.
Like other Holy Land Christians, Muslims and Jews, Azizeh said she is praying for a miracle this holiday season. “I appeal to all people to come and see the holiest place in the world. See that we are not terrorists. See that we are normal people who love our savior, Jesus Christ, the King of peace.”
— Michele Chabin
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Michele Chabin ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Fidelity to Mercy DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Last time, it was Timothy McVeigh.
The death-penalty debate enters the headlines from time to time because of a notorious case. But even when a killer guilty of thousands of deaths was the one on death row, public opinion surged against the death penalty.
Now Scott Peterson has put the death penalty in headlines again.
Peterson, of course, is convicted of killing his wife Laci and unborn son Connor. And even though Peterson's conviction was literally celebrated by many Americans, when the question changed to whether or not he should be executed, polls again show America at a crossroads. Execution is running about even with life in prison without parole as Americans’ preferred way to deal with murderers.
That more people oppose the death penalty is good news to Catholics. The Church teaches that the cases when the death penalty should be used are practically non-existent in modern society.
The Pope has made this teaching normative in every way he can. He wrote it into an encyclical, giving it the greatest weight possible. Since encyclicals are regarded as part of the ordinary magisterium, the Catechism of the Catholic Church had to be changed after that, and it was.
As if to show how seriously he meant his teaching on the death penalty, the Pope took the next logical step. He vigorously opposed particular executions all over the world, appealing directly to civil authorities to spare the lives of the condemned.
But if the death-penalty opposition of the magisterium is clear, Catholics who argue about the death penalty often muddy the waters.
Abolitionists act as if the case against the death penalty is a simple application of the fifth commandment, “Thou shall not kill.” They even call the death penalty “murder.” It couldn't possibly be as simple as that, because in the same biblical passage in which God gives Moses the Ten Commandments, he singles out crimes deserving death. The Church doesn't take the abolitionist position.
But if abolitionists often get it wrong, so do Catholics who favor the death penalty.
They make convincing arguments about its justice, and even its teaching power. They say the death penalty is the state's way of saying, “Lives matter — they matter so much that when you snuff out the image and likeness of God in another, you forfeit your own life.”
But if that's what the state is saying, the public isn't getting the message. Read any article about a particular execution and you'll find what most people want from capital punishment: They want to do ultimate harm to the condemned.
Pope John Paul II puts the debate into a bigger picture of what's happening in our world today. He says our age's blindness to the value of life has created a “culture of death.” In such a culture, executions are bound to look like just another example of killing being used to solve a problem.
Instead of teaching the importance of life, capital punishment in our day simply becomes another part of the culture's anti-life ethos.
Death-penalty defenders argue that the Church's position as he states it is something new, and is at variance with Catholic tradition. It isn't. “The traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor,” says the Catechism. “If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means.”
And, after all, there's an even more ancient tradition — the tradition of mercy. This tradition goes all the way back to Cain and became part of the Church's urgent message in the 20th century. The Church called for mercy in official pronouncements about the Sacred Heart and divine mercy, and in popular devotions like St. Faustina's.
Catholic literature took up the theme as welll. J.R.R. Tolkein's wildly popular trilogy was a 20th-century Catholic's parable about mercy. Tolkein made the existence of the world he created in The Lord of the Rings hinge upon the mercy shown to the murderous Gollum.
Now, in the violence of the 21st century with its terrorism, war, abortion and ethnic cleansings, it's time for Catholics to start applying those lessons.
In an age that has forgotten the value of human life, we'll be surprised how much good our fidelity to the Church's teaching about mercy will do.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: LETTERS DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Correction
Tim Drake's article “Youth Revolt” (Sept. 19-25) indirectly quotes Greg Dinato as saying he supports abortion rights. He never said such a thing, Dinato tells us. And, in fact, the Ohio Senate minority leader's voting record has been rated 100% pro-life by Ohio Right to Life. The Register regrets the mischaracterization of Dinato's position.
Partial Birth, Total Defeat
In the letter titled “Of Presidents and Judges” (Oct. 31-Nov. 6), a Register reader presented a strong defense of Judge Richard Casey's decision in the matter of partial-birth abortion. The author pointed out articulately that Mr. Casey, a judge, is subordinate to the Supreme Court and must obey the law. We are a nation that believes in the rule of law. It is our foundation. I was almost convinced. But not quite.
There are good laws and there are bad laws. For example, millions of people were put in Nazi concentration camps; 6 million of them were executed simply because they were Jews. This was all done according to the law. The Nazis wrote the law. In subsequent trials in Nuremberg, Nazi defendants claimed their barbarous actions were within the existing law. Allied judges, some being Americans with backgrounds similar to Mr. Casey's, rejected this defense.
The United States was founded by lawbreakers. All our forefathers risked being hanged for treason. Why did they break the law? They spelled out their reasons clearly in the Declaration of Independence: “Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it.”
“These ends” would be barbarous acts. By Mr. Casey's own admission, partial-birth abortion is a barbarous act. Yet he defends it as being within the law. What law? God's law? Catholics think not, and Mr. Casey claims to be Catholic. One of his defenders insists that the Casey decision puts the Supreme Court on the spot. But the court has long been on this spot, and they don't mind at all. They have declared themselves in support of abortion, any kind at any time, and they feel no shame.
Mr. Casey had a chance to take a giant step — to disobey the law, thus showing the Supreme Court the one thing that it does respect and fear: that a vast chasm exists between the court and the people, causing fragmentation in the government. Mr. Casey might have lost his job, but, as the Lord says, “Blessed are they who suffer in my name.”
Mr. Casey lost his chance and, in doing so, may have lost the cause. If we can't win on partial-birth abortion, it is difficult to see how we can win at all.
WILLIAM A. STIMSON
Charlottesville, Virginia
Celiac Smarts
I appreciate the article in the Register on celiac disease and the problems it can cause faithful Catholics, “Wheat Allergies Don't Stop Them” (Nov. 7-13). Both my daughters have recently been diagnosed with celiac disease. Giving up the host has been a great sacrifice. I would like to point out, however, that the headline for the article is very misleading. Celiac disease is not an allergy. Allergies cause the body to produce histamines. Unless you have something like a severe peanut allergy, taking an over-the-counter antihistamine can cover the problem.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune response of the body to gluten. Gluten actually damages the intestinal tract in the body, and there is not any type of medication that can cover or moderate the problem. The damage to the villi in the intestinal tract causes the body to mal-absorb nutrients and causes the body to form antibodies that can attack the organs and joints.
Many people have allergies to something, and they are accustomed to popping a pill and taking care of the problem. People with celiac disease cannot pop a pill. It is a very different problem, and it is important for priests to understand why just the amount of gluten present in the host can cause such tremendous problems.
Food allergies work out of the system in approximately five days. It can take three months to a year for the body to recover from damage caused by gluten for the celiac patient.
I love your paper. Keep up the good work.
SUSAN HOLMES
Little Rock, Arkansas
Whose Beauty?
Barbara Nicolosi's essay, “Art and Beauty” (Commentary & Opinion, Sept. 12-18), addressed issues that have been bothering me for quite some time. Some of the modern statues depicting Mary are truly ugly. My question is: Who are “they” who commission this “art”? Who approves their selections to be placed in our churches?
When God the Father, in his infinite love and power, created the mother of his divine Son, he made the most perfect woman to inhabit this earth, in every way. Mary was a young, beautiful Jewish woman and, certainly, among many other attributes, feminine. Why would anyone say “she is more human than strictly female”? More importantly, why is that statue in our cathedral?
I am looking forward to reading more of Ms. Nicolosi. Thanks for presenting outstanding articles that address a multitude of current issues. We always look forward to our next issue of the National Catholic Register.
F. SAENZ
Thousand Oaks, California
Keep Priests Off Pedestals
Regarding the letter titled “Celibacy: Now More Than Ever” written by Joseph Gesing of Silver Creek, Ga. (Sept. 19-25):
This type of misinformation is indeed what helped lead to the sex scandal. This kind of thought is exactly what put priests on their pedestals, making them venerated by the faithful and thus giving them excessive power and keeping the faithful subservient to them. This is why so many faithful look to priests as “godly and holy,” next to God, the hand of God. The Church needs to teach that these men are just men with none of the powers of Christ. They are merely an instrument of God in administering the sacraments. Merely a tool and not God himself or any part of him any more than the rest of us.
I realize how conservative this publication is and do not expect this letter to appear in it. What a tragedy that is. It just goes to show the editors’ bias and blindness and the desire to keep things as they are, thus thwarting any healing process within the Church.
Amazing how this sounds like the religious authorities of Christ's days on Earth.
RAY PELTIER
Group Leader, San Jose Chapter
Survivors Network for
Those Abused by Priests
Barely Adequate
Your front-page article “Bishops Tackle Issue of Communion for Politicians” (Oct. 3-9) was barely adequate; the headline suggested vigor when, actually, “waffle” would have been more accurate.
Only at the very end of a long piece would a reader see the observation from Father Richard John Neuhaus at the “Public Witness/Public Scandal” conference, pointing out that it is a longstanding scandal that most bishops have tried to evade their responsibility in calling Catholics to account in years past. Your writer might have noted that Father Neuhaus received the only standing ovation of the day.
CHARLES MOLINEAUX
McLean, Virginia
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: How to Pay for the Health-Uninsured DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Before we panic over how to cover the 45 million we are told are uninsured (“Rise In Number of Poor and Uninsured,” Sept. 12-18), let us look at a few facts, starting with the fact that many of the uninsured choose to be.
Of the 35 million uninsured adults, one in four are under 24, and half are under
35. Thinking like young adults, rather than presidential candidates, many of the young and healthy with limited resources and a sense of invincibility choose not to purchase health insurance. Among workers who have access to employer-subsidized insurance, one in five declines it. And the uninsured aren't the same people from year to year or even month to month. Three-quarters of the uninsured remain so for less than a year.
Of the uninsured, one out of three lives in a household earning more than $50,000 a year. One in seven lives in a household with an annual income exceeding $75,000. And the Census Bureau counts as “uninsured” individuals who are eligible for Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program but are not enrolled. Deven Herrick of the National Center for Policy Analysis estimates that as many as 14 million children and adults fall into this category.
And we may have already fixed the problem. Tucked away in last year's prescription-drug benefit bill was a provision establishing health savings accounts (HSAs) which combine a high-deductible catastrophic health insurance policy with a tax-free medical savings account to cover routine expenses.
HSAs offer portability and ownership. They can pay for health care and insurance between jobs. The cash accounts belong to the individual forever, whether they change jobs, lose jobs or retire. They encourage people to be both health conscious and cost conscious and don't increase the federal budget by a single dime. The downside is they don't buy votes, either.
DANIEL JOHN SOBIESKI
Chicago
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Steubenville Elects Bush DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:The election is past, and it is the season for taking credit.
George W. Bush won the Catholic vote in record numbers for a Republican candidate — 52% overall and 56.5% of the religiously active. There is no question that the combination of evangelical and Catholic voters was the primary factor in the president's re-election.
But, as they say, “success has many fathers, and failure is an orphan.” Thus far I have seen the credit for the election taken by Catholic radio stations in upstate New York, Catholic activists in northern Virginia and, most preposterous of all, a program called “Faithful Citizenship” sponsored by the Massachusetts Catholic Conference! (Catholics in Massachusetts, by the way, have the worst record of voting for Catholic pro-abortion politicians in the nation.)
For the record, I think the real credit should go to the candidate, George W. Bush, period. Once his message was heard by faithful Catholics, they responded. Catholics cast the highest number of votes for a Republican candidate in the history of U.S. elections, even though the president was running against a Catholic candidate.
But if I were to give credit to anyone or anything other than Bush, I would want to include the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.
Without the influence of Franciscan University, I am convinced the 20 electoral votes of Ohio would have gone to John Kerry. The Franciscan community registered voters, handed out voter guides, participated in a 72-hour program to get out the vote and protested the appearance of Kerry and Edwards in their college town.
These students are a big reason that Ohio Catholics voted 55% for Bush to 44% for Kerry and that Catholics attending Mass every week voted at a whopping 65% for Bush compared to 35% for Kerry.
Kerry's Catholic outreach effort, by the way, concentrated on Ohio. I guess it didn't work!
The southeast corner of Ohio, where Steubenville is located, was for decades dominated by the labor wing of the Democratic Party. When the Democratic Party decided there was no room for a pro-life voice, the Steubenville voters, like Catholic Democrats everywhere, faced a dilemma: Can I continue to vote the Democratic ticket when the party has embraced values that contradict my faith?
The difference between the situation in southeast Ohio and other labor-dominated areas is the presence of a strong, vibrant Catholic institution. For decades, Franciscan University — first under the leadership of Franciscan Father Michael Scanlan and now in the capable hands of Franciscan Father Terence Henry — has slowly changed the cultural and political climate of that area.
The uncertainty of Catholic Democrats translated into votes for the Republican presidential candidate.
Why? Not because he was Republican, but because he protects innocent life.
John Kerry and his campaign should have known they were in for trouble when he came to town in September.
Franciscan alumnus Michael Hernon joined with university student Gabriel Hahn, son of Catholic apologist Scott Hahn, to organize an anti-Kerry rally where 500 Franciscan University students combined with another 300 Steubenville citizens to protest the visit. Students carried signs that read, “Crusade for the Defense of Our Catholic Church,” “You Can't be Catholic and Pro-Abortion” and “Pontius Pilate Was Also Personally Opposed.”
According Fox News, it was the largest anti-Kerry rally of the campaign, and the coverage saturated Ohio media outlets for the next few days. The hostile reception in a traditional Democratic city stunned the Kerry campaign. The protest was repeated when vice presidential candidate John Edwards came to town.
In the election post-mortem, Douglas Brinkley, the biographer of Kerry, used the example of the Steuben-ville rally in explaining why Kerry lost the Catholic vote in Ohio — and thus the election.
Franciscan students, organized by Hernon (who worked as director of Catholic outreach at the Republican National Committee from 2000 to 2002), helped to distribute voter guides to almost all the local churches, even though many were removed later by pastors due to “IRS issues.”
These voter guides were based on candidates’ stances on abortion, marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, euthanasia and cloning. Catholic moms, dads, young adult singles and students worked all day at the polls, making calls to get out the vote. And, in the weeks before the election, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life led rallies in support of casting a pro-life vote.
At the end of the day, support for Bush in Jefferson County, where Steubenville is the county seat, was up 4% from 2000 — which was already up 14% from 1996. This after a Kerry visit, two Edwards visits and an overall slump in the area economy.
What was the Catholic vote in the county? There are no records that specific. But assuming that 26% of the Jefferson County vote is Catholic, like the rest of Ohio, the increase in the Catholic vote was 15% over 2000 — which translates to 5,316 votes.
Bush won Ohio by 136,483 votes. All of those votes can't be contributed to Franciscan University, but they could be attributed to the Catholic vote overall. The work of Franciscan University students and alumni was a witness and a rallying cry for others throughout Ohio. Franciscan is called “a city on a hill,” and on Nov. 2, it proved worthy of that description.
Here is an example of what happens when Catholic institutions have a strong Catholic identity: They can transform both culture and politics.
I asked Hernon what he thought was the moral of the election, and he put it succinctly: “The blue-collar values of Catholics no longer match up with the Democratic Party agenda.”
Deal W. Hudson is writing a book on Catholics in politics.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Deal W. Hudson ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Europe Revisited - and America Reconsidered DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Spending a year doing pastoral work in England, along with a book and an EWTN series, has afforded me the opportunity to re-examine, and in some cases revisit, parts of Europe — Britain, France, Spain and Italy — where I visited or spent considerable time while studying 25 years ago. Things have changed radically, and not for the better.
Europe is gradually becoming what it has not been since its origin: a small, perhaps insignificant continent with a severely shrinking population that has lost its Christian roots and consciousness and may find its dominant religion and population Islamic — Eurabia, as it is being named by some pundits.
The almost thousand-year war that began in 711 with the Muslim invasion of Spain appeared conclusively won in 1683 with the turning back of the Turkish invasion at Vienna. Now, it appears not to have been “won” after all. The European community soon may open its door to Turkey, which upon its entry would become its most populous member. What Islam could not achieve through centuries of war, it is now achieving through immigration — by taking on the low-paying jobs that the affluent and increasingly childless Europeans can't fill.
A far-below-replacement birthrate is pandemic throughout Europe. Two of the nominally most Catholic countries, Spain and Italy, hover above the rate of one child per couple. London's St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey, two ancient monuments of British Christianity, now serve principally as large museums and mausoleums where crowds of tourists visit the tombs of Wellington or Nelson and the Poet's Corner.
Fewer than 2% of members of the Anglican Church go to church on Sunday, making Roman Catholicism the de facto Christian religion of the country — without benefit of government sponsorship. So much for the English Reformation.
Even more telling is a visit to the St. Denis Basilica in Paris, the site of a Gallo-Roman cemetery where the saint was buried. From the year 250, it has been the burial home of 42 kings, 32 queens and 63 princes and princesses of France. One of the architectural jewels of Europe, it survived the ravages of the French Revolution. But now, the Christian shrine lies surrounded by a populous, high-crime area of non-assimilated Muslims. Living in the same godless culture as Christians, they seem to have grown just as non-observant in their own religious practice.
From what I have seen, like the United States, although to a greater extent, present-day Europe above all worships at the altar of sport. Athletes are the celebrities whose wax effigies are popular at Madame Tussaud's Museum just down the road from where I write.
With the influx of Islamic workers and the low rates of fertility (with little sign or possibility of reversal), within a few decades, Europe will be radically changed both in its religious and racial makeup.
John Paul II summed it up:
“At the root of this loss of hope is an attempt to promote a vision of man apartfrom God and apart from Christ. This sort of thinking has led to man being considered as ‘the absolute center of reality which makes him occupy — falsely — the place of God and which forgets that it is not man who creates God, but rather God who creates man. Forgetfulness of God led to the abandonment of man.’ It is therefore no wonder that in this context a vast field has opened for the unrestrained development of nihilism in philosophy, of relativism in values and morality, and of pragmatism — and even cynical hedonism — in daily life. European culture gives the impression of ‘silent apostasy’ on the part of people who have all that they need and who live as if God does not exist.”
If present-day Europe has been eviscerated, blame its lack of faith. What went wrong? The currents of the Reformation, with the principle of private judgment, and of the Enlightenment, with its over-reliance on agnostic reason, added to the historical crisis in the Church caused in part by the badly interpreted applications of the Second Vatican Council. The result is that Europe may soon become a largely Islamic continent — Eurabia — or an intolerant, consumerist, welfare state.
So, what's next for Christianity?
The European community's recent treatment of Italian Catholic statesman and philosopher Rocco Buttiglione may give us a clue. He simply espoused traditional Christian moral views on homosexuality. That was sufficient to have him removed as a candidate for an important European post.
The spiritual illness of Europe may be terminal — but death is not the end. This would not be the first time a great swath of Christendom came to ruin. After all, the Middle East, Asia Minor and Northern Africa were once flourishing centers of Christianity. Indeed, with the increasing hemorrhage of Christians from an intolerant and war-stricken Middle East, soon there may be virtually no Christians at all in the Holy Land where Christianity was founded.
In his book The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, Philip Jenkins reminds us: “The story of Christianity has been inextricably bound up with that of Europe and European-derived civilizations overseas, above all in North America.
“It seems that the growing secularization of the West can only mean that Christianity is in its dying days. Globally, the faith of the future must be Islam. Over the past century, however, the center of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably southward, to Africa, Asia and Latin America.”
Christianity is far from dead in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Jenkins points to the “hundreds of millions” of Pentecostal and independent churches there — churches, he says, that “preach deep personal faith and communal orthodoxy, mysticism and Puritanism,” all founded on “clear Scriptural authority.” In fact, Christianity in the Southern Hemisphere, whether Protestant or Catholic, is, above all, traditional.
Jenkins believes Christianity, both in its Catholic and Protestant forms, will continue to be the largest world religion for decades to come.
Yes, Europe has changed — and we too in America are undergoing equally dramatic and similar changes. As Americans, we must ask ourselves where we will be in 50 years. Will we be in a highly secularized consumer society with an ever-lower birth rate (we are already at the lowest in our history, barely above replacement level — 2.1%), dependent on immigration for survival like Europe, or a vibrant, growing, religion-based society that cherishes life and freedom and the dignity of the human person?
The current societal, cultural and political conflicts that we are engaged in will tell the tale. It is our choice to make with God's grace and in his providence.
All Christians need to possess the virtue of hope in order to enter heaven.
Through the centuries, the Church has been in what appears to be similar perilous situations. It is not dependent on geographical location to survive or even thrive. Its continued growth through procreation and evangelization give much hope for hope and even a realistic optimism.
If indeed, it is darkest before dawn, God may be preparing us and our descendants for what John Paul II has referred to as a “new springtime for the Church.” In speaking to Europe, he also speaks to us in America: “Be confident! In the Gospelwhich is Jesus, you will find the sure and lasting hope to which you aspire. This hope is grounded in the victory of Christ over sin and death. He wishes this victory to be your own, for your salvation and your joy.
“Be certain! The Gospel of hope does not disappoint!Throughout the vicissitudes of your history, yesterday and today, it is the light which illumines and directs your way; it is the strength which sustains you in trials; it is the prophecy of a new world; it is the sign of a new beginning; it is the invitation to everyone to blaze new trails in order to make the continent a true common home filled with the joy of life.”
Father C. J. McCloskey III is a priest of Opus Dei and a research fellow at the Faith & Reason Institute in Washington, D.C.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father C. John Mccloskeyxs ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: The Short, Heroic Life of Thomas Doerflinger DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:The Stryker armored personnel carrier holds nine soldiers and two crew members.
The Stryker is heavy — 38 tons — and covered in armor. Most of us will never sit in one, but we can imagine climbing in, hot and cramped, and heading into hostile territory. The relative quiet that we might experience in this large and rumbling vehicle would likely give way to the sound of bullets beginning to nick the armor. They come faster now, and stronger, as we near our destination. Explosions rock the Stryker. It has no windows, so we cannot see our attackers. Our shirts are drenched, hearts pounding. The Stryker jerks to a stop.
On Nov. 11 Thomas Doerflinger jumped out of that vehicle in a hostile town called Mosul. American and Iraqi forces had invaded the terrorist stronghold of Fallujah, the place of beheadings south of Baghdad. Other terrorists took this opportunity to invade Mosul's police stations which were inadequately guarded by Iraqi security forces that promptly ran away.
These would be Thomas Doerflinger's last moments on earth.
His high school teacher said he did not understand why a young man with such a vibrant intellect chose the Army instead of college. His girlfriend tried to talk him out of it. After the funeral, a woman was overheard saying, “What a wasted life.”
But when Thomas Doerflinger was confirmed in the Catholic Church, he took the name Maximilian Kolbe.
No one takes the name of Kolbe just because he founded the Knights of the Immaculata. Or because he started what became the largest religious magazine in Poland. Anyone who takes Kolbe's name does so because at a time in the world when courage mattered most, Kolbe did not hesitate. He offered himself up to the Auschwitz starvation bunker in exchange for a man with a family. You take the name of Kolbe because you hold self-sacrifice and the love of fellow man in the highest regard.
Childhood dreams of bravery can fade quickly as other things intrude and we begin to desire comfort and ease. In their Christian home, Thomas's parents taught him a different dynamic.
His father is the esteemed bioethics expert attached to the Pro-Life Secretariat of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. His mother teaches natural family planning. He witnessed his parents stand up for human dignity every day without wavering, no matter how strong the cultural tide moved against them.
His father says Thomas joined the Army to make a difference. He desired not a life of ease and comfort but one of struggle and sacrifice. He went to Iraq with the knowledge that he was helping others achieve freedom. He did not have to go.
Nor did he have to go to Mosul on Nov. 11. Thomas Doerflinger's own Stryker awaited repair, and he had no obligation to join another group of soldiers on their mission. Still, he joined them and met a sniper's bullet.
Was his a wasted life? Someone's life was saved that day because of Thomas. We may never know in whose place he stood and fell. For his bravery, the Army awarded him the Bronze Star.
Surely we agree with those who say that 20 is too young to die. But isn't a life of 80 years too short for those who seek little but comfort and ease?
In high school, Thomas was known to be a quiet person. He joined a Catholic social club, and on one memorable occasion set aside his characteristic reserve to join a discussion about the mystery of time. That day he spoke and, according to his teacher, dazzled the group with his explanation of St. Augustine's notion of eternity and its relationship with time. Even then this young man knew something about the meaning of time and eternity.
It is not surprising that Thomas Doerflinger's decisions perplex many around him.
We live in an age not of men, but of boys. When an actual man appears in our midst, he may seem strange, incomprehensible. When he is a Christian gentleman who becomes a hero, we may be altogether flummoxed.
Yet here one walked among us.
Like others before him, Thomas Maximillian Kolbe Doerflinger fell. But in falling, he showed the greatest love, that of dying for his friends. The remains of this Christian gentleman now lie in the cold earth, yet he stands far nearer the beatific vision than we do.
Cathy Cleaver Ruse is director of planning and information for the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities at U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Austin Ruse is president of the Culture of Life Foundation and Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Alert for Advent DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Father Jean Daniélou's The Advent of Salvation, originally published simply as Advent in 1950, may be the best $3 I've ever spent. The out-of-print book is a classic work on the meaning of Advent. Here are a few of Father Daniélou's thoughts about this wonderful but often overlooked season.
Salvation and history: The first Advent was an outpouring of God's grace upon an unsuspecting world. Grace is “that bond between mankind and God that can never be broken, because it is founded on the manhood of Christ, in whom Godhead and manhood are henceforth joined together forever. … Christ has brought our humanity into the inmost life of God to stay.” We enter that life through baptism, are nourished with the Eucharist and become partakers of the divine nature: “The mystery of history is summed up in God's design of giving His spiritual creatures a share in the life of the Trinity.”
John the Baptist: He prepared a way for his cousin, the Messiah, by proclaiming that the kingdom was at hand. John, who brings grace by preparing the way for conversion, complements Mary, who brings grace by being the Mother of God: “Since the coming of Christ goes on forever — He is always He who is to come in the world and in the Church — there is always an Advent going on, and this Advent is filled by John the Baptist. It is John the Baptist's peculiar grace that he prepares the way for what is about to happen.” We can emulate John by calling for conversion, beginning with our own, and preparing the way for the world to meet the Messiah.
The Blessed Virgin: The Mother of God “did not imitate Solomon by asking for wisdom,” notes Father Daniélou. “She asked for grace because grace is the one thing we need.” How simple and how amazing! Mary's example of faith should inform our thoughts and shape our actions during Advent. “She is the faithful virgin, who is never anything but faithful, whose fidelity was the perfect answer to the fidelity of God; she was always entirely consecrated to the one true God.” Mary anticipated the birth of her son for nine months and she now anticipates the birth of the new creation when he returns in glory.
The cross: “The Christian, following Christ, must resemble Him wholly; and the only way to do this is by the Cross.” We can only long for the coming of Christ and eternal life if we die to ourselves. We must know our place — in both this world and the world to come. God desires a unity of all men, in communion with the Father through the Son. The cross leads to unity; pride leads to death: “The greatest obstacle anyone can put to unity is to want to make himself the center of things.”
The return of the King: “We live always during Advent,” writes Daniélou. “We are always waiting for the Messiah to come.” Jesus came once and he will come again, but “He is not fully manifest in mankind as a whole: that is to say that, just as Christ was born according to the flesh in Bethlehem of Judah, so must he be born according to the spirit in each of our souls.” Advent is anticipation, preparation and contemplation of the King.
To think that I got all that — and much more — out of a $3 purchase. Thus is a well-focused Advent the pre-Christmas gift that keeps on giving all life long.
Carl Olson, co-author of The Da Vinci Hoax and editor of IgnatiusInsight.com, writes from Eugene, Oregon.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carl Olson ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Buon Natale! DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:At St. Peter's, a tree and a life-size crèche grace the piazza. In piazza Navona, a holiday fair.
All around the Eternal City, churches glowing with candles resound with Christmas music. Bakery windows tempt the most abstemious with cakes rich in figs and nuts.
Shepherds from the nearby mountains come down to play their pipes at street corners. “The dark night wakes; the glory breaks/And Christmas comes once more.”
Rome's connection with Christmas actually dates back to the year of Christ's birth, indirectly. We read in St. Luke's Gospel that “It came to pass, in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that a census should be made of all the inhabited world.” Which is to say that the decree went out from Rome.
And of course this is what caused Joseph to return with Mary to Bethlehem, David's city, because that was his ancestral home.
If you spend just a few days in Rome this time of year, the presence of the remarkable man who was emperor when Christ was born will make itself felt, even if you remain unaware of him.
Augustus’ birth name was Octavius, but he was given the name Caesar Augustus when his skill as both conqueror and statesman became evident, and he became the first Roman emperor. His reign brought peace to the empire during years of what was called the Augustan Peace. The people he knew live on in every schoolchild's history class and even in the movies — Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Cleopatra.
But a dream of his showed him a far greater world than his empire encompassed.
Augustus often walked from his glorious palace (now in ruins) on the Palatine Hill above the Roman Forum to the most sacred place in that pagan world — the Capitoline Hill, where stood a temple to Jupiter. One day after he had consulted the Sibyl there to learn his future, the Sibyl told him, Ecce ara primogenito Dei, or “Behold the altar of God's first-born son.”
Then the heavens opened and Augustus saw a virgin and child in the sky, which was taken to be a foretelling of Jesus’ birth. Augustus, though he knew nothing of the Christ Child, is said to have erected an altar on the Capitoline Hill.
Today the Franciscan church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli (at the Altar of Heaven) is named for that vision. Inside that church, a mosaic at an altar depicts that mystical moment.
That same church houses a curious statue of a baby, encrusted with jewels, that is said to cure all sorts of maladies.
At Christmas, Roman school-children in their smocks and kneesocks ascend a platform in front of this Santo Bambino and recite poems to him, often enlivened with expansive Roman gesturing.
Another Roman custom at Christmas is to go from church to church (there is one on almost every block in Rome) to see the imaginative presepi (pray-SAYpee) or crèches (presepio is singular) that most churches erect.
I still make this mini-pilgrimage at Christmas when I can, because the charm of this folk-art is infectious. Although the crèches are often simply made, additions such as shooting stars, music and babbling brooks make them enchanting.
Some even have lighting that changes from sunrise through the day and evening to starlight, and of course the Star of Bethlehem often guides the three kings across sandpaper plains.
The annual outdoor festa in Rome's magnificent Piazza Navona is always fun, with lights strung like a country fair's, food and crafts, and an outdoor Nativity scene. Roman children don't wait for reindeer and St. Nicholas, but for La Befana, a good old witch who appears at Epiphany with presents.
Television has imprinted Santa on little minds, however, and so you may see both of them strolling around this glorious ancient oblong piazza where Augustus watched athletic contests centuries before Bernini designed fountains during the Baroque period.
But the greatest joy is to come as you cross the bridge called the Ponte Sant'Angelo, named for the Archangel Michael, whose statue you'll see atop Castel Sant'Angelo across the River Tiber.
As you cross, the splendid angels with whirling robes that line the bridge seem to be rejoicing even though each carries an instrument of Christ's passion.
It doesn't take a great imagination to hear them singing “Oh, come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant …” Oh come ye to … St. Peter's, whose famous Michelangelo-designed dome can be seen not far off.
Although there were few Christmas trees in Rome when I first moved there, today the tradition seems to have caught on, and in front of St. Peter's a tall pine tree shelters a life-size Nativity scene.
As you walk along the street (the Via della Conciliazione) toward that cradle of the Catholic faith, in reality or in your daydreams, you may find yourself humming “I'll be home for Christmas” — and you will be.
Barbara Coeyman Hults is based in New York City.
----- EXCERPT: It's Christmastime in the Eternal City ----- EXTENDED BODY: Barbara Coeyman Hults ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:SUNDAY, DEC. 12
Our Lady in Scripture and Tradition
EWTN, 10:30 a.m.
Roses in December? It really happened — and today, on the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we can find out how. Franciscan Friars of the Renewal Father Andrew Apostoli recounts the visits of the Queen of Heaven to St. Juan Diego near Mexico City, Dec. 9-12, 1531, and discusses the miraculous image she left on his tilma (cloak).
MONDAY, DEC. 13
Rodgers and Hammerstein's “Cinderella”
PBS, 9 p.m.
It aired in color on CBS in 1957, but this musical exists now only in a black and white kinescope print that nevertheless sparkles with fun. Julie Andrews hosted and per formed, along with Edie Adams, Kaye Ballard, Ilka Chase, Jon Cypher, Alice Ghostley and many more stars. This 90-minute telecast features inter views with some of the per formers.
MONDAY, DEC. 13
Prince of Peace
Familyland TV, 9:30 p.m.
Ever yone will enjoy this 3-D animated telling of the Christmas stor y. Re-airs Dec. 21 at 1 p.m., Dec. 23 at 9:30 a.m., Dec. 27 at 8:30 a.m. and Dec. 28 at 4:30 p.m.
TUESDAY, DEC. 14
I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown!
ABC, 8 p.m.
In this “Peanuts” animated special, ReRun, feeling hectored by big sister Lucy, hopes for a pet dog for Christmas, so furr y pal Snoopy sends for his beagle brother, Spike.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 15
Modern Marvels: Air Shows
Histor y Channels, 7 p.m.
The USA's 425 air shows attract 18 million visitors each year, making these dazzling events second only to baseball as Americans’ favorite family-friendly outings.
THURSDAY, DEC. 16
Find & Design Holiday Special
A&E, 8 p.m.
For Christmas, Find & Design hostess Jennifer Convy and her team renovate the house of Adan and Lorena Pulido, the parents of two, who welcomed four of their nephews into their home after their mom died. Advisor y: TV-PG.
THURSDAY, DEC. 17
At Home with the Brave for the Holidays
A & E, 9 p.m.
Three GIs whose families struggled while they were away in Iraq come home to a Christmas surprise: A renovation team has fixed up their houses. Advisor y: TV-PG.
SATURDAY, DEC. 18
12 Days of Cookies
Food Network, 5 p.m.
Christmas and cookies really go together, as this show proves conclusively. And if it should nudge any viewers of f their diets a little bit, well — you can guess what's coming next here — that's just the way the cookie crumbles.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dan Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Who's Minding the Storage? DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Some of you may remember when 5 1/4-inch floppy disks were standard on computers for removable media that was rewritable. I believe I gave my last disks away with the old computer that used them.
In the 1980s, Apple pioneered the 3 1/2-inch floppy (no longer bendable, but still called “floppy”) capable of holding 1.44 megabytes.
In 1998, Apple became the first mass-market computer manufacturer to stop including floppy drives altogether. Since then, other computer manufacturers have followed suit.
When zip drives came out, they seemed to be the device that might replace the tried-and-true floppy. Iomega at Iomega.com boasts today that it has sold 50 million zip drives. A zip disk can hold 100, 250 or 750 megabytes of data. The 250MB disk holds the equivalent of 173 floppy disks. Yet, even with their popularity, zip drives haven't become standard hardware on computer systems.
CD drives have.
And why not? You can burn a CD to store or transfer large files with a CD burner (CD-RW drive) anywhere from 650MB up to 1 gigabyte. A CD-R disk can only be burned one time, but it can be read by most, if not all, CD players and drives. The rewritable CD-RW disk can only be read by a CD-RW burner or MultiRead-capable CD drives. These drives are becoming standard on new lower-end computer systems. Just look at Dell computers at Dell. com, for example.
All our computers here at the monastery have a CD burner. I just don't find myself transferring one or two files using it. I prefer the venerable floppy. But I find myself throwing away more and more floppies I have lying around that have gone bad, as many are years old. I do my main backup of “My Documents” on each computer using CD-RW disks in case the computer hard drive crashes.
Iomega says its zip drive out-paces the CD-RW burners in rewritable performance. (Until recently, CD-RW disks had to be reformatted to recover the space taken by “deleted” files when a disk becomes full, unlike the competing technologies like zip, which all offer true drag-and-drop functionality with no such limitation.) The zip drive had better be a considerable performance improvement since a 750MB zip disk will run you $10. On the other hand, CD and CD-RW disks are relatively inexpensive, running 16 cents and 32 cents respectively.
At the start of 1997, DVDs and DVD burners looked like the new king on the block. With a minimum capacity of 4.7GB and with disks now costing 30 to 60 cents, one would think CDs would be another obsolete technology. At first, wars over CD standards confused consumers and slowed the adoption of this technology. With newer drives, compatibility issues have all but disappeared. Larger hard drives have led to larger media files, especially video. This, in turn, makes larger-capacity disks like DVDs a necessity for transferring and storing files.
Just as CDs brought about an explosion in audio recording on computers, DVDs are doing the same with video. DVD burners can be found now on most new computer systems starting at around $1,000.
Even this technology continues to evolve. Current red-laser DVD technology is going to be replaced with blue-laser technology for greater storage density. If that isn't enough, Sony and Toppan have announced the development of a new groundbreaking optical disk, made largely from paper. This new disk can store five times more information than the current DVD disks on the market — a whopping 25GB. These disks will be able to hold two hours of high-definition images and, to ensure data security, disks can be cut up with scissors and thrown away. These disks will further lower the price of DVDs and may bring about the end of CDs.
Another removable media choice is the USB flash drive. It may well become the replacement for the floppy. Since 1996, computers have included USB ports. All new devices now plug into them, including flash drives. These very small drives can fit into your pocket. They are more durable than hard drives because they contain no internal moving parts. Basically, a USB flash drive is a portable hard drive with up to 4GB of storage capacity. You just plug it into your computer USB port and you have access to a new hard drive. They are so easy to use that the U.S. Department of Energy has banned their use in the workplace, saying they make copying and stealing sensitive data just too easy.
Flash drives are not cheap — a 2GB one will run you about $150, while 4GB runs $500. You may already have a USB flash drive and not even know it. Digital cameras appear to your computer just like a hard drive. You can transfer files to and from your USB camera that appears just like a hard drive under “My Computer” or move them to another computer. The same is true of other portable storage devices such as Apple IPods.
Floppies are the oldest form of removable storage, and there will always be some nostalgia associated with them. But who has time for nostalgia?
Brother John Raymond, co-founder of the Monks of Adoration, writes from Venice, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: From disks to zips to CDs - and back again ----- EXTENDED BODY: Brother John Raymond ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Monthly Web Picks DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:As we are at the beginning of the Year of the Eucharist, I will concentrate on Eucharistic information websites.
It's always good to begin with the Catechism of the Catholic Church at vatican.va/archive/ ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3. htm#1322.
The encyclical Ecclesiae de Eucharistia (On the Eucharist in Its Relationship to the Church) by Pope John Paul II at vatican.va/edocs/ ENG0821/_INDEX.HTM contains a wealth of reflection-worthy thoughts for this year.
While at work or at home, you can make a virtual and spiritual communion with our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament through your computer. Try our site at monksofadoration.org/chapel. html, at savior.org or St. Martin of Tours Parish at http://louisville-catholic.net/webcams/ webcam_main.shtml.
For those who want to get into the theology of the holy Eucharist, see the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas at newadvent. org/summa/4.htm and scroll down to questions 73 through 83.
EWTN has some links in their online library concerning the Eucharist. Start at ewtn.com/ faith/teachings/euchmenu.htm.
There are many good books, videos and talks available online concerning the Eucharist. They are available from our online shop at monksofadoration.org/giftshop.html or from other retail outlets found in our business categor y at monksofadoration.org/ccompany.html. Also see my online Eucharistic links at monksofadoration.org/eucharisc. html.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Brother John Raymond ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly DVD/Video Picks DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Elf (2003)
Elf shows every indication of being a disaster: Not only is it a recent Christmas-themed Hollywood film, but it also stars a Saturday Night Live alum, Will Ferrell. Yet Ferrell throws himself into the film as if he has no idea that it should be doomed, then he succeeds in making it both cute and funny. It doesn't hurt that he's abetted by a deadpan Bob Newhart, who's funny just sitting around, which is pretty much what he does.
Ferrell plays Buddy, a human orphan raised as an elf in Santa's North Pole workshop. When Buddy learns of his human heritage, he hops an ice floe to New York to reconnect with his Scrooge-like dad (James Caan), who's been on Santa's “naughty” list for years. Buddy's unflagging optimism is like a force of nature, but even Santa's sleigh can no longer fly in a world with so little Christmas spirit. Can Buddy bring Christmas cheer to modern, cynical New Yorkers? Can the boy raised as an elf humanize his father? Will he get the cute girl in the department store in the elf outfit? Elf offers no surprises, but it's reasonably sweet, good-natured holiday fun.
Content advisory: Mild objectionable language and rude humor; back story involving an out-of-wedlock birth.
The Burmese Harp (1956)
Kon Ichikawa's deeply humane, spiritually resonant The Burmese Harp is routinely but reductionistically described as “antiwar” or “pacifist.” Yet war is only the occasion for the story's theme, not the theme itself. That would be the intractable mystery of suffering and evil, affirmation of spiritual values and the challenge to live humanely in evil circumstances. Burying the dead, one of the seven corporal works of mercy in Catholic tradition, plays a key role in the simple, fable-like story about a Japanese soldier who is spiritually transformed after disguising himself as a Buddhist monk.
Although the story, set in Southeast Asia at the end of WWII, dwells on war-related horrors, the film's message is not that suffering is caused by war. Rather, the film shows that we don't know why suffering happens. Instead of diagnosing a cause, The Burmese Harp empha-sizes the importance of compassion, humility and spirituality in facing up to the disease. One of the 15 films on the Vatican film list in the Values category.
Content advisory: A few scenes of battlefield violence; numerous depictions of scattered corpses; Buddhist milieu. Subtitles.
The King of Kings (1927)
Cecil B. DeMille's silent Gospel masterpiece, until now available only in a shortened 112-minute version, is now available in a new DVD from Criterion that includes the original 155-minute film as well as the shorter version. The newly restored long version includes nearly 45 minutes of extra footage, including one scene in which Jesus miraculously provides the tax for Peter and himself by sending Peter to catch a fish with a coin in its mouth (with a hilarious coda depicting a pair of astounded Roman centurions fishing for more coin-bearing fish!).
DeMille's predilection for combining biblical pageantry with spectacle and sex comes to the fore in an over-the-top prologue depicting a decadent party presided over by a haughty, half-naked Mary Magdalene. Yet as Mary herself, once in Jesus’ presence, is humbled and chastened, so DeMille abandons his excesses once he turns to actual Gospel events. The introduction of Jesus, dramatically revealed from the point of view of a blind boy for whom Jesus’ face is the first thing he ever sees, is both spiritually moving and powerful.
Content advisory: Restrained passion narrative violence; references to adultery and harlotry; mild innuendo. Silent.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Adoration Station DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:When Father Bob Roggenbuck distributed fliers around his Ann Arbor, Mich., parish to promote a young-adult group whose central activity would be to adore Christ in the Eucharist, the newly ordained priest expected a modest response.
No fewer than 36 turned out at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish for the first night — and most were students from nearby colleges and universities. Three months later, the group, which calls itself Generation Christ, has attracted 75 and is still growing.
Why so many college students? St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, surrounded by the University of Michigan, also serves students from Eastern Michigan University, Ave Maria College, Ave Maria Law School and Washtenaw Community College.
“College students come to our parish because we are a traditional parish, with families and a wide range of people,” says Father Roggenbuck. “Many students are drawn to this kind of parish as opposed to their campus Newman center. It reminds them of their own church, the parish they grew up in.”
Bethany Thelen, a University of Michigan freshman, admits that attending the parish and joining the group eased her fears. “Coming to U of M, I was very nervous because my friends from high school chose different schools,” she told the Register. “Generation Christ has been an amazing opportunity and experience for me.”
Students from the various colleges meet for two hours every Sunday evening. The first hour is a holy hour with worship music. The second hour is for fellowship.
A guest homilist or speaker, mostly priests and deacons, addresses the students. Two Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist, a new community devoted to the Eucharist, have also spoken to the group.
Father Roggenbuck insists the heart of Generation Christ is the Eucharist. He launched the group around the time of Pope John Paul II's proclamation of the Year of the Eucharist.
“I think that, in response to the Holy Father's call to make this the Year of the Eucharist, if we are going to be authentically Christian, we need to be closer to the Lord,” he says. “If we are going to do that, the Eucharist is Christ himself.”
Father Roggenbuck perceives a direct relationship between his recent ordination and the Year of the Eucharist.
“I think it's very timely,” he says. “The Holy Father has his finger on the pulse of humanity. He wants to rekindle in the third millennium a sense of amazement at the Eucharist. It is particularly important to respond to the Holy Father's call to do what he wants me to. The celebration of the Eucharist is so fresh in my mind because I am newly ordained. It is so important for my own spiritual life.”
Powerful Pull
The fact that college students are meeting once a week to adore the Eucharist has astounded some parents.
“I was very pleased and surprised to hear there was adoration of the Blessed Sacrament,” says Mary Ann Thelen, Bethany's mother. “It made me happy because I know that a greater relationship with God can develop from a regular time like this. I would love for her to find it so powerful that it becomes a regular part of her life, whether she goes with a group or not.”
Bethany says habitual Eucharistic adoration has deepened her understanding of the Year of the Eucharist.
“I knew it was the Year of the Eucharist, but I felt it had very little meaning for me personally,” says the freshman. “The Year of the Eucharist has gained so much more meaning for me since going to Generation Christ. I am now able to adore the Lord each week. Before Generation Christ, I never went to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on a regular basis, and I have just begun to realize how incredible it is to meet the Lord in this way. Devotion to the Eucharist is something I desperately want and need more of.”
Faith and Friendship
Besides adoration, the group, loosely affiliated with a wider group of that name launched in Cincinnati several years ago, also plans to attend World Youth Days and to travel to New York City to work with the poor.
Generation Christ serves another role as well. It brings together compatible students who have in common a zeal for the Catholic faith.
“It is incredible to be involved in a group of young adults who are on fire for the Lord,” says Bethany. “They care about their faith and want to grow in holiness. What appeals to me is having a group of like-minded individuals who value their Catholic faith and are able to share their faith with others. I have met so many great people and found support and friendship in this group. However, with Generation Christ, I have made excellent friends, and I really enjoy going each week to grow in faith and friendship.”
Father Roggenbuck is mindful of the great gift found in the Eucharist and is convinced that even if students don't fully understand Eucharistic adoration, they are coming to know the Lord even deeper.
“I have a favorite line,” he adds. “If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for only one reason: the holy Eucharist.”
Mary Ann Sullivan writes from New Durham, New Hampshire.
----- EXCERPT: Christ draws a crowd among Michigan collegians ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mary Ann Sullivan ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Kinsey's Kookiness Uncovered DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:THE KINSEY CORRUPTION:
AN EXPOSE ON THE MOST
INFLUENTIAL “SCIENTIST”
OF OUR TIME
by Susan Brinkmann
Ascension Press, 2004
84 pages, $5.95
To order: (888) 488-6789 or CatholicOutreach.com
Dr. Alfred Kinsey, famed sex researcher, was fond of saying that “only variations are real.” What started out as an insight into the complexity of gall wasps became a tragic moral and methodological error as Kinsey, trained as a zoologist, used his observations of variations in wasp physiology to explain variations in human behavior. And, while he was at it, he exaggerated the prevalence of sexual perversion and promiscuity in modern society.
To summarize the central point in Catholic journalist Susan Brinkmann's brief book: Kinsey used bad science to gain social acceptance for immoral and unnatural acts.
Brinkmann's work is timely not only because of Kinsey, the recently released movie that portrays its subject as a trailblazer and cultural hero, but because Alfred Kinsey's “everything goes” attitude about human sexuality continues to influence popular attitudes about sex — not least through public-school sexual-education programs.
The notion that 10% of the population is homosexual and that adultery is routine, and therefore “normal,” are two of his more dubious conclusions that continue to be widely circulated. Brinkmann, a correspondent for The Catholic Standard & Times, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, makes clear that her goal is to offer an overview of the work done by Dr. Judith Reisman, president of the Institute for Media Education and the author of several books on Kinsey, including Kinsey: Crimes and Consequences.
Brinkmann succeeds. The Kinsey Corruption offers a fine overview of Reisman's efforts to reveal the true character of a troubled figure whose dubious science has influenced several generations. The book's release is timed, of course, to coincide with the release of the ballyhooed Kinsey, in which popular actor (and likely Oscar nominee) Liam Neeson portrays Kinsey as “a nice gentleman in a bow tie” — to use the words of Time magazine in its favorable review.
The truth is a bit more troubling.
Kinsey was raised in a strict Methodist home in which prohibitions against smoking and dating predominated over the mysteries of a loving God. He would go on to become an avowed atheist and cut all ties with his parents.
Kinsey is most often described today as bisexual. That description is both euphemistic and misleading. His routine sexual practices cannot be described here, and his death at 62 in 1956 was probably the result of a disease brought on by the physical harm he did to himself in search of masochistic sexual fulfillment. Was this compulsive man suited to conduct serious research on human sexuality?
That's what Reisman and, by extension, Brinkmann, are asking. The question seems reasonable, given that “serious science” is what Kinsey pretended to do. A disproportionate number of the “sexual histories” he compiled were drawn from convicted sex offenders, patrons of “gay” bars, and prostitutes. (His work was quickly seized by Playboy magazine, Planned Parenthood and others eager to change the moral climate of America.)
Along with exposing the corruption of Alfred Kinsey's research — and doing so concisely and convincingly — the book also sounds a note of hope for a society mired in post-Kinsey sexual anarchy.
“The sexual confusion so prevalent in our world and in our own hearts is simply the human desire for heaven gone berserk,” writes Christopher West in the introduction. “Untwist Kinsey's distortions and we discover the astounding glory of sex in the divine plan: God created us male and female and calls us to be united in a fruitful, ecstatic union in order to prepare us for eternal love, eternal union, eternal bliss.”
Too bad Kinsey's questionings made no allowance for that part of the equation.
Joe Cullen writes from Floral Park, New York.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joe Cullen ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Dems Dominate
Increasingly, American academe holds to a rigid set of opinions rather than serving as “a marketplace of ideas,” said Stephen Balch, the association's president.
The study found that in the American Anthropological Association, for example, there were 30 Democratic voters for every one who voted Republican.
Economics professor Daniel Klein of the Jesuits’ Santa Clara University is one of the authors of both studies.
Business Ethics
OneAmerica Financial Partners will fund the endowment in honor Jerry Semler, its former CEO.
The endowment is the first-ever at the college, administered by the Sisters of St. Francis.
Janitor's Generosity
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Nov. 22 — When Genesio Morlacci left $2.3 million to Montana's University of Great Falls following his death in October at age 102, many were astonished at the wealth amassed by a man who operated a dry-cleaning shop and later worked as a part-time janitor in retirement.
He “felt that if you didn't need it, you shouldn't buy it,” said Joe Marra, his former attorney. He also wanted to help others obtain the education he never had, Marra added.
Before his death, Morlacci declined an offer to meet with officials at the university, which is administered by the Sisters of Providence. “He avoided anything that could be construed as putting on a show,” reported the wire service.
Teaching Spirit
“Seventy teachers packed into a 31-desk classroom as Sister Mary spoke of Mother Teresa's love for the poor and of her spirituality and devotion to Jesus as the Blessed Sacrament,” repor ted the diocesan newspaper.
“Mother Teresa was a teacher and you are teachers,” she said. “You form the hearts, the minds and souls of your children, and don't let anybody tell you different.”
Catholic Fine Arts WESTERN CATHOLIC RE -PORTER, Nov. 22 — Living Water College of the Arts, a proposed new college in rural Edmonton, Alberta, will provide a unique three-year arts program that combines the intellectual and artistic aspects of the creative process with spiritual formation, reported the newspaper of Canada's Alberta Archdiocese.
Ken Noster, an actor and founder of the proposed college, said his plan is to place the college away from a large community to promote both spiritual reflection and artistic growth to prepare young Catholic artists who can persevere in professions that are often hostile to the faith.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Budget More Pro-Life
CHRISTIANITY.COM, Nov. 23 — Next year's federal budget will include a 39% increase in funding for abstinence education — more than $104 million (up from this year's $75 million). The budget also contains $25 million to fight sex trafficking; this funding was withheld last year by congressional appropriators.
The budget measure also contained the Weldon-Hyde Conscience Protection amendment, which prohibits federal, state or local agencies from forcing health-care providers to provide abortion services in order to receive funds.
‘Desperate’ No More
CWFA.ORG, Nov. 26 — The parent company of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, A&W and Long John Silver's has stopped advertising on the ABC show “Desperate Housewives” after a flood of emails and phone calls from concerned customers at the headquarters of Yum! brands. Robert Knight, director of Concerned Women for America, said, “This is a per fect example of why concerned citizens should never give up, even when it seems their voice is not being heard.”
Democrats and Life
On government support of faith-based initiatives, Klein criticized Democrats for opposition that “hurts poor black and Latino congregations that need the help” and for a “full-throated embrace of freedom of speech that ignores the social pollution” of modern media.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: The Register's Clip-Out, Photocopy and Pass-On Guides for Advent DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Quick Tip God likes to converse with you the way you like to converse with others: He doesn't want you to rattle on and hardly notice him.
Quick Tip Prayer is made of ACTS.
A-Adoration, C-Contrition (sorrow for sins), T-Thanksgiving, S-Supplication (your requests of God).
Reason 1 If you had the chance to talk to Blessed Mother Teresa, wouldn't you? Christ is infinitely greater, and you have the chance every day.
Reason 2 Don't you talk frequently and for significant amounts of time to those you love?
Quick Tip Kneel when you pray, or sit respectfully. Your body and soul are one. The way you carry your body is important.
Reason 3 As a baptized person, you are the representative of Christ's love at home, at work and in social situations. You will only represent him well if you've prayed.
Reason 4 Prayer will transform your day and make it fruitful and fulfilling.
Reason 5 Only God can make you truly happy. Not your spouse, not your body, not your intellect. Know him.
Reason 6 Do you want to go to heaven? Then get ready with habitual prayer.
Quick Tip Start by remembering God is present and telling him in your own words why you believe in him, hope in him and love him.
Quick Tip If you get “stuck,” you can slowly repeat the words of a simple prayer like: “My God, I adore your divine greatness from the depths of my littleness.”
The Rosery
Pope John Paul II has asked Catholics to say daily rosaries.
The Basic Rosary
1. Holding the crucifix, make the sign of the cross.
2. Holding the fifth bead up from the crucifix, announce the first mystery, then say the Our Father. Say 10 Hail Marys, one on each bead, while meditating on the mystery. End with: Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.
3. Continue with the second, third, fourth and fifth mysteries in the same way.
4. Say the Hail Holy Queen.
5. End with the sign of the cross.
Joyful Mysteries(Monday, Saturday)
1. The Annunciation (see Luke 1:26-38)
2. The Visitation (Luke 1:39-56)
3. The Nativity (Luke 2:1-20)
4. The Presentation in the Temple (Luke 2:22-38)
5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 3:41-52)
Luminous Mysteries(Thursday)
1. Baptism of Christ in the Jordan (see Matthew 3:13-17)
2. Wedding Feast at Cana (John 2:1- 12)
3. Proclamation of the Kingdom (Mark :15, 2:3-13)
4. The Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8)
5. Institution of the Eucharist (Matthew 26:26-32)
Sorrowful Mysteries (Tuesday, Friday)
1. Agony in the Garden (see Luke 22:39-46)
2. Scourging at the Pillar (Mark 15:6-15)
3. Crowning with Thorns (John 19:1-8)
4. Carrying of the Cross (John 19:16-22)
5. The Crucifixion (John 19: 25-30)
Glorious Mysteries(Wednesday, Sunday)
1. The Resurrection (see Matthew 28:1-10)
2. The Ascension (Acts 1:6-11)
3. Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and Mary (Acts 2:1-13)
4. Assumption of Mary into Heaven (Revelation 12:1-3, 13-18)
5. Coronation of Mary (Revelation 12:1-5)
Order our full-color Guide to the Rosary: (800) 356-9916 x 3809
Reason 7 Read Luke 10:38-42: Jesus says there is “only one thing necessary.”
Reason 8 Mental prayer is the only thing that will soften your heart besides suffering.
Quick Tip Read a brief passage from the Gospels, and picture it happening. You can even imagine Christ sitting with you.
Reason 9 Christ doesn't want you to pray because you have to. He wants you to pray because he loves you and likes talking to you.
Reason 10 Faithful prayer can give you in a moment what otherwise takes years of experience to gain.
Content: Father Lorenzo Gomez, LC (legionofchrist.org), April Hoopes (regnumchristi.org), Father C. John McCloskey (cicdc.org). Art: Tim Rauch. Photos: AFP.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Our Advent Guides DATE: 12/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: December 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Pope John Paul II outlined a clear program for the future of the Church in his 2001 apostolic letter Novo Millennio Ineunte(At the Beginning of the New Millennium).
His plan is brilliant in its simplicity: promote Sunday Mass, confession, prayer and community service. These four things are easy to promote and life-changing.
To help Register readers take up the Holy Father's challenge we have produced four guides.
Clip, photocopy and pass out as many as you like!
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life --------