NORTH OXFORD, Mass. — Maureen Hatch describes herself as a “low-key, don't-look-at-me” kind of person.
But, as the same-sex marriage debate in Massachusetts heated up in recent weeks, she felt compelled to enter the fray, attending a Jan. 25 rally in support of traditional marriage, one of three held that day across the state.
“I felt like I needed to start acting as opposed to just feeling, ‘Yeah, I think marriage should be between a man and a woman,’” she said.
The rallies came five days after President Bush's State of the Union address, in which he told a joint gathering of Congress, members of his Cabinet and others that “a strong America must … value the institution of marriage.”
The president criticized “activist judges” who he said have “begun redefining marriage … without regard for the will of the people and their elected representatives.”
Last November, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued the Goodridge v. Massachusetts decision, saying the state must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. It gave legislators 180 days, or until mid-May, to craft a law that would allow homosexual marriage.
Bush, in his Jan. 20 speech, hinted that an amendment to the U.S. Constitution specifying marriage as between one man and one woman might be needed. But he did not explicitly call for such an amendment, an omission that had some disappointed.
Tony Perkins, a former Louisiana state legislator who is president of the Family Research Council, called the Goodridge decision “a cultural time bomb” and believes Bush doesn't understand the high stakes of the marriage battle.
Perkins interpreted the president's speech as saying, “Look, we can take care of it after it blows up.”
“We cannot wait until same-sex marriage licenses are issued in Massachusetts,” Perkins said.
Bush acknowledged that marriage is “an issue of such great consequence,” one on which “the people's voice must be heard.”
“If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process,” he stated. “Our nation must defend the sanctity of marriage.”
Ground Zero
But if the Bush administration is waiting to see if an amendment is needed, many traditional-marriage advocates are looking to the statehouse. And Massachusetts is ground zero.
Hatch, who is married, was galvanized by a recent newsletter from the Life Action League of Massachusetts and by the state's four bishops, who asked the Massachusetts Catholic Conference in mid-January to mail 1 million fliers urging families to show their support for a state Marriage Affirmation and Protection Amendment.
The Massachusetts court ruling can be overturned, but only if the proposal to amend the state Constitution, which would preserve the definition of marriage as the union between a man and a woman, is approved twice by the Legislature in two consecutive years.
That would then allow the fate of the amendment to be decided by voters during a statewide referendum in November 2006. The first vote by the Legislature to consider the proposal is scheduled for Feb. 11.
Advocates worry that legislative leaders will delay the vote and that it will then be lost in the shuffle of presidential politics this year — the Massachusetts primary in March, the Democratic national convention in Boston in July and the general election in November.
State Senate President Robert Travaglini will postpone the Feb. 11 vote if the Supreme Judicial Court has not issued its advisory opinion by then on whether a “civil unions” bill the Senate passed in December meets the court's conditions in Goodridge, a spokeswoman said. But House Speaker Thomas Finneran has said he expected law-makers to vote, whether or not they hear from the court.
Delaying the vote will present a “tremendous obstacle” to placing it on the ballot in 2006, said Massachusetts Catholic Conference associate director for policy and research Daniel Avila. And until the state's Constitution is amended, experts say same-sex couples can apply to get civil-marriage licenses starting in May.
The Massachusetts Marriage Affirmation and Protection Amendment has the catchy acronym MA & PA, but homosexual activists are being proactive in trying to convince the public that same-sex unions should be seen as just as normal as heterosexual couples. They've been taking out full-page ads, including one that showed a lesbian pair and asked, “Why are ‘pro-family’ groups attacking this devoted couple?’”
The state's bishops sought to deflect criticism that they were encouraging bias and encouraged Catholics in the state's four dioceses to contact their legislators before Feb. 11.
‘Stakes Too High’
“People may be hesitant to act for fear of being falsely labeled as bigots or intolerant,” Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley, Bishop Daniel Reilly of Worcester, Bishop George Coleman of Fall River and Bishop Thomas Dupre of Springfield wrote in a Jan. 16 statement. “A full-scale campaign through the media to shame concerned citizens into silence is undoubtedly having an effect.”
Their words seemed to indicate concern that they were failing to drum up enough support for traditional marriage.
They insisted that the stakes are too high to sit out the debate. “We will have to answer to God for anything we fail to do,” the bishops said.
The bishops’ statements, the mailings and the rallies have encouraged some local Catholics.
“We're hoping that we'll be the start of another Boston Tea Party,” said Laurie Letourneau, president of the Life Action League of Massachusetts, one of the leaders in the grass-roots effort to protect traditional marriage.
But some homosexual-rights supporters view the debate differently than the Church. They see it through the prism of basic civil rights.
State Rep. Byron Rushing, a Democrat, recalls a game people used to play during the civil-rights movement. He said white people would ask African-Americans: “What do you want? Why are you having all these demonstrations?” And the reply was: “Make a list of all the things you want.” The white person would then list the opportunities and rights he wanted.
“And then you'd say, ‘Sign my name, Me, the black person,’” Rushing said. “Now you know what I want. And that's what homosexuals, gay people and lesbians who want to get married want. That's all they want. Nothing more.”
The bishops insisted their teaching is not discriminatory but that its moral doctrine “acknowledges the reality of evil in all its forms” and “does so to invite all individuals to repentance, reconciliation and healing.”
They also cited studies that showed the best venue for raising a child is a stable and permanent relationship between a man and a woman.
Wide Implications
Goodridge's implications go beyond the state, the Catholic Conference's Avila said. If civil-marriage licenses are granted to same-sex couples, some of those couples might move to other states and file lawsuits there to receive the same benefits and rights they got in Massachusetts, he said.
“And then we'll see a tremendous legal push through the courts to create same-sex marriages under the federal Constitution,” he predicted.
Currently, 37 states have laws defining marriage as between one man and one woman. But across the country there has been a push to recognize same-sex unions. In California, for instance, a San Francisco assemblyman, Mark Leno, recently announced he would introduce legislation to allow homosexual couples in California to obtain marriage licenses. Currently, they can register as domestic partners.
And family advocates in Connecticut fear moves to legalize homosexual marriage in their state. The Family Institute of Connecticut is planning a Marriage Protection Weekend in Hartford, the capital, Feb. 7-8.
Carlos Briceño is based in Seminole, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceņo ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Taking an Oath DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — When Adrian and Beth Galvez of Williamsburg, Va., looked at colleges for their eldest daughter, Christa, they considered several Catholic institutions. In the end they chose Franciscan University of Steubenville because of its adherence to Church teachings.
“We had visited other Catholic universities that appeared to have given up being Catholic for fear of losing grant dollars,” Adrian Galvez recalled. “One of the schools had removed the crucifixes from its classrooms.”
At another school the Galvezes visited, the tour guide seemed to apologize for the presence of religious priests and brothers on campus.
“There's no point in considering a school that has abandoned its Catholic identity,” Galvez said. “Whatever pursuit our children feel called to, what we don't want is after having been given the privilege of trying to plant the seed to follow God, for them to go to a university and have that driven from them by some apparently well-meaning person.”
Galvez expects they will seriously consider Steubenville when their remaining three children graduate from high school as well.
Ranked 24th among Midwestern universities in U.S. News and World Report's 2004 Guide to America's Best Colleges, Franciscan University of Steubenville is one of only a dozen of the country's 235 Catholic institutions of higher education whose theology faculty have met canon law requirements for the mandatum.
The mandatum is a recognition by his bishop of a Catholic theologian's pledge to teach in communion with the magisterium of the Church.
Since 1983, canon law has required that a theologian teaching in a Catholic university receive a mandatum from the local bishop. The requirement was highlighted in a footnote in Pope John Paul II's 1990 apostolic constitution on higher education, Ex Corde Ecclesiae (From the Heart of the Church). U.S. bishops began requiring the mandatum in 2001.
The Register has been investigating Catholic colleges and universities featured in U.S. News & World Report's college guide asking: Are parents allowed to know whether those who teach theology even intend to teach in communion with the Church?
Or has the opposite happened— is the man-datum being used to protect dissenters? Schools which the Register has identified in compliance with the canon law mandate are listed on the Register's Web site (www.ncregister.com).
During his meeting with the U.S. cardinals in 2001, Pope John Paul II said parents “must know that bishops and priests are totally committed to the fullness of Catholic truth on matters of sexual morality, a truth as essential to the renewal of the priesthood and the episcopate as it is to the renewal of marriage and family life.”
The majority of the nation's Catholic colleges and universities are treating the mandatum as a private matter between the individual theology professor and his or her local bishop, making it virtually impossible for students or their parents to know which professors have received the mandatum.
This, however, is not the case at Franciscan University.
Steubenville Bishop Daniel Conlon; Third Order Regular Franciscan Father Terence Henry, the university's president; and theology department chairman Alan Schreck all spoke with the Register about the mandatum's importance to the eastern Ohio university.
“We have all applied for and received the mandatum,” Schreck said. “The mandatum, for us, is an important thing. It's our pledge of fidelity to the Church and expresses where we have always stood.”
“Parents have sometimes been surprised that the outcome of a supposedly Catholic education does not lead to a strengthening of the lived-out faith but the opposite,” Father Henry said. “We see our mission as part of a larger mission, which is to be at the heart of the Church. The only way we can be there to produce the next generation of Catholic leaders is to be Catholic.”
When seminary professors of philosophy and theology began taking the oath of fidelity in the late 1980s as required by Canon 833, Steubenville decided to do likewise. In 1989, long before the U.S. bishops finalized guidelines for the implementation of the man-datum, the university gained prominence by becoming the first Catholic university in the United States whose theology faculty, priests and campus ministers publicly pledged fidelity to the local bishop and the universal Church.
At the beginning of every school year those responsible for theology and ministry would recite the Creed and the bishop would administer the oath of fidelity. It's a tradition the university continues every fall.
In the presence of the university's freshmen, those taking the oath “accept all that the Pope teaches, and the bishops in union with him,” and promise “to preserve communion with the Catholic Church, whether in speech or action.”
“This is what we believe,” Schreck said. “We want to make a public statement that we are proudly in submission to the Church.”
Bishop Conlon explained that the oath was in place long before he became bishop 18 months ago.
“There is a great openness on the part of the faculty,” he said. “I was invited to be a part of that process.”
Bishop Conlon explained the process: “In the fall the president sends me a list of the new theology professors as well as their curriculum vitaes. There is a Mass at the beginning of the school year at which these professors come forward and make their profession of faith and oath of fidelity.”
The bishop said that after this happened last fall, the professors “sent me letters asking for the mandatum, which I then granted.”
In addition, as part of the process and as a way of getting to know them, Bishop Conlon invited the new theology faculty members to meet with him as a group.
“The faculty is open to the mandatum,” Bishop Conlon said. “That's a natural consequence of what they understand their role to be — to teach the Catholic faith in a critical way. To be asked to teach that faith faithfully is not a problem for them. It is a part of their mission.”
Last year, in preparation to teach at the university, outgoing Bishop Gilbert Sheldon took the oath of fidelity before Bishop Conlon.
“He may be the only bishop in the world to have taken an oath of fidelity before a fellow bishop with regard to his responsibilities as a teacher,” Father Henry said.
On Oct. 10, 14 of the university's 20-member board of trustees also took the oath. The remaining six planned to take it at a later date.
The symbolism of the oath is not lost on either students or their parents.
Theology senior Maria Kemper said both she and her parents were impressed. “It was such a strong stand with the magisterium,” she said. “They were saying that they were not ashamed of Catholicism.”
Kemper said she is thankful for the university's approach to the mandatum.
“I can trust the theology that is presented,” Kemper said. “I don't have to pull apart the idea to see what grain of truth is locked inside. To be able to trust helps me both in my studies as well as in preparing me for life outside of college.”
Right to Know
According to canon law, that trust is something that is the right of any lay Catholic.
Canon 217 states that Christ's faithful “have the right to a Christian education, which genuinely teaches them to strive for the maturity of the human person and at the same time to know and live the mystery of salvation.”
University president Father Henry likened the mandatum to accreditation.
“If a parent asked whether a university were accredited by a particular agency and the university responded that it was a private matter, a parent would probably not consider that school,” he said. “How can a parent find out if a school is Catholic if the school is not helping him with the information he needs?”
In November 2001, Archbishop Daniel Pilarcyzk, chairman of the committee that drafted the U.S. implementation of the mandatum, told a meeting of U.S. bishops that the mandatum “has no teeth.”
“This is not about hiring and firing,” Archbishop Pilarcyzk said.
Franciscan University of Steubenville, however, is one of a number of Catholic colleges that require the mandatum for hiring theology faculty.
These include the University of St. Thomas in Houston, where the new secretary of the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education, Archbishop J. Michael Miller, was president until recently.
“In hiring, the chair knows the professional competence of the candidate,” Father Henry said. “I screen with regard to mission. The professor needs to understand that part of our mission is the mandatum, so if an interviewee told me he wasn't going to seek the mandatum, that is not someone I would want teaching here.”
Father Henry said the university has turned away candidates for that reason.
“We have told interviewees that we thought they would be better off somewhere else,” he said.
Despite the common objection of most Catholic colleges, neither faculty nor students at Steubenville find the mandatum an infringement upon academic freedom.
“This does not violate, in any sense, responsible academic freedom,” Schreck said. “We're open to exploration of other points of view as part of an academic study of religion, but we express allegiance to the Catholic Church. We see theology as an ecclesial vocation.”
Theology senior Kemper agreed. “Freedom should be limited by truth,” Kemper said. “You can teach about Buddhism, but when it comes down to it, you must inform your mind in accordance with truth. Learning about other things is good, but saying that it's all one is quite false.”
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: MANDATUM SERIES, PART 7 ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Does Recess Appointment Signal New Bush Tack? DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — President Bush escalated the fight over his stalled judicial nominees Jan. 16 when he made a one-year recess appointment of pro-life U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The U.S. Constitution gives the president the power to circumvent the usual required Senate confirmation of nominees when Congress is in recess, but the appointment lasts only until the next session of Congress ends — although the president can then renew the recess appointment.
Pro-life leaders applauded Bush's move. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the second-ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told the Register that Bush should make a series of recess appointments.
“I would like to find a retired lawyer to fill in each interim appointment,” he said. “That would be extra-constitutional, not unconstitutional, but it's also extra-constitutional that for the first time in 215 years [judicial appointments] have been killed like this through filibusters.”
Senate Democrats are currently stalling six of Bush's most pro-life judicial nominees through filibuster — thus preventing Senate floor votes on whether to confirm or reject the nominees — and Pickering was one of those. Judicial nominees confirmed by the Senate serve for life.
Retired lawyers would need to be chosen, Grassley said, because potential nominees would not want to leave their current jobs for temporary appointments. Several experts said in interviews this was probably why Pickering was recess-appointed and the other stalled nominees were not: He is 66 and likely coming to the end of his career.
“You've got to have an offensive against the Democrats,” Grassley said in justifying the recess-appointment idea.
Fellow Judiciary Committee member Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a pro-life supporter of Bush's nominees, was open to Grassley's proposal. “I think that's certainly within the realms of possibilities,” he said.
Both Grassley and Cornyn said it was unlikely that the Senate would rule, by majority vote, the filibusters unconstitutional — an idea advocated by some conservatives — because some Republicans would not vote for such an unprecedented step.
Possible Impact
Pro-life activists were pleased by Bush's action.
“We do think it's outrageous the way these six people have been blocked,” said Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee. “All the president's saying is, ‘Give them a vote.’”
Cornyn insisted that all six would be confirmed by majority vote if the Democrats’ filibusters could be broken. To do so, 60 out of the 100 senators must vote to end the filibusters.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, was displeased with Bush's act. “It should not have been done,” he said.
Harkin brought up the question of Pickering's civil-rights record and said: “I thought it extraordinary that the president goes to lay a wreath on Martin Luther King's tomb, and the next day he recess-appoints Pickering. That's sending mixed signals.”
Johnson noted that appeals-court judges, such as Pickering now is, could have a major impact.
“They are often the last word because the Supreme Court accepts so few cases,” he said, citing the recent 6th Circuit Court decision upholding Ohio's law against partial-birth abortion.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed a radically pro-abortion doctrine. But murkier areas such as euthanasia and religious freedom leave more room for appellate-court judges.
“A recent example is Free Thought Society of Philadelphia v. Chester Co., June 26, 2003,” said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center. “A federal district court ordered that a plaque of the Ten Commandments be removed from the facade of the county courthouse. The 3rd Circuit reversed the decision, and this was not appealed to the Supreme Court.”
Thomson also noted that time spent on an appeals court is “a career path to the Supreme Court.”
Phil Kent, former president of the Southeastern Legal Foundation, said the fights over judicial nominees have also led to “an educational process over the past year. People of faith are realizing that the courts are important.”
Sean Rushton, executive director of the Committee for Justice — which works to get Bush's nominees confirmed — said the other stalled nominees are unlikely to accept recess appointments.
“The others are younger people,” he said. “They're in good jobs.”
He said part of the goal of Democrats in blocking appeals-court nominees “is to communicate to the president that they have the will and the ability to filibuster and to intimidate him into not naming a good nominee to the Supreme Court.”
Taylor Gross, a White House spokesman, said there were no public plans to make more recess appointments. He noted that Pickering was first nominated on May 25, 2001.
“He's been waiting about two and a half years for an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor,” Gross said.
“[American Life League] started an ad campaign in October advocating recess appointments,” said Joseph Giganti, director of media and government relations for the American Life League. “It's not uncommon for recess-appointed judges to be confirmed permanently later.”
Pickering's Record
Pickering, a lawyer and politician from Mississippi appointed as a federal district judge in 1990 by the first President Bush, has a long record of pro-life activism.
“He's made it clear that he understands the sanctity of human life,” Giganti said.
Rated “well qualified” — the highest rating — by the American Bar Association and endorsed by some prominent black Mississippians, Pickering has nonetheless been denounced for his record on civil rights, pro-life and pro-religious statements.
He has been accused of not opposing Mississippi's segregation laws strongly enough as a young man and of taking a narrow view of civil-rights protections as a judge.
They have not been able to point to a case in which his pro-life views changed the outcome, but People for the American Way's dossier against Pickering says that as a state senator he “supported a resolution calling for a constitutional convention to propose an amendment to ban abortion.”
In addition, the dossier says, “In 1984, Pickering, then president of the Mississippi Baptist Convention, gave the president's address before the annual meeting of the convention in which he stated, according to the written text he has provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee, that the Bible should be ‘recognized as the absolute authority by which all conduct of man is judged.’”
The dossier also complains that Pickering encourages convicted criminals to seek religious guidance. In fact, Pickering, who is married with four children, has a long history of devoutly Christian and pro-life statements.
Joseph D'Agostino writes from Washington.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph A. D'Agostino ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Throwing a Block on Super-Offensive Ads DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:HOUSTON — If you have any sports fan in you at all, chances are you'll be planted in front of a television come 6 p.m. Eastern time Feb. 1. That is, unless you're one of just 70,000 or so patrons who have a ticket to Reliant Stadium for Super Bowl XXXVIII.
But this year even some football aficionados will forgo the annual TV ritual.
It's not that the game — pitting the surprising Carolina Panthers against the proven New England Patriots — doesn't promise to be as exciting as any championship match can be. The problem is that, for millions of viewers, especially parents of young children, many of the commercials sure to air during the game will prove patently offensive.
After last year's game, a number of parents complained to the Los Angeles-based Parents Television Council.
“Add me to the list of people who were very unhappy with the commercials shown during the Super Bowl,” wrote a man identifying himself as Mark W. on the council's Web site. “It was not just the commercials for products but also the advertisements for ABC's disgusting lineup of television shows. My children and I were caught off guard. I can't see how I'll be interested in watching an event [like that] in the future.”
“Parents enjoy watching sporting events with their children,” said Melissa Caldwell, director of research and publications with the Parents TV Council, in an interview with the Register. “They don't expect to have to jump up to change the channel every time a commercial comes on.”
Caldwell added that the council receives more complaints during the football playoffs and Super Bowl than at any other time of the year. “Last year we received complaints about Miller Lite's ‘catfight’ commercial. I expect this year will be as bad.” (The “cats” in the mock fight were scantily clad women.)
Of course, the ads shown during sporting events aren't the council's only concern. In fact, according to Caldwell, the Parents TV Council is receiving an increasing number of complaints about what seems to be a growing trend: networks promoting their adult-oriented fare during family-friendly viewing time throughout the year. (She compared the practice to showing children a preview of an R-rated movie before a G-rated film begins and said the council hopes to release a report on the troubling trend later this year.)
But it's the Super Bowl that annually attracts the single-largest television audience of the year — and, thus, draws the boldest, most-aggressive advertising.
Here's the dilemma facing parents: Well-played sporting events can provide excellent opportunities to show examples of teamwork, character, discipline, commitment and other commendable qualities displayed by athletes and coaches. There's even the undercurrent of the Christian conception of friendly competition: Don't hate a formidable opponent; love him for bringing out the best in you.
Is there any way to enjoy the entertaining and educational aspects of broadcast sporting events like the Super Bowl — while throwing a hard block on the atrocious advertising?
Tough Turf
The good news is, there are both high- and low-tech solutions to the problem. The bad news is that the broadcasters have worked hard to stop you from stopping the hand that feeds them: sponsors and advertisers.
Until recently, customers could purchase a ReplayTV digital video recorder, a device that edited out television commercials for replay. However, shortly after Sonicblue launched ReplayTV in 2001, Viacom, Disney and NBC filed a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement. Time Warner, Columbia Pictures and 23 other entertainment powerhouses did the same. Turner Broadcasting chairman Jamie Kellner even went so far as to say that those who watch television without commercials are stealing.
A similar argument was made 20 years ago, when some in the broadcast business filed a lawsuit to halt the sale of the first videocassette recorders. In 1984, the Supreme Court ruled against the broadcasters, saying that consumers had the right to what the court described as “fair use” of television programs.
In June 2002, in response to the lawsuits against ReplayTV, the Electronics Frontier Foundation, a digital consumer rights advocacy organization, filed a countersuit on behalf of five ReplayTV owners, asking a California court to declare the use of digital video recorders and the elimination of commercials lawful.
On Jan. 9, a federal court ruled to end the case — but not before Sonicblue filed for bankruptcy and ReplayTV was sold to D&M Holdings U.S. Inc. The commercial-advance feature is no longer available on new versions of ReplayTV.
“Skipping commercials is not illegal,” said Electronics Frontier Foundation staff attorney Gwen Hinze. “I certainly think this issue will be before the courts again. DVRs [digital video recorders] are becoming a part of consumers’ lifestyles.”
Another commercially available digital video recorder, TiVo, has been helpful for viewers watching recorded material. Unlike ReplayTV, TiVo, which is owned by Time Warner, Sony and NBC, does not eliminate ads but merely allows viewers to fast-forward through them 60 times faster than an ordinary VCR.
Not surprisingly, the lawsuits are scaring one of the most exciting innovations out of the market — a real-time ad-zapper that lets the viewer skip commercials without having to first record anything.
Designed approximately 11 years ago by engineer George Perreault, AdZapper has been available commercially for the last few years. The device blanks the screen and mutes the volume during commercials.
“The lawsuits being filed against others have certainly influenced our decision to exit the market,” Perreault told the Register.
Zap Central
All is not lost. Crafty viewers are finding ways to create their own ad-zapping systems. Chances are, their innovations will drive some future market offering.
Last year, Stan Gould of Virginia Beach, Va., combined his digital video recorder with his dish satellite system as a way of protecting his 11-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son from inappropriate advertising. His system combines the convenience of a VCR with the benefits of live television.
As the satellite signal enters the digital video recorder, it is recorded to the device's hard drive while also being sent to the television. The recorder allows Gould to “pause” the system momentarily to avoid watching commercials.
“Each time you pause, the signal to the hard drive continues while the signal from the hard drive to the TV stops,” Gould explained.
While Gould's system involves a slight time delay, he says it's the next best thing to live TV — minus the ads. He also likes having the ability to rewind and watch umpires’ calls on close plays.
“You don't lose anything of the game,” he said, “and you get a much more enjoyable experience.”
When in Doubt, Punt
Other parents prefer low-tech solutions for offensive ads. Football fan Michael Gisondi told the Register he and his wife will simply ask their 9- and 12-year-old daughters to look the other way or change the channel during commercials.
He stressed the importance of maintaining a calm demeanor for parents who take a similar approach.
“An overreactive, paranoid approach builds up the curiosity level,” said Gisondi, who works as an engineer for Boeing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “If the kids see something, we may talk about it, laugh and mention that it is an exaggeration for publicity.”
Deb Anne Flynt, a New Orleans Saints fan from Columbia, Miss., takes an old-fashioned approach with her 12-year-old daughter, using what she describes as “mutual love, respect and obedience.”
“If necessary, I'll do one of three things: send my daughter from the room, change the channel or turn it off,” Flynt said. “During halftime we may make snacks for the second half.”
She also cited the value of talking about the commercials with her children.
“We've had many discussions over the past few years about the dangers of underage drinking and why there is an age limit,” she said.
Craig Turner of Burke, Va., uses an entirely different — but equally low-tech — approach. For the past four years, Turner has watched the game with a friend at a nearby sports bar.
“The restaurant turns all their televisions to the game,” Turner said. “We order some nachos and then order burgers about halfway through the game.”
The patrons of Reliant Stadium never had it so good.
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: Families Huddle on Super Sunday Strategies ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Do Not Think I Am Anti-Catholic' DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II is scheduled to welcome a Vatican delegation to Moscow on Feb. 16.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, will travel to Russia in response to an “invitation of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of the Russian Federation,” according to a statement issued Jan. 22 by Joaquín Navarro-Valls, director of the Vatican press office.
On the eve of that visit, in the first interview to western journalists since 2002, Patriarch Alexei spoke frankly with Register correspondent Greg Watts about the difficulties between Orthodox and Catholics in Russia.
How would you describe relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican at the moment?
Unfortunately relations between the two Churches are not at their best today because the proselytizing activity of the Roman Catholic Church is being carried out in both the territory and in Commonwealth of Independent States countries.
Many missionary orders work in Russia today, especially in the shelters and orphanages, where children who have been baptized in Orthodoxy are being converted to Catholicism.
Why are you so concerned about Catholics in the Ukraine?
Until today the wounds inflicted by Catholics in the western area of Ukraine are not healed. Hundreds of thousands of Orthodox believers are a humiliated minority. The Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine was banned by Stalin and during the post-war period, both those who returned to the Orthodox Church and those who remained uniates received pastoral care in the Orthodox churches in the western Ukraine. Many clergy of the Greek Catholic Church who studied in our seminaries, particularly at the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary and Academy, are serving in the Ukraine today.
When religious freedom came to Russia, including the republics of the former Soviet Union, I think we should have used the principle proposed by Vatican II, which called the Orthodox sister Churches.
Unfortunately, during the past decade nothing has been done for the Orthodox to receive equal rights with Catholics in the western Ukraine.
Are you prepared to discuss a way forward regarding the issue of Catholics in the Ukraine?
The Russian Orthodox Church is ready for dialogue and it's ready for solving the issues that are complicating relations between the two Churches today. But we do not see positive steps on the Vatican's part. It's the opposite. We see a strong move for the see of the archbishop of Lvov to be transferred to Kiev and the creation of a Greek Catholic patriarchate in the Ukraine.
Why have you not met Pope John Paul II?
As a result of the proselytizing that is taking place in the territory of Russia, I have to justify meeting the Pope. If I simply meet with him in front of TV cameras, then there will be no concrete improvement in our relationship. My flock will not understand me. That is why we are saying that such a meeting must be preceeded by concrete steps between our Churches.
Some in the West might say you are anti-Catholic.
Do not think I am anti-Catholic. When I was president of the Council of European Churches I had very good contacts and relations with the European Conference of Roman Catholic bishops. I recall good contacts with Cardinal [Carlo Maria] Martini, Cardinal [Basil] Hume, Cardinal [Roger] Etchegaray and many others. We have no prejudice against the Roman Catholic Church and its hierarchy.
Is there any way to end the deadlock over what you call proselytizing by the Catholic Church?
We proposed the signing of a declaration, or memorandum, that would condemn proselytizing, which should not take place between sister Churches. We could not condemn uniatism because that is a part of the Roman Catholic Church. But we were calling for reiteration of what had already been achieved between Orthodox and Catholics. No matter where and what kind of conflicts arise the duty of the Church is always to step forward as a peacemaking force.
For good Catholic-Orthodox relations surely it is important for regular meetings to take place between Moscow and the Vatican.
We used to have meetings annually between the Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Department for External Church Relations, but unfortunately the agreements that were reached remained on the paper.
For example, one agreement was that the Russian Orthodox Church would be notified in advance of any new structures of the Roman Catholic Church in the canonical territory of Russia. Unfortunately that agreement was on paper only.
Meetings with Cardinal Kasper do take place. He recently had a meeting with the metropolitan in Leningrad. We are ready for any sort of cooperation, and I would like to say that we have very good relations with many dioceses, monasteries and institutions of learning in the Roman Catholic Church.
What does the Catholic Church need to do to repair relations with the Russian Orthodox Church?
It is our profound conviction that there have to be concrete steps. If proselytizing continues and the situation in Ukraine does not improve, then progress will be difficult. We are waiting for concrete gestures and steps on the part of the Vatican.
Greg Watts writes from London.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Greg Watts ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Parents Worry Sex-Abuse-Prevention Program Would Rob Kids of Innocence DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:MANASSAS, Va. — The child-abuse-prevention program being considered by the Diocese of Arlington, Va., to comply with the U.S. bishops’ child-protection requirement is called “Good Touch, Bad Touch.”
But for many parents, it might as well be called “Goodbye, Bad Idea.”
And many of the more than 250 parents attending a meeting at All Saints Church in Manassas, Va., Jan. 12 let diocesan officials know what they think about the program.
Parents heard the officials speak about the problem of sexual abuse of minors and the U.S. bishops’ mandate for dioceses to provide education and training for children, youths and adults in order to create and maintain safe environments.
The Diocese of Arlington was supposed to have such a program under way by last July — a failure that was noted during the recently published audit of U.S. dioceses’ compliance with the bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.
Once Bishop Paul Loverde, who was not at the meeting, selects a program, it will fit the following criteria, said Soren Johnson, the diocese's communications director: It will be effective, age — appropriate, faithful to Catholic teaching, involve parents and not place the burden of protection on children.
Designed for children who attend preschool up until the sixth grade, the Good Touch, Bad Touch curriculum teaches kids the skills to prevent or interrupt child/sexual abuse.
Although its author, Pam Church, is Catholic, the program is considered to be secular in nature, which is why Father Paul deLadurantaye, diocesan director of catechetics, drafted a sample lesson plan for second-graders that contained Catholic teaching. He gave a presentation of it during the meeting.
According to several people who attended the meeting, many parents were not impressed with parts of the four-hour session at All Saints, reacting at points with boos and catcalls.
Opponents of the program said parents should be the ones teaching and talking to their children about sexual matters, not teachers, who would go through a training process if the program were selected.
Patrick DiVietri, who attended the meeting and is the founder and executive director of the Family Life Institute in Manassas, said that before age 10 or 11 children don't have the capacity for critical thinking or abstract thought, which is why intimate information should not be presented in a public forum such as a classroom by people who aren't their parents.
Sex as Dirty
“It violates the principles of modesty and confuses the child, who thinks, ‘If this is so private, then why are we talking about it in public?’” DiVietri said. “They're going to be forced to imagine sexuality in the context of its greatest perversion and most evil crime: the sexual abuse of innocent children.”
“The whole notion of sex as dirty is going to be brought to new depths,” he continued. “Before they know what sexuality is, they're going to be experiencing their own sexuality in a context of fear rather than in a spirit of trust. The whole problem is that the psyche of the child will be damaged.”
When confronted with a situation like this one, DiVietri said the Pontifical Council for the Family, in its education guidelines for the family, “The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality,” recommends the following:
“Parents should politely but firmly exclude any attempts to violate children's innocence because such attempts compromise the spiritual, moral and emotional development of growing persons who have a right to their innocence.”
But the Good Touch, Bad Touch materials are age — appropriate, insisted Catherine Nolan, the diocesan director of Child Protection and Safety. There are no photographs, and the illustrations are caricatures, like cartoon drawings, she said.
She added that it's premature to refer to the visuals since some might be changed if the program is selected by the bishop.
In addition, the diocese's intention is not to ruin children's innocence, she said, but to protect them and give them some tools they can use so that if they are ever in an intimidating situation with an adult or fellow child, they can say No and get away to tell an adult they trust.
Grass-Roots Movement
Whatever program is selected, it should be in place no later than this fall in Catholic schools and religious-education classes throughout the diocese, Nolan said.
Before a child is taught, materials will be sent home to parents, who will also be invited to an educational session. Then parents can decide whether or not to sign their child up to participate, she said.
It's still unclear which program the diocese will use for children older than sixth grade, Nolan said. She added that information about programs for older children — such as one by the Boy Scouts and some by schools that offer health and science programs — have been presented to Bishop Loverde.
Meanwhile, a grass-roots effort has been started by some parents who object to the Good Touch, Bad Touch program.
“We parents want to initiate the kind of program that the bishop should be doing but can't, I guess, or won't,” said Christopher Manion, a parishioner at St. John the Baptist Church in Front Royal who has a 6-year-old daughter and thinks the program being considered puts the burden of protection on children.
“We want to have materials, resources, expert advice and institutions that are plentiful right here in the diocese,” he said, “so we can teach our children well and strengthen the parents’ understanding of a lot of the moral teaching of the Church, which hasn't been preached from the pulpits much in the last 30 years, from [The 1968 Encyclical on Human Life] Humanae Vitae forward.”
Manion started Parents United to Respect Innocence in Teaching the Young and has posted various articles and documents at www.chaste-environment.org so parents can learn more about the faith in order to teach their children.
“We pray for the bishop,” Manion said. “We pray for the priests. We love the priests and the bishop. We are not the Voice of the Faithful. We don't want to throw these people out. We, as laymen in the spirit of not only Vatican II but also of 2,000 years of Church teaching, want to strengthen the bishop as he, and we, are under withering attack by the secular, pagan world. We are asking him, ‘Do not capitulate. Do not cave in to this program. … Fundamentally, it is flawed.”
Carlos Briceño writes from Seminole, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceņo ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:‘Lasermonks’ Make High-Tech Gear Instead of Jam
INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC NEWS, Jan. 16 — We've all heard of Benedictine liqueur, even Trappist Ale; but is the world ready for Cistercian laser printers?
A community of monks in Wisconsin thinks so, and it has set up an online company, Lasermonks.com, that makes and sells inkjet print cartridges, according to Independent Catholic News. The company supports the community life and works of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Springfield, which had been struggling financially.
Father Bernard McCoy told the news site he got the idea for the monastic business one day as he looked at the “ridiculously high prices” of printer cartridges and decided he could do better.
The business’ Web site announces to customers: “Yes, we really ARE monks! We really DO pray and help others. Hundreds of years ago, monks survived by baking bread, making wine or copying manuscripts. We survive by selling ink and toner supplies online, at HUGE discounts … and YOU benefit!”
The company is thriving and has permitted the Abbey to support a convent in Hungary and fund vocational training for the needy in Vietnam.
‘Passion’ to Open on 2,000 Screens
REUTERS, Jan. 14 — The controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's upcoming film The Passion of the Christ won't prevent it from “opening widely” — that is, appearing in its first weekend on a large number of screens around the country, Reuters reported.
The news agency noted that at first the film had trouble finding a distributor, in part due to rumors it might turn out to stoke anti-Semitism and also because of Gibson's since-abandoned intention of showing the film without subtitles (dialogue takes place in the original, biblical languages of the period).
Gibson, however, has found a partner, Newmarket Films, which will join with his company, Icon Productions, to distribute the film, now scheduled to appear on some 2,000 screens in February.
That's a prodigiously wide opening for what is essentially an independent film. It guarantees audiences will have a chance to judge the film for themselves and create “word of mouth” about the film, which has been extensively promoted to Christian churches around the country.
Without such a “wide opening,” the film would likely have proved unprofitable.
McDonald's Heiress Leaves $5 Million to School
The school, one of three new ones scheduled for the diocese, is expected to open in 2006.
Richard Starrman, an estate trustee, said Mrs. Kroc hoped her donations to the diocese's Secondary Education Initiative fund would encourage others in the community to support the new schools.
The other schools scheduled for construction in the diocese include Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego and Pax Christi Catholic High School in Oceanside.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Sen. Rick Santorum: At March for Life, Youth 'Mark a Great Injustice' DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, was the primary sponsor of the partial-birth abortion ban that was recently signed into law.
Santorum, a Catholic, spoke with Register staff writer Tim Drake and other reporters in a telephone conference call after the March for Life on Jan. 22, the 31st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.
How would you describe the current pro-life political environment?
There is no doubt that if you look at the polling information, the partial-birth abortion ban has refocused for people that this is not an issue of an abstract choice but the taking of a human life.
The mood at the March for Life is somber. There is no joy in coming here. This is to mark a great injustice. People come to D.C. with a lot on their hearts. They are somewhat active in pro-life causes back home. I don't mean picketing abortion clinics but helping at crisis-pregnancy centers and helping women who have carried their children to term. They come here for a selfless love for the pre-born baby and the mother and father. That story often goes unreported. I believe the more you talk about it, the more people understand. Technology and science are on our side.
Even a poll done by NARAL showed that most Americans believe abortion is wrong except in cases of rape and incest, which only make up for 1% of all abortions. In other words, most Americans don't believe in 99% of the abortions being done.
I have a colleague who used to say that President Bill Clinton wanted abortion to be safe, legal and rare. Well, if it's such a good thing, why should it be rare? The people who play these word games want to ignore that abortion is not a public good.
To what do you credit this change in public attitude?
I believe the partial-birth abortion ban and the debate around it helped people to recognize that this is not abstract. It is not some glob of tissue or pre-life or potential life. This is a baby with feet and hands and eyes and ears.
I find it remarkable that this constitutional right was established by seven [Supreme Court justices] without any public debate. What in most cases would take an act of Congress and 38 states to ratify was accomplished with the wave of a pen. That the public had no right to debate it demonstrates a remarkable amount of hubris. The court has created a right to abortion as a right above all other rights — it's a type of absolutism. There is no other right in the Constitution that is as absolute as this right. It shows how far astray we have gone.
Looking at the March for Life over the past few years, have you seen it become a movement among the youth?
Yes. I'm amazed. Normally at 8 a.m. Mass there are about 15 people. This morning there were 200, and 180 of them were young people, many from Dyersville, Iowa. Young people have known nothing except that this has been legal and a right, yet they know that even though the law of the land is such, they recognize that there is something wrong and unjust here.
I appreciate their convictions. They are being countercultural. The message they hear from radio, TV and movies is not life-affirming. For them to step up and do what's not popular among their culture, their teachers and their icons takes courage. These are the young folks who will be the builders of a future society.
For many of these older marchers, when they grew up, everyone believed that abortion was a bad choice. They grew up in that culture. Kids of this age have grown up in this culture, so it takes a lot of courage for them to be different.
What do you make of the recent statements by archbishops Raymond Burke of St. Louis and Alfred Hughes of New Orleans prohibiting Catholic politicians who support abortion from receiving Communion?
I think it is within the right of the bishops to determine the tenets of the faith. The bishops are not telling these politicians how to do their job. They are telling them what it means to be a Catholic and how you participate in the Church. I hope the Church can set boundaries as to what constitutes proper behavior in the Church, because I don't know where else you could go for that.
What do you see happening with regard to the blocked nominations to the federal courts?
It's going to get tougher. The number will rise from six to 12 and then 15. They will block a whole bunch of nominees. Why? It all stems from the right to privacy.
A recent Heritage Foundation study showed that the U.S. government spends $12 to promote safe sex and contraceptives for every $1 it spends to promote abstinence education. Do you see the issue of contraception tied to abortion?
I don't believe that condoms are a good thing. They just encourage premarital sexual activity. They are neither safe nor effective.
I had a conversation with the wife of the president of Uganda. Money from the West had been targeted for condoms. She told me that the program that has worked best in Uganda is abstinence. It's about self-control and self-respect and discipline. We're not animals. She said that these programs have also helped curb drug use. What are we telling people if we say we don't want them to do it but hand them a condom?
What can we expect next in terms of pro-life legislation?
The Unborn Victims of Violence Act [which was approved by the House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 21] will pass in the House sometime this spring. The bill, also known as the Laci and Connor Peterson Bill, will make violence against the unborn a punishable federal crime.
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Heavenly Harmony: Pope Calls for Reconciliation at Historic Concert DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — It was impossible to come away from the Concert of Reconciliation unmoved. (Father Alfonso Aguilar didn't; see page 9)
Performed by musicians of various religions at the Vatican on Jan. 17 in the presence of Pope John Paul II and religious leaders from Christianity, Judaism and Islam, the concert did more than words could to encourage reconciliation between the world's three great monotheistic religions, those in attendance said.
“It was awesome and at times breathtakingly inspiring,” said U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See James Nicholson, who helped stage the concert. “It showed the magic of music manifesting itself in front of the three religions and inspiring them at the same time.”
During his address at the concert, John Paul not only urged religious reconciliation but also called on all three religions to work together to bring about world peace.
“Jews, Christians and Muslims cannot accept that the earth be afflicted by hatred, that humanity be troubled by endless wars,” he said. “Today the pressing need is felt for a sincere reconciliation among believers in the one God.”
“The history of relations among Jews, Christians and Muslims is characterized by lights and shadows and, unfortunately, has known painful moments,” said the Pope, flanked by Elio Toaff, former chief rabbi of Rome, and Abdulawahah Hussein Gomaa, imam of the Rome mosque.
Numerous other religious leaders were present, including Israel's chief rabbi, Yona Metzger; the secretary-general of the World Islamic Call Society, Mohammed Ahmed Sharif; and representatives from the Orthodox Churches, the Federation of Evangelical Churches and the Anglican Communion.
‘Love Conquers All’
Looking healthy and speaking in a clear voice, the Pope continued: “Together we express the hope that men will be purified of the hatred and evil that constantly threaten peace and that they will be able to extend to one another, reciprocally, hands free of violence but ready to offer help and comfort to those in need.”
“Yes! We must find in ourselves the courage of peace,” he said in closing, concluding with the words, “Omnia vincit amor [love conquers all]!”
The concert was sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and organized by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
Its aim was “to promote the commitment to a peaceful coexistence among the children of Abraham” and to commemorate John Paul's work for interfaith understanding during his 25 years as Pope.
The first piece to be performed was a world premiere of a composition called “Abraham,” written especially for the event by New Jersey-born composer John Harbison.
Harbison said for his rousing, modern six-minute sacred motet for choir and orchestra he took the text for the composition from Genesis, which presents Abraham as the “father of many nations.”
It was performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and members of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, the first time an American choir and orchestra have performed at the Vatican. They were joined by choirs from Turkey, Poland and Great Britain.
The premiere was followed by various movements from Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection,” an inspiring, unrestrained and emotional piece. Inspired by a poem written by Polish dramatist Adam Mickiewicz, “Resurrection” dramatizes the struggle of mankind toward eternal salvation.
“It was a superb performance,” said Canada's deputy ambassador to the Holy See, Terry Storms. “The Pope's comments were very touching and [the concert] was very encouraging, showing strongly the work of the Church in favor of reconciliation.”
The orchestral choir was conducted by Jewish-American Gilbert Levine, who together with Nicholson conceived the idea for the concert.
Speaking after the performance, Levine said he believed the Pope's efforts and vision during 25 years to bring together these three faiths “reached a remarkable culmination this night” and that he was “particularly touched by the confidence” the Holy Father showed in inviting him to conduct the concert and allowing him to choose the work that was performed.
“It was awe-inspiring and a wonderful gift from the Holy Father,” Levine concluded.
Nicholson said it was “thrilling” to see the animation of the Pope, who at the end called for an encore.
“This is something very close to his heart; he clearly enjoyed it and stayed longer than he usually does — he didn't want to leave!” Nicholson said.
Father Iuvenalie Ionascu of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Rome was equally moved.
“It was beautiful — a prophetic sign for the future,” he said. “It gave much hope, and, I hope, marks for the first time the beginning of true peace for all.”
Thanks to America
Cardinal Jozef Tomko, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, said after the concert that the veneration of Abraham and the Resurrection are “such powerful points in common — they are more powerful than all the divisions.”
And the cardinal singled out Americans for their contribution.
“Congratulations to your American culture — this was one of the best representations of it,” he said. “I'm sure it will help relations between different faiths because the language of music is universal.”
Chief Rabbi Metzger also spoke about the power of music in bringing about reconciliation.
“Music begins with the ear, it enters the head and is digested,” he said. “Eventually it leads to everyone's heart, from which comes love.”
Visibly moved by the occasion, Metzger spontaneously proposed a reconciliation initiative.
“My dream is to build a center for religions from around the world — a kind of United Nations of religions for which we would have ambassadors from all over the world,” he told the Register. “And I invite the Pope, here this evening, to join me in helping to build it — it's a process that has already begun.”
Metzger, a former captain and chaplain in the Israeli army, met the Pope the previous day with Israel's other chief rabbi, Shlomo Amar — the first visit ever made to the Vatican by Israel's Jewish leaders.
Reflecting on the meeting during which the rabbis asked for the Pope's influence in the fight against terrorism and antiSemitism, Metzger said he was “particularly struck and excited to see how deep is the Pope's will and commitment to make peace” and admired in particular his ability to “connect with all religions.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:EU Non-Catholics Worry About Church Influence
In the online newspaper EU Observer, a Danish Protestant theologian warned that the Church might influence social policy.
Lene Sjørup told the paper:
“We need to know how religious values may influence politicians, the labor market, family policies and development politics in the enlarged EU.”
Sjørup pointed to the Church's central organization and dedication to infusing public policy with its values, noting that Protestant churches could not compete.
“The Catholic Church wants to preserve the traditional family, even though family patterns in Europe are much more with single mothers and registered partnerships,” she complained, also pointing to Church teaching on abortion, euthanasia and biotechnology as potential flash points.
Pope ‘Passion’ Comment Controversy Continues
Major papers and news services have cited the reported papal comment “it is as it was” as an endorsement of the film's faithfulness to the Gospel accounts of Christ's death and a refutation of charges of anti-Semitism.
But other news outlets, quoting highly placed Vatican sources, have disputed whether the remark was ever made.
Stung by organized attempts by Jewish groups to collect denunciations of the film — sometimes based on a stolen, outdated script — Gibson's film company has quietly screened the film, even before it was finished, to select religious audiences around the world, finally managing to get a videotape to the Pope himself in early December.
Now, though, fresh press conferences and news reports say that early accounts of the Pope's reaction that day reported what the Pope said out of context.
Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, the Pope's personal secretary, has told Catholic News Service that John Paul has indeed seen the film, but made no public pronouncement.
However, the paper also quoted an unnamed “prominent Catholic official close to the Vatican,” who said, “I have reason to believe — and I think — that the Pope probably said it,” not meaning the comment to be made public the way it was.
The Vatican Air Force
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE, Jan. 13 — Actually, there isn't a “Vatican Air Force” — it's really the Italian Air Force that accompanies Pope John Paul II on his trips outside Rome.
But on Jan. 13, the Pope thanked officials of the service's 31st Division, his personal escort, for “the dedication and commitment with which you have for years facilitated the ministry of the Successor of Peter.”
“In recent days,” the Holy Father continued, “the liturgy has invited us to contemplate Jesus, who became man and came among us. He is the light that illuminates and gives meaning to our existence; he is the Redeemer who brings peace to the world.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Are Virtuous Businessmen The Solution To Corporate Scandals? DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:ROME — The Economist newspaper called 2003 “another scandalous year” of business behavior.
Like the preceding two years, it was one stricken by corporate scandals. Only this time, unlike with the scandals that engulfed U.S.-based corporations Enron and WorldCom, it was Europe's turn to steal the headlines — with allegations of large-scale fraud surrounding December's collapse of Parmalat, a Italian food- and milk-products conglomerate headed by Calisto Tanzi, a Catholic noted for his generous financial support of the Church.
Most of the blame for such fiascos has been directed at lax laws and poor corporate governance, but Catholic business experts are focusing their attention on the question of business ethics, both individual and corporate.
That's a key reason why the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace decided more than a year ago to co-sponsor an international conference with the theme “Business Executives, Social Responsibility and Globalization.”
The conference, scheduled for March 5-6 in conjunction with the International Christian Union of Business Executives, will examine such issues as the ethics and social purpose of corporate profits, the cultural impact of advertising and marketing, and the social responsibility of executives in combating poverty.
The Bottom Line
David Vaira, a bank executive in Maryland and member of a local Catholic business association, agrees about the urgency for a higher profile of ethics in business practice.
“[Ethics] should come first, but once a person in a business reaches a certain level of responsibility, he's going to have to answer to shareholders,” he said. “Ethics are generally not the bottom line.”
His views are echoed by Dr. Philip Thompson, an investment banker in London, Europe's leading financial center.
“Typically, one finds a preoccupation with the value of money and not a great deal of regard for other matters,” he said. “I don't think the underlying human nature is different in the city to anywhere else, just the scale on which some individuals wield power.”
Father Robert Sirico, president of the Michigan-based Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, suggests the root problem is a corporate culture that undermines personal integrity.
“There's a seduction going on that tends to socialize and collectivize responsibility, which leaves the individual not culpable for the decisions they take,” he explained. “People who are close to the center of a business might suspect malpractice going on, but they don't feel it's their responsibility to stop it because it's not their job.”
But the idea of “business ethics” has become a catchword since the fall of corporate giants Enron and WorldCom. Is that not a step in the right direction?
Father Sirico is unconvinced. “[Business ethics] have become something of a fad to the point at which people are beginning to think that there is something innately disordered in business,” he said. “We need to avoid thinking that somehow corporate ethics is different from personal ethics.”
He believes placing emphasis on personal ethics would help create an environment that minimizes the chances of corporate crimes occurring.
“We are all weak and susceptible to temptation, but usually we don't take a path toward evil because of the context we find ourselves in,” Father Sirico said. “We need to encourage excellence in the virtues so that a person exercised in virtue will continue to respond by doing what he has always done when faced with great temptation. It's not a case of being especially heroic, just taking little daily decisions that foster virtue.”
Indeed, it is in the field of forming personal moral conscience, or so-called “virtue ethics,” where many believe the Church must show the way for business.
“None of [these scandals] comes as any surprise when the educational system today is without ethics,” said Abbot Christopher Jamison, a Benedictine monk who co-founded a course in ethics for the financial-services sector. “People simply don't know what ethics is. They think it's a question of rules or the Ten Commandments. But ethics is more than that — it's a skill because it's about training in virtue and integrity.”
According to Abbot Jamison, who until recently was headmaster of Worth Abbey School in England, part of the problem is the utilitarian nature of contemporary education, which teaches children to be “oven-ready economic units” rather than “rounded, properly educated human beings.”
He believes cases such as Enron and Parmalat are a consequence.
“As children grow up, they develop some kind of moral conscience,” Abbot Jamison said. “We believe the financial-services industry is still in the child stage — there is a need for exercise in the development of conscience.”
Father Sirico agrees, citing business leaders who have sought his counsel.
“I find with all of these cases, their Catholicism stopped being formed at confirmation — if they get that far,” he said. “Just because they have succeeded in their profession doesn't mean their moral consciences have done likewise.”
Virtue Pays
Abbot Jamison believes business leaders need to be made aware that education in “virtue ethics” is in their best interests.
“It is very interesting to note that when business leaders are asked what is the biggest risk to their business, loss of reputation tops the list,” he said. “Government regulation, intervention or economic downturn come second or third.”
Plenty of guidance can be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Pope John Paul II's 1991 encyclical Centesimus Annus (The Hundredth Year), which was released on the centennial of Pope Leo's renowned encyclical Rerum Novarum (On the Condition of Workers). The Church documents stress the importance of corporate responsibility and warn against inordinate profiteering.
The Catechism states, “A theory that makes profit the exclusive norm and ultimate end of economic activity is morally unacceptable” (No. 2424).
It adds, “Those responsible for business enterprises are responsible to society for the economic and ecological effects of their operations. They have an obligation to consider the good of persons and not only the increase of profits” (No. 2432).
If financial leaders choose to reject those teachings in favor of unrestrained greed, Abbot Jamison predicts dire consequences.
“The prosperity of the entire global order is at stake,” he warned. “If the financial-services sector doesn't show integrity, the whole financial system will collapse.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: A Week of Prayer for Christian Unity DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:Register Summary
Pope John Paul II met with 4,000 pilgrims during his general audience Jan. 21 and encouraged Christians everywhere to seek Christ's own peace during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which is observed every year in January.
“The world longs for peace and needs peace,” the Pope noted, “but often seeks it in inappropriate ways, even, at times, by resorting to force or by trying to achieve an equilibrium through opposing powers.”
Christ's peace, he pointed out, reconciles, purifies and brings conversion. “The quest for unity touches every believer, who is called to be part of the one people of those who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ on the cross,” he said.
The Holy Father encouraged all Christians to develop a profound spirituality of peace and peacemaking, and noted that many encouraging developments have taken place in the quest for Christian unity.
“Along with prayer,” he said, “we also feel strongly called to make an effort to be genuine ‘peacemakers’ wherever we live.”
Christ's peace reconciles souls, purifies hearts and transforms minds.
“Peace I leave with you” (John 14:27). This year's week of prayer and reflection for Christian unity is centered on these words that Jesus spoke during the Last Supper. In a certain sense, they are his spiritual testament. The promise Christ made to his disciples was fully fulfilled in his resurrection. When he appeared to the eleven disciples in the upper room, he greeted them three times with these words: “Peace be with you” (John 20:19).
However, the gift Christ gave to the apostles is not just any kind of peace but his very own peace — “my peace,” as he said. He explained it in even more simple terms so they would understand: I give you my peace “not as the world gives” (John 14:27).
Desire for Peace
The world longs for peace and needs peace — today just as before — but often seeks it in inappropriate ways, even, at times, by resorting to force or by trying to achieve equilibrium through opposing powers. In such a situation, a man's spirit is troubled by fear and uncertainty. Christ's peace, on the other hand, reconciles souls, purifies hearts and transforms minds.
An ecumenical group from the city of Aleppo in Syria proposed the theme for this year's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. For this reason, my thoughts turned to the pilgrimage I had the joy of making to Damascus. In particular, I recall with gratitude the warm welcome the two Orthodox patriarchs and the Greek-Catholic patriarch gave me. That meeting still represents a sign of hope for our ecumenical journey. Ecumenism, however, as the Second Vatican Council reminds us, is not genuine without “interior conversion. For it is from newness of attitudes of mind, from self-denial and unstinted love that desires of unity take their rise and develop in a mature way” (Decree on Ecumenism, 7).
Spirituality of Peace
There is a growing awareness of the need for a profound spirituality of peace and peacemaking, not only among those who are directly involved in ecumenical work but also among all Christians. Indeed, the quest for unity touches every believer, who is called to be part of the one people that has been redeemed by the blood of Christ on the cross.
It is encouraging to see how the quest for unity among Christians is growing more and more thanks to very opportune developments that are of interest to the different realms of those who are committed to ecumenism. Among these signs of hope, I am please to include the growth of brotherly love and the progress that has been made in theological dialogs with various churches and church communities. Through these dialogs, it has been possible to achieve, to varying degrees and with various goals, important agreements on topics that were highly controversial in the past.
Charity and Love
Keeping these positive signs in mind, we must not be discouraged when we face old or new difficulties; we need to confront them with patience and understanding, always counting on God's help.
“Where there is charity and love, God is there.” This is the song and prayer of this week's liturgy, as we relive the climate in the upper room. Mutual charity and love are the source of peace and unity among all Christians, who can make a decisive contribution so mankind will overcome the reasons for divisions and conflicts.
Along with prayer, dear brothers and sisters, we also feel strongly called to make an effort to be genuine “peacemakers” (see Matthew 5:9) wherever we live.
May the Virgin Mary, who, on Calvary, was a witness of Christ's redeeming sacrifice, assist us and walk with us on this path of reconciliation and peace!
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Happy Birthday, Vatican City! DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:Pope John Paul II's plans for February include many traditional appointments, the ongoing once-every-five-years ad limina visits by (this time) French bishops, audiences for heads of state, two special World Days and Vatican City's own Independence Day on Feb 11.
Feb. 2, Candlemas Day, the feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, marks the eighth World Day of Consecrated Life, a special day instituted by John Paul to celebrate the role of consecrated men and women. It's traditionally celebrated with a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, preceded by the liturgy of light, the lighting and blessing of candles, and a procession.
As the Holy Father put it: “The feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is especially suitable to host the grateful praise of consecrated persons. … The image of Mary who, in the Temple, offers her Son to God speaks eloquently to the hearts of the men and women who have totally given themselves to the Lord through the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience for the Kingdom of heaven.”
Feb. 11 is a Vatican holiday as residents and Curia officials celebrate Vatican City State's birth as a sovereign entity. This year, the tiny city-state of 108.7 acres — the size of an average 18-hole golf course — is marking the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Lateran Pacts. The treaties were signed Feb. 11, 1929, in the popes’ room of the Lateran Palace by Benito Mussolini, the representative of the king of Italy, and by Cardinal Pietro Gasbarri, the secretary of state of Pope Pius XI.
The Lateran Pacts ended the famous “Roman question” that strained relations between the popes and the state of Italy after 1870. For many centuries before then, popes had temporal authority over the fairly extensive Papal States. When the Papal States were annexed by the kingdom of Italy in 1870, the popes sought compensation that was not obtained until the signing of the Lateran Pacts.
The Lateran Pacts were a triple agreement: a political treaty, a financial convention and a concordat. Ratified in June 1929, they were inserted in the Italian Constitution in 1947. Among other things these agreements established the sovereign Vatican City State, made Catholicism the official religion of Italy and regulated Church-state relations. The concordat was revised in 1984, at which time Catholicism was no longer the official state religion.
Feb. 11 also marks the 12th World Day of the Sick. A Mass will be celebrated at 4 p.m. in St. Peter's Basilica in the presence of many invalids as well as members of Unitalsi, an Italian organization that accompanies the ill on pilgrimages to Lourdes. John Paul will come to the basilica at the conclusion of Mass and bless the sick and their caregivers. He instituted this day in a letter dated May 13, 1992 — exactly 11 years after he nearly died from an assassin's bullet — asking that it be celebrated annually on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.
On Feb. 12, the Pope will welcome Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez. Two days later he will greet pilgrims from Slovakia, possibly including the country's President Rudolf Schuster. On Feb. 21 he will welcome members of the community of the Roman Major Seminary for their annual visit and on Feb. 26 he will welcome the clergy of Rome for their traditional annual visit.
The morning of Feb. 19 there will be a ceremony in the presence of the Holy Father for the promulgation of decrees for several causes of canonization.
That same day the Old Synod Hall will host a meeting to mark the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Academy for Life. On Feb. 11, 1994, John Paul instituted this pontifical academy, whose objectives are the study of the principal problems of biomedicine and law in defense of life, above all in the direct relation they have with Christian morality and the directives of the magisterium.
The last days of February mark the start of Lent and the spiritual retreat for the Pope, heads of dicasteries and other high-ranking Curia members.
Feb. 25, Ash Wednesday, the Pope will preside at the celebration of the word and the imposition of ashes at 10:30 a.m. in Paul VI Hall. All those who have requested tickets for the weekly general audience will be invited to participate in this event. There will be no traditional Ash Wednesday afternoon service in the basilica of Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill.
The annual, weeklong Lenten retreat for the Roman Curia starts Feb. 29 in the Vatican's Redemptoris Mater Chapel in the presence of the Holy Father. For a virtual tour of this stunning, newly redone chapel, visit www.vatican.va/redemptoris_ma ter/index_en.htm.
Joan Lewis works for Vatican
Information Service.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joan Lewis ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Ex-London Gangster Turned Evangelizer Changes Lives With His Story DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:DUBLIN, Ireland — Standing 6-foot-4, burly and with a shaven head, John Pridmore looks nothing like you would expect an evangelist to look.
But during the last year, thousands of young people in Ireland have been spellbound by the 39-year-old ex-gangster's account of how he turned away from a life of brutal violence and crime in London's underworld and committed himself to Christ.
North American television viewers had an opportunity Jan. 29 to see Pridmore firsthand, when he was scheduled as a featured guest on EWTN's “Life on the Rock.”
The son of a policeman, Pridmore was born in East London. Although baptized a Catholic, he had no Christian upbringing. After his parents divorced, he began getting involved in petty crime. At age 17, he was sent to a youth prison.
Upon release, he started doing security work at pop concerts for artists such as Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Queen, then moved on to bouncer duties in London's nightclubs and bars.
This job led him into the London underworld and soon he became a drug dealer and “hard man,” involved with notorious criminals for whom stabbings and shootings were common.
With a machete in one pocket and wads of money in the other, he enjoyed the classic gangster lifestyle: designer suits, sex with a string of women, a Mercedes with a personalized number plate and a penthouse flat in one of London's most exclusive districts.
He had it all — or so he thought.
God's Call
One night in the summer of 1991, while working the door at a busy bar in central London, he launched into an argumentative drinker with his knuckle-duster and left the man lying in a pool of blood. He fled the scene with a gangland boss, convinced he had killed the man.
A few nights later, sitting alone in his flat, he felt a voice tell him about all the bad things he had ever done.
“I fell to my knees and pleaded for another chance,” Pridmore said. “I then felt as if someone's hands were on my shoulders and I was being lifted up. This incredible warmth overpowered me and the fear vanished. At that moment, for the first time in my life, I knew that God really existed.”
The man he had assaulted survived, and Pridmore turned his back on crime and violence. He began praying, undertaking penances, reading the Bible and going to Mass.
Following a spell as a volunteer in a drop-in center, he landed a job as a youth worker on a tough East London housing project and subsequently became a postulant in 1999 with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal in South Bronx, N.Y. After six months, he decided he was not called to religious life and returned to England to join the Youth 2000 mission team.
Since last year, he has been a member of Youth 2000's mission team in Ireland, living in a lay community just outside Dublin.
Pridmore's youth mission has to be rooted in prayer, both by himself and from others, he explained.
“I won't give a talk unless there is someone praying for me and the young people I'm speaking to,” he said. “One of the Youth 2000 team often prays while I'm speaking and we have a lot of contemplative religious orders praying for us. And I go to Mass each day, say the rosary and spend an hour in silent prayer.”
Word about the power of Pridmore's testimony has spread rapidly in Ireland, and Bishop Christopher Jones of Elphin, which includes Sligo, even gave him permission to preach at all the Sunday Masses in the local cathedral.
So how does Pridmore approach young people?
“We go into schools and tell the kids how much Jesus loves them personally,” he said. “I share my story and tell them how broken I was and that God loved me in that brokenness. No matter how weak we are, God can use us to make himself known to others.”
Youngsters are often unaware of how much they are loved by God, Pridmore said.
“Kids often have a low self-worth and don't know how precious they are,” he said. “They are all too often told, particularly through the media, that they can only be satisfied through drugs, money or sex. … I tell the kids that all these temptations of modern life only offer illusions of happiness, because it is Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life.”
The schools in religiously divided Belfast, Northern Ireland, have provided the toughest challenge, Pridmore said.
“There's a lot of anger and pain in the city,” he said. “Young people there seem more hardened because of the troubles. But I find that once you break down the barriers, the youngsters are hungry for the truth.”
Changed Hearts
Sixteen-year-old Stuart Harris from Somerset is one of many young people who have been moved by Pridmore's testimony.
“John came into my school one day to give a talk,” the youth said. “At the time, I was living in a children's home and getting into a lot of trouble. He invited me to go on a retreat. Up until then I had never thought much about God. I went to confession on the retreat and six months later I became a Catholic. If I had not met John, I would not have met Jesus Christ.”
Father Digby Samuels, parish priest of St Patrick's in Wapping, London, said Pridmore has a major impact on young people because he is authentic.
“John is able to speak the language of young people, and he proclaims the Gospel with real power and also humor,” Father Samuels said. “Pope Paul VI said that people will no longer listen to teachers, but they will listen to witnesses. And John is a witness to how God can heal and change lives.”
Pridmore's mission to the youth will continue, he says, and he will go wherever he thinks God is calling him.
“It's Jesus who does the converting, not me,” he said. “I just try not to get in the way. The thing that gives me great hope, and should give others great hope, is that God can use someone as sinful and weak as me to do his work.”
Greg Watts writes from London.
From Gangland to Promised Land, by John Pridmore with Greg Watts, is published by Darton, Longman and Todd.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Greg Watts ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:Bishops Join With Christians in the Holy Land
FIDES, Jan. 17 — A group of Catholic bishops from Europe and North America visited the Holy Land from Jan. 12-15 to show solidarity with the harassed, dwindling Christian population there, the Vatican missionary news service Fides reported.
“We came here to demonstrate the solidarity of Catholics throughout the world with the Church of the Holy Land,” the bishops said in a statement. “For the third time in as many years, we have come in friendship for both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, Christian, Jew and Muslim alike. We have seen the devastating effect of the wall currently being built through the land and homes of Palestinian communities.”
The bishops also deplored the difficulties Christian clergy, religious and laity have in gaining permission from the Israeli government to work and study in that country and its occupied territories, according to Fides.
The bishops visiting included Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Church leaders from Great Britain and continental Europe.
Return of the Jacobins in France?
REUTERS, Jan. 15 — A recent decision by French President Jacques Chirac has afflicted members of three historic religions: Jews, Christians and Muslims.
Out of a desire to reduce the visibility of Islamic immigrants in France, Chirac pushed a law through Parliament forbidding Islamic head scarves on girls in public schools — and for good measure, banning Jewish yarmulkes and visible crosses.
Since the law was announced, Christians have been targeted even outside public schools, according to Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger. He cited reports from bishops around the country of dozens of cases of Catholic girls being harassed for wearing a cross and nuns for wearing their habits.
France has a long past of anticlericalism; its republican regime was born in a revolution that ordered the execution of thousands of priests and religious on the guillotine and the wholesale slaughter of Catholic rebels — sometimes through mass drownings of men, women and children, as in the Vendee region.
As recently as 1905, all religious orders were expelled, en masse, from the country.
Indian Bishops Back AIDS Tests Before Marriage
NEWS24.COM, Jan. 13 — The Catholic bishops of India have asked their country's government to make AIDS and HIV tests mandatory for people getting married, News24.com reported.
Bishop Yoohanan Chrysostom of Marthandam explained that the Church wished to help stop people from transmitting the disease, sometimes without even knowing they are infected.
The bishop said the Church planned to annul marriages in which one partner had deceived the other about his or her HIV status.
“The efforts of the Church would be strengthened only if appropriate legislation is enacted by the government,” read a statement from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. The Church in India operates some 4,745 hospitals, 39 dedicated solely to AIDS patients.
“Because of the increasing cases of AIDS in India,” Bishop Chrysostom said, “the Church feels that priests should be convinced of the health status of couples before solemnizing their marriage.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Divided Witness DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:Pope John Paul II has spoken out against many sins of the modern era — sins against the family, sins against respect for life, sins against women, sins against peace. But he saves his strongest words for something many Christians rarely think about: sins against Christian unity.
It's easy to forget the importance of Christian unity. Catholics have seen too many false prophets who sell a false unity that compromises truth. And it's easy to downplay the Vatican's efforts toward unity as if they were ancillary to the real work of the Church.
But the Pope regards sins against unity as the worst sins in history for a simple reason: They are sins against the whole project of the Incarnation itself. When the Second Person became man and made the Church, he intended it to be one as he was one with the Father.
The worst acts in Church history are therefore those that led to the Great Schism and the Reformation — sins that tore the very body of Christ apart. In our own day the further division of Christians into factions rubs salt in those wounds.
When the Holy Father was preparing for the Jubilee year, he challenged Christians to look inward at the sins of their past.
“I refer, above all,” he said, “to the painful reality of the division among Christians. The wounds of the past, for which both sides share the guilt, continue to be a scandal for the world.”
When he delivered his famous “mea culpa” homily in the Jubilee year, the first sin on his mind was the sin of Christian dis-unity.
“Let us ask pardon for the divisions that have occurred among Christians,” he said, “for the violence some have used in the service of the truth and for the distrustful and hostile attitudes sometimes taken toward the followers of other religions.”
In 2001, in his visit to Greece, he targeted this apology even more specifically to the Orthodox churches: “For the occasions past and present, when sons and daughters of the Catholic Church have sinned by action or omission against their Orthodox brothers and sisters, may the Lord grant us the forgiveness we beg of him.”
The unity of Christians is the greatest unfinished goal of John Paul's pontificate. This is what's on the Pope's mind as a Vatican delegation heads to Moscow on Feb. 16. And this is what's on the Pope's mind as Cardinal Walter Kasper prepares to meet with Moscow Patriarch Alexei II.
There are many things that need to be apologized for in Catholics’ past. And as Catholics also note, there is much they would like to see Orthodox Christians apologize for.
But what the Holy Father seems to be saying is that over and above all of the human injustices and wounds is a clear and definite command of Christ: You must be one.
This year January's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity came while Europe was in the midst of a debate about its future.
It's here that the Pope saw a special need for Christian unity. How can Christians influence Europe if their witness is divided?
“Together we must work for this healing” of Christian division, the Pope said, “if the Europe now emerging is to be true to its identity, which is inseparable from the Christian humanism shared by East and West.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:Still More on the War
Regarding the Register symposium “Did the War in Iraq Secure the Peace?” (Jan. 4-10):
If we stick to the facts of the Iraqi war — that Saddam Hussein used weapons of mass destruction on his own people, that the United Nations failed miserably with 17 resolutions trying to get him to comply with U.N. directives, that the connection with Saddam and al-Qaida is being made, and that Saddam killed tens or hundreds of thousands of his own people — then “liberating” the Iraqi people would seem to be a very good thing.
The threat to the United States in Bosnia and Kosovo was not imminent, and yet we went in and are still there. That is a good thing, too.
If the American people, as well as the world, had been informed by our international news sources — the BBC, CNN, Reuters, The New York Times and others — that Saddam was butchering, raping, torturing and mass-murdering his own people, then the world and the United States would have gone in like we have in the former Yugoslavia. Or how about Rwanda or the Sudan, where millions have been killed? Does this not fit perfectly into the just-war theory?
But the world doesn't seem to care. If the threat isn't “imminent,” then let the butchering continue.
The United States sent a message to the Middle East and the world that wanton and random acts of mass murder will not be tolerated. (And isn't President Bush bound by the Constitution to protect the American people?)
This may not satisfy the proponents of just-war theory, but it will certainly satisfy the inhabitants living in these countries.
MIKE ACHESON
Port Angeles, Washington
You presented a variety of views in your symposium on the war in Iraq. This balanced approach was unusual for a Catholic publication, and more should adopt it.
However, the authors (especially Mark Shea) failed to consider all of the teachings of the Church. I specially point out St. Bernard of Clairvaux's De Laude Novae Militae, in which he lays out when Christian warriors may “smite” the enemy. As St. Bernard wrote before the final, foolish and sad division between the Western and Eastern (Orthodox) Churches — and long before the Reformation — it is assumed that he wrote for the entire Church of God. His status as a doctor of the Church gives great weight to his positions.
St. Bernard warns against killing on the basis of wrath, vengeance, pride and other like weaknesses, as such make the killer a murderer and a sinner.
However, he does encourage the use of force, including deadly force, against the enemies of Christ, for the punishment of evildoers, for the protection of the holy places and that which is within them, for the elimination of nations that “love war” and against other like offenses and offenders. St. Bernard strongly approves the “smiting” of such persons, albeit without the weaknesses noted above.
Also, your writers failed to note (as too many persons nowadays do) that the present and chief external enemy of the Church and of civilization is [militant] Islam — especially in nations ruled by such monsters as Saddam Hussein or in smaller associations led by such servants of the evil one as Osama bin Laden.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may be considered as the beginning of an “object lesson” to such external enemies that there is still and again a force of just and righteous knights in this world who will inflict justice on evildoers, without the sins noted by St. Bernard, which order of knights is composed by the armed forces of the United States, Poland, the United Kingdom and a few other nations.
James Pawlak
West Allis, Wisconsin
This letter pertains to the Register symposium, along with Rich Beckman's letter (“Premature Symposium?” Jan. 11-17) and the editor's note concerning that letter.
We are faithful readers of the Register; however, we have to agree with Mr. Beckman that your assessment of the Iraqi war was premature. Maybe the war won't alleviate all the problems in the Middle East, but maybe it will help turn things around. There is evidence that this is happening.
Our greatest worry about your symposium, however, is the influence it might have on voters who are wavering on their decision to vote pro-life. They might reason that starting this war is just as bad as abortion. Whether you believe that starting this war was the right decision or not, you must admit that the number of deaths caused by this war is relatively small compared with the more than 4,000 deaths every day caused by abortion.
Our current president has taken a stand for life in so many ways, but we are worried that articles like this might convince Catholics to vote in a way that would take away our chance to secure good pro-life legislation.
Dorothy Reineke
Beardsley, Minnesota
I applaud three letters to the editor in your Jan. 18-24 edition. Two of these letters are under the headline, “Two Thumbs Up on War” and the other is headlined “Bias in the Register?”
In my mind, a large country with a powerful military force has a duty to topple the cruel and sadistic regime of a small nation such as Iraq.
However, the aftermath of this war has also led to much suffering. One hopes, with the help of God in prayer, peace will eventually come to this area.
Mary Lou Petersen
Marion, Iowa
Woe Is Roe
Regarding “Roe v. Wade + 31: Partial-Birth Ban Heads for Court” (Jan. 18-24):
On Jan. 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that a woman had the right to kill a child in her womb. The information on which the court based its decision was provided in large part by Dr. Bernard Nathanson, a highly respected gynecologist, and Norma McCorvey, alias “Jane Roe.” Sad but true, at a later date, Nathanson and McCorvey both admitted they had lied.
Sarah Weddington, the attorney for “Roe,” was a young and frightened lawyer with little experience who thought her cause was so important that it gave her permission to trump the very foundation of our legal system, which is truth and justice. In a classic example of “the ends justifying the means,” Weddington allowed the perjured testimony of her key witnesses to be presented to the court.
From a legal standpoint, her win-at-all-costs approach to the abortion issue was a serious breach of ethics — but for the more than 40 million pre-born babies who have been aborted since then, it was a death sentence.
DONALD F. GERNE
New Canaan, Connecticut
Powerless Preaching Prevails
In “The ‘New’ Liturgy at Age 40: What Happened to the Vatican II Mass?” (Dec. 7-13), Capuchin Father Edward Foley maintains that preaching 40 years ago could have been about something “on somebody's moral agenda, it could have been on a current dogma, it could have been catechetical; it didn't have to have any connection with the liturgy.”
It seems to me that Father Foley's concept of “liturgy” is much too narrow. Liturgy includes all that the Catholic Church stands for. And what does he mean by “somebody's moral agenda” and by a “current” dogma?
He says, “By and large preaching in the Catholic Church today is scripturally based.” Really? For the past 15 to 20 years, I have heard at our Cardinal Newman Center (and in other Catholic churches) hardly any challenging, Scripture-based sermons. Almost without exception, our students receive highly personal testimonials (about the priest's father, mother, grandmother or aunt), up to 25 minutes in duration, even on high holidays.
Twenty years ago, my students still knew the basic tenets (and even more) about their Catholic faith. Students would engage in substantial discussions. Today? They are in matters of belief illiterate and can, as I have observed, either lose their faith altogether or join other denominations, especially the ones that impart a well-defined “credo.”
In one way I do understand Father Foley's predicament: A number of priests I know have “burned out” from informative doctrinal sermons; they long to work off emotional tensions, etc.
Father Foley received a solid, well-defined and detailed catechetical education in his youth. He can now afford the luxury of “scripturally based” preaching. Our young people do not get a full catechetical exposure. They will eventually get tired of hearing personal testimonials, lose their faith or join other denominations. They need the type of preaching that was done 40 years ago.
Peter Horwath
Tempe, Arizona
The writer is a professor of languages and literature at Arizona State University.
State of the Church's Soul
Has anything really changed in the Catholic Church in the United States? Are bishops looking outward (policy changes, audits, new procedures) rather than inward (the spiritual state of their soul) for solutions to problems in today's Church?
Is the setting up of lay committees to investigate sexual-abuse claims good for the priesthood? Can we no longer trust other priests to investigate these matters? Does this not cast a dark shadow on all priests — even the good ones who truly love the Church?
The very fact that policy changes became necessary — along with the fact that audits are necessary to see that these policies are being followed in each diocese — shows that something is very wrong with the spirituality of bishops in the United States (and elsewhere). Is it therefore truthful to call them “good shepherds”?
How many good priests have already been falsely accused — and taken from the community they served and loved — while awaiting the completion of an investigation that may or may not prove their innocence?
Is it not also a great scandal — and another sign that something is seriously wrong in the priesthood — when investigative committees within a diocese, made up of lay people, become a necessity? Have they not become necessary because bishops have not followed God's holy will in the past, and they are not trusted to follow his holy will in the future in these types of matters?
If bishops are unable to discern the state of the soul of an innocent or guilty priest, how can they be trusted to discern the state of the souls of others in their care? Is not spiritual lukewarmness in the priesthood, which has contaminated many bishops (and priests), the greatest scandal in today's Church?
Vincent Bemowski
Menasha, Wisconsin
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: John Paul, The Pope Of Peace And Love DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:I guess Pope John Paul II, like me, was enraptured by the otherworldly music of the most grandiose concert ever held in Paul VI Hall.
A dark blue light hovered over the 4,000 attendees. Hundreds of men and women crowded the stage to sing and play violins, violas, cellos, basses, flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, French and English horns, trumpets, trombones, tuba, harps, organ and percussion. Behind them stood the large and lively statue of the risen Christ with its mystifying game of lights and shadows.
It was the Concert of Reconciliation.
Organized by the pontifical councils for Promoting Christian Unity and for Interreligious Dialogue and sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, the Jan. 17 concert was attended by the Pope, the chief rabbis of Israel and Rome, the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, members of the Vatican Curia and Muslim leaders of Rome's mosque.
Renowned American conductor Gilbert Levine, called “the Pope's Maestro” for his artistic relationship with John Paul, conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as well as the London and the Krakow Philharmonic Choirs, the Turkish Ankara Polyphonic Choir and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh.
The performance of American John Harbison's premiere Sacred Motet “Abraham” was followed by that of Gustav M a h l e r ’ s Symphony II “Resurrection.” Thus, “the universal language of music,” as the Pope called it, reflected two fundamental tenets of faith common to Christians, Jews and Muslims: a reverence for our common patriarch Abraham and our belief in the concept of resurrection from the dead.
The concert was the climax of an intense week busy with audiences and meetings focused on the themes of peace and love.
It began with John Paul's annual address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See.
…..“It is more urgent than ever to return to a more effective collective security that gives to the United Nations the place and role that correspond to it,” he said. “It is more necessary than ever to learn the lessons of the distant and recent past. In any case, one thing is clear: War does not resolve conflicts between people!” The Pope then spoke of the role of faith and religion in society as a force to build peace. He followed what he called the Christian duty “to form ourselves and others for peace.”
On Wednesday, the Holy Father was in good humor at the general audience as he improvised words addressed to more than 4,000 pilgrims, including many children, who sang songs for him. As the Holy Father smiled, most of the pilgrims began to chant: “We love you!” “You say: ‘We love you,’” the Pope responded, “I also love you!” He smiled again and the audience broke out in loud applause.
On Thursday the Pope received Roman officials. He told them to support the family because it is the primary place “to realize the civilization of love.”
“The way to defeat and prevent all forms of violence is to commit oneself to constructing the civilization of love,” the Pope said. “Love, in fact — I have underlined it in the message for the recent World Day of Peace — is the highest and most noble form of relationship of human beings among themselves. How can one not think of the family as the primary locus to realize the civilization of love? The family represents the human realm in which the person, from the beginning of his existence, can experience the warmth of affection and grow in a harmonious way.”
On Friday the Holy Father received in audience the participants of a national congress on women. “It is important that woman keep alive the awareness of this fundamental vocation,” he told them. “She fulfills herself only by giving love, with her singular ‘genius’ that assures sensitivity.”
On the same day, John Paul received the chief rabbis of Israel in audience — a meeting characterized as “historic” by the Israeli Embassy to the Holy See. “We must spare no effort in working together to build a world of justice, peace and reconciliation for all peoples,” the Pope said.
Love and peace — these were the two themes the Holy Father constantly played during the week and has been playing for the last 25 years of his pontificate. A Concert of Reconciliation was a meaningful ending note to the Pope's efforts to raise humanity to the civilization of peace and love.
“O believe, my heart, believe, nothing of you will be lost!” sang the beautiful voice of Mezzosoprano Birgit Remmert during the fifth movement of Gustav Mahler's Symphony II. “What you longed for is yours, what you loved and champion is yours!”
I saw the Pope with his left hand on his forehead and his eyes closed in meditation.
“With wings that I wrested for myself, in the fervent struggle of love, I shall fly away to the light, which no eyed pierced!” sang the soprano, the mezzosoprano and the choir. “Die I shall, so as to live. Rise again, yes rise again you will, my heart, in a trice! Your pulsation will carry you to God!”
Maybe they were singing aloud the Pope's sentiments in January 2004.
Legionary of Christ Father Alfonso Aguilar teaches philosophy at Regina Apostolorum
Pontifical University in Rome and can be reached at aaguilar@legionaries.org.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Alfonso Aguilar, LC ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Where Catholic Universities Can Lead the Way DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:In December, the New Jersey Legislature boldly stepped into the cross hairs of the human-cloning debate by ambitiously passing one of the most shortsighted pieces of legislation this country has ever seen.
The legislation, which was designed to ensure the legality of therapeutic human cloning, not only makes it legal to clone a human, but it goes so far as to legalize the implantation of the clone into a woman's uterus.
To ensure the passing of such groundbreaking legislation, the law-makers realized they had a few minor obstacles to overcome. One of the most pressing was the need to quell fears that the passing of the bill might lead to some futuristic attack of the human killer clones. In order to manage this precarious balancing act, allowing therapeutic cloning but putting the brakes on reproductive cloning, the ingenious lawmakers struck upon the following provision: If you do make a clone you have to kill him at some point before birth.
This certainly was a heartwarming touch.
However, the necessity of such an inane provision makes it apparent that in trying to strike some “morally acceptable” middle ground, the legislation fails miserably in the realm of common sense. It does succeed, however, on two other fronts, so all is not lost for the New Jersey Legislature.
First off, it succeeds in shocking the sensibilities of all who believe in the sanctity of human life in the womb, and second, it succeeds in legitimizing such atrocities as fetal organ trafficking.
How have we reached the point where legislators are able to assent to both the destruction and reckless use of human life with such casual indifference? In the case of therapeutic cloning, which involves killing a cloned embryo and harvesting its stem cells for therapeutic purposes, the legislators succumbed to the tantalizing promises of the seemingly magical embryonic stem cells.
It is true that these cells, which can be coaxed into becoming virtually any cell type in your body, might some day be useful for treating a whole host of diseases. (This is especially true if we as a society continue steadily down the road embarked upon long ago with the advent of Roe v. Wade.) In fact, advocates of the technique promise it will eventually cure grandma's Alzheimer's, dad's diabetes, your uncle's spinal-cord injury and even your husband's tendency to stare vacantly off into space blissfully unaware of your screaming infant.
While these are promising benefits indeed, they are still only promises, and one seldom hears the risks involved with such treatments and the difficulties still to be overcome. These include: 1) the possibility that these cells will divide, aberrantly forming tumors once implanted in the body; and 2) the possibility that the cells will function aberrantly once in the body, thus further disrupting the organ they were destined to repair. Both possibilities have occurred in clinical studies.
The medical risks of such treatments are almost never mentioned out loud by the popular press, and those with ethical concerns are finding themselves sufficiently marginalized by those who stand to benefit (especially financially) from the whole enterprise. The biotech industry and the politicians they lobby successfully are more than happy to continually overstate the possible benefits of therapeutic cloning and downplay both medical and ethical problems if there is money to be made or votes to be had.
Others who stand to benefit, particularly patient-lobbying organizations (Parkinson's Disease Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International, etc.) led by such luminaries as the ubiquitous Christopher Reeve, are more than willing to join hands with the biotech industry in this Herculean lobbying effort. It helps that the biotech industry dangles promises of cures like a carrot to spur these organizations to action.
Such firepower has been largely successful in painting those who raise ethical objections to the technique as outof-touch moralists who are insensitive to the plight of grandma, not to mention your husband. If the goal of therapeutic cloning is to help grandma, what could be wrong with it? Especially if it is, as it is so often claimed, her best hope. (Of course there is no way of knowing if this assertion is true.) Such reasoning allows scientific and medical progress to trump morality at every turn. This is, as some people are beginning to realize, a scary prospect, to say the least.
What, then, is the solution? Is therapeutic cloning inevitable despite the regulatory roadblocks that still exist? President Bush stopped short of banning the procedure a few years back, allowing publicly funded work to continue on already established cell lines and allowing private companies to do what they will. The New Jersey ruling allows just about everything imaginable, even the “sale” of fetal body parts. The battle at the regulatory level, in many respects, is already lost.
Where, then, do we turn? Some might argue that training bioethicists grounded in Catholic and Christian moral principles will solve the problem, but this will hardly make a dent upon the biotech industry, for two reasons.
One, the industry has its own bioethicists on board and they aren't there to offer criticism but to clear the ethical landscape for the company product. In addition, the limited numbers of bioethicists who do have a firm moral grounding speak a different language and inhabit a different sphere than most scientists, making their influence on biological research minimal at best. This leaves companies and investors left to make their own decisions, outside the influence of sound moral teaching and, if lobbying efforts continue to be successful, outside the regulation of federal and state governments.
The only sure way to keep therapeutic cloning from becoming a widespread reality is to successfully explore and develop alternatives. Alternatives that are successful yet are not morally problematic will likely be favored by a public that is uneasy with therapeutic cloning but does not want to give up on its imagined benefits for grandma.
If alternative therapies are successful, biotech companies will lose one of their largest lobbying aids, the patient-lobbying groups who will likely jump ship on the whole idea if a more reliable way to a cure is found.
Along these lines everyone has heard of the possibility of using stem cells from adults. Many tissues in the body have cells that are undifferentiated and can be teased into becoming a variety of different cell types. These adult stem cells are proving to be a very promising option, as many risks such as the possibility of the cells becoming cancerous seems to be minimized compared with embryonic stem cells. If you're interested, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops lists many promising therapies involving adult stem cells at www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/bioethic/fact401.htm.
Another alternative strategy might be helpful as well. Researchers are now attempting to take mature adult cells and coax them into returning to an embryonic state. By adding certain proteins and growth factors to mature skin or liver cells, it might one day be possible for these adult cells to take on the shape and ability of embryonic cells. These cells could then be manipulated into becoming any cell type of interest in much the same way as adult and embryonic stem cells.
Because much work is still to be done, the present situation represents a major opportunity for Catholic research universities nationwide. What better way to further the ethical alternatives to the use of embryonic stem cells than to focus new faculty hires on scientists with research interests in adult stem cells or the reprogramming of adult cells into embryonic-like cells? Certainly one does not want to replace researchers at these universities who investigate other very important lines of research, but new hires are typically an opportunity for a university to move in a new direction and/or build specific areas of expertise.
Should not alternative stem cell therapies be an area of expertise at our Catholic universities?
Many Catholic universities are in danger of losing their Catholic identity as they continue to assent to the trends in secular higher education. The current state of research surrounding therapeutic cloning and the ethical alternatives to such cloning presents a unique opportunity. It is an opportunity in which Catholic universities can, in a very concrete and relatively uncontroversial manner, be of service to the Church and help rebuild a culture of life.
The active and unambiguous support of these novel lines of research remains our best hope of countering a society that is becoming increasingly comfortable with the destruction of embryos for therapeutic purposes. It is hoped Catholic universities will step up and lead the charge.
Daniel Kuebler, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of biology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Daniel Kuebler ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Tolkien Leads the Way Beyond 'Conservative' and 'Liberal' DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:Recently Rod Dreher, a conservative Catholic journalist, wrote a column for National Review in which he noted his surprise discovery that many of his tastes in food were “liberal.”
That is, he prefers to get his organic vegetables at the food co-op and (gasp!) make his own granola (to which a friend of Dreher's responded, “Ewgh, that sounds so lefty.”) Dreher then went on to note that there were a number of other tastes and preferences he had that are somehow associated with a leftist worldview such as jazz, hard country, bluegrass, Cuban son and funky old houses in non-Republican-looking neighborhoods.
This discovery elicited a volcanic response from Dreher's readers, who buried him in mail full of their own “secret pleasures” that do not fit the “conservative culture” template. Tofu, folk music, quiches, you name it. There was a gush of therapeutic confession. (“Yes! I do think solar-design homes are kind of cool! I like Bruce Cockburn and the Indigo Girls!”)
The left, it seems, does not have a corner on such odd tribalism. And indeed, even “conservative Catholics” are not immune from it.
For one does get the impression from certain people that in order to be a “real” Catholic (that is, somebody who assents to the teaching of the Church without revision) one must also smoke cigars, eat red meat, eschew NPR, avoid words like “spirituality,” “charismatic” and “ecumenical,” steer clear of a taste for any song in the OCP hymn-book and reject ritually defiling contact with unapproved books and/or media.
The apotheosis of this sort of thinking on the Internet is a certain Catholic Web site that “grades” other sites for “fidelity” and uses as criteria (among other things) which sites you happen to link to. Thus, perfectly orthodox Catholics I know have gotten warnings from this vigilant guardian of orthodoxy that they would be “downgraded” for fidelity simply because they link to articles on sites deemed questionable by the guardian. Similarly, I have received e-mail from people “warning” me that I am dallying with heterodoxy because I don't see a big problem with Harry Potter books and I kinda liked The Matrix.
All of which got me, a Catholic who tries to think with the Church, thinking. For another glitch in the so-called “conservative Catholic” cultural paradigm that has received quite a bit of neglect is that a giant in the “conservative Catholic” pantheon — J.R.R. Tolkien — had a view of the sacredness of creation that was sacramental and Christian and yet, if articulated by any Catholic today, would in all likelihood be derided without trial by “conservative Catholics.”
What do I mean? Basically, that it is very hard to speak about the sacredness of nature without instantly earning the reputation of a “tree-hugger” or a Gaiaworshipping pagan from many conservative Catholics. And yet Tolkien was nothing of the kind. He was simply a Catholic who took seriously the sacramental character of the created world while steadfastly refusing to worship it.
That makes him and those like him square pegs whose views are often overlooked in the American political and religious landscape. Tolkien deeply distrusted the “there it is boys, take as much as you want” materialism that sees nature as one vast warehouse of raw materials to be exploited at will. Tolkien's dim view of nature at the mercy of a rapacious technology is indeed well known. As movie viewers saw in graphic detail in Peter Jackson's The Two Towers, nature also wreaks its vengeance by the hand of Treebeard and his army of enraged trees.
This is more than merely Ludditism and vastly more than doltish Gaia worship or “earth first” twaddle that mistakes the creature for the Creator and hates human beings as a sort of plague on the face of the earth. Tolkien despises nothing truly human and, indeed, it reflects a healthy and profoundly Christian apprehension that nature, though not our mother, is in very truth our sister because she has been made by the same God who made us. It also reflects the deeply Christian faith that nature is not just atoms and energy to be exploited at will but a sacrament and the medium through which God reveals himself. For Tolkien, as for Genesis, we have dominion over nature as stewards, not as tyrants. We are, at best, caretakers of God's garden, not absolute masters.
To be sure, this view of our relation to nature has been bowdlerized by the pagan eco-spirituality crowd (which sees nature not as a sacrament but as a goddess). But the reaction to this bowdlerization by many conservatives is often just as wrong-headed because it does not distinguish between a sacramental approach to nature and a pagan one.
Tolkien points the way. It is a way that restores nature to her place as our sister and a sacrament, not as our mother or a goddess, and that is as hostile to the denigration of nature as to its worship. Such a view will only help us regain a proper Christian view of nature by giving us a less reactionary and more intelligent view of creation that is defined neither by the lunatics of the earth goddess crowd nor by the mere reaction to them that often typifies “conservative Catholic” culture.
Indeed, it might lead us to rethink the ever-more-meaningless categories of “liberal” and “conservative” when applied to the Catholic faith. For as Pope John Paul II has proved for 25 years, such labels typically substitute for thought.
Mark Shea writes from Seattle.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mark P. Shea ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Giving Voice to the Voiceless DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:What they don't expect is the joy. As they have every year since 1973, tens of thousands of pro-life advocates gathered in Washington for the March for Life on Jan. 22 to mourn the court case that led to 45 million legal abortions.
Tom Reuwer, a TV weatherman from Harrisburg, Pa., who brought his 4-year-old daughter, Keely, told the Associated Press, “I think there is a real turn in the tide on this issue. I think there's more people who are anti-abortion than pro-abortion.”
President Bush addressed the crowd — not in person, but by remote — just before the march began.
“During the past three years we've made real progress toward building a culture of life in America,” Bush said.
He touted some of the pro-life accomplishments of his administration, including the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, the partial-birth abortion ban, and a ban on overseas abortion funding.
“I know as you return to your communities you will redouble your efforts to change hearts and minds, one person at a time,” said Bush. “And this is the way we will build a lasting culture of life, a compassionate society in which every child is born into a loving family and protected by law.”
Many in the sea of pro-life people walking to the Supreme Court were in college or high school, giving longtime pro-life advocates hope for the future.
(Lifesite.com contributed to this report)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Believe and Belong DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:Lord, lately my opportunities to contribute seem few and far between. Please tell me: How may I serve you?
This is a question I've asked of Jesus many times in recent years, even as I've consoled myself with St. Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 12:5: “There are different forms of service but the same Lord.”
You see, because of a physical disability, I need to rely on others to be my arms, legs and main means of transportation. I must consider logistics before I dive into any new project. Sometimes the spirit is willing but the flesh is unable. These are the times I wonder if I really belong anymore. I am tempted to despair. This is only intensified if the voice of discouragement is seconded by a real voice speaking real words. At those times, I can only hope God will intervene. The good news is, he always does (though not always on my timetable). Here's an example.
One Saturday evening not long ago, I entered our parish church for the vigil Mass. As I parked my wheelchair at the end of a pew, a woman commented, “Bill, you don't belong on this side of the church.” Her words stung, but, rather than arguing, I remained silent and prepared to move to the other side of the church. I bowed my head and asked Jesus: “Christ, allow me to forgive her. Please restore my peace.”
Moments later, some friends of mine who had heard the comment said, “Stay with us. We are taking up the offertory. You can help.”
I exclaimed, “Oh, thank you!” and followed them to the pew designated for the family bringing up the gifts of bread, wine and water. As I settled in, I thought about how beautiful it is that, at every Mass, God transforms these simple substances from the good earth and the work of human hands into the Body and Blood of his son, Jesus Christ.
When the time came to bring the gifts to the priest at the altar, it dawned on me what a privilege it is to play such a crucial role at Mass. It is a gift to deliver the gifts!
My hands shook as I bore the cruets that contain the water and wine. I wept as I was wheeled up to present them.
After Mass, I recalled how God had turned a fleeting moment of dejection into a rich blessing, the memory of which will last me a lifetime. He called on this generous family to reassure me, by their words and actions, that I did indeed belong.
Looking back now, it also occurs to me how fitting it all was. For, years earlier, I had taught the Catholic faith to their three children in separate years. This was during a 10-year period in which I taught religious education at the parish.
It doesn't seem so long ago. Each week I would start class with a sneak peek at the upcoming Sunday's Gospel. I often incorporated my skills as a writer. This was never more rewarding than in November, when I would read aloud my essays on various saints and holy role models. Often the theme was the various roles we perform in the Body of Christ. In this way I hoped to assure the children that they all belonged. They all have a role to play in the Body of Christ.
And so do I — even now, even in those times when I feel discouraged because I'm not always able to serve Jesus in a highly visible way. No matter what else I can do, as long as I have breath, I can pray. I can praise God. I can encourage others to do their part, whatever it may be.
I belong. Thank God, we all belong!
Bill Zalot writes from Levittown, Pennsylvania.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Bill Zalot ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: America's Oldest Basilica DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:Like a fortress doing sentry duty for the Minneapolis-St. Paul Archdiocese, the Basilica of St. Mary has an entire city block all to itself.
Topped by a copper dome bearing a 13-foot cross 280 feet above street level, the colossal structure dominates Hennepin Avenue, the main thoroughfare through downtown Minneapolis. A bronze Father Louis Hennepin, the Belgian missionary of the late 1600s who helped settle the Great Lakes region, stands 50 feet in front of the main entrance. He's elevated on a block of concrete, raising a cross.
I marveled over the magnificence of the basilica's exterior on a recent visit. The pause helped prepare me to reflect on the glories of the Blessed Mother as I approached the front doors. (Many others will no doubt do the same this Feb. 2, feast of the Presentation of the Lord, when the Church recalls what must have been one of the happiest moments in Mary's motherhood.)
The basilica dates to 1904, when Archbishop John Ireland met French architect Emmanuel Masquery at the St. Louis World's Fair, which Masquery had designed. The archbishop was so impressed with the architect's work that, in 1907, he commissioned Masquery, a graduate of the famed Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, to design a procathedral for the archdiocese. He anticipated that Minneapolis and St. Paul would eventually split into two separate dioceses, and he wanted to be sure Minneapolis would be prepared with a cathedral.
The church was completed in 1914; its first Mass was celebrated on May 1 of that year. At that time, the local public first experienced the beauty of Beaux-Arts architecture. This is known for its eclectic, neoclassical grandeur: buildings that make big, bold statements. Here Beaux-Arts is seen in the lavish ornamentations, Corinthian columns and carved details throughout, along with the long, narrow nave and circular apse in front. St. Mary's is considered one of the finest examples of Beaux-Arts in the nation, right up there with New York's Grand Central Station and the Boston Public Library.
As it turned out, Minneapolis was never declared a seperate archdiocese independent of St. Paul. But, because the Catholic Church still desired special recognition for the holy sanctuary, St. Mary's was elevated to the canonical status of minor basilica — and it attained the historical status of America's first basilica — on Feb. 1, 1926. Thank you, Pope Pius XI.
While kneeling in the pew during my prayer time, I noticed a steady stream of visitors making their way toward the front. Yet I found it quite easy not to let the din disturb me. As the altar area is lit while the pews are darkened, my attention was naturally drawn to, and held by, the Real Presence of Christ in the tabernacle.
As I rose to walk around the interior, I was struck by the stained-glass windows. They were crafted in the 1920s by a local glassmaker, Thomas Gaytee, who studied the art under Louis Comfort Tiffany, the founder of Tiffany & Co. The windows were designed to appear as pictures in glass, better looked at than looked through — a Tiffany trademark.
Two rows of the windows line each side of the nave. On the top row is the much-larger series, depicting events from Mary's life. Her story begins high above the altar in a beautiful, Gothic rose window depicting the Immaculate Conception. Then, proceeding to the rear, her experiences before, during and after her divine Son's earthly ministry unfold. The story culminates in a rose window to the left, above the altar, depicting her coronation as Queen of Heaven.
Below these, at eye level, a second row of smaller windows depicts Old Testament figures with corresponding Scripture passages beneath. The scenes were selected to show the ancient prophecies and prefigurings of the events depicted in the large, Marian windows above. Given the remarkable accuracy of the Old Testament insights, I found the juxtaposition of the two sets of windows an inspiring and memorable teaching tool.
Indispensable Mother
After making my way up to the front, I took in the details of the main altar. It sits beneath a 40-foot marble canopy, upon which a 9-foot statue of Mary stands. She's looking down on her children with her hands outstretched. Surrounding three sides of the altar and elevated on marble banisters are the Twelve Apostles, half-size replicas of the statues that adorn the top of St. John Lateran — St. Mary's sister church — in Rome.
Seeing the apostles gathered around Mary reminded me of the upper room at Pentecost, when the Twelve received the gift of the Holy Spirit in her presence.
Mary, I recalled, is truly our mother. Some even refer to her as the neck of the body of Christ: We are the body, Christ is the head and Mary connects us with Christ. Without her, would there have been a salvation history?
May's Yes to the Holy Spirit at the Annunciation, her obedience and trust in God during the quiet years — including at the Presentation of the Lord — and her cooperation and support during Jesus’ final years is a witness and model to us, the Church. After all, we hope to one day be fully incorporated in the Body of Christ for all eternity. And that's where she reigns as Queen of Heaven.
Minneapolis’ Basilica of St. Mary is just the place to reflect upon our lives and consider how closely they're connected to Mary's — just as surely as the Old Testament is closely connected to the New. It's a wonderful place to ask the Blessed Mother's heavenly intercession while we continue our pilgrim journey on earth.
Joy Wambeke writes from St. Paul, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joy Wambeke ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Now Playing DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:1 COLD MOUNTAIN (Miramax) Director: Anthony Minghella. Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger. (R)
Take One: English Patient director Minghella returns with another epic tear-jerker/romance with a wartime backdrop based on a popular novel. Law plays a Civil War Confederate deserter on an Odyssey-like trek to get back to fiancée Kidman; Zellweger steals her scenes as a roughneck mountain girl.
Take Two: As apolitical as Civil War movies get, Cold Mountain is all about the characters. But Law's character is an enigma while Kidman doesn't get enough to do. Strong scenes of wartime violence and brutality come with the territory, but scenes of explicit sexuality — one involving a stereotyped, hypocritically lecherous minister — are excessive.
Final Take: Like Minghella's English Patient, Cold Mountain is the sort of handsome, big-studio Oscar bait that wins awards and is even the more involving of the two — but its flaws are too significant to overlook.
2 IN AMERICA (20th Century Fox) Director: Jim Sheridan. Paddy Considine, Samantha Morton, Djimon Hounsou. (PG-13)
Take One: Sheridan's nostalgic, heartfelt commemoration of a modern-day Irish immigrant family's experiences in New York is alternately gritty and sentimental, juxtaposing scenes of urban decay and tragedy with a struggling family's commitment to one another.
Take Two: Though affirming of love and family, In America seems uncomfortable with the family's religious heritage. One daughter's belief that she can talk to, and ask favors from, her late brother is dismissed as wishful thinking, and the film seems finally to eschew faith for sentimentality. Adult content includes a racy depiction of marital intimacy and some profane and obscene language.
Final Take: Though deeply personal, In America feels less than completely honest, and the director's evident unresolved issues with God over a real-life tragedy are distractingly apparent.
3 HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG (DreamWorks) Director: Vadim Perelman. Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Eldard. (R)
Take One: Kingsley's virtuoso performance highlights a morally ambitious, ambiguous tale about a conflict between two parties who each have credible claims on the same house and how believable moral choices lead inexorably to a downward spiral of disaster.
Take Two: It's well written but not as ambiguous as it would like to be: Kingsley, though not perfect, is decent, honorable and basically in the right — while Connelly, though sympathetic and the victim of a raw deal, is pathetic, selfish and in the wrong. Content issues include much obscenity and some profanity, an explicit, adulterous bedroom scene, brief domestic violence and suicide.
Final Take: By the film's end, you can feel the plot gears creaking as the filmmakers work toward their desired ending; it's too much nastiness and not enough to justify it.
4 PETER PAN (Universal) Director: P.J. Hogan. Jeremy Sumpter, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Jason Isaacs. (PG)
Take One: Hogan's lavish, big-budget adaptation eschews Disneyfication and confronts the darker themes in J.M. Barrie's story head-on — and it stars a boy (Sumpter) rather than a petite woman.
Take Two: A great fairy tale mustn't be too self-aware; Hogan spells out what should be left implicit, in effect creating as much a commentary on Barrie as an adaptation. Hook, instead of being a child's idea of grown-up malevolence, becomes a real adult, capable of psychoanalyzing Peter. No fair! Some swashbuckling action, menace and, at times, comic violence.
Final Take: Something's been lost, but this is still an interesting take on J.M. Barrie's enduring nursery tale.
5 TEACHER'S PET (Universal) Director: Timothy Bjorklund. Nathan Lane, Shaun Flemming, Debra Jo Rupp, Kelsey Gram-mer. (PG)
Take One: Based on the short-lived Disney Channel animated series, Teacher's Pet is about a talking dog who wants to be a boy — so much so that he disguises himself as a real boy and attends class with his young master, whose mother just happens to be the teacher.
Take Two: Why are modern animated character designs so all-fired ugly? Quirky throwbacks to early animation (anthropomorphic singing houses, constant musical numbers, etc.) are a nice touch, but those post-Ren & Stimpy characters — yuck!
Boy and dog conspire to keep dog's secret, with much lying to adults, and there's some mild crude humor.
Final Take: In the post-holiday adult entertainment glut, decent family films are few and far between, but Teacher's Pet is only barely passable trifle.
Steven D. Greydanus, editor and chief critic of DecentFilms.com, writes from Bloomfield, New Jersey.
Spotlight: Running
Among Academy Award hopefuls, the big winner at the Golden Globes on Jan. 25 was clearly The Return of the King, which won all four awards for which it had been nominated, including the double diamond of best dramatic picture and best director.
Cold Mountain, which had twice as many nominations, settled for just one award, Renée Zellweger's best supporting actress.
After Return of the King, the big winner was Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola's mood piece about two otherwise-married Americans who don't quite have an affair while enduring insomnia, ennui, loneliness and cultural isolation in Japan. It picked up three awards, including best musical or comedy (though it wasn't exactly either), best actor in a musical or comedy (Bill Murray) and best screenplay.
Does Return of the King's strong showing bode well for its chances at the Academy Awards? Probably — though I can't say I'm too worked up about it one way or the other. The historic achievement of these films is bigger than the awards. The Lord of the Rings will not be diminished if the trilogy goes without a best picture or best director Oscar; nor will the minority of skeptics be persuaded of the films’ greatness if it wins.
Recent history justifies Oscar skepticism. Arguably, not since Schindler's List (1993) has a truly great film won the top award. I can almost understand someone thinking Chicago a great film (I didn't think so myself, although I didn't think The Two Towers was the year's best picture, either; for me it was Roman Polanski's The Pianist). But how anyone could mistake Ron Howard's well-crafted but hardly extraordinary A Beautiful Mind for great cinema beats me. Then there was Gladiator in 2000, Titanic in ’97, English Patient in ’96 …
The point is not that the Academy will get it wrong again but that winning or losing the award doesn't “prove” anything. By the way, if you've never heard of the HBO miniseries “Angels in America,” which swept the Globes’ TV awards, don't look for it in our weekly Video/DVD Picks anytime soon. There may be angels in it, but this homosexual-themed, Mormon-bashing AIDS story is anything but heavenly.
— S.D.G.
----- EXCERPT: A Register's-eye view of five current box-office leaders ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video/DVD Picks DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:Secondhand Lions (2003) Like last year's hit Holes, Secondhand Lions features an awkward adolescent boy (Haley Joel Osment) stranded in an inhospitable, dusty locale with intimidating authority figures — in this case two crusty great-uncles (Robert Duvall and Michael Caine). Like Holes’ Mr. Sir, this pair is alarmingly fond of firearms. Both films also feature romance and action in an exotic, possibly doubtful back story and efforts to find a hidden treasure.
Pleasant and entertaining, Secondhand Lions isn't as demanding or satisfying as the superior Holes. The film gestures at moral lessons it never quite fleshes out, and what should have been a key plot point is relegated to a tacked-on coda. What carries the film despite these weaknesses is strong performances, appealing relationships, tongue-in-cheek serial-cliffhanger style flashbacks of der-ring-do, a couple of subversively funny subplots involving money-hungry relatives and traveling salesmen, and good-hearted themes about responsibility, growing up and old age.
The film's heart is in the right place, though its head could use some straightening out. In one woolly-headed exchange, Duvall tells Osment that things like the importance of honor and virtue and the triumph of good over evil are worth believing in, whether or not they're true. Weakened by sentimentality, Lions is a decent but flawed film that could have been better.
Content advisory: Stylized action violence and brief menace; mild profanity and a fleeting crass remark.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) The original Trek crew's real last hurrah, The Undiscovered Country is a rousing sendoff for Kirk, Spock and Dr. McCoy. It's also a fitting transition from the original series’ Cold-War milieu to the Next Generation age of engagement.
The Soviet Union was collapsing as production began on the film, in which for the first time Federation leaders, notably Spock (Leonard Nimoy) are beginning to look at the Klingon Empire as something other than a threat and an enemy. A Chernobyl-like catastrophe on a Klingon moon, a Gorbachev-like Klingon chancellor and a Gulag-like prison planet are among real-world parallels.
Old-guard Federation hard-liner Kirk (William Shatner) is stunned when Spock nominates him to lead the envoy to the Klingons, but Spock explains in a surreal line: “There is an old Vulcan expression: Only Nixon can go to China.” (Similarly, in a line echoing Cold-War cultural posturing, Chancellor Gorkon remarks after quoting Shakespeare that the Bard is best appreciated “in the original Klingon.”)
Not everyone wants peace, of course — Christopher Plummer is great as a warlike Klingon general — and unexpected violence brings dire political repercussions. Steps toward peace are taken, yet as Filmcritic.com writer David Bezanson notes, “pacifism doesn't carry the day — the peace is born out of necessity and forged by warriors.”
Content advisory: Some menace, fisticuffs and sci-fi combat violence; wry humor involving strong drink; brief objectionable language.
The Navigator (1924) Buster Keaton's most popular vehicle in his own day — and said to be Keaton's favorite of his own films — The Navigator isn't as sophisticated and satisfying as his best work (e.g., The General). Still, it's brilliant slapstick comedy, with a rousing third act and a slam-bang climax.
In a familiar Keatonesque setup, the star plays a spoiled rich twit who seeks solace from a rejected marriage proposal in a long sea voyage. Then — through a complicated convergence of plot points involving rival factions of international spies, the sale of a cruise ship and a mix-up of pier numbers — Keaton and his intended (Kathryn McGuire) find themselves stranded on an otherwise deserted ocean liner, fending for themselves for the first time. (It's a mark of the film's naïvete that, once the boat is adrift, the spy subplot is abandoned.)
Comic highlights include a virtuoso exercise in comic timing in which the hero and heroine, unaware of each other's presence, wander the ship looking for another soul.
Their subsequent struggles to make breakfast, along with Buster's battles with a recalcitrant deck chair, are equally delightful. Then the ship runs aground near an island, and Buster must battle swordfish on the ocean floor and cannibals assailing the ship. The final gag, when all seems lost, is a doozy. Fine family viewing.
Content advisory: Menace from spies and stereotyped island native “cannibals.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:All times Eastern
SUNDAY, FEB. 1
Phil Simms’ All-Iron Team Old School
CBS, 1 p.m.
The first thing everyone knows about football is that you have to be a tough cookie to play it. Toughness is the standard that ex-quar terback Phil Simms uses in picking his personal all-star National Football League team.
MON.-FRI., FEB. 2-6
EWTN Gallery: Religious Orders and Vocations
EWTN, 4:30 a.m., 6 p.m.
You'll be inspired, and with God's grace maybe even find your calling, as you watch these half-hour shows. Monday: The cloistered Sisters of St. Clare in KwaZulu-Natal. Tuesday: Mount St. Mar y's Seminar y in Emmitsburg, Md. Wednesday: The cloistered Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Thursday: The Legionaries of Christ. Friday: The School Sisters of Christ the King and the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows.
TUESDAY, FEB. 3
Nova: Dogs and More Dogs
PBS, 8 p.m.
Did early man tame wolves, or did the beasts domesticate themselves by frequenting early garbage dumps? With a light touch that employs cartoons, witty commentary and fun film footage of modern dogs, this show tries to answer that and other questions about the human-Fido equation. The program also scans current scientific knowledge about our canine friends. John Lithgow narrates. Advisory: Not suitable viewing for cats.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 4
Extreme Engineering: Widening the Panama Canal
Discovery Channel, 10 p.m.
Completed 90 years ago, the Panama Canal is too small for many of today's giant cargo ships. In this show, engineers calculate how the canal could be widened.
FRIDAY, FEB. 6
Destination: Long Island
Travel Channel, 8 p.m.
Long Island is long — 125 miles long, in fact. This special takes fond looks at the island's beautiful coastline, vineyards and other attractions. Re-airs at 11 a.m. on Feb. 7.
FRIDAY, FEB. 6
Cats!
A & E, 9 p.m.
Cats outnumber dogs as pets in the United States. That's just one of the many facts you'll hear in this fun and thorough two-hour special on the place of kitties in history, culture and our homes and hear ts. Advisory: Not suitable viewing for dogs.
SATURDAY, FEB. 7
Millrose Games
NBC, 3 p.m.
The 97th edition of this venerable indoor track-and-field meet at Madison Square Garden, held yesterday, included the shot put and the 600-yard race, events long absent. This year's games featured new competitions, including 1,000-yard and 500-yard races for women, a mile for male collegians and new sprint, dash and hurdles contests. Runner Marion Jones, now a mom, was set to compete for the first time since 2002.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dan Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Concern for Those Who Teach the Faith DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:Abishop is, among many things, concerned with the handing on of the faith by “priests, deacons, religious, parents, catechists, teachers of theology and other ecclesiastical subjects, teachers of Catholic religion, theologians, schools and other academic institutions.”
Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, head of the Congregation for Catholic Education, cited last year's papal apostolic constitution on the bishop while noting the importance of teaching and the role of the bishop in his Jan. 12 homily during the episcopal ordination of Basilian Father Michael Miller, secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education.
The following are excerpts from the homily.
In today's context of episcopal ordination, the readings [Isaiah 61:1-3, 2 Timothy 1: 6-14 and John 17:6, 14-19] invite us — and almost force us — to pick up again the recent postsynodal apostolic exhortation Pastores Gregis [On the Bishop], published not even three months ago [Oct. 16], and to reread some of its passages.
In the document — almost re-echoing Isaiah's words in the first reading — bishops are invited to be ever more “servants of the Gospel for the hope of the world” (see No. 5). We read in the exhortation, “It is … the task of every bishop to proclaim hope to the world, hope based on the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: a hope — as the Holy Father perspicaciously underlines, quoting the words of the Synod Fathers — that not only concerns penultimate matters but also and above all that eschatological hope that awaits the riches of the glory of God (see Ephesians 1:18), which surpasses anything the human heart has ever conceived (see 1 Corinthians 2:9) and to which the sufferings of the present cannot be compared (see Romans 8:18)” (No. 3).
The Holy Father adds: “The bishop is called in a particular way to be a prophet, witness and servant of hope. He has the duty of instilling confidence and proclaiming before all people the basis of Christian hope (see 1 Peter 3:15)” (No. 3).
This duty of the bishop to be a prophet, witness and servant of Christian hope is today more than ever before of contemporary importance. In fact, we are faced with “a culture of ‘the here and now’ [that] leaves no room for openness to transcendence” (No. 3). We are faced with “the appearance in our world [after the terrible events of Sept. 11, 2001] of grave new situations of uncertainty and fear, both for human civilization and the peaceful coexistence of nations” (No. 4). We are faced with “the failure of human hopes based on materialistic, immanentist and market ideologies that claim to measure everything in terms of efficiency, relationships of power and market forces” (No. 4).
In his earlier [2003] apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Europa [On the Church in Europe], the Holy Father noted that the Churches in Europe — and certainly this is not limited solely to Europe — are “often tempted by a dimming of hope. The age we are living in, with its own particular challenges, can seem to be a time of bewilderment. Many men and women seem disoriented, uncertain, without hope, and not a few Christians share these feelings” (No. 7; see also, for example, Nos. 2, 4, 9, 10, 95, 108). On the other hand, the Pope, together with the Synod Fathers, underlined that “man cannot live without hope: Life would become meaningless and unbearable” (Ibid., No. 10; see also No. 4). The Pope also highlighted, “Christ is the source of hope … for the whole world” (Ibid., No. 18; see also 18-22, 1).
We read the same thing in Pastores Gregis: “We know that the world needs the ‘hope that does not disappoint’ (see Romans 5: 5). We know that this hope is Christ” (No. 5).
The insistent appeal of the Holy Father that the bishops fix their gaze on Christ the Good Shepherd, therefore, takes on a particular urgency. They are to be, with ever greater dedication, “servants of the Gospel for the hope of the world” (No. 5).
The document appropriately notes also that, “Especially in times of growing unbelief and indifference, hope is a stalwart support for faith and an effective incentive for love” (No. 3).
As I have already mentioned, the proclamation of hope is intimately connected with announcing the truth of Christ, the truth of the Gospel. The exhortation emphasizes that “only by the light and consolation born of the Gospel can a bishop succeed in keeping his own hope alive (see Romans 15: 4) and in nourishing the hope of those entrusted to his pastoral care” (No. 3).
When, in chapters 3-5, Pastores Gregis deals with the question of the exercise of the bishop's pastoral duties (the three munera), it deals first with the preaching of the Gospel, recalling the words of the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 9:16): “If I preach the Gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” (No. 26).
The document notes, “On the day of their sacred ordination, which places them in apostolic succession, [bishops] assume as one of their principal responsibilities the proclamation of the Gospel” (No. 26; see also No. 29), and that this responsibility “is an outstanding manifestation of [their] spiritual fatherhood” (No. 26) — that is, their begetting in Christ Jesus, through the Gospel (see 1 Corinthians 4:15).
“Precisely because of this constant process of begetting new life in the Spirit, the episcopal ministry appears in the world as a sign of hope for every individual and people” (No. 26; see also No. 27).
Therefore, together with the Synod Fathers, the Pope recalls that the proclamation of Christ, both by words and by witness of life, must have first place in the life of the bishop (see No. 26; also No. 31). “All the activities of the bishop must be directed toward the proclamation of the Gospel” (No. 31), the source of hope that does not disappoint.
The exhortation also highlights the specific value of the teaching of the Gospel, noting that while every member of the faithful must announce the Gospel, this duty is “incumbent … particularly … upon bishops” (No. 26), inasmuch as the bishop has “the fundamental mission of authoritatively proclaiming the word of God. Indeed, every bishop, by virtue of sacred ordination, is an authentic teacher.” Bishops are “endowed with the authority of Christ himself” and, therefore, “when they ‘teach in communion with the Roman Pontiff they are to be revered by all as witnesses of divine and catholic truth’” (No. 29).
The document, moreover, describes a vast array of activities and responsibilities of the bishop in this area, which is not limited solely to the direct announcement of the word, to catechesis and to liturgical preaching, but also includes concern for those who are called to collaborate with the bishop in handing on the faith: that is, for priests, deacons, religious, parents, catechists, teachers of theology and other ecclesiastical subjects, teachers of Catholic religion, theologians, schools and other academic institutions (see No. 29). The other Church documents, too, include this spectrum when they speak of the munus docendi of the Church (see, for example, Christus Dominus, Nos. 12-14; CIC, liber III; CCEO, tit. XV). …
Do not forget the words of St. Paul, which we heard in the second reading: God, through the imposition of hands, “has not given us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control” to serve Christ and his Gospel of hope with courage and dedication.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: How Not to Miss God's Call DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:PERSONAL VOCATION:
GOD CALLS EVERYONE BY NAME
by Germain Grisez
and Russell Shaw
OSV, 2003
169 pages, $12.95
To order: (800) 348-2440
www.osv.com
Answering machines, voice messaging, call waiting, call forwarding. Human ingenuity continues to put the latest technology at our disposal so we won't miss a single call. Are we anywhere near as diligent about making sure we will hear the message when God calls? Does it even occur to us that the Almighty could have something to say to each one of his human creatures individually?
Personal Vocation is an extended reflection on these questions from a Catholic point of view, co-authored by a professor of Christian ethics (Grisez) and a veteran Catholic journalist (Shaw).
The fundamental meaning of “catholic” is universal, and we believe that “God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). To counteract the impression that sanctity is for those few souls who have vocations to the priesthood or religious life, the Second Vatican Council emphasized the “universal call to holiness.”
To be baptized is to be a child of God. I accept this as a general statement of my Catholic faith. But what practical effects come with having Christ as my brother?
Roughly speaking, “personal vocation” is where Divine Providence meets individual free will, where God's plan intersects my plans. The situation is delicate. In their introduction, the authors describe it as follows:
“Not all good possibilities are equally good. As a loving Father, God prefers that we choose the best. If we always did that, we would make the best use of our abilities, take advantage of the greatest opportunities, and benefit others and ourselves as richly as possible. …
“But while commanding everyone to choose what is good rather than what is bad, [God] commands no one to choose what is better rather than what is good. Instead, he extends an invitation. He calls each of us by name. … Personal vocation is that divine calling and guidance.”
God calls, and we can respond. Personally.
Written in lecture style, the first half of the book challenges the reader to be more objective about the assumptions and pressures of modern Western culture and to gain a better perspective on what it means to live in Christ. The latter half examines the idea of personal vocation in greater depth and describes ways of putting the book's ideas to work. Inspiring examples are presented from the lives of, for example, St. Augustine and Flannery O'Connor.
I found the latter part of the book not quite “spiritual reading” but rather like listening to a wise Catholic professor in a theology class. What is said is solid, but the corollaries are left to the reader to figure out as an individual assignment.
Christ decided to build his Church out of “living stones” who can wander around the quarry with a mind of their own. Personal Vocation offers a blueprint for a Catholic worldview that welcomes God's input.
Michael J. Miller writes from Glenside, Pennsylvania.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Michael J. Miller ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:More Monologues
CARDINAL NEWMAN SOCIETY, Jan. 17 — The organization that seeks to promote Catholic identity in Catholic colleges and universities has announced a protest of planned per formances of “The Vagina Monologues” at Catholic schools around the country this semester.
Cardinal Newman Society said 40 campuses are planning the production and more will likely schedule the play, which contains vulgar language and descriptions. The number is already more than the 32 campuses that staged the production last year.
Among the schools listed are Boston College; College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.; DePaul University in Chicago; Fordham University in New York; St. Louis University; and Seattle University.
For more information about the organization's protest, visit www.cardinalnewmansociety.org.
Not Recognized
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Jan. 16 — A homosexual student group was denied recognition in December at Seton Hall University in New Jersey because administrators said the group contradicted the school's Catholic mission.
While denied recognition, however, the group is still able operate on campus, apply for funds from student government and host educational events.
The compromise appears to be modeled after a similar incident at Georgetown University in 1987, the Associated Press noted, in which courts ruled in a similar lawsuit that a private university is not required to recognize a group but must allow it access to “tangible benefits,” including funding.
For Sale?
WBBM-AM (Chicago), Jan. 18 — Three years after Chicago's DePaul University acquired 100-year-old Barat College, a small liberal arts school in north suburban Lake Forest, the university is rethinking whether or not it still wants the college.
After pouring $16 million in renovations at Barat, trustees of the Vincentian-run DePaul were set to review how much more money would be needed to boost enrollment and bring Barat's buildings up to the same standards as DePaul's.
The review, the radio news station noted, could lead to the sale of the 30-acre Barat property.
Gift-Giving
BUSINESS WIRE, Jan. 15 — Jesuit-run Santa Clara University in California announced it has exceeded its halfway goal of $350 million for scholarships, new facilities and academic programs.
The campaign had received $204 million by the end of last year. It began in October 2002.
Jesuit Father Paul Locatelli, the school's president, said the recovering economy contributed to an upsurge in gifts, especially in the last six months. He noted there was a considerable increase of gifts in the $50,000 to $150,000 range.
Speculative Theology
AVE MARIA UNIVERSITY, Jan. 19 — Father Matthew Lamb, a theology professor at Boston College, has been named director of the speculative theology program at Ave Maria University in Naples, Fla.
The program will begin offering graduate degrees in the fall semester.
Speculative theology, according to a press release from the school, “does not refer to hypothetical explorations but rather reflects the program's aim of promoting scholarly expertise in Catholic theological wisdom as it has developed over the two millenia of Church history.”
Father Lamb specializes in foundational, doctrinal and systematic theology, particularly in the study of the Church Fathers, including St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Mealtime Madness DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:Family Matters
Our children (ages 6 and under) see mealtime as a time for being loud. Conversation is virtually impossible as they repeat song verses
Aren't meals supposed to be warm, sharing family times? Don't surveys say that families who eat together benefit from improved communication, cohesiveness and caring? Yes. What those surveys don't talk about, however, is the need for some semblance of peace to permeate the atmosphere. And, as with any activity that includes little people, sometimes peace has to be imposed by the big people.
Your situation touches on a broader parenting question: Should you discipline a child when he's not really misbehaving but only being exuberant? In other words, can you punish a kid for just being a kid? That depends. Any kid conduct, however positive or admirable in one setting, can be completely out of line in another. Would you allow your 4-year-old to whistle “Jesus Loves Me” during the eulogy of his great-aunt's funeral service?
Likewise, the appropriateness of any behavior depends also on its frequency. One “I love you, Mommy” is precious at bedtime. Maybe even several. Stand and listen to 36 variations of that theme while Eve tries to keep you bed-bound with her, and you've moved from precious to manipulative, from warm to weasel. As the saying goes, sometimes a vice is just a virtue taken to extreme.
So, even good and happy kid behavior can be bad and obnoxious. It all depends on the setting and frequency. As parent, you must decide when and where the line is to be drawn. Mealtime, believe it or not, is one such place. In my book Back to the Family, a survey of how good families raised kids, parents frequently smoothed out mealtimes with a few simple rules.
No interrupting or talking over the person speaking, not just with words, but assorted noises, songs, deliberate burps, obnoxious chewing or “guess what I'm eating.” To discourage meal-long kid monologues, time limits can be established; for instance, five minutes per child, which can be an eternity when listening to a 3-year-old's story of a ball caught in a tree. Time limits may vary from child to child and story to story or can be invoked simply by a parent saying, “Okay, its Oral's turn to talk now.”
A hand signal to “lower the volume” is in effect at each meal. Does your hand reach to the floor? No television, radio, computer or maybe even phone is allowed to talk during meals. No sense letting anyone or anything else add to the cacophony.
All exceptions are backed by consequences. For example, ignoring the rules will lead to removal from the table for five minutes. Second offense is 10 minutes (how long is your meal?), loss of dessert or, depending upon the willfulness of the infraction, removal to somewhere else for the rest of the meal. Food can be finished in silence after the family meal.
Are you stifling your children's natural mealtime joyfulness? Not at all. You are putting a lid on natural mealtime anarchy. In essence, you're giving the kids freedom within limits, thus making the meal more digestible for everyone.
Dr. Ray Guarendi is a psychologist, author and father of 10. He can be reached at www.drray.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: DR. Ray Guarendi ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: In Hindsight, God's Call Was There All Along DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:Priest Profile
An ordinary parish priest never knows when God might call on him to be Christ to someone in an extraordinary way. And even when that does happen, it's not always easy to see the fullness of God's handiwork in the situation — at least, not until it's reflected upon some time later.
Just ask Franciscan Father Nick Mormando. One day, a woman phoned the rectory as the Capuchin friars of 100-year-old Immaculate Conception Church in Bronx, N.Y., were washing dishes. Frantic, she told Father Mormando she was pregnant and would have no place to live by 5 that afternoon — the time by which her live-in boyfriend had given her to move out.
A quick prayer and a few phone calls later, Father Mormando found her a place to stay with the Sisters of Life in the Bronx.
“I never saw her face to face,” he recalls. “Eight months later, a woman shows up at the door and asks, ‘Do you remember me?’” It all became crystal-clear when she reminded him about their phone conversation months earlier — and showed off her beautiful baby boy.
“That was one of those exceptional moments where the Lord allowed me to see the fruit of the work,” Father Mormando says. “You have to be content with sowing the seeds and knowing that's what you're supposed to be doing. But the times he does let us see the fruits are a blessing.”
The friar began finding such contentment long before he was assigned to this large, culturally diverse congregation. In fact, he was even “sowing the seeds” years before he was ordained in 2001, at age 40, by Archbishop Sean O'Malley, then bishop of Palm Beach, Fla.
A New York City native, he entered the Capuchins in 1981 as a 21-year-old eager to study for the priesthood. But, unsure about God's specific call after his first vows in 1983, he left his priestly studies while remaining a Capuchin brother. In this capacity he worked in parish ministry from upstate New York to Florida. God used this time to show him how he works through the simple sacrifices of a willing soul.
“I remember one woman who was a little saint,” Father Mormando says. “I brought Communion to her every Friday, and I was impressed when she received — she had such a look on her face.”
Similar moments of grace accrued through the years. Eventually, taken together with what God was saying to Brother Nicholas through prayer and reception of the sacraments, they added up to an unmistakable call to the priesthood.
The Hidden Good
Since he accepted that call, the theme of seeing God in others — the paradox of ministering to people only to be inspired by them — has remained a constant in Father Mormando's life.
“I meet so many prayerful, holy people,” he says. “As a priest I get to see them on a regular basis. For example, bringing Communion to the sick — I call them the ‘hidden good’ that no one sees.
They must be really pleasing to Jesus.”
And then there are the lay ministries that reach out to priests. Father Mormando has a special place in his heart, for example, for a song written by Catholic singer-song-writer Annie Karto. He was given a CD of her recording You Are a Priest Forever as an ordination gift.
“It touched me,” he says. “I kept playing it over and over. It seemed to focus on what the essence of the priesthood is — bringing the Eucharist, interceding for people.”
As it happened, Father Mormando had the chance to meet Karto and her husband, David, in Tampa. Karto remembers the moment well.
“He's captured that humility of St. Francis so authentically. It really struck me,” she recalls. “The warmth of his greeting, the sincerity; you just knew this man was anointed with the Holy Spirit.” (Karto's music, by the way, is available through the Catholic Music Network at catholicmusicnetwork.com.)
Karto's not the only one upon whom Father Mormando has made a memorable impression. Sister Leticia Aviles of the Oblates of the Blessed Trinity, principal of Immaculate Conception School, remembers telling the priest about the ill, 90-year-old mother of the school secretary, Grace. What stands out in Sister Leticia's memory is how quickly he went to anoint her, give her Communion and pray over her. That evening, Grace called to say her mother was “feeling much better” and “a completely different person,” Sister Leticia reports.
“He is a very spiritual person, someone who reaches out to all people,” Sister Leticia adds. “If someone needs him, he goes right then, anytime of the day, whether he's busy or not. He is a person sent by God.”
Gifted Listener
Nor is he wanting for initiative. Along with four men of the parish, Father Mormando recently co-founded the Servants of Christ, a new group of married and single men who, in his words, are interested in “building their spiritual life and having an opportunity to express their love for Jesus and his Church through service.”
“There's a need among men today to discuss relevant, day-to-day topics in a way that will strengthen them in their faith,” he adds.
Also a priority for Father Mormando: encouraging vocations. “There's nothing wrong with asking someone if they've ever considered being a priest, a sister or a brother,” he says.
Father Mormando's commitment to Christ hasn't gone unnoticed by his superior, Capuchin Friar Father Vincent Fortunato, the minister provincial of the Province of the Stigmata.
“I've encouraged him to be a spiritual director,” Father Fortunato says. “He has a sense of openness to a person's life. He has the gifts to help them discern God's will working in their life.”
For his part, Father Mormando seems to feel that he owes the success of his ministries not to his own devices but to the prayers and inter-cessions of a special, behind-the-scenes helper.
“Our Lady has played a big role in my life,” he explains. “The fact that I was even able to say Yes to the priesthood, I owe to her.”
Evidently, that's one thing he didn't have to wait for hindsight in order to see.
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: God Online DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:Facts of Life
According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C., more than a third of the 126 million or so Americans who are connected to the Internet have used it to access religious and spiritual information. Intriguingly, religious surfers almost doubled in number between March 2000 and November 2002 — from 18 million to 35 million (an increase of 94%). And there has been a significant increase in the daily use of the Internet to access religious information: That number went from 3 million in 2000 to 5 million in 2002, an increase of 66%.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald, Jan. 6
Register illustration by Tim Rauch
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Lifted Up The Joys of Raising 'Down' Children DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:“Congratulations! Boy or girl?”
New mothers and fathers hear this joyful exclamation so often upon their little one's arrival that they might begin to take it for granted.
For parents of babies born with Down syndrome, however, the experience of breaking the big news can be as fraught with anxiety as it is bathed in joy.
Many Down parents report hearing few expressions of elation at all over their new family members — condolences are more common.
But the fact is, although it can take time to adjust to a child with special needs, most of these parents are delighted to welcome a new little life into the world. Their hearts ache when others fail to share their joy.
“I know of some parents of newborns with Down syndrome who received sympathy cards,” says Sheila Hebein, executive director of the National Association for Down Syndrome in Oak Brook, Ill., and mother of Chris, a 31-year-old man with Down syndrome.
While Hebein understands that some people feel awkward and are unsure how to react in the face of a disability, she is clear that Down children are to be considered children first and disabled second.
“From the beginning we told people, ‘You can call him disabled,’” Hebein recalls. “'You can call him delayed or retarded. We just call him Chris.’”
Hebein points out that, even today, many doctors are poorly informed about what a wonderful life people with Down syndrome can have — not to mention what rich blessings they often bestow upon the people around them.
The most difficult time for a family facing a prenatal or newborn diagnosis of Down syndrome, she says, is the time when they receive the news. At that point, good information is critical, for the negative picture that some misinformed doctors paint can lead to an unspoken pressure to abort a pregnancy.
“They'll tell you what people with Down syndrome can't do,” Hebein says. “I like to focus on what they can do.”
And why not? If Chris Hebein has any limitations, they are anything but debilitating. As a boy, Chris was a Boy Scout, an athlete and an avid outdoorsman. He graduated from high school at age 21 and today works full time as a mail clerk. In his free time, he socializes with friends, teaches aerobics and plays the piano. Chris is also an altar server at his parish. In fact, when the bishop visits, Chris is the first server they call.
“He is so reverent,” his mother explains. “He is such a holy person. What he brings us is immeasurable.”
“All children, whether they have Down syndrome or not, have gifts,” she adds. “Our job is to ensure that every person has the opportunity to share his gifts.”
The Glorious Un-aborted
The Cahill family from Naperville, Ill., found out the newest member of their family had Down syndrome before he was even born. Connor Cahill's mother, Pam, reports that the weeks following the diagnosis were excruciatingly difficult for her marriage. Although she quickly accepted the news and worked at gathering information about the condition, her husband, Bill, was despondent and favored choosing an abortion.
“He thought this would destroy our family,” she recalls. “I was strong enough to tell him, ‘I'm doing this with or without you.’”
Eventually, with prayer and counseling, Bill was able to accept the diagnosis. He and Pam educated themselves about the potential for people with Down syndrome. By the time Connor arrived, his mother, father and three older siblings were eager to welcome him.
Today Connor is a spirited 3-year-old who exceeds his parents’ and doctors’ expectations. He loves playing with other children, listening to religious music and watching Barney and the Wiggles.
Part of what makes Connor so special is the fact that he makes even small accomplishments a cause for celebration.
“Everything is a party for Connor,” Cahill says. “We are totally thrilled and surprised by him.”
From Grief to Gladness
Linda Barth, executive director of the Mile High Down Syndrome Association in Denver, laughs at the memory of her husband Greg's reaction when the doctor diagnosed their daughter Jamie with Down syndrome.
“He said, ‘Well, if she's down, how do we get her up?’”
As it turned out, Jamie “got up” all on her own. She graduated from high school, earned a black belt in karate, got her drivers license and now drives back and forth from work every day. She works full time in a clothing store where she is sometimes called upon to train new employees.
She also plays doubles tennis with her younger sister Stacey. In fact, Jamie's prowess on the tennis court won her a spot on Team U.S.A. that went to Ireland last year for the Special Olympic Summer Games.
‘They'll tell you what people with Down syndrome can't do. I like to focus on what they can do.’
“Jamie is an amazing young woman,” Barth says. “She loved school and has lots of friends. She has an amazing sense of humor and cracks us up all the time. She has shown us that small accomplishments can be just as fulfilling as big ones.”
Barth explains that, as parents of a child with Down syndrome, she and her husband needed time to grieve the loss of the “perfect” baby they expected to have. After that, she says, they developed new hopes and dreams for Jamie's future and they have not been disappointed.
“I always say that if I had known then what I know now,” she says, “there would have been no tears in the beginning.”
Brian Skotko, a student at Harvard Medical School and coauthor of Common Threads: Celebrating Life With Down Syndrome (Band of Angels Press, 2001), affirms that people with Down syndrome have special gifts that deserve to be cultivated.
“Limitations need to be replaced with expectations,” he says. “Physicians need to inform new parents of the positive possibilities for children with Down syndrome. Instead of assuming school will be overwhelmingly difficult, teachers need to educate people with Down syndrome just as aggressively as their peers. Pastors and religious leaders need to offer them many opportunities for spiritual development.”
Skotko points out that many people with Down syndrome have surprising talents and abilities that far surpass most people's expectations.
‘Limitations need to be replaced with expectations.’
“Research has shown that people with Down syndrome rival the rhythmic abilities of children without disabilities,” he says. “In a sense, the extra chromosome often means extra musical capabilities.”
As evidence of these special abilities, Skotko cites the examples of Sujeet Desai of Singapore, a 20-year-old musician with Down syndrome who just released his first CD, and Greg Hauserman, a 19-year-old who plays eight instruments and has even trained with the principal clarinetist in the Colorado symphony.
“If a parent just found out they had a child with Down syndrome, I would be quick to congratulate them on the birth of their child,” he says. “All life is remarkably precious, and persons with Down syndrome add to the richness of life.”
Shelia Hebein couldn't agree more. She recalls once hearing of a spiritual program for children with disabilities called “Whatsoever You Do for the Least of My Brothers.” She could not reconcile that title with her experiences with her son.
“People see those with Down syndrome as the ‘least,’” she says. “From my perspective, I see the opposite as more accurate. Perhaps the ‘least’ are those who don't recognize a gift when it's in their midst.”
Danielle Bean writes from Center Harbor, New Hampshire.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Danielle Bean ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 02/01/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 1-7, 2004 ----- BODY:Have Babies, Save Scotland
Professors Heather Joshi and Robert Wright of the Fraser of Allandar Institute, of the University of Strathclyde, presented the findings of their research in Glasgow on Jan. 13. They said their study found that, without more babies, Scotland faces serious demographic and economic issues as older people outnumber the young by an ever-widening margin.
“Typically, Scottish women, and particularly better-educated women, are choosing to have children much later, in order to develop their careers,” Joshi said. “This ‘gap’ is at the heart of the demographic issue.”
Minding Michigan
LIFENEWS.COM, Jan. 12 — Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida has asked members of his archdiocese to sign a citizen's initiative in support of the Legal Birth Definition Act.
The act, which would outlaw partial-birth abortion in the state, was vetoed by pro-abortion Gov. Jennifer Granholm last fall. The initiative would allow a simple majority vote in the state Legislature for the bill to become law without giving the governor another chance to veto it.
The difference between the Michigan law and the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, the news site noted, is that the federal law specifically bans the partial-birth abortion procedure.
Lone-Star Diligence
Measures adopted Jan. 15 by the Texas Board of Health were considered a small victory for pro-life advocates, who say the new rules will protect patients and ensure that minors don't lie about their age to skirt the state's parental-notification law.
If there are potential medical complications for certain patients, noted Allan Parker, chief executive officer of the pro-life Texas Justice Foundation, a doctor needs to know who his patient is.
The rules are scheduled to take effect in early February.
Numbers Talk
Among the marchers was 15-year-old Ansely Edwards, who is adopted and said she wanted to support that option for women, the newspaper reported.
“My birth mother had the choice of having an abortion with me or putting me up for adoption,” Edwards said. “When I think about that, I realize a lot of other mothers have the choice of doing that.”
The young marcher said she believed mothers have a responsibility to their unborn children and, she said, “abortion is not an option.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: The Fundamental Freedom DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — In a Jan.16 letter to Paul Bremer, the administrator of Iraq, and in a subsequent conversation with President Bush, Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., a Catholic, raised his concerns about the future of religious freedom in Iraq
“I am aware that the interim constitution must be completed by Feb. 28,” Santorum said in the letter. “Iraq's new constitution should clearly and unequivocally set forth the ‘right of everyone to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.’ This is not only consistent with core American values but it is also the internationally accepted language of the [U.N.] Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
The senator noted that previous versions of Iraq's constitution and the current constitution of Afghanistan — a nation also recently liberated by U.S. troops from an oppressive regime — “omitted this right. Those constitutions merely recognize a limited right to perform religious ‘rites’ or ‘worship.’” Santorum said the omission has had negative consequences.
“Using the threat of blasphemy prosecutions, the U.S.-backed Karzai government has arrested two journalists for writing an article that questioned Islam's compatibility with democracy, forced out the only female member of the cabinet after she challenged the appropriateness of Shariah [Islamic law] and presided over the shutdown of a women's radio broadcast.”
He pointed out that not only Iraqi Christians, who make up about 3% of the population, and Jews would benefit from religious freedom, but the different and at times mutually hostile Muslim sects in Iraq also would.
Bremer wrote back Jan. 24, saying the interim constitution — officially called the Transitional Administrative Law — will “include a bill of rights providing for freedom of speech and religion, as well as a statement concerning the equal rights of all Iraqis, regardless of gender, sect or ethnicity.”
He noted that attempts by the Governing Council to impose aspects of Shariah are “disturbing” but “do not have the force of law.”
“To me,” Santorum told the Register, religious freedom is “the core issue here. If we are to be successful in promoting democracy and creating a stable Middle East, we must have religious freedom. We must prevent the conditions for radical Islam to take hold. I didn't take on one security risk to create another. First and foremost, it's a national security issue. Second, clearly I think it's important to have the freedom of religion, the freedom of thought.”
Pope John Paul II addressed the issue of religious freedom in a Jan. 30 address to the new ambassador of the Republic of China to the Holy See, the Pope said there can be no genuine development without freedom and no genuine freedom without the free exercise of religion in society.
“The good of society entails that the right to religious freedom be enshrined in law and be given effective protection,” the Holy Father told Chou-seng Tou, the Taiwanese ambassador. “Religions are a component in the life and culture of a nation and bring a great sense of well-being to a community by offering a certain level of social order, tranquility, harmony and assistance to the weak and the outcast.”
In his letter to Bremer, Santorum said, “The most immediate threat to religious freedom lies in proposals to overturn the religious neutrality of Iraq's interim constitution as outlined in the Nov. 15 agreement with the Iraqi Governing Council.” Bremer's Coalition Provisional Authority struck the deal.
“The biggest danger would be a negation clause in the interim constitution,” said Nina Shea, director of Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom. “If there is a right to religious freedom, it must not be negated by another clause that says nothing can contradict Islam or a clause that says Shariah is a source of law.”
She said any such clause would be used by fundamentalists, “who always try to gain control of the courts” to trump a religious-freedom clause.
“Otherwise,” Shea said, “moderate Muslims will be accused of blasphemy.”
She said she feared Governing Council member Abdul Azziz Hakim, head of the radical political party Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, would try to turn Iraq into a Shariah state.
We cannot let the world think “that a Shariah state is acceptable to the United States,” she said, adding that the opposite extreme, the secularism that increasingly persecutes religious believers in Western countries, was “not an issue” of concern for Iraq.
Experts also are uncertain about the intentions of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who has tied the Bush administration in knots over his demands for direct elections instead of caucuses for the transitional assembly that will legislate for Iraq beginning in June.
The leading Shiite cleric in Iraq, the Iranian-backed Sistani might or might not want an Iranian-style government. Nor are experts certain of what the majority of the Iraqi people desire.
“I don't think there will be an Iranian-type theocracy,” said Walter Grazer, policy adviser on religious liberty and human rights for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “But you might get indirect Shariah law.”
Freedom House's Shea said apart from what the law says is the issue of whether minority groups will be protected from “the radical groups that may want to persecute them.”
Dominican Sister Theresa Helen, an Iraqi living in Beirut, Lebanon, said her congregation in Baghdad, Basra and Mosul, Iraq, was able to continue its activities.
But Dominican Sister Else-Britt Nilsen, from Oslo, Norway, said her contacts in Iraq have told her militant groups have become more active since Saddam Hussein's downfall.
“I don't think we have more religious freedom in Iraq now,” she said. “I think we have less.”
“They see Christians as Westerners,” said Geraldine Hemmings, communications director for Aid to the Church in Need, of most Iraqis. “There has been no widespread persecution, but there have been several incidents since the end of the war.”
She said Christian women in Basra had been “forced to wear the black coats that Muslim women wear” and “radical Muslims have attacked Christian-owned liquor stores.”
“The Christian community not only is an ancient Church in Iraq, providing schools and health care, but is integral to the history of Iraq. … Sometimes, Christians help stabilize the country,” Grazer said. “Archbishop Gabriel Kassab, Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Basra, is sometimes asked to mediate between different Muslim groups.”
Now, he said, “we're not seeing serious problems with the Catholic Church” in Iraq. “Some people are saying as long as we guarantee the freedom of worship, that is enough. … That's not adequate. That's what the Soviet Union had.”
He said the Iraqi constitution instead should incorporate language from the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights to guarantee religious freedom.
A State Department official said the Nov. 15 agreement “spelled out very specifically the freedom of religion. There is no institutional barrier in Iraq to religious freedom. Occasionally, you hear of situations.”
Santorum said it is not imperialistic to impose religious freedom on Iraq.
“We can't know what's going to happen in the future in Iraq,” he said, “but we can get them off to a good start. … Religious freedom is not a matter of Western values. It's more a matter of natural law.”
Joseph D'Agostino writes from Washington.
----- EXCERPT: Santorum Raises Concerns About Iraqis' Right to Worship ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph A. D'Agostino ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Bishops Follow the 'Way of La Crosse' DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:ST. LOUIS — One by one, U.S. bishops are upping the ante in dealing with Catholic politicians who support abortion.
Several bishops have hailed La Crosse, Wis., Bishop Raymond Burke's warning to pro-abortion politicians to refrain from presenting themselves for Communion unless they conform their political stance to Church teaching on the sanctity of human life.
While other bishops haven't gone quite as far as Archbishop Burke, a number have publicly supported him. They include New Orleans Archbishop Alfred Hughes, Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Madison, Wis., Bishop Robert Morlino.
It didn't take long for Archbishop Hughes to follow Burke's lead. “When Catholic officials openly support the taking of human life in abortion, euthanasia or the destruction of human embryos,” he wrote in his weekly column for his archdiocesan newspaper, “they are no longer faithful members in the Church and should not partake of holy Communion.”
He also warned Catholic voters about neglecting their duty to uphold the culture of life.
“Moreover, citizens who promote this unjust taking of human life by their vote or support of such candidates share in responsibility for this grave evil,” he wrote.
Archbishop Hughes stopped short of banning priests from giving Communion to such politicians.
Bishop Morlino said he was in “complete agreement” with Archbishop Burke's position.
In his weekly column in Madison's Catholic Herald newspaper, Bishop Morlino wrote: “It is indeed the case that Catholics who are public officeholders enjoy the blessing of only one conscience — they do not have one conscience for their private lives and one for their public responsibility, one for Church matters and another for state matters. That could not be more clear.”
Archbishop Dolan said he was “happy” Archbishop Burke had “front-burnered this issue.”
“We're saying this is a principle that we can't waffle on,” Archbishop Dolan told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “This is a cause that for us is the premiere cause of social justice in America today.”
The Sentinel is the paper that broke the news of Bishop Burke's stand on abortion. Only days after the Dec. 2 announcement of the La Crosse bishop's appointment as archbishop of St. Louis, the paper reported on the existence of three letters Bishop Burke had written to Catholic Wisconsin legislators in August and early November.
The letters asked for a private meeting to discuss “Living the Gospel of Life,” the 1998 letter of the U.S. bishops, which was included with Archbishop Burke's communication.
Written in confidence, Archbishop Burke had no intention of making the letters public.
State Sen. Julie Lassa, D-Stevens Point, who acknowledged being one of the recipients, released a statement saying, “When I was sworn into office, I took an oath to uphold the Constitution. My constituents have the right to expect that I will represent people of all faiths. Bishop Burke certainly has a right to voice his opinion, and I will give him the same respectful hearing I would give any other citizen.”
On Jan. 8, Bishop Burke released a pastoral letter, “On the Dignity of Human Life and Civic Responsibility,” and a canonical notification to Catholic politicians in his diocese stating that Catholic legislators who support abortion or euthanasia should not present themselves for Communion.
“I hold Bishop Burke in high regard; however, I believe any effort to pressure legislators by threatening to deny them the sacraments is contrary to the principles of democracy,” Lassa commented after the Jan. 8 letter.
The American Life League honored Bishop Burke at a Washington, D.C., press conference Jan. 22. The group has launched an ad campaign titled “The Way of La Crosse” to urge other bishops to follow Archbishop Burke's actions.
Vatican Guidelines
While Archbishop Burke's specific actions are unprecedented, the historical precedent for addressing the issue was laid down by a Vatican document and previous bishops.
In January 2003, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued “Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life.” That document stated, “A well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law that contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals.”
Bishop William Weigand of Sacramento, Calif., was the first U.S. bishop to use the note when he criticized former California governor Gray Davis’ public support of abortion. Davis is Catholic.
Bishop Weigand told the Register at the time, “I have to say clearly that anyone — politician or otherwise — who thinks it acceptable for a Catholic to be pro-abortion is in very great error, puts his or her soul at risk and is not in good standing with the Church. Such a person should have the integrity to acknowledge this and choose of his own volition to abstain from receiving holy Communion until he has a change of heart.”
Bishop Weigand, however, stopped short of saying that Davis should be denied Communion.
Only two months later Bishop Robert Carlson of the Diocese of Sioux Falls, S.D., reportedly wrote Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle about his support of abortion as a Catholic legislator.
MSNBC reported that Bishop Carlson had written a letter to Daschle instructing him to “remove from his congressional biography and campaign documents all references to his standing as a member of the Catholic Church.”
Neither Bishop Carlson nor Daschle confirmed the letter, saying they were unwilling to discuss private conversations in the media.
Still others point to Lincoln, Neb., bishop Fabian Bruskewitz's 1996 canonical warning as the precedent for the recent string of bishops’ actions.
While not directed at legislators, Bishop Bruskewitz threatened excommunication — thereby forbidding reception of holy Communion — for any parishioners who were members of organizations such as Planned Parenthood, Call to Action, the Freemasons or Catholics for a Free Choice.
State of Grace
Archbishop Dolan said he had not sent letters to Catholic politicians regarding their position on the abortion issue and had not sought them out specifically to bring it up in conversation.
“I know that Bishop Burke himself has said, ‘I'm not saying every bishop should do it this way,’” Archbishop Dolan said. “He's said, ‘This is the way that I prudentially made up my mind as pastor of the Diocese of La Crosse that I need to do this.’ And I would respect his pastoral judgment. But I know every bishop's just got to kind of make up his mind prudentially as to the way, the style he's going to do it in his own diocese.”
Archbishop Dolan added that he was waiting for a task force from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to propose guidelines for bishops this fall.
In their meeting in November, the bishops began work on a set of guidelines on how to handle relationships with Catholics whose actions in public life are not in accord with Church teaching.
“These politicians should know that if they're not voting correctly on these life issues that they shouldn't dare come to Communion,” the archbishop told LifeSiteNews.com.
Boston Archbishop Sean O'malley made similar remarks following the Vigil for Life Mass in Washington, D.C., Jan. 21.
“These politicians should know that if they're not voting correctly on these life issues that they shouldn't dare come to Communion,” the archbishop told Life-SiteNews.com.
Archbishop O'Malley noted that beyond pro-abortion politicians, reception of holy Communion by those not in a state of grace is sadly commonplace.
“I think it's in the context of a greater problem — Catholics feel that everyone is entitled to go to Communion all the time,” Archbishop O'malley told LifeSite-News. “That has to be addressed … we've lost the notion of the sacredness of Communion and the kind of disposition we need to have.”
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: Catholic Politicians and Abortion ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: To Russia, With Hope DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — When Cardinal Walter Kasper travels to Moscow on Feb. 16 to meet the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexei II, there will be some thorny issues to discuss. Relations between the two Churches are at their lowest point in many years.
Cardinal Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, will make a five-day visit. This will be the highest-level visit by Vatican officials in four years.
A scheduled visit by Cardinal Kasper two years ago was cancelled following Orthodox outrage over the Vatican's decision to upgrade its four apostolic administrations in Russia to dioceses. Any prospect of a visit to Russia by Pope John Paul II was put off by the move.
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Catholic Church has been steadily re-establishing its structures in Russia.
Up until then, there were just 10 parishes and eight priests in the whole country. Today, according to the Vatican, there are 784,000 Catholics in the Russian Federation, which is the largest country in the world and has a population of just a little more than 146 million.
The four Catholic dioceses contain a total of 300 parishes, which are served by 246 priests, most of them foreign. Many Catholics are of Polish, German or Lithuanian descent.
The decision in 2002 by the Vatican to upgrade the four apostolic administrations in Moscow, Sara-tov, Novosibirsk and Irkutsk to full-fledged diocese status, and to elevate former apostolic administrator Msgr. Tadeusz Kondrusiwicz to metropolitan archbishop of Moscow, drew a storm of protest from the Orthodox patriarchate.
Patriarch Alexei and the Holy Synod released a statement describing the move as “unfriendly” and claiming the Catholic Church sees Russia as a field for missionary activity.
Since then, relations between Rome and Moscow have shown few signs of improvement. The Orthodox Church constantly accuses Catholics of proselytizing in what it calls its “canonical territory,” often citing Ukraine — which John Paul visited in 2001 — as an example. The revival of the Greek Catholic Church in Western Ukraine in the last years of Soviet rule has been a contentious issue for the Orthodox.
Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said problems arise because “in the new situation in Eastern Europe since the fall of communism, the Catholic presence is more visible, and this is sometimes perceived as a threat by the Orthodox. They have a wider concept of proselytism than we do in the West, and therefore tensions do arise.”
Indeed, Patriarch Alexei told the Register, “If proselytizing continues and the situation in Ukraine does not improve, then progress will be difficult. We are waiting for concrete gestures and steps on the part of the Vatican.”
Harsh History
When Stalin incorporated Western Ukraine into the Soviet Union in 1944, Catholics there were brutally put down. Thousands were killed, imprisoned or deported and all the churches were closed.
Moscow religious-affairs journalist Andrei Zolotov said those in communion with Rome are seen as an obstacle to Christian unity.
“The uniates are seen as traitors. They are not a bridge between East and West. They are a problem. Rome has always wanted to conquer us, one way or the other, and it has used various ways to try to do this. What they really want is to turn the Orthodox Church into the uniate Church.”
Father George Jagodzinski, a Polish Divine Word Missionary working in Moscow, dismisses the allegation that Catholics are proselytizing.
“I have never had any intention to convert any Orthodox to Catholicism,” he said. “But we have to ask, what does it mean to be Orthodox? Last Easter Sunday only 1.2% of the population attended Orthodox services in Moscow. If this is not an indication of Orthodox belief, then what is? The patriarch can claim it is an Orthodox country, but it isn't.”
Having emerged from 70 years of atheistic communism, the Russian Orthodox Church is seeking to place itself at the heart of Russian life once again. In 1988 it had 7,000 churches. Now it has 24,000.
The Russian Orthodox Church sees the Catholic Church as expansionist and encroaching on Orthodox territory. Tellingly, the formal definition of “traditional” religions in Russia drawn up in 1997 by the interreligious council includes Orthodox, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists but not Catholics.
Melt in the Ice?
At a local level there are some signs Catholic-Orthodox relations are not as frosty as they are at the official level.
Both the Vatican and the Orthodox Patriarchate support Radio Sofia. Based in northeast Moscow, the station broadcasts for 17 hours a day with one hour being devoted to Catholic programming. Local radio stations across Russia also take up the programs.
Victor Khroul, editor of The Light of the Gospel, a Catholic weekly newspaper produced in Moscow, said the relationship between Catholic and Orthodox lay people is quite good, but official relations between Moscow and the Vatican are not so good.
““Personally, I feel that our position in Moscow is too weak,” he continued. “We have to take care of the Catholic community here first of all and then, as a secondary thing, try to establish good relations with the Orthodox. We have a phobia of being accused of proselytizing. Any Russian who converts to Catholicism is considered to be a victim of proselytizing.”
The Catholic Church continues to establish new structures. A former nightclub in southeast Moscow is currently being converted by Divine Word Missionaries into the Church of St. Olga. At the moment, the city's estimated 60,000 Catholics, most of whom are foreign, have only two churches, St. Louis of France and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, for the seven parishes. New churches have also been built in the city of Tver, north of Moscow, and in Siberia.
Bleak news is not likely to dampen Pope John Paul II's spirit, however. In a Jan. 25 Angelus message during Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, he said, “The unity of Christians has been a constant desire of my pontificate and it continues to be a demanding priority of my ministry.
“Let us never lessen our commitment to pray for unity and to seek it incessantly! Obstacles, difficulties, and even misunderstandings and failures, cannot and must not discourage us, as ‘confidence in reaching, also in history, the full and visible communion of all Christians’ rests not on our human capacities, but on the prayer of our common Lord.”
Greg Watts is based in London.
----- EXCERPT: VATICAN DELEGATION HOPES FOR UNITY WITH RUSSIAN ORTHODOX ----- EXTENDED BODY: Greg Watts ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Courage and Faith Under Fire In Afghanistan DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:Lt. Col. Mark Mitchell knows what its like to be in the line of fire in Afghanistan.
He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross last fall, the second-highest honor in the military, “unparalleled courage under fire, decisive leadership and personal sacrifice” in the battle for Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan. Mitchell, a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces — or Green Berets — led an effort to quell an uprising of 500 Taliban prisoners of war in November 2001.
Before fresh casualties were reported from Afghanistan Jan. 29, Mitchell, 38, a native of Milwaukee and a graduate of Marquette University, spoke with Jesuit Father Matthew Gamber about life as a Catholic in the military.
Where does receiving the Distinguished Service Cross fit into your understanding of your vocation as a career military officer?
In short, to me, receiving the Distinguished Service Cross is a recognition that I have lived up to the highest expectations of my chosen vocation. The Army has identified loyalty, duty, respect, selfless sacrifice, honor, integrity and personal courage as “core values” essential to our success as an organization.
The Distinguished Service Cross recognizes those who have embraced and demonstrated courage and selfless sacrifice in the face of great danger in order to fulfill their duty and accomplish the mission.
As a Special Forces officer, I have explicitly accepted the risks and responsibilities inherent in leading soldiers on the battlefield in defense of our nation and its Constitution. At the core of leadership is the willingness and ability to set an example for others to follow and emulate.
The Distinguished Service Cross is recognition that, under difficult circumstances, I fulfilled those leadership responsibilities, successfully translated the Army values into action and achieved my mission on the battlefield.
Have you had any specific mentors or role models who have combined the Catholic faith and life in the military?
I have been fortunate throughout my military career to be exposed to numerous people who have combined their faith and life in the military. They have all served as role models, but I can't say there has been one person in particular, other than my own father, who has served as a role model.
Although my father did not serve in the military, he still had a demanding career as a federal prosecutor and now as a criminal defense attorney. Yet despite the demands of his career, he has always been a devout Catholic, active in the Church and an exceptional role model for me.
Did your education at a Catholic high school and college enhance your understanding of living out a vocation as a Catholic in the military, or was that something that was not really addressed?
I don't think the military as a vocation was specifically addressed at either level.
Nonetheless, my Catholic faith and education are the prism through which I view the world and as such greatly affects my understanding of my chosen vocation.
The same would be true regardless of whether I had joined the military or not and really serves to underscore the importance of a Catholic education.
As a devout Catholic and a Green Beret, how do you bring together these two significant aspects of your life?
It is not as difficult as some might think. I believe the Army values I mentioned are equally relevant to both my military duties and my obligations as a Catholic.
In addition to being a Special Forces officer, I am also a third degree member of the Knights of Columbus. In practical terms, these spiritual and martial aspects are brought together in my duties as a Knight. As a Knight, I am called on to defend my country, my family and, most importantly, my faith.
The values I embrace as a soldier are also applicable to the defense of our faith, especially in our contemporary society.
Is there anything about life in the military that makes it difficult to be a serious, practicing Catholic?
There are times when it can be difficult to practice certain elements of my faith.
Yet despite the challenges, my faith has endured. Long deployments to remote regions, especially combat zones, can sometimes make it difficult to attend Mass regularly, especially with the shortage of Catholic chaplains. And the separation from my wife and children, especially since Sept. 11, has been difficult for me.
However, these obstacles are temporary and rather than challenging my faith serve only to deepen it by highlighting their importance. I think it is a natural human tendency to take some things for granted, especially when they are always available. It is amazing how even brief absences can emphasize how fundamentally important they are.
What elements of your faith were you able to draw upon during that incredible experience in Afghanistan?
First and foremost, I relied on my faith in a merciful God and the hope of redemption and eternal life enabled by the resurrection of Christ.
The battlefield forces you to confront evil and death, face to face. To me, the battlefield would be an inexplicable and even more terrifying place in the absence of this faith-based framework, including a belief in the reality of evil, to give perspective and meaning to the events I witnessed.
It would be difficult and senseless to face the prospect of mortal death and the separation from my loved ones without a sense of purpose and strong hope in resurrection. I found myself frequently saying the rosary and the Memo-rare throughout my experience in Afghanistan.
What is your assessment of the role of Catholic chaplains in the armed forces today?
There are significant numbers of practicing Catholics in the armed forces competing for the services of fewer Catholic chaplains. I believe the importance of Catholic chaplains in the military has never been higher, precisely because their numbers are declining.
Regardless of their numbers, though, Catholic chaplains continue to play an essential role in the spiritual and moral well-being of service members. Chaplains of other denominations and faiths can play a limited role, but for the practicing Catholic, there is obviously no substitute for a Catholic priest, especially on the eve of battle.
There is no greater service a Catholic chaplain can provide to men and women preparing for battle than offering Mass and the sacrament of reconciliation. Further, for the wounded and dying, the anointing of the sick is a great comfort. None of this is possible without the dedicated service of Catholic chaplains.
The virtue of valor is not one that is often heard about these days. In fact, your award had not been given since the end of the Vietnam War. Is there a dearth of valor in the world or in the military these days?
No, I do not believe there is a dearth of valor, especially in our military forces. I know there are men and women serving in our military who confront danger daily and do so with unheralded valor.
I look back on the terrible tragedy of Sept. 11 and think of all of the brave men and women who risked their own lives to save others — the epitome of valor.
I truly think there is a great deal of valor and heroism but we don't see or hear quite as much about it because it is drowned out by the stories of avarice and immorality that dominate the media.
What about the Distinguished Service Cross, if anything, is an echo or a reflection of the cross of Christ? Is there any connection between these symbols?
Whether the result of a conscious decision or by chance, I think there is an unmistakable reflection of the cross of Christ in the Distinguished Service Cross.
Aside from the obvious difference in the magnitude, both symbolize a willingness to sacrifice your own life for the greater good.
Father Matthew Gamber writes from Spokane, Washington.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Matthew Gamber ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Catholics Without Borders DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:CEDARBURG, Wis. — There's the church. And then there's the Church.
Ever since St. Francis Borgia Church in Cedarburg, Wis., got involved in a twinning relationship with a parish in Uganda, Tom Guszkowski understands the concept of both a little better.
“Beforehand, we in Cedarburg didn't have a very specific idea of what the Church meant outside of our own sort of parochial sphere of influence or based on our own experiences,” said Guszkowski, who was one of five parishioners who in July 2001 visited the Diocese of Lugazi, Uganda, where their church's sister parish, St. Paul the Apostle, is located.
“But when we went to Uganda, a number of things occurred,” he said. “The meaning of the Church became more specific and visible because we met fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who worshipped in the same way as we did 8,000 miles away.”
The visiting Americans visited 10 chapels, met with catechists, attended Mass and wore African garments that were presented to them as gifts.
“Everything became more real, more vivid and more specific,” Guszkowski said. “This general amorphous concept of the Church became very real.”
Through the years, thousands of Catholics from around the world have been learning about the universality of the Catholic faith through twinning or partnering relationships.
In a 2001 study, 29% of the parishes that responded to a National Parish Inventory indicated they had a supporting relationship with another parish, according to Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, which conducted the study.
Eighteen percent had a twinning relationship with a parish outside the United States. Churches in Latin America received the greatest support — 83% of the sister parishes were located there, the study said.
As improved communications and transportation have made the world smaller, Church leaders have encouraged mission work between cultures: from recent popes, starting with John XXIII, to the U.S. bishops, who wrote “Called to Global Solidarity” and “To the Ends of the Earth.”
Ecclesia in America
Perhaps the most eloquent advocate for missionary work has been Pope John Paul II, whose 1999 apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in America (The Church in America) encouraged the Americas to bond together as one.
The Holy Father wrote: “For the particular Churches of the American continent, [awareness of communion in Christ] is the source of a commitment to reciprocal solidarity and the sharing of the spiritual gifts and material goods with which God has blessed them.”
Daniel Lizarraga, the executive director of the bishops’ Secretariat for the Church in Latin America, which commissioned the Georgetown study, said most Americans used to see themselves as senders of gifts and the people in the poorer countries as receivers.
“I think what Ecclesia in America does is to challenge us to look at it as a mutual relationship where we're on even ground, and there's an exchange going on,” he said.
When first approached with the idea of twinning with St. Paul the Apostle Church in Mukono, Uganda, parishioners at St. Francis Borgia in Cedarburg wanted to write a check, said Dominican Sister Rosemary Huddleston, the associate director for the Office of World Missions with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
“We stopped them and said, ‘If you want to be in a relationship you don't start a friendship with a checkbook,’” she said.
Her office put the parish in touch with St. Paul's, and a priest and nun from Uganda who were studying in Milwaukee visited to talk about the twinning project.
Parishioners started an e-mail friendship, and that led to the 2001 visit to Uganda, with parishioners bringing the gift of a computer. They were received with joy and love — and saw firsthand the devotion of their hosts, always praying at the beginning and end of a car trip, for example.
The friendship continued, with four parishioners from Uganda visiting Wisconsin for three weeks last fall.
Theology of Mission
The parishes stay in touch by e-mail and a bulletin board at St. Francis Borgia displays correspondence from St. Paul parishioners. The churches offer monthly prayers for each other, and St. Francis takes up a collection for its sister parish six times a year.
If the partnering relationship is a healthy one, it usually continues for years.
Parishioners at St. Bridget's in Seattle recently renewed their relationship with a parish in Namitembo, Malawi, for five years. So far, some of the projects St. Bridget parishioners have helped their African sister parish with include gathering enough money and materials to build two high schools and fix several elementary-school classrooms. Their next goal is to build a trade school there.
“You get a real-life perspective that can't compare with anything you read in the newspapers or see on television,” said St. Bridget deacon Denny Duffell. “You develop a personal relationship with people. You make commitments to one another, so it makes it not anonymous anymore.”
The key to a healthy relationship is for parishioners to get some formation in the theology of mission work or to get connected with someone who has done missionary work, said Michael Haasl, the global solidarity coordinator for the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis.
Otherwise, he said, “you can come across as the ugly American with all the answers and all the power and all the money.”
Other keys: Be humble and be willing to learn and grow to a deeper understanding of God through experiencing another people's culture, he said.
A 2003 report, “Partnering Relationships for Mission,” was recently placed on the U.S. Catholic Mission Association's Web site. It recommends ways parishes can improve partnering relationships.
A lot of good often comes out of partnering, but an unhealthy relationship does a lot more damage than a healthy one, said Kevin Day, the association's associate director.
“An unhealthy relationship tends to be the result of someone on this side of the border having a bad theology or a bad perspective on what their actions are,” he said. “They're looking at it from a ‘we and them’ perspective rather than an ‘us’ perspective.”
“‘Us’ means we're all in one Church,” he continued. “We're all part of the faithful. We all have different talents to share. … We are all part of the body of Christ.”
Carlos Briceño writes from Seminole, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: Overseas Parish Twinning Gains in Popularity ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceņo ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:Catholic Network Buys Public Radio Station
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Jan. 23 — A Michigan Catholic media group has agreed to buy an all-news radio station, WMNN-AM, from Minnesota Public Radio for $6.75 million, the Associated Press reported. The station is expected to switch from news to a religious-programming format.
The purchaser, Starboard Media Foundation Inc., disseminates Catholic radio programs, operating under the brand name Relevant Radio. The programming had previously appeared in the Twin Cities area only on low-power, daytime-only stations.
“The more than three-quarters of a million Catholics living and working in the Twin Cities metro area will now have a powerful new radio voice here to help them stay connected with their faith,” said Relevant Radio's Sherry Brownrigg.
Relevant Radio runs 13 stations in the Midwest, puts programming on 10 affiliate stations and broadcasts over the Internet (www.relevantradio.com).
Starboard Media Foundation was created in 2000 by Catholic businessman Mark Follett of Green Bay, Wis.
Classic Catholic Novel to Be Filmed
Scorsese will direct and the script will be written by Don MacPherson.
The novel, which tells the story of a conscience-tormented Catholic caught up in adultery, was one of Scorsese's favorite novels as young man, according to Variety.
Scorsese, a former altar boy and seminarian for the Archdiocese of New York, is also known for directing Mean Streets, After Hours and Age of Innocence.
Many of his films contain religious themes and potent Catholic imagery. His 1988 film The Last Temptation of Christ drew massive public protests for its depiction of a Christ who was tormented by doubt and sensual temptations.
Father Greeley Finds Younger Priests More Faithful
Citing sociological research he has performed, Father Greeley discovered what he called “a striking trend,” namely: “A generation of conservative young priests is on the rise in the U.S. Church.” Father Greeley attributed this trend to Pope John Paul II's promotion of tradition-minded bishops and policies.
Some of the indices of “counterrevolutionary” (i.e. orthodox) attitudes Father Greeley noted included the following: “half the newly ordained priests … believe that a priest is fundamentally different from a layperson.” Furthermore “almost a third of these priests feel that the laity need to be ‘better educated to respect the authority of the priest's word.’”
More strikingly, Father Greeley pointed out that “60% of priests aged 56 to 65 and at least half of those aged 46 to 75 supported” the ordination of women to the priesthood, while “only 36% of priests under 46 did.”
On sexual ethics, “younger priests are more than twice as likely as priests aged 55 to 65 to think that birth control and masturbation are always wrong, and they are significantly more likely to think that homosexual sex and premarital sex are always wrong.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Was Catholic Navy Doctor Ordered to Practice 'Bad Medicine'? DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:GROTON, Conn. — Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Messé just wants to continue practicing family medicine in the Navy the way he has for two and a half years.
But the Catholic doctor is attracting the Navy's attention due to his strong religious conviction against prescribing or referring patients for contraception. His refusal to refer patients to another physician so they can get contraceptives could violate the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery guidelines.
Messé, who works at the U.S. Naval Submarine Base in Groton, Conn., developed his conviction more than three years ago and made arrangements with his then commanding officer that he would not have to prescribe or refer patients for medical care he thought was morally and medically wrong.
But things changed last summer. The new director of clinical services, Capt. H.A. Taylor, ordered Messé to refer for contraception. The physician recently filed a formal complaint against him and his commanding officer, Francis MacMahon, in an attempt to stop what he considers religious persecution.
In a letter to Messé on Aug. 11, 2003, MacMahon wrote: “There will be no inconvenience for any patient requesting contraceptive services. I expect you to be polite, considerate and tolerant of the beliefs of others as Naval Health Care New England is respectful of yours. [You must] refer your patients to another credentialed provider to ensure they receive the contraceptive services they have requested.”
Messé has agreed to obey his new commanding officer's orders, despite his conscientious objection.
“I was told that practice limitations could be implemented and that I could be forcibly separated from the Navy, which would require me to pay the government back for my medical school,” he said. “He also said I could be transferred.”
He's concerned about a transfer, saying it could jeopardize his wife's health. Charnette Messé was diagnosed with breast cancer 18 months ago and has established “excellent relationships with her health care team,” Messé explained.
Navy public affairs officer Lt. Cmdr. Joe Carpenter said due to the ongoing investigation by the Navy Judge Advocate General, it would be inappropriate for the Navy or Messé's commanding officer to comment or provide any other details.
“But the Navy's [Bureau of Medicine and Surgery] instructions state that specific medical personnel who object to participating in specific procedures related to family-planning services on moral, ethical or religious grounds shall not be required to perform or assist in such procedures unless their refusal poses an immediate threat to the health of a patient,” Carpenter said. “However, the BUMED also states that, as a practitioner, they are responsible for referring the patient for the services required.”
Getting Support
Bishop Michael Cote of Norwich, Conn., the diocese in which Groton is located, supports Messé.
“It is completely illogical to acknowledge a person's right to an accommodation based on their belief that an act is immoral and yet require that person to help someone to obtain that immoral service,” Bishop Cote said.
Pat Gillen, an attorney with the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., believes the real problem is the Navy's regulation, which requires doctors such as Messé to provide physician referrals.
According to Gillen, requiring doctors to cooperate in the provision of services they recognize as morally illicit through such referrals violates their right to free exercise of religion as well as a number of federal statutes.
“The problem is that there are a lot of people who could end up in Tom's predicament, and we think the Navy's BUMED instructions are wrong,” Gillen said. “Tom's new commanding officer ordered him to refer patients for contraceptive services because according to the existing laws of the U.S. Navy, he was able to.”
But different commanding officers can use their authority regarding the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery differently.
“I never prescribed or referred for contraception or sterilization when I was a doctor in the military,” retired lieutenant Robert Holder said.
Dr. John Littell, regional director for the Catholic Medical Association and a Desert Storm veteran, agrees.
“It's not the military that I knew,” he said. “Besides, whatever happened to informed consent? Conversations with women patients have become very [patronizing], and doctors shove contraception down women's throats that can cause blood clots, breast cancer, heart attack and stroke.”
Forcing Messé to practice bad medicine is what concerns retired Col. Richard Watson, M.D., now head of the Military Guild for the Catholic Medical Association.
“When a doctor decides that something is bad medicine, then his professional judgment for his patients needs to be respected. Not just in direct patient care but in referrals as well,” Watson said. “Why must a doctor find someone to practice bad medicine on his behalf?”
Living the Faith
Messé is also getting support from other religious leaders. In a Dec. 15 letter to Messé's commanding officer, Archbishop Edwin O'Brien of the Archdiocese for the Military Services U.S.A. said, “I would respectfully support [Messé's] moral stance and would hope that individuals of such integrity would not be penalized for deeply held convictions that are in accord with the teaching of the Catholic Church.”
“We have long upheld every service member's right to the free practice of his religion,” the Navy's northeast regional chaplain, Capt. Mary Washburn, said. “I most heartily endorse the stance Dr. Messé has taken in regard to the living out of his faith. I believe his expectation of accommodation on the part of the Navy is both legitimate and manageable.”
Messé is optimistic. “I love the Navy and want to make my career in the Navy,” he said. “I hope those involved learn from this and learn to respect other religions. But as for what's next for me, I'll have to wait and see what the outcome of the investigation holds.”
Colleen Hammond writes from Dallas.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Colleen Hammond ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Vatican City At 75: Small Size, Immense Beauty DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Vatican City State was created as a result of the Lateran Pacts hammered out 75 years ago this Feb. 11 between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy.
The outcome of that agreement: a unique legal entity and sovereign body under international law, distinct from the Holy See. It's unique culturally, too — the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has declared the whole of the territory of Vatican City as part of the world's cultural heritage.
Located close to the left bank of the Tiber River in Rome, Vatican City — the smallest state in the world — measures 108.7 acres, or 44 hectares. Located on the mons vaticanus, the eighth hill of Rome, it is bordered by the Leonine Walls and, in St. Peter's Square, by the circular travertine strip in the pavement that joins the two arms of the Bernini colonnade.
This lovely, tranquil mini-state, set in the midst of the hustle and bustle of Rome, boasts splendid, centuries-old buildings; chapels and churches; a seminary; a mosaic factory; the famed Vatican Library, Secret Archives and Vatican Museums; a second-century necropolis, the scavi under St. Peter's where the first Pope and the basilica's namesake is buried; stores, a pharmacy and gas stations; and a fire department, printing office and medical center.
And acres and acres of breathtaking gardens — some formal, some wild, all lush — dotted with stone benches, statuary and unique fountains whose water comes from Lake Bracciano, 40 kilometers outside of Rome.
There are five entrances to Vatican City, all secured by Swiss Guards or by the vigilanza, the Vatican's police force: the Arch of the Bells (Arco delle Campane), a tunnel-like entrance to the left of St. Peter's Basilica; the Bronze Door (Portone di Bronzo), which is considered the official entrance to the Apostolic Palace and is situated at the juncture of the palace and the right-hand Bernini colonnade; the St. Ann, or Sant'Anna entrance, which takes its name from the parish church located just inside Vatican City to your right as you enter from Via di Porta Angelica; the Petrine or Sant'Uffizio entrance, by which one enters the Paul VI Hall, just outside the left-hand colonnade of St. Peter's Square; and the Perugino entrance on the south wall of the Vatican.
Vatican City State's 700-plus inhabitants include people of many different nationalities, though most are Italian. At least 400 have Vatican citizenship, including those bishops who are heads of dicasteries. All cardinals residing in Rome have automatic Vatican citizenship but preserve their original citizenship.
The government is an elective monarchy for life. The head of state is the pope, who has full legislative, executive and judicial power. During the period of a vacant see, these powers are assumed by the College of Cardinals.
Representation of the state and its relations with other states is reserved for the pope, who exercises it through his Secretariat of State. Both Vatican City State and the Holy See enjoy international recognition and are members of or hold permanent-observer status in international and intergovernmental organizations, participate in international conferences with permanent observers and adhere to the respective conventions.
The Holy See, for example, to name but a few of its international engagements, participates in the United Nations (permanent observer, New York and Geneva); the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, observer, Rome; the International Atomic Energy Agency, member, Vienna; the International Labor Organization, observer, Geneva; the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, a member also in the name and on behalf of Vatican City State; Latin Union, observer, Paris; U.N. Center for Human Settlements, observer, Nairobi, Kenya.
All the territory of Vatican City State is under the protection of the Hague Convention of May 1954 regarding the care of cultural goods in case of armed conflict. The state is thus recognized, even in international conventions, as a moral, artistic and cultural patrimony worthy of being respected and protected.
Vatican City State has its own currency and issues its own postage stamps, and both are very much in demand by collectors and everyday tourists to the Vatican. Vatican currency circulates legally in both Italy and the Republic of San Marino, by virtue of special treaties signed with each. The letters on the license plate of Vatican automobiles are SCV (Stato della Città del Vaticano) — Italians like to quip that SCV stands for “se Cristo vedesse — if Christ could see.”
Administratively, Vatican City State is comprised of the vicariate of Vatican City, with its ecclesiastical tribunal; the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, which coordinates the General Secretariat of the Governorate and on whom depend the general directorates of the Pontifical Monuments, Museums and Galleries; technical, economic and health services; general services; the Vatican Observatory; Archaeological Studies and Research; and the Pontifical Villas. American-born Cardinal Edmund Szoka, former archbishop of Detroit, is the president off the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, a sort of “governor.”
Also under the direction of the Secretariat of the Governorate are the Security Corps; the Vatican Pharmacy; the Commission for Personnel and the Disciplinary Commission; the Tribunals; the Permanent Commission for the Care of Historical and Artistic Monuments of the Holy See; and the Health Assistance Fund.
All in all, an impressive package to be packed into just a little more than 100 acres!
Joan Lewis works for Vatican Information Service.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joan Lewis ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:John Paul to Families: Turn Off the TV
REUTERS, Jan. 25 — Speaking for World Communications Day, Pope John Paul II criticized much of Western television for its positive presentation of homosexuality, adultery and contraception, Reuters reported.
“Infidelity [and] sexual activity outside of marriage are depicted uncritically, while positive support is at times given to divorce, contraception, abortion and homosexuality,” the Holy Father said. “Such portrayals … are detrimental to the common good of society.”
By way of remedy, John Paul urged parents to get involved in their children's media consumption.
“This would include strictly limiting the time children devote to media … putting some media entirely off limits and periodically excluding all of them for the sake of other family activities,” he said.
The recently appointed secretary to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Bishop Renato Boccardo, echoed the Pope's remarks, telling the Italian paper Avvenire that those who work in media should place two values above all others: “Respect for truth and respect for the person.”
“All those who dedicate themselves to communication should, above all, consider themselves at the service of truth and, therefore, of man,” Bishop Boccardo explained. “It is not enough to recount what has the greatest impact or audience.”
European Unity Award Goes to Pope
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Jan. 23 — Pope John Paul II will receive a signal honor this year — a special edition of the International Charlemagne Prize, the Associated Press reported.
The award is given annually by the city of Aachen, the old Holy Roman Empire capital, to leaders who promote European unity. The prize is named for the first Holy Roman emperor, the Blessed Charlemagne (Charles the Great), who was crowned on Christmas Day by Pope Leo III. The empire persisted in some form for more than 1,000 years, ending only with Napoleon's conquest of Austria.
Because his realm spanned most of modern France, Germany and the Low Countries, Charlemagne is seen as an emblem of European unity. Previous recipients of the prize named for the emperor have included such luminaries as Winston Churchill and recent political figures British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bill Clinton.
The award committee lauded “the extraordinary contribution of the Pope to the process of European integration but also his particular effort to exert an influence from Europe on the shaping of the world order.”
Aachen mayor Juergen Linden also pointed to John Paul's role in ending Europe's division along the Iron Curtain.
“Communism would have been overcome without the Pope,” Linden said, “but he helped to ensure that it happened faster and without bloodshed.”
Vatican Replaces Murdered Burundi Nuncio
IRINEWS AFRICA, Jan. 22 — Pope John Paul II has sent Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher to the troubled African nation of Burundi to fill the shoes of Archbishop Michael Courtney, the papal nuncio who was assassinated Dec. 29.
For the past 20 years, Archbishop Gallagher has served alongside Vatican nuncios in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and he recently represented the Holy See before the Council of the European Union in Strasbourg, France.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Cheney's Rome Trip Is More Than a Diplomatic Whistle Stop DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Vice President Dick Cheney's Jan. 27 visit to the Vatican wasn't just another stop on the endless diplomatic circuit.
The vice president doesn't travel very much. Unlike many of his predecessors, who were frequently dispatched to far-flung conferences and high-profile funerals, he prefers to stay close to home as the most powerful vice president in recent memory.
His European trip in January was only his second overseas visit as vice president; the last time he was in Europe was almost two years ago, in spring 2002, on an early mission to build support for the American position on Iraq.
Cheney was in Italy principally to thank the Italians for their support in Iraq and to reinforce the strong links between Italy and the United States. There is tremendous affection for Americans in Italy, not least because of their role in liberating Italy in World War II. Indeed, Cheney's visit included the 60th anniversary commemorations of the Allied landing at Nettuno and Anzio in January 1944.
That background helps explain why, in contrast to a year ago, the climate in Rome was much warmer toward the United States.
While the Vatican opposition to the Iraq war in particular and the concept of “preventive war” in general has not abated, there has been a marked effort to remedy the damage done by the intemperate and even anti-American tone that characterized many Vatican officials in the months preceding the war.
Key Relationship
The Holy See considers its relationship with the United States of primary importance given American power in the world. In addition, the Bush administration is a key international ally of the Holy See on a range of issues, and there is a desire to move past whatever damage was done by the Iraq war.
During his meeting with Cheney, the Holy Father read a brief address that stressed the “the growth of international cooperation and solidarity” in dealing with international conflicts — a plea that American power should work in concert with the international legal framework and the United Nations.
In the weeks before the visit, the new Vatican “foreign minister,” Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, indicated in interviews that he understood the desire in some cases for preventive war, a key doctrine of the Bush's administration's post-Sept. 11 foreign policy.
However, that preventive force should occur under the auspices of the United Nations, according to Archbishop Lajolo.
The shift was more one in tone than substance but was clearly a move away from last spring's outright condemnation of the concept.
Cheney made no comment on his meeting with the Holy Father, but papal spokesman Joaquín Navarro-Valls said the two men discussed not only Iraq and the Holy Land but also the global situation regarding the “the defense and promotion of life, the family, solidarity and religious freedom.”
That list indicates why the Holy See-U.S. relationship has healed so quickly after what some feared was a major breach last spring. On the life issues, the defense of marriage and the family as well as religious liberty and human rights, the Holy See has few stauncher friends than the Bush administration. On many issues — ironically enough often at U.N. forums — the American delegation is on the side of the angels in the view of the Holy See.
“The American people have always cherished the fundamental values of freedom, justice and equality,” John Paul added in his prepared remarks, underscoring the values he wished America would bring to the world stage.
U.S. Perspective
On the American side, there was never an expectation that the Holy See would endorse the Iraq war (it didn't endorse the first Gulf War in 1991, which was a clearer case of resisting aggression), and there was an appreciation that the Holy Father was determined the war would not be seen as a clash between Christianity and Islam.
The frustration was that those positions were often articulated in a way that suggested America was an impetuous actor who hadn't thought through the implications of its own actions. Comments last spring from Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of state — who also met with Cheney — fueled that frustration.
But the climate is clearly open to dialogue and the relationship is healthy. To the end of engaging Vatican officials on the changes in American foreign policy, James Nicholson, U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, is sponsoring a conference on “International Law and New Threats” tentatively scheduled for March 26.
Nicholson tried last year a similar approach, inviting theologian Michael Novak to Rome to present the moral case for war. That initiative had mixed results, with Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, snubbing Novak by refusing even to see him.
This year, a better result is expected in a climate of warmer relations.
Father Raymond J. de Souza served as the Register's Rome correspondent from 1999-2003. He writes from Kingston, Ontario.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Raymond J. de Souza ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: The Upright Place Their Trust in God DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:We continue our reflection on the texts of the psalms, which constitute an essential element of the Liturgy of the Hours’ evening prayer. Psalm 11, which we just heard and which still resounds in our hearts, is a short prayer of trust where God's sacred name “Adonai,” the Lord, is repeated throughout the original Hebrew text. This name is heard at the beginning of the psalm (see verse 1), is found three times in the middle of the psalm (see verses 4-5) and appears again at the end (see verse 7).
The spiritual tone of the entire song is aptly expressed in the concluding verse: “The Lord is just and loves just deeds.” This is the root of all trust and the source of all hope in days of darkness and trial. God is not indifferent regarding good and evil; he is a good God, not some obscure, unintelligible and mysterious fate.
Attack of the Evil One
The psalm develops essentially in two scenes. The first scene (see verses 1-3) describes the wicked man in his apparent triumph. He is portrayed with images drawn from a war or a hunt: He is the perverse man who aims his bow — whether for war or for hunting — in order to fiercely strike his victim, in this case the upright man (see verse 2). For this reason, the upright man entertains the thought of fleeing in order to be free from such an implacable foe. He would like to “flee like a bird to the mountains” (verse 1), far from this cesspool of evil, the siege of the wicked and the malicious taunts of sinners.
The upright man feels a sort of discouragement, loneliness and impotence as he faces this onslaught of evil. It seems to him as though the foundations of a just social order have been shaken and the very basis of human coexistence has been undermined (see verse 3).
Then there is a turning point, which is described in the second scene (see verses 4-7). The Lord, seated on his heavenly throne, embraces all of mankind with his penetrating gaze. From his transcendent post, which is a symbol of divine omniscience and omnipotence, God is able to scrutinize and closely examine every person, distinguishing good and evil and vigorously condemning injustice (see verses 4-5).
This image of God's eye, whose pupil is fixed on our actions and attentive to them, is both very evocative and consoling. The Lord is not some distant ruler, shut up in some golden world, but a watchful presence who is aligned on the side of good and of justice. He sees and provides, intervening with his word and action.
The upright man is able to foresee that the Lord “rains upon the wicked fiery coals and brimstone” (Psalm 11:6), symbols of God's judgment that purifies history and condemns evil, just as he did at Sodom (see Genesis 19:24). The wicked man, who is struck down by this blazing rain that foreshadows his ultimate fate, finally experiences that it is God “who is judge on earth!” (Psalm 58:12).
Delivers From Evil
However, the psalm does not end with this tragic portrayal of punishment and condemnation. The last verse opens the way to the prospect of light and peace that await the upright, who will contemplate their Lord, a just judge, but above all, a merciful deliverer: “The upright shall see his face” (Psalm 11:7). This experience is one of joyful communion and peaceful trust in God, who delivers us from evil.
Throughout history, countless upright people have experienced something similar. Many accounts describe the trust of Christian martyrs as they faced torment, as well as their firmness when they did not flee from trials.
In the Acts of Euplo, a deacon from Catania who was murdered under Diocletian around the year 304, the martyr breaks forth spontaneously in the following song of prayer: “Thank you, O Christ. Protect me because I suffer for you … I adore the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I adore the Holy Trinity … Thank you, O Christ. Come to my help, O Christ! For you I suffer, Christ … Great is your glory, O Lord, in the servants that you have deigned to call to yourself! … I thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, because your strength has consoled me; you have not permitted my soul to perish with the wicked and you have granted me the grace of your name. Confirm now that which you have done in me, so that the impudence of the adversary will be confounded” (A. Hamman, Preghiere dei Primi Cristiani, Milan, 1955, p. 72-73).
(Register translation)
Register Summary
Pope John Paul II met with 4,000 pilgrims during his general audience Jan. 28. He resumed his series of teachings on the psalms and canticles of the Liturgy of the Hours’ evening prayer with a meditation on Psalm 11.
The Holy Father pointed out that Psalm 11 speaks of the Lord on his heavenly throne, attentive to all that is done on earth. “The Lord is not some distant ruler, shut up in some golden world,” he observed, “but a watchful presence who is aligned on the side of good and of justice. He sees and provides, intervening with his word and action.”
Yet the attack of evil in the world takes its toll on man. “The upright man feels a sort of discouragement, loneliness and impotence as he faces this onslaught of evil,” the Pope said. “It seems to him as though the foundations of a just social order have been shaken and the very basis of human coexistence has been undermined.”
But the Holy Father pointed out that God is good and, while he vigorously condemns all injustice, he also comforts the righteous during their trials. He is their savior and in his presence they will have peace. “This experience is one of joyful communion and peaceful trust in God, who delivers us from evil,” he said. This hope, he said, has sustained many believers in their difficulties and has given courage to countless martyrs.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Night at the Tower of London Pays Homage to St. John Fisher DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:LONDON — After nearly 470 years, St. John Fisher has been honored in a ceremony at the Tower of London, where he was imprisoned and met a martyr's death by a headsman's ax in 1535.
In a packed chapel with a choir singing music by Byrd and prayers led by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the archbishop of Westminster, and the Anglican bishop of London, Dr. Richard Chartres, tribute was paid Jan. 19 to the saint and martyr who died for his unwavering loyalty to the Catholic faith in the face of a tyrant king.
Also taking part were the Anglican bishop of Rochester — once St. John Fisher's own diocese — and Father Malachi Sheehan, parish priest of the local Catholic parish of the English Martyrs, which serves the community living in this corner of London around Tower Hill.
It was an evening of formality, soaring music, ecumenical good will, an occasional flash of ironic humor and some moments of moving solemnity. A commemorative plaque, blessed at the ceremony, will now have a permanent place in the tower near the very cell where Fisher was imprisoned and the execution site where he was beheaded.
NEWS ANALYSIS
After the blessing ceremony and immediately before the national anthem, Bishop Chartres and Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor exchanged a formal sign of peace.
In an address that showed evidence of serious study of the saint's life and message, the Anglican bishop praised St. John Fisher's integrity, courage and faith.
He noted that Fisher was himself a reformer who sought to bring needed changes to the Church of his day and was known as a powerful preacher at a time when many bishops neglected this task and confined themselves to administrative or liturgical duties. But when King Henry VIII started to impose his own arbitrary power on the Church, Fisher's insistent “No!” took him to the tower and eventually to his death.
Describing Fisher as “venerable and godly,” Bishop Chartres said, “He asks us in this, our own day, what are we as Christians prepared to die for? Any church that fails to say ‘No’ to some things when required is a church very far from the Gospel.”
‘Our Cardinal’
Introduced warmly by Bishop Chartres as “our cardinal,” Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, a striking figure in full scarlet robes, quoted Pope Paul VI on martyrdom: “What makes a man? His capacity for loving.”
The cardinal stressed Paul VI's message that man's noblest response to God's infinite love is to honor it faithfully even to the point of death and advised the gathering to ask for the prayers of St. John Fisher for the road that lies ahead today, four centuries after his death.
The event was the brainchild of a leading Catholic layman, Peter Bearcroft, who had dedicated himself to ensuring that one of England's greatest bishops should be honored in the place where he gave his life.
The service took place in the church of St. Peter ad Vincula (St. Peter in Chains), originally a parish church just outside the tower's walls but incorporated several centuries ago into the structure itself as the fortress expanded.
The church, which ceased to be Catholic at the Reformation, is chiefly famous for housing the mortal remains of many of the tower's victims, including Anne Boleyn, whose marriage to Henry VIII — in defiance of the Church, which refused to annul Henry's earlier marriage to Catherine of Aragon — precipitated the events that led to St. John Fisher's martyrdom.
The service began with the hymn “Praise to the Holiest in the Height” — authored by the most famous of all Anglican converts to Catholicism, John Henry Newman — and followed the pattern of a traditional Anglican evensong, with modern variants. At the end, all stood for a rousing rendition of “God Save the Queen.”
Among those present were leading Catholic members of the House of Lords and Commons, and of various Catholic organizations.
Catholics, for so long marginalized by the country's history and derided as “not quite British” had, for one evening at least, reclaimed their past and seen something of its valor honored.
The message of John Fisher's life — that some things are worth upholding, even to the point of death — is felt more poignantly when pondered in the awesome surroundings of a massive fortress, floodlit on the banks of a river in one of the world's great cities. For this reporter at least, the splendor and beauty of the ceremony could not mask the grim reality of the tower's message.
The Tower
The tower is open to the public and is currently partly surrounded by building works designed to create better facilities for the millions who visit annually. These are masked by billboards depicting various characters from the tower's history including Henry VIII and his various wives and victims.
The cells occupied by St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More are not generally open to public view as they are part of a building that now forms the governor's house and various administrative offices, but Catholic groups do, by arrangement, visit them and pray there.
Dungeons occupied by other persecuted Catholics, including the martyr St. Edmund Campion, and the torture equipment used there are permanently open to public view.
Altogether, it stands in striking contrast to the sushi bar and cafes that stand near the tower entrance and the friendly banter of the “Beefeater” guards who spend their days posing for photographs and giving directions to tourists.
On a busy sunny day, the crowds can mask something of the tower's harsh past; on a wet January night, the cobbled paths and vast thick walls gave witness to a centuries-old message about the courage needed when martyrdom looms.
Joanna Bogle writes from London.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joanna Bogle ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:Nun Cracks Mozambique Organ-Theft Ring
Once she got over her disbelief, Sister Maria Elida dos Santos started digging and discovered a ring of racketeers selling helpless children to organ traffickers serving the black market in transplants, according to Independent Catholic News.
Sister dos Santos documented multiple instances of kidnapping, which ended in the discovery of the missing children's bodies, minus vital organs. She also discovered that local authorities were slow to investigate these crimes.
Father John Kilcrann of the Holy Ghost missionaries in Rome asked Catholics to write to their local Mozambiqan ambassador, insisting that Sister dos Santos be protected and the organ traffickers brought to justice.
Ban on Religious Garb in France Causes Strife
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Jan. 22 — French President Jacques Chirac in December proposed a law to the country's parliament banning students in public schools from wearing religious symbols, ranging from Islamic head scarves to Jewish yarmulkes and Christian crosses. Predictably, the ban has caused more conflict than concord.
The foreign minister of Chirac's government, Dominique de Villepin, has admitted that the law has damaged France's relations with Arab nations and the United States, Agence France-Presse reported.
De Villepin pointed to angry demonstrations in many Arab capitals — and in Paris — against the proposed ban and an official protest from a U.S. diplomat.
The president of Germany, Johannes Rau, spoke out against local attempts to enforce a ban on Islamic dress in German states, saying, “I fear that it could become a first step toward a secular state, which would ban religious symbols and signs from public places. I don't want that.”
Many Are Depraved, a Few Are Afflicted
REUTERS, Jan. 21 — Belgian Cardinal Gustaaf Joos has sparked a controversy in his country by suggesting that 90%-95% of those who describe themselves as “gay” or “lesbian” are not in fact exclusively oriented toward the same sex but rather are “sexual perverts” who choose to act on disordered impulses.
“Real homosexuals don't wander in the streets in colorful suits. Those are people who have a serious problem and have to live with that. And if they make a mistake they will be forgiven. We have to help these people and not judge them,” Cardinal Joos said in an interview published by Belgium's P-Magazine. “The Church … rejects homosexuality, not the homosexual.”
A local Church spokesman said Cardinal Joos, an 80-year-old parish priest and retired professor of moral theology who was appointed a cardinal last October, “doesn't speak on behalf of the Belgian bishops. He is not a member of the Belgian conference of bishops.”
In response to Joos’ comments, a local pressure group, the Center for Equal Opportunities and Struggle Against Racism, announced it would sue the cardinal, accusing him of violating Belgium's strict anti-discrimination laws, which restrict free speech considered offensive to certain minority groups.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Religious Freedom Meets Islam DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:Lurking behind a lot of the problems in Iraq is one fundamental disagreement Americans have with many Iraqis: The importance of religious freedom.
And there is one fundamental difficulty behind many of the difficult circumstances America must face in the powder-keg environment of a recently invaded Islamic country: Our goals often seem contradictory. We are trying to restore freedom while simultaneously keeping aggressive extremist elements in Iraq at bay.
But as Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., pointed out in his Jan. 16 letter to the Bush administration, American attempts to bring freedom to Iraq will mean nothing unless all Iraqis are allowed the freedom to worship as they wish.
It will be a battle every bit as difficult as the military ones.
As the U.S. State Department pointed out in its recent report on religious freedom, Muslim countries such as Iraq are often the least likely to recognize others’ rights to worship.
After criticizing the policies of places such as China, North Korea and Cuba, Zenit news service notes, the U.S. State Department put in a separate category those countries where governments are hostile to religious groups seen as a threat to “security.” Four of these were:
Iran. The report notes that members of the country's religious minorities — Bahais, Jews, Christians, Sunni and Sufi Muslims — suffer degrees of officially sanctioned discrimination, including intimidation, harassment and imprisonment. Followers of the Bahai faith, derided as a kind of “wayward Islamic sect,” suffer the most.
Pakistan. The report accuses the government of failing to protect the rights of religious minorities. Discriminatory laws reigned at the national level. And authorities “failed to intervene in cases of societal violence directed at minority religious groups,” particularly Shiites.
Saudi Arabia. “The government continued to enforce a strictly conservative version of Sunni Islam and suppress the public practice of other interpretations of Islam and non-Muslim religions,” the U.S. report says. Non-Muslim worshippers faced the threat of “arrest, imprisonment, lashing, deportation and sometimes physical abuse for engaging in religious activity that attracted official attention.”
Sudan. The report says the Khartoum government continued its policy of Islamization, “relegating non-Muslims to de facto second-class citizenship.” Non-Muslim religious groups have difficulty obtaining registration. Authorities refuse to permit the construction of any churches in the Khartoum area or in the district capitals. And the assets of various Catholic relief projects were confiscated when the projects closed temporarily or moved locations.
Islamic leaders have been important allies of the Holy See in the past on human-rights issues such as abortion. But it remains true that the understanding of religious freedom that has developed in the West, particularly in the Catholic Church, has no counterpart as prominent in modern strains of Islam.
In Afghanistan, religious freedom was left out of the new constitution. We can't let that happen in Iraq. If our attempt to bring democracy to the Middle East is to be acceptable, we will have to confront the religious-freedom question squarely from the beginning.
An interim constitution for Iraq is to be completed by Feb. 28. As Santorum said in his letter, that constitution has to get the basics right. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion are essentials, not nice extras. These fundamental principals are the legacy America has given to the world, a legacy the United Nations codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In 2001, Pope John Paul II praised the United States for preserving religious freedom. “[I]t is significant that the promotion of religious freedom continues to be an important goal of American policy in the international community,” he said. “I want to express the appreciation of the whole Catholic Church for America's commitment in this regard.”
Will he be able to say the same after we leave Afghanistan and Iraq?
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:Care for the Conceived
Lori Murphy's letter in the Jan. 11-17 issue (“The Fate of Frozen Embryos”) interpreted that Donum Vitae's statement, “The fidelity of the spouses’ unity of marriage involves the reciprocal respect of their right to become father and mother only through each other” to mean that embryo adoption is not licit. That quote is referring to the teaching of the Church that it is not permissible to utilize invitro methods to conceive a child. Embryo adoption is not a method to conceive a child; the child is already conceived.
The document states that the human being must be respected and protected from the very instant of his existence, stating that it is not in conformity with the moral law to deliberately expose to death human embryos obtained in vitro. Implantation is the only option for a child to have the opportunity to be born/have a life. Without willing parents to provide the environment the child needs to grow, the child will die.
What does the Church give as an option to children conceived and “unwanted”? Adoption. Although the Church has not made a definitive statement on embryo adoption, I seriously doubt the Church would only bless adoption of those already born and discriminate against those who are, because of their young age, termed “embryos.”
Donum Vitae says: “Physical sterility in fact can be for spouses the occasion for other important services in the life of the human person, for example adoption.”
If Lori's thinking were true, that the Church intends to say one cannot become a parent in a marriage except through conceiving through their own conjugal act — how would one then view the Holy Family?
Janet B. Cook
Mesa, Arizona
Embryonic Argument
Lori Murphy quotes Donum Vitae in a statement she says “bears on the licitness of embryo adoption (“The Fate of Frozen Embryos,” Letters, Jan. 11-17):
“The fidelity of the spouses in the unity of marriage involves reciprocal respect of their right to become father and mother only through each other.” This right of each spouse to become a parent only through the other cannot be violated.
Really? Then does this passage not also illegitimize conventional adoption, in which spouses by common consent become father and mother not through one another? I find it hard to understand why embryo adoption is any less acceptable than conventional adoption of a born child (given, of course, that in either case the spouses must agree to this form of becoming parents so that disunity between them will not imperil their marriage).
I also find it hard to believe that the Holy Father meant to imply by this passage in Donum Vitae that adoption of a born child, especially in the case where the parents are incapable of becoming parents through one another because of infertility, is morally unacceptable. Am I missing something here?
ROSALIE DANCAUSE
Dumfries, Virginia
Motivate the Mediocre
I assumed many would respond regarding George Sim Johnston's clarion call to Catholics in the column “Catholic Institutions and the Sadness of Mediocrity” (Jan. 11-17). Guess my response is due.
Yes, it is a serious problem — this fear of appearing too much a Catholic, be it in our schools, colleges, hospitals, corporate works of mercy … or in our very homes and churches. I know of a parishioner who was stalked after Mass and berated by a priest for being a “fanatic.” She (perhaps foolishly) attempted defense by stating that yes, she is a fanatic, that a fanatic is one who is devoted to the Divinity (root definition of “fanaticus”), that Jesus was a fanatic as he had a single-minded purpose with the Father and that she herself intended to follow Jesus — gloriously fanatic as it may be to do so.
That there is no more unhappy a person than a mediocre Catholic priest is evidenced in the lack of fervor — the lack of “holy fanaticism” — that we suffer in so many clergy. This unhappiness and mediocrity also oozes from men and women religious. And truly, bucketfuls of doleful, lukewarm souls are spewed out over all Catholicdom (sic) in laity who likewise choose to be “balanced” by the scales of the secular world rather than by those scales of Christ and his Church that weigh the convictions and faith of all souls for eternity.
Thankfully, some joyous priests, religious and laity of all ages shine like stars in the universe. They consciously choose to desire, pray for and practice sacrifice, obedience, fidelity and humility. They dare offer themselves as blazing realities of the Catholic faith. They are as ones possessed — possessed with zeal and fervor for souls — and will eagerly follow in the footsteps of Jesus, whose joy is incomparable because he feared not to be “too Catholic.”
Joan McClure
Huntington, Indiana
It Takes Two
I was dismayed to read Tom and Caroline McDonald's response to the woman who wants another baby but whose husband insists on continuing to use natural family planning to avoid pregnancy (“Sneaky Conceptions?” Family Matters, Jan. 25-31).
The McDonalds fail to mention that the use of natural family planning is only morally licit with the consent of both spouses. Marriage is a contract in which spouses give each other full and exclusive rights over each other's body, including their life-giving faculties. It is gravely sinful to deny one's spouse this right. Although the woman's temptation to trick her husband into impregnating her would not be honest, and demanding one's rights in marriage is not always wise, at least this woman should know her rights and lovingly inform her husband — who may not realize he is sinning gravely against her.
St. Paul sums all this up: “The wife hath not power of her own body but the husband. And in like manner, the husband also hath no power of his own body but the wife. Defraud not one another, except, by consent, for a time, that you may give yourselves to prayer; and return together again” (1 Corinthians 7:4-5).
Today's contraceptive society tends to see all obstacles to having children as insurmountable, so this woman's courage in desiring to rise above such obstacles should be encouraged. That the McDonalds failed to do so should astonish any reader, especially in view of the “Culture of Life” logo printed at the top of the page.
Agnes M. Penny
Whitehall, Pennsylvania
Carrying Contraception
I just wanted to add to the discussion about big families, “The Family as a Sign of Contradiction” (Commentary & Opinion, Oct. 19-25).
Before I became Catholic, I'd had two children, the second being born a month after my mother died. I went into a spiritual and emotional tailspin and chose to have a tubal ligation when my second child was only 7 months old. I had lots of fears and no faith. I had no idea what kind of horrible thing I'd done. I was only 27 years old.
I subsequently became Catholic within a couple years of this decision and have regretted the “mutilation” to my reproductive organs ever since. Unfortunately, having reversal surgery is not only very expensive, but it is also a risk to my health, and there's a risk of frequent ectopic pregnancies with no guarantee of carrying a baby to term.
I just wanted people to know this who assume that the small family is one decided on out of ignorance or a blatant, active, ongoing contraceptive mentality.
Just know that many of us carry this particular cross daily.
Lisa Sadler
McCloud, California
Cinematic Bait and Switch
Regarding “Family Friendly Movies Sell Better than R-Rated Ones” (Nov. 2-8):
Here are two facts: 1) Hollywood has known for a long time that movies with an R rating make, on average, less money than movies with a less-objectionable rating. 2) Since 1985, the number of R-rated movies has decreased from 81% to 42%.
There are two possible interpretations of these facts. The first is that Hollywood, in order to make more money, has simply changed the labeling of its movies so movies that previously would have been rated R are now rated (less objectionably) PG-13. The other is that Hollywood, out of a sense of morality, has changed the content of its movies so that over the years they have become more “family friendly.”
The Register article, without giving evidence, adopts the second interpretation — naïvely so, in my opinion. Parents who have kept an eye on the content of movies will think that the first interpretation is correct. The label PG-13 looks to have been a successful marketing ploy for selling very “family unfriendly” movies to adolescents.
Michael Pakaluk
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Pray for Priests
May I share what could be a good intention for the new year? I believe we should pray for our unjustly accused priests. They are carrying a cross none of us would want to carry.
Let us also remember their accusers, as Jesus did.
Eileen Toedtli
Keizer, Oregon
Correction
What a difference a decimal makes. In “Bush Addresses Catholic Educators at White House, Pushing Vouchers” (Jan. 25-31), we misquoted President Bush as saying 99% of the “26 million” children in Catholic schools will graduate and go on to college. Head count for Catholic schools is approximately 2.6 million.
Into the Great Wide Open
President Bush's decision to send astronauts to explore the [feasibility of using the] moon as a way station to Mars sheds new light on the alleged “population crisis.” I've always had a problem with the bogus concern about world overpopulation and nonsensical scare tactics, such as people being forced to live in narrow cubicles because space has run out.
The earth has a huge amount of empty space — just drive out of the city. Technology and free-market economics have multiplied food production and created prosperity unprecedented in past ages. The fact that some people have great abundance while others are dying of hunger is a statement about the human moral and spiritual condition rather than population growth.
The late economist Julian Simon pointed out that people aren't just consumers of resources — useless eaters, as some would have it — but also thinkers who can advance human progress. “The most important benefit of population size and growth is the increase it brings to the stock of useful knowledge,” he argues. “Minds matter economically as much as, or more than, hands or mouths.”
It's this ingenuity that has created the real possibility of someday colonizing the moon, Mars and beyond — which opens up a far greater frontier than the old American West. This is something Thomas Malthus, the 19th-century prophet of population doom, would never have conceived of.
Only selfishness and violence can block or delay this bright future.
Eric Retzlaff
Rotterdam, New York
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Abraham Lincoln, America's Gift To the World DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:A distinguished Canadian journalist rose to the podium, surveyed his audience and announced he was about to cite a passage from his favorite politician.
After a requisite pause to give his listeners time to think about who this privileged person might be, the speaker delivered a quotation from the pen of Abraham Lincoln.
I was gratified by the speaker's selection, not because of being an American citizen living in Canada but because the speaker appreciated the fact that the thought behind the words of America's 16th president transcended geography, time and, especially, party politics.
Abraham Lincoln belongs to humanity. Certainly he was a man for his time, but more importantly, he brought to his political moment the force and clarity of ideas that are never out of date.
Eighty-seven years separated the signing of the Declaration of Independence and Lincoln's address at the cemetery in Gettysburg, Pa. The year 1776 marked the birth of a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Lincoln understood only too well that liberty without truth led inevitably to war, and that liberty welded to the truth that all human beings are equal in worth and dignity is the only formula for a peaceful democracy.
“As I would not be a slave,” Lincoln declared, “so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.”
It is by no means a coincidence that the notions of “philosophy” and “democracy” come from the same culture in ancient Greece. The fact that philosophy is the love of wisdom implies there is wisdom for everyone to discover. Therefore, since people can discover the truth of things on their own — however imperfectly — democracy rather than tyranny naturally and logically follows.
Lincoln argued for the “philosophical cause” of liberty, accessible to each and every human being, through the medium of “that government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
“Whenever the question [of slavery] shall be settled,” Lincoln insisted, “it must be settled on some philosophical basis. No policy that does not rest on some philosophical public opinion can be permanently maintained.”
In contrast, Southern politicians defended slavery on the basis not of broad, enduring philosophical principles but on custom and convention.
George Fitzhugh, in his book Sociology for the South, or the Failure of a Free Society, and Henry Hughes, in his A Treatise on Sociology, Theoretical and Practical, both defended the right of the local consensus. They urged that the practical realities of plantation life should replace the ideals of philosophy.
It would be a grave mistake to restrict Lincoln's relevance to his own time. Lincoln's opposition to those who defended slavery was intellectual and philosophical. His understanding of democracy was based on his understanding of philosophy. And his understanding of philosophy was based on his understanding of a common reality that was essentially knowable.
Seven score and one year after Gettysburg, in the year 2004, America is engaged in a different kind of civil war, one more properly called a “culture war.”
Those who stand with Lincoln in accepting the great philosophical tradition understand that peaceful democracy depends on the ability to know about the truth of man and the truth of human society. They are eager to engage in genuine dialogue because they know the “logos” or core intelligibility of reality can be discovered and shared by everyone.
On the other hand, deconstructionists or post-structuralists — who, in a prevailing mood of “undecidability” reduce philosophy to a meaningless game — are really, though perhaps unwittingly, proposing war. They warn us against the fallacy of “logocentrism” but offer no hope for even agreement, let alone peace. For how can there be agreement if there is no basis for agreement? If reason has nothing to attach itself to, nothing to discover, nothing to share, how can democracy be possible?
Deconstructionists might find their own free-floating individualism amusing. But they survive only because they are living off the capital they have inherited from saner people living in saner times. It is a startling irony, worth noting, that Lincoln, who was a politician, aspired to become a philosopher, while many of today's philosophers aspire to become nihilists.
Cardinal John Henry Newman once remarked that he treated his enemies as if one day they would become his friends. Lincoln said, “Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?” Lincoln knew that human beings, despite their myriad peculiarities, are more alike than dissimilar.
Moreover, they are alike in their most basic features — their dignity and humanity, and their capacity to know the fundamental truths about life. Liberty, equality, justice and friendship are real. They are not to be dismissed as the misguided musings from people who lived in unenlightened times.
The culture wars continue. Let me close with one of my favorite quotations from the pen of Abraham Lincoln, who is also my own favorite political figure: “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.”
Dr. Donald DeMarco writes from Waterloo, Ontario.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dr. Donald DeMarco ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Easy Things the Church Can Do to Fix the Culture DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:Indepth
‘Reducing our cultural appreciation to “family entertainment” makes us look absurd to truth-seekers whose home would otherwise be in our midst.’
Well, maybe not “easy,” but surely not inconceivable for the group that pulled off the conversion of the barbarians and the Counter-Reformation. And, in the span of eternity, “fast” can be, well, a century or so. Which could start today. So there's no time to waste.
Seriously, when the public debate has switched to whether homosexual “marriage” is better for kids than heterosexual marriage, it's a good bet that it's probably too late for our culture to reverse itself. But there are things we can do to slow the relentless assault of societal darkness. The great Catholic writer Flannery O'Connor counseled, “Push back against the age. As hard as it pushes against you.” There is certainly valor in going down fighting, and maybe, in the process, we'll attract a few more lost souls into the light before it is too late.
Change the rhetoric. A crucial step we have to take toward fixing the culture is rallying our own troops. No one wants to enlist in the forces of despair, hopelessness and ultimate defeat. We have to change how we speak about the culture and the arts, emphasizing the positive and essential goods that come to humanity through music, painting, dance, literature, theater and cinema, and yes, even television.
If we are going to get a new generation of young people to make a foray into these influential worlds, we have to stop acting and talking like they are innately evil and dangerous to the soul.
We need to stop talking like we are outsiders on this planet, watching through the windows while the world marches into hell on the other side. Our speech needs to be “my” culture, not “the” culture. We live here, too. We own the airwaves and the museums and the public discourse as much as any other group.
As Pope John Paul II has said, we need to re-enter “that fruitful dialogue” with the arts that used to define the People of God, seeing the arts not just as something to be studied but as a lens through which to study many things — art as a real “source of theology,” as a companion to history, as the response to the sciences.
Move the microphones. The next big step we have to make if we are going to have any influence in the culture is to change our spokespeople. We have to identify people who love Jesus and who know what they are talking about when it comes to art and culture, and then let them begin to lead us back into an appreciation for what makes great art. Just because someone is orthodox in his theology or votes pro-life doesn't mean he or she knows anything about cinema, for example. Just because a man is ordained doesn't make him a reference point on culture.
The fact is, the People of God are abysmally ignorant about art these days. We know what we like but not really what we are talking about. Too many of us confuse personal taste with artistic excellence, and our tastes have been corrupted by fear and suspicion of the age. A devout woman described her artistic sensibility to me not long ago as, “If it's new, it's bad.”
Several good Catholic people have told me how much they liked the new remake of Cheaper by the Dozen, for example, always emphasizing somewhere in their comments, “At least, it doesn't have any sex and violence.” Needless to say, greatness in art is never prefaced by the words “at least.” The fact is, as a piece of cinematic storytelling, Cheaper is a bad film. That so many of our people are flocking to it says much more about us than it.
I am constantly witnessing people of faith reject movies that we should support because we tend to measure everything by the most limited standard. “If it made me feel happy at the end, then it is good.” Did the prophets of old make people “feel good” about themselves? Isn't there a place for the artists of this present Babylon to be crying out “sad songs of Jerusalem”?
Being Catholic is not synonymous with being a prude. Reducing our cultural appreciation to “family entertainment” makes us look absurd to truth-seekers whose home would otherwise be in our midst.
Offer commissions. This is huge. The best way to win back artists is to pay them to decorate for us. “Here, you starving young sculptor. Here's some money. Instead of carving a nymph at the Playboy Mansion, come here and carve the resurrected Christ for our community. First, of course, you will have to brood over this big book of ours … and maybe spend a lot of time talking to people who talk to this resurrected Christ. You will probably have to research by pouring over other artistic images of Christ. And lots of artists have gotten their best ideas by sitting quietly in front of this little box with the candle by it in our place. We call it a ‘church.’”
Artists are compelled to create. It's a kind of drive that many of them equate to breathing and eating. Singers basically want to sing. Painters to paint. Actors to act. My experience of artists is that they will go to whoever will subsidize their compulsion to decorate.
The best way to bring back our artists to the Church is to once again become the patron of the arts.
Take back the training grounds. The sad fact is, with all of the Catholic colleges and universities in this country, there isn't one film program that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best secular programs. I was at The Catholic University of America a couple of years ago to speak to the last screenwriting class before the film program was phased out. What kind of a planet are we on for the paradigm Catholic university in the nation to be “phasing out” studies in the primary art form of our time? Did I miss the memo that said screen productions are going away?
A huge part of winning back the culture will be to provide state-of-theart training in our own educational houses for the next generation of writers, filmmakers, actors, painters and musicians. We need Church-sponsored guilds for our artists that emphasize beauty and the social responsibility of the artist. We need Church-sponsored conferences on the spirituality of creativity and the role of entertainment, and on ethics and responsibility for the mass media.
How about a little outside-the-box thinking here? In a moment in which elementary and high schools have shut down their music programs for lack of funds, the Church could step in and start providing music education at our churches to any kids who want it. Many of our churches already have music departments. What would it take to start offering musical training to young people who would otherwise never darken our church doors? How about a preferential option for the gifted poor? For sure, there would be a lot of corporate partners who would back such ventures. It would be a smart, pastoral and aggressive way to redefine our community to those outside.
Prayer and pastoral outreach. While we get busy about training the next generation of believing artists and entertainers, we also need to turn a pastoral eye to those who are already out there making culture who are not believers.
Eminem and Britney and Howard Stern and Kevin Smith are not the enemy. They are the mission field. We have to stop cursing the people who are poisoning the culture and instead start praying and working for their conversion. The goal is not to replace these people with us. The goal is to turn them into us.
There is a great need for focused spiritual direction for artists and entertainers. Somebody needs to consider the particular cross of creativity and help them craft a strategy to carry that cross to holiness. Once won over, these people will play a critical role in instructing our next generation … because we don't have the masters in our house to do the training we will need to be competitive in the culture.
Most of all, the People of God need to start praying for a new renaissance in the arts. One thing we can say for sure: A sustained, heartfelt cry rising up to the throne of God can change human history. The arts and entertainment community is ripe for harvest.
We need to pray for apostles who can plant our flag in the midst of the Armani-clad, limo-riding, left-leaning, spiritually impoverished cultural elites, bringing God where he is not. There will be no cultural renewal without this prayer first of all.
Barbara R. Nicolosi is director of Act One: Writing for Hollywood.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Barbara R. Nicolosi ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: When Jobs Are Illegal, Only Illegals Will Have Jobs DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:Maybe my headline exaggerates a bit, but not much. In all the furor over Bush's immigration plan, one essential point has been overlooked.
Some of our illegal immigration problem arises from government regulations mandating higher wages and benefits than the market can sustain.
Many commentators recognize the gap between Mexican and American jobs as an immigration magnet. But few people make the connection that artificially high compensation levels, in and of themselves, create a market for illegal jobs.
Sure, it sounds good to require employers to pay a “living wage.” It sounds all wonderful and progressive to insist that employers provide health benefits, parental leave and many other benefits. But stop and think about the workers whose productivity is not great enough to make that combination of wages and benefits cost-effective for the employer.
In the absence of government mandated wages and benefits, those low skill workers could have found jobs, less desirable jobs to be sure, but jobs just the same. The high-minded requirements increase the costs of employing the young, the low-skilled, the poorly educated. Those workers are now unemployable. At least, they are not legally employable. Their jobs have been made illegal. Those jobs will either be done by people with few scruples about breaking the law, or will not be done at all.
Since it is easier to recognize a problem when someone else is guilty, let's look abroad to see the consequences. Let's look at Europe.
Most European countries have generous social safety nets, partially provided by employers. Benefits such as six weeks of paid vacation, short work weeks, health benefits, and maternal leave all increase the cost of employing workers. American feminists look to European countries as models for what the U.S. government should require in order to support the ambitions of professional women. All their problems are solved by the state, either directly through state-funded benefits, or indirectly through government requirements upon employers.
But the cost of these wonderful benefits is that some people have fabulous jobs, while other people have nothing, far less than they would have had in the absence of the mandates. All these benefits have to be paid for by someone. Workers whose productivity does not justify these compensation levels are out of luck. Unemployment in European countries has stabilized at 8%, a scandal by American standards. Germany and Denmark have been hemorrhaging jobs, at a rate of 2% in the first half of 2003.
European youth, too young to have acquired skills commensurate with these compensation levels, spend years in universities, in socially enforced idleness, waiting to be allowed to do something genuinely useful.
In the meantime, there are still jobs to be done for which no one is willing to pay the legally required compensation package. All over Europe, immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East do those jobs. France has allowed itself to be filled up with Muslim immigrants, who are and always will be excluded from the higher-class jobs, and who are and always will be, angry about being so excluded.
No one admits to planning this outcome, of course. But it is the inevitable consequence of years of legislation. The progressive people of Europe have done a fine job of voting themselves higher compensation levels. They break their arms patting themselves on the back for their compassion, and miss few opportunities to declare us stingy by comparison. But they conveniently overlook the fact that these compensation levels were purchased by cutting off the lower rungs of the job ladder. People who would gladly have accepted slightly worse jobs, have had to do without any employment at all. People who would have acquired valuable job skills and work habits no longer have the opportunity to do so. The only way to acquire human capital is through formal education.
In his excellent book, Mexifornia, Victor Davis Hansen makes a compelling case that the steady influx of illegal immigrants has displaced American youth from simple jobs like lawn care and babysitting.
He creates an unforgettable image of American teen-agers hanging out at the mall while Mexicans cut all the lawns and baby-sit all the kids in their neighborhood. The children of the middle class are not learning the habits of work, thrift and industry that used to be the norm. That first job taught generations of Americans how to show up on time, how to get along with the boss, and a thousand and one little facets of the world of work.
Now, kids hang out at the mall, waiting for the world to tell them they are finally grown up enough to work at something that matters.
But even an observer as astute as Hansen does not see the deeper connection between the idle American youth and the illegal Mexican workers.
Clashing Views
THE IMMIGRATION DEBATE
Part one is an occasional series
Jobs that used to be rites of passage for the young have been made illegal by the imposition of mandated wages and benefits. In the 2003 legislative session alone, California passed 11 bills that the Chamber of Commerce considered “job killers,” including increased health care requirements and increased costs of frivolous employee lawsuits. One narrowly defeated bill would have outlawed employer discrimination against cross-dressers. All this is in addition to California's expensive paid family leave plan, and inflexible wage and hours restrictions.
How many American teen-agers realistically need their own health benefits or paid parental leave? Like their European counterparts, California progressives expect employers to solve all the problems of the world, including child-care, health care, and the tender psyches of transvestites.
Immigration policy is a mess, no mistake. And Bush's plan is a mess too. But unless and until we address the problem of government mandating unsustainable compensation levels, we will continue to have immigration problems. When we make jobs illegal, we ensure that only illegals will have those jobs.
Jennifer Roback Morse is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jennifer Roback Morse ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Merchant's Choice DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:We certainly have gotten turned around. Once upon a time a store would get in trouble for having “adult” magazines on its shelves. Today stores are criticized for being old-fashioned culture cops if they choose not to sell such magazines — or shield the covers in the checkout aisles.
I don't recall any local, state or federal law that requires stores to sell every magazine under the sun. A store certainly isn't required to sell offensive material. But Wal-Mart has upset some proponents of free expression by deciding not to sell certain men's magazines. The magazines in question are adult at best, pornographic at worst.
Wal-Mart also decided to put shields over the covers of four women's magazines that some of its patrons found offensive. The women's magazines are billed as “fashion and lifestyle” offerings. In fact, their most recent covers all included headlines to which no Christian parents would want to expose their children. I'd go into more detail, but I'm confident more detail would be offensive to the readers of the Register.
People who have common sense and are accompanied by their children while shopping are pleased by Wal-Mart's decision. People who think they are sophisticated, modern and protectors of free expression are upset. “How dare Wal-Mart decide what is appropriate for its customers to see,” they exclaim.
Wal-Mart and every other store make decisions every day about what to put on their shelves. Those decisions are based on a combination of what sells, market studies, gut feelings and the opinions of high-priced consultants.
I'm a regular shopper at Wal-Mart because my local store sells numerous things I use.
For example, when it comes to fishing (my chosen avocation), I guess I'm a Wal-Mart kind of guy. I use spinning and bait-casting equipment in pursuit of bass, cat-fish, walleye and pike. That's the sort of stuff Wal-Mart sells in the fishing aisle. They even have live worms and stink bait. There isn't much for the trout-seeking fly fisherman; perhaps the store has made a cultural statement in what type of fishermen it serves.
On the other hand, I have a job where I often must wear a business suit. Wal-Mart doesn't sell business suits. Should I protest? Is the store depriving me of sartorial splendor? No, it is just that when it comes to work clothes, I guess I'm not such a Wal-Mart kind of guy, although I do get underwear and jeans there.
The same store that is covering magazines also sells clothing for young women that I deem inappropriate for my daughter. Maybe it is a bonanza for makers of jeans and knit tops that they don't have to use much material these days. Problem is, the product often doesn't adequately cover the subject. I suppose if conservative dressers like me raised a stink we might get the store to carry more tops that cover belly buttons; maybe that would anger the proponents of free-belly-button expression.
At my local Wal-Mart, the music depar tment has more country/western than jazz (my style). I don't buy many CDs at Wal-Mart. But I don't consider it a constitutional free-speech issue that the average Wal-Mart shopper and I differ in musical taste.
Wal-Mart or any other store has the right to do its best to meet the needs of its customers. It would be wonder ful if stores felt the need to offer products that aspire to some sor t of moral goodness — wholesome publications, modest clothing, peaceful/educational toys and uplifting music. Getting some sleazy magazines off the counter is a good start.
Jim Fair writes from Chicago.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jim Fair ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Lost and Found in a Walled Medieval Town DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:To pass through the walls protecting Siena, Italy, from the outside world is to pass through a time warp — one that brings you straight back to medieval times.
The people are contemporary enough, but the static visual cues send a different message to the brain. Along ancient streets and in front of deeply weathered buildings, open-air markets sell their wares. Strung overhead from rough twine, fresh garlic cloves and wickered Chianti bottles bob in the breeze. It's clear the city's infrastructure has changed little since it was first erected.
The day I walked into the walled city, I could sense the excitement building around me as fellow pilgrims looked for the black-and-white striped tower of the famed Duomo of Santa Maria dell'Assunta. Others wondered aloud how to find the incorrupt head of St. Catherine of Siena. (It's in St. Dominic's Church.) But for me, it was the Basilica of St. Francis that beckoned most urgently.
The basilica stands in striking contrast to the duomo (cathedral). Where the duomo and its square are constantly crowded, the basilica is practically empty much of the time. This is especially noticeable because the basilica is so massive in size. I walked in to find myself one of just two other pilgrims and one friar, the latter sitting by the Blessed Sacrament.
One of the first things I noticed was how the sunshine streaming in through the stained-glass windows bathed the lateral side chapels winging the main altar in colors. I knew instantly that, once I settled in, I would not want to leave.
Soon the sounds of Benediction in a chapel opposite the main altar, to the right, drew me there. Bells rang, people gathered and an organist played a hymn of Eucharistic adoration. The Italians sang heartily as the priest raised an elaborate monstrance displaying the Blessed Sacrament.
Miracle Particles
On Aug. 14, 1730, the people of Siena gathered in the duomo for the Assumption Mass, leaving the basilica deserted. The next morning, during Mass in the basilica, the priest realized the lock of the basil-ica's tabernacle had been picked — and the ciborium was gone. Later that day, someone found the ciborium's lid in the street. Immediately the theft was considered a sacrilege. Aghast, the townsfolk canceled the Assumption festival. The archbishop ordered reparation prayers in public. Police searched for the stolen hosts.
Two days later, on the morning of Aug. 17, a cleric noticed something white protruding from a poor box in St. Mary's Church of Provenzano. The poor box usually went unnoticed because it was only cleaned once a year. The head friar sent for the archbishop, who dispatched someone to help the friars open the box. They discovered a great many hosts inside, some even hanging from cobwebs. The hosts were terribly dirty and covered with dust.
The priests cleaned them gently and examined them alongside unconsecrated hosts from St. Francis. Those found had the same shape and marking. They amounted to the same number that had gone missing: 348 whole hosts and six halves. A miracle!
The archbishop returned the hosts to St. Francis the next day, leading the people in procession along the specially decorated streets of Siena. The sacred particles were carried under a canopy preceded by scores of torches and pendants.
The news spread through the country quickly, and groups began arriving to pray before the hosts. Instead of being given out in Communion or consumed by a priest at Mass, they were kept for veneration. The friars decided to let them deteriorate according to natural processes and, of course, God's will. As long as they remained, the Real Presence of Christ remained.
Yet the hosts never did deteriorate. In fact, even after 50 years, they had a pleasing aroma. On April 14, 1780, Father Carlo Vipera, the Conventual Franciscan minister-general, tasted a host. It was still fresh. Though the original decision had been to not distribute them as Communion, some had been, reducing their number to 230. After recounting, Father Vipera placed the hosts in a different ciborium and forbade their distribution.
Nine years later, the archbishop opened another investigation with a group of dignitaries and theologians. They examined the hosts through a microscope — and found them completely intact. During their questioning by the archbishop, three friars from the 1780 investigation took an oath declaring these hosts were indeed those stolen in 1730.
As an experiment, the archbishop sealed some unconsecrated hosts in a box and kept it safely in the chancery for 10 years. After that period, he reopened the box. Sure enough, the hosts had greatly deteriorated. This ruled out the possibility of some atmospheric anomaly accounting for the supernatural preservation.
In 1914, a group of theologians, scientists and scholars formed a special commission at the request of Siena's archbishop — acting under the authority of Pope St. Pius X — to conduct a highly scientific investigation. University of Siena professor Siro Grimaldi wrote a book on this experience, A Scientific Adorer. An acid and starch test on one host fragment indicated a normal starch content for all the sacred particles. After more testing came the verdict: The hosts had been made of roughly sifted wheat flour, which was found to be well preserved.
The commission stated that, based on its analysis, unleavened bread made in sterile conditions and kept in airtight containers could be preserved for a long while. But unleavened bread made and kept in ordinary conditions would not keep for more than four or five years. The 1730 hosts had been made and kept under ordinary conditions.
Sacred Siena
In 1950, the sacred particles were placed in an ornate receptacle after being examined by experts and officials. The results equaled other examinations, but some of the hosts crumbled due to the tasting. The remaining number was 223.
Perhaps inspired by the original mischief-makers, another thief stole the precious container on Aug. 5, 1951. He tossed the hosts out near the tabernacle. This time, after cleaning them, the archbishop sealed the hosts in a silver ciborium. On June 10, 1952, the sacred particles were recounted before witnesses and photographed. A new monstrance was made.
Through the years, many saints and other holy souls have prayed before Siena's sacred particles. The miracle played a part in the conversion of Danish Lutheran writer Johannes Joergensen, who called them one of the greatest miracles on earth. Other visitors included St. John Bosco, Blessed Savina Petrelli, Giovanni Montini (who later became Pope Paul VI) and Angela Maria Roncalli (who became Blessed Pope John XXIII). Popes Pius X, Benedict XV and Pius XI all recognized the miracle, although they never visited the basilica.
Perhaps the most renowned pilgrim was Pope John Paul II. On Sept. 14, 1980, the priceless monstrance was brought to the duomo, where the Holy Father knelt before the hosts. His only words summed up the miracle: “This is the Presence!”
As my own visit concluded, the priest blessed us with the sacred particles. I reflected how much the world has changed since 1980, let alone 1730 — yet how unchanging is Jesus’ Eucharistic Presence in this walled medieval town.
Mary Soltis writes from Parma, Ohio.
----- EXCERPT: The sacred particles of St. Francis Basilica, Siena, Italy ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mary Soltis ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: I'm a Person, Not a Product DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:Chances are I'll forget a lot of things as the years go by — but my Social Security number will always be at the tip of my tongue.
Those nine numerals were etched deep into my memory when I was in college. They made up my student ID number. Exam results were posted only with this number. In this way, a person's identity was protected from grade snoopers and other mischief-makers.
It's a good thing I committed my government-assigned number to memory, for now I'm being asked to rattle it off more than ever (well, the last four digits, at least). Financial and other institutions use it to verify customers’ identity before giving out confidential information.
And it seems the world has turned upside-down from my college days: By sharing your Social Security number, you do the exact opposite of protecting yourself. You open yourself up to becoming the next victim of the crime known as identity theft.
The Federal Trade Commission (www.consumer.gov/idtheft) says your identity has been stolen when someone claiming to be you — using your Social Security number, credit-card number or other identifying information — makes purchases, opens new lines of credit or commits other kinds of fraud.
The FTC says people whose identities have been stolen can spend exorbitant amounts of time and money trying to clean up the mess thieves have made of their good name and credit record. The victim might lose job opportunities and be refused loans, education, housing or cars. They might even get arrested. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center (idtheftcenter.org), an estimated 7 million American consumers became victims of identity theft in 2002 alone.
Applied Digital Solutions Co. (adsx.com) is pushing a new product for protecting one's identity — VeriChip. A miniaturized radio-frequency identification device about the size of the point of a ballpoint pen, it's implanted under the skin. When an external scanner sends energy through the skin, the dormant VeriChip is energized. The chip emits a signal containing the verification number. This number is displayed on the scanner and sent to a secure data-storage site through the Internet or by telephone. Whatever information is stored under that number, such as the identity of the number-holder, is transmitted.
If you think this sounds like science fiction, you're not alone. Yet eight states already have local authorized VeriChip centers. Normally the chip is installed by a physician in the fleshy part of the upper arm. With a pre-assembled chip inserter, “there is very little discomfort — less than getting a shot,” according to Applied Digital Solutions’ product literature. The company is promoting its VeriChip as “a universal means of identification.”
Wal-Mart has mandated that its top 100 suppliers have all their cases and pallets “chipped” by Jan. 1, 2005, using this technology. But it might take as long as 10 years for radio-frequency identification device tags to become inexpensive enough to put on individual items in stores. The latter would mean bar codes would cease to exist. No more scanning individual items. All the items in your shopping cart would transmit by radio what they are and how much they cost.
Already some people have voiced concerns about privacy. Couldn't someone employ the same scanner out in the parking lot to track what people are buying as they come out of the store? This issue has already been answered by making the radio-frequency identification devices work only once.
The reason I mention Wal-Mart is that it seems to me radio-frequency identification device tagging of people is like bar-coding people — treating them like “things” instead of people. And it really doesn't solve identity theft.
First, if a device can be implanted, it can also be removed. Personally, I would rather have a credit card stolen than a chip cut out of my arm! Second, this identification number is not secure. People who scan it will see it.
And what about the possibility of this same technology being turned against the radio-frequency identification device wearer? For example, if you can be tagged, can't you also be tracked?
Now, to be fair, there are some good uses for this technology. For example, people with known health conditions might stand to benefit by bearing an embedded chip that contains critical, life-saving information should they lose consciousness.
However, the idea of everyone being tagged with this technology sounds like an Orwellian “big brother” situation come to life. It would be like someone was always watching you.
I'll stick with identity cards, credit cards and cash — at least they won't stick to me!
Brother John Raymond, co-founder of the Monks of Adoration, writes from Venice, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: Do we really need implanted bar codes to protect us from identity theft? ----- EXTENDED BODY: Brother John Raymond ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Monthly Web Picks DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:Having just attended a seminar on end-of-life issues, I found it interesting to note that the Hemlock Society has changed its name to “End-of-Life Choices.” As this suicide-advocate group is very active in my home state of Florida, I was inspired to surf the Web for sites that promote life until its natural conclusion.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has some interesting information on euthanasia at usccb.org/prolife/issues/euthanas /index.htm.
The Florida Catholic Conference has put together a Web page titled “End-of-Life Decisions” at flacathconf.org/Issuesinfo/ Endoflife/End-of-LifeIndex.htm. It's a good resource for pastors, health care ministers, caregivers and other interested parties.
An eye-opening site put together by the National Right to Life Committee, euthanasia.com contains tons of helpful information.
The International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide at internationaltaskforce.org addresses these issues as well as disability rights, pain control and much more.
Citizens United Resisting Euthanasia at cureltd.home.netcom.com is America's oldest network solely devoted to combating euthanasia.
Physicians for Compassionate Care at www.pccef.org affirms an ethic based on the principle that all human life is inherently valuable and that the physician's roles are to heal illness, alleviate suffering and provide comfort for the sick and dying.
Many more links on this issue can be found in my online euthanasia directory category at www. monksofadoration.org/euthanasc.html.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Brother John Raymond ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video/DVD Picks DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:The Road Home (2001) There's a scene in Zhang Yimou's luminous, poetic, exquisitely restrained love story in which the strong-willed young heroine (Crouching Tiger's Zhang Ziyi) makes a desperate cross-country dash after a departing wagon on a winding rural road, carrying an earthenware bowl of dumplings.
The dumplings were made for the handsome young teacher she hopes to marry — but he, of course, has left without them. Her only hope is to catch up with the wagon by heading it off at the next pass — or the one after that.
The film knows that, to a young girl hopelessly in love, this race is no grandly romantic gesture.
It's a matter of desperate necessity. She must, must catch the wagon; he must have the dumplings. Her future happiness depends upon it. All is lost if she fails.
The Road Home is about love acutely desired in youth and fiercely remembered in old age.
In between are 40 years of marriage, but we never see the couple together. We first meet the heroine as a widow making plans for her husband's funeral, insisting with characteristic single-mindedness on the traditional hand-carrying of the casket. Then we revisit their unconventional courtship in a lengthy flashback narrated by the couple's adult son. Delicately simple and emotionally satisfying.
Content advisory: References to traditional Chinese practices and beliefs. In Chinese with subtitles.
Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) There are better love stories, but Cyrano de Bergerac is arguably the greatest celebration of the romantic spirit. It's perfect St. Valentine's Day fare, for Cyrano himself is the ultimate hopeless romantic — romantic for his idealistic principles and irrepressible panache but hopeless, alas, because of the unfortunate nose that he is sure forever disqualifies him as the romantic lead.
Despite numerous cinematic adaptations (including Steve Martin's cute romantic-comedy update Roxanne) the definitive Cyrano is probably Jean-Paul Rappeneau's boisterous, full-blooded film, with France's greatest actor, Gerard Depardieu, making the part forever his own.
With his ample girth and power-house performance, Depardieu dominates every scene, credibly taking on scores of adversaries at once while delivering Cyrano author Edmond Ralston's iambic pentameter (nicely rendered into rhyming English subtitles by Anthony Burgess). He's all three musketeers rolled into one; he can improvise satiric verse while dueling yet becomes tongue-tied in the presence of his beautiful distant cousin Roxane (Anne Brochet), his ideal muse.
Then, when Roxane confesses to him her infatuation with a handsome but shallow young cadet (Vincent Perez), Cyrano shows his love the only way he can.
With a balcony scene reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet juxtaposed with battle scenes that would seem more at home in a production of Richard III, Cyrano is a saga only a Frenchman could have written.
Content advisory: Swashbuckling violence and battle scenes; romantic complications. In Italian with subtitles.
Holiday (1938) Why is The Philadelphia Story so well known while the equally unforgettable Holiday, from the same director, writers and leads, suffers comparative neglect?
Both are romantic comedies — or comedic romances? — starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, directed by George Cukor and written by Donald Ogden Stewart from Philip Barry stage plays. With their light comic touch, romantic complications and class consciousness, both films superficially resemble screwball comedy, yet neither is quite screwball.
The lack of bizarre situations and outlandish behavior, the nuanced, sympathetic characterizations and the rich, resonant dialogue all set them apart from screwball classics such as Bringing Up Baby or My Man Godfrey.
Where Philadelphia Story is more satiric, Holiday is more compassionate and bittersweet. Its premise — working-class man falls in love with society heiress — might be familiar, but the film eschews such plot mechanics as comic misunderstandings and elaborate deceptions.
The story begins with Johnny Case (Grant) discovering the truth about the Seton family fortune, and it never looks back.
Even when Johnny's intended insists that he wear a borrowed tie to meet her father and Daddy recognizes the tie, there's no attempted cover-up — just a cheerful admission of the truth. (Even The Philadelphia Story had its “Uncle Willy” piffle.)
Dialogue and characterizations are note-perfect, and the story never missteps. This is one of the great ones.
Content advisory: Romantic complications; semi-comic inebriation.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:All times Eastern
SUNDAY, FEB. 8
America's Top Dog
A & E, 8 p.m., 10 p.m.
This two-hour special features competitions for family pets and all sorts of dogs. Grading canine contestants’ intelligence, appearance and talent, the judges’ panel includes an animal-behavior specialist and a dog psychologist.
MONDAY, FEB. 9
New Season Preview
EWTN, 2:30 p.m.
Doug Keck introduces EWTN's new schedule of shows for the spring, interviewing the program hosts and presenting special guests. Re-airs Tuesday at 11 a.m. and 11:30 p.m., Thursday at 3:30 a.m. and Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
MONDAY, FEB. 9
Roman War Machine
History Channel, 8 a.m., 2 p.m.
In four hour-long segments, this documentar y traces ancient Rome's rise from city to empire, focusing on battles with neighbors, internal factions, barbarian tribes and nations throughout Europe and the Mediterranean world.
TUESDAY, FEB. 10
Nova: Descent Into the Ice
PBS, 8 p.m.
They call them “glacionauts” — brave souls otherwise known as glacier-hazard specialists. Risking their lives, two experts search the ice caves inside France's Mont Blanc for concealed lakes that could endanger the populated areas below the famed mountain. One such lake burst without warning in 1892 and killed 200 people.
TUESDAYS
Innovation
PBS, 9 p.m.
Airing on most Tuesdays into May, this new series focuses on cutting-edge technology, competition and politics. Tonight's debut episode, “Building to Extremes,” shows how new construction materials are fueling mankind's impulse to build ever-taller structures. Two future topics: Medical advances such as neural implants for sight and osseointegration for bone problems, and the history and current status of technology for spying.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 11
Tunneling Under the Alps
Discovery Channel, 10 p.m.
Hannibal and his Carthaginian army and elephants went over the Alps to attack the Romans, but modern man is going under them to build roads and speed up commerce.
FRIDAY, FEB. 13
The Man Who Wagged His Tail
Familyland TV, 8 p.m.
Released in the United States in 1961, this Italian-Spanish film fantasy from 1957 stars Peter Ustinov as a nasty slumlord who learns his lesson when he gets turned into a dog. Also stars Silvia Marco. For information on Family-land TV, visit www.familyland.org.
SATURDAY, FEB. 14
Cartoon Valentines
ABC, 8 p.m.
On the feast of St. Valentine, enjoy these animation treats. In A Charlie Brown Valentine at 8 p.m., “the round-headed kid” asks a little girl to dance. In Winnie the Pooh, A Valentine for You at 8:30 p.m., Christopher Robin makes a Valentine.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dan Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Theology on Tap Caters to a Casual Crowd DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:COLUMBUS, Ga. — As day faded to night, bringing a wintry chill to the air, a group of college students and other curiosity seekers entered the back banquet room of Longhorn Steakhouse.
Caps and jackets came off.
Happy chatter eventually filled the room. Some ordered drinks.
A few of the 20 or so people mingling around tables talked of upcoming exams.
You might not think of a restaurant/bar as a makeshift church, but on this night it was. Eating, drinking and idle chatter gave way to a priest's theological presentation.
A Catholic group that began in Chicago, called Theology on Tap, is making its way around the country.
As the name suggests, the evenings mix theology with food and beverage.
In Columbus, the group started in the fall as an extension of the Newman Society at Columbus State University. The Newman Society started last January, after a hiatus at CSU of at least a decade. Newman societies, named for the 19th-century English theologian Cardinal John Henry Newman, provide Catholic campus ministry at secular universities. Anne Xuereb, 27, a CSU senior who graduates this month, got the Newman group going, and then Theology on Tap. After she gave a Victorian literature class presentation last year that dealt with Catholicism, several students approached who were interested in the religion. Eventually she got the campus fellowship going, with the help of friends. She sensed a need, not only for herself but for other young Catholics.
“There really is a distinction between what you learn as a kid at church and what you need to know as an adult,” said Xuereb, a member of St. Anne Catholic Church in Columbus. “So many things we have to take on faith, but there are reasons behind it.” Xuereb and her Catholic friends, in a minority in the Protestant-heavy South, feel a need to know answers to theological questions coming from non-Catholics.
Two myths, they say, are that Catholics aren't Christians and that they worship Mary.
“Theology on Tap brings people together who are interested in the same things,” Xuereb said, “and it is already of service to the community.”
Not everyone who attends Theology on Tap is a student.
Two at a recent meeting were Andrew Meeks and Janna Morris-Meeks, married for a little over a year.
Both are Columbus natives, attended separate high schools here and graduated from the same college, Berry College in Rome, last year. Then they got married. Janna converted to Catholicism as a teenager.
Andrew is in the process of joining the Church, attending the prerequisite Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults classes.
“I spent a lot of time questioning and searching,” Janna Morris-Meeks said. “I know now this is what I believe.”
The couple say they enjoy the theology group because they don't know a lot of people their age in Columbus.
Theology on Tap has multiple aims, according to its leaders:
• To educate non-Catholics about the faith and to clear up what they believe are misconceptions about Catholicism — one myth, they say, is that Catholics worship the Virgin Mary.
• To bring back those Catholics who have strayed from the Church.
• To keep college-age Catholics, who statistically are most prone of all age groups to ditch their faith, active in the Church.
“It's a casual atmosphere, allowing people to meet in a comfortable setting,” said the Rev. Mike Ingram, parochial vicar of St. Anne who has helped lead discussions at the sessions so far. Other priests in the Columbus area also participate. The kick-off meeting was on the sacrament of reconciliation, where the questions included “Why is a priest needed for confession?”
The second meeting dealt with theology surrounding the Virgin Mary.
The restaurant-pub setting is intentional.
“We don't push drinking, no. But we don't condemn those who choose to drink,” Ingram said. (As in any place selling alcohol, of course, the drinking age is 21.)
The point is to bring the Church out of its walls, he said, and into a place frequented by college students and other young adults. “We're not looking to form a branch of St. Anne at Longhorn (Steakhouse),” he quipped.
Not all of the attendees are Catholic, either.
“You learn things. It's interesting. Now I understand what they're saying,” said Amber Brookins, 21, also a CSU senior, who doesn't claim any particular faith but has gone to both the Newman gatherings and to Theology on Tap.
Another participant is Tabitha Hyatt, 21. A CSU student, she is relatively new to Catholicism and brought along her roommate, 20-year-old Sarah Balak, to a recent event.
“For people not familiar with the Mass, this gently introduces you into the Church,” said Hyatt, raised in the Baptist tradition. “The first time I went to a Catholic Church was an interesting experience.”
The entire evening lasts about 90 minutes. After a social period and placing food and drink orders, participants listen to a priest address the evening's topic.
The priest also fields questions — an activity obviously not appropriate during a regular Mass.
“I've been Catholic since birth,” said Molly Touchton, 22, a CSU senior. “I just want to know more.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Allison Kennedy ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: A Splendidly Familial Vision DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:THE SPLENDOR OF LOVE:
JOHN PAUL II's VISION
FOR MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
by Walter J. Schu, LC
New Hope Publications, 2003
382 pages, $19.95
To order: (888) 881-0729
www.circlepressusa.com
In a series of Wednesday general audiences during the early years of his pontificate, Pope John Paul II presented an inspired and far-reaching instruction on the nature and mystery of marital love. The compilation of these talks has appropriately been referred to as the Pope's “theology of the body.” These insights, together with John Paul's studies of the philosophy of personalism, have been the catalyst for much new Catholic study on the topic of human sexuality — the fruits of which are the premise for a well-researched book by Legionary of Christ Father Walter Schu.
The Splendor of Love is arguably as comprehensive a volume as exists for the laity on the subject of marriage and family. It examines Catholic teaching on matrimony and sexuality in depth and, perhaps as importantly, considers the prevalent trends in society and the cultural climate that is the basis for the shift from long-held Judeo-Christian morality in the area of sexual ethics. Father Schu is at once philosophical and factual, penetrating the richness of the tenets of our faith as well as offering data and cogent analysis of the myths society holds in contrast.
Throughout the 20th century, popes sought to clarify and emphasize the Catholic understanding of marriage and sexuality. Notable among their documents are Pope Pius XI's encyclical Casti Connubii (On Chastity in Marriage), which refuted the 1930 Lambeth (Anglican) Conference's sanctioning of artificial contraception; Pope Paul VI's 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life) on the unitive and life-giving dimensions of marital love; and John Paul's 1981 apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio (The role of the family in the modern world) on the Christian view of family and his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life) on the sanctity of human life. These and many other works contribute to the foundation of Father Schu's presentation.
What distinguishes the book as a definitive reference, however, are the well-organized outline structure in which the topics are presented and the substantial number of references Father Schu offers. In addition to the Pope and great Catholics in history, such as Sts. Augustine and Aquinas, readers will come to know and appreciate the insights of such current Catholic minds as Janet Smith, John Kippley, Mary Shivanandan and Christopher West. Father Schu weaves these contemporary positions skillfully with classic seminal views to show both development and synergy of thought.
Needless to say, it's not light bedtime reading. Though divided into concise sections, the subject matter and Father Schu's writing style promote reflection — and deserve careful thought.
“The union between the spousal and the redemptive aspects of love, revealed by Christ, reflects the deepest meaning of the human body,” he writes. “As spousal, love is self-giving. The self-giving love that we are capable of achieving through our bodies helps redeem us and win the redemption of those we love. John Paul II affirms that the convergence between these two meanings of the body is fundamental for each person to understand his or her very reason for existing.”
The insights of John Paul on this subject are sufficiently profound that only in time will their value be fully assimilated. Yet their relevance for our age and cultural climate is unquestioned. And so is the value of Father Schu's book.
Peter Sonski is communications director at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception in Washington, D.C.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Peter Sonski ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:Vouchers Approved
Each student could receive up to $7,500 in grant money as part of the $14 million five-year, federally funded experimental voucher program, which President Bush is expected to sign into law.
The District's program differs from similar programs in Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin and Colorado, the paper noted, because it is the first to receive federal funding and will be headed by the U.S. Department of Education.
Stopping Abortion
THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE, Jan. 22 — Students at the Santa Paula, Calif., school have helped close a Family Planning Associates abor tion site in Ventura, Calif.
Students have prayed weekly and counseled outside the site for the last six years.
“I am very proud of our students,” said Norbertine Father Michael Perea, college chaplain, in a school press release. “They take a lot of initiative and they are a witness to the power of persistent, ‘knock-on-the-door’ prayer.”
Angela Baird, a student at the college, launched the initiative only a few months before she died in a hiking accident. The press release noted that the closing of the site came on the six-year anniversary of her death.
GOP Students
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Jan. 21 — University of Colorado's Republican students have decided to fight what they call liberal indoctrination on their campus.
The school's College Republicans launched a Web site in mid-Januar y to gather complaints about left-leaning faculty members, according to the wire service, saying they want to document discrimination against conservative students.
The group is affiliated with Students for Academic Freedom, a national organization started by author David Horowitz.
Republican lawmakers in Colorado recently introduced a resolution calling for the defense of students’ First Amendment rights, the Associated Press noted, including expression “based solely on viewpoint.”
Pharmacy Program
A pre-pharmacy program is scheduled to begin next fall with the pharmacy school to open in 2006.
The Sisters of Charity-run college had been exploring the possibility of opening the school for years but was only recently able to go forward after it received a $600,000 grant from the George W. Brackenridge Foundation.
Helping the Unborn
Colleges Helping Innocent Lives Develop seeks to advocate on behalf of pregnant women and draw attention to the abortion issue.
The paper attributed renewed pro-life vigor in the area to former La Crosse Bishop Raymond Burke, who asked Catholic politicians who vote in favor of abortion to refrain from receiving Communion.
According to one local pro-life leader, the action gave people a greater sense of personal responsibility for getting involved in the debate.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: The Paradox of Priorities DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:Family Matters
What is the most common problem you see in counseling or consulting these days?
Whether a person comes in for counseling on personal issues or consulting on business matters, one problem nearly always comes up: There is not enough time to do what has to be done. Time is rarely presented as the main concern, but it's a contributing factor in just about every quandary — and opportunity — people find themselves facing.
Time is our most precious resource. On a retreat a few years ago, the priest said we should confess wasting time when we're guilty of it. At first I thought that was a bit much. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized how precious a gift from God time really is. If we waste it, we waste chances to grow in formation, recreation, enjoyment and accomplishing the things God wants us to do. Lost time cannot be replaced. Everything we do takes time — including doing “nothing” — so how can we justify wasting it when there are so many important things to do?
There is plenty of literature on time management. If you study Earl Nightingale, Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracey (my favorite), Stephen Covey, Jim Rohn or the Catholic author David Durand, you'll see that they solve the problem of time management by attaining a sense of direction and setting firm priorities. (By the way: If you are stuck in traffic a lot, listening to recordings by these guys is a good use of time.) Once we discover the priorities in our life and set goals to bring those priorities to fruition, then our time gets purposeful and directed. We use our time for the most important things. Time then brings us nearer to our goals.
Spending time on priorities yields fulfillment and order in our lives. Disorder is often propelled by spending too much time on inessentials and thereby ignoring the more important issues. If a person spends so much time playing golf that the higher priorities — faith, family, work, relationships — all go sorely neglected, then he is living in conflict with his priorities. He will suffer the consequences.
Many time managers just encourage clients to order their priorities however they see fit. But the Catholic perspective, always suspicious of relativism, cautions us to look carefully at our priorities to be sure we have it right. Our priorities are the way we live our fundamental purpose in life. A suggested list of priorities in order might be building and maintaining strong relationships with, in this order, Christ, our spouse and our children.
Just below that top tier, you might place living out your commitment to integrity, building your career, keeping your finances in order, maintaining your health, nurturing friendships and participating in civic improvements. This is where a strong prayer life and spiritual direction are needed. Ask God what are the most important things he's calling you to and how he wants you to address them. Then break out a pad of yellow paper. Go somewhere where you won't be interrupted. Write down the most important priorities of your life. Then circle the top 10 and rank order them.
These are the areas where you want to spend the bulk of your time. Show the list to your spouse and spiritual director, and get their input. Then put your time into those most important things. Doing what we feel like or prefer instead of what's the most important is what gets us into trouble and raises anxiety and, often, despair.
The paradoxical thing about priorities is that, when we have them in the right order and live accordingly, we often have more time. You need not worry about your kids if you put Christ and your spouse as more important. Your love for Christ and your spouse will make you a better parent. Yet more proof that God works in mysterious ways!
Art Bennett is director of Alpha Omega Clinic and Consultation Services in Vienna, Virginia, and Bethesda, Maryland.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Art Bennett ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Helping Families Honor Chastity DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:Prolife Profile
“When Vickie was 5, I didn't see why I should get involved. I was talked into it. But when she got to be 18, I saw the Holy Spirit guiding my family in the effects our involvement had. I discovered a lot of wisdom.”
So says Teresa Shelley of Columbia, S.C., when asked about Family Honor, a life-affirming apostolate founded in 1987 and based in her hometown. It took a while, but eventually Shelley's reluctance metamorphosed into full-blown fervor: Today she's an assistant program director with the organization.
It turns out a notable conversion experience is common among people — parents and children alike — who take part in the family-oriented chastity program.
“Family Honor provides the opportunity for parents and their sons and daughters to come together to learn about life issues with the special emphasis on God's gift of sexuality and the virtue of chastity,” explains executive director Brenda Cerkez. “There's a hunger around the country for good information presented in a positive, hopeful way with regard to Catholic teaching on sexuality.”
The basis for Family Honor is none other than the teachings of Pope John Paul II. His theology of the body is the guiding principle and foundation on which the organization is built, Cerkez says.
It's common, she says, for parents to approach her after presentations and say: If only this kind of program had been available when I was growing up. “They come because they want something better for their children,” she says.
“The teaching validates parents who want to hold to authentic Catholic teaching,” reports Matt Hitpas of St. Ann Church in Gulf Breeze, Fla. “They want this for their children but may not know how to explain it. Family Honor shows them.”
“I'm delighted to have discovered it here in South Carolina,” says Charleston Bishop Robert Baker. “I support them wholeheartedly. I strongly encourage their program as being on the cutting edge of sexual education for our adolescents. They're au courant with the latest Catholic teachings and the Holy Father's teaching on human sexuality.”
Bishop Baker points out the key to the program's success: parental involvement. Mothers and fathers are “the primary educators of their children in Christian formation and of the values surrounding human sexuality,” he says. “It starts in the home, and the Catholic Church acknowledges it. Family Honor puts that role into practice.”
In fact, one of the program's prime principles is that parents — preferably both, but at least one — must attend with their child. “The most lasting effects happen when parents engage their children in conversation on chastity and related topics. Why? Because they know their children best,” Cerkez says. “We are the battery chargers. We provide the spark to re-establish that parent-child connectedness.”
Hitpas says Family Honor is the best program of its kind he and his wife, Debra, have worked with.
“What's better than to bring the whole family in and have them learn together what the Church teaches and why it's a beautiful way to walk?” he says. “Family-centered chastity education is the only way you're going to get lasting results.”
Family Honor gears its programs for accessibility by kids from sixth grade through high school. They're presented by prayerful, trained teams of adult and teen teachers.
Sessions on the theology of the body, fertility, love and discipline in the family, peer pressure, effective family communication, self-worth and virtue are presented in age-appropriate, modest ways; boys are taught separately from girls.
Vickie Shelley recalls the impact the teen presenter had on her when she was in sixth grade. “I remember looking at her and saying, ‘That's the kind of person I want to be,’” she recalls. “I was really inspired that night.”
Vickie became a teen presenter herself. She describes how she came to see the importance of reaching out to the parents as well as the kids. They may have doubts about how their kids are going to turn out, so “we're there as examples as well as instructors. Our presence shows it's possible for their kids to grow up chaste.”
Abstinence before marriage is vital, she adds, but chastity is more than that.
“It's how you present yourself as a person,” she says. “I love to talk to girls about chastity, especially to develop all aspects of themselves — spiritual, physical, intellectual, creative, emotional.”
In Charleston, three of Thomas and Karen Provost's seven children have attended Family Honor presentations, and their son Peter and daughter Clare are now teen presenters. Karen sees great value in the role-model aspect of the program.
“When they can see other families striving for the same virtues and values and not embracing the values of our culture, kids know they're not alone,” she says.
Family Honor opens routes of family dialogue.
“It's a great program for getting the connection between parent and child going, or if it's going, improving it,” notes Father James Leblanc, pastor of St. Mary Help of Christians Church in Aiken, S.C. With that as a starting point, “the parents and children can discuss the very important matter of chastity.”
He also remarks on how impressed he is that the program organizers have made the theology of the body accessible to kids.
Meanwhile Thomas Provost describes how satisfied he felt when the mother of a high-school tennis player thanked him for the work of Family Honor. Driving to a tournament, the normally quiet son unexpectedly expressed his surprise at how small babies are.
“That opened the conversation on the subject for mother and son,” Provost says. “They had the opportunity to talk because of Family Honor. He was able to lead into it.”
Sometimes results can be immediate and dramatic, as the Shelleys witnessed.
Hitpas tells the story. Friends brought their 14-year-old niece, Faren Nichols to a Family Honor program in their parish church of St. Ann, whom they were raising after the girl lost her parents. She wasn't baptized but taking lessons. Faren was so transformed at the end of the program that she asked Matt and his wife to be her godparents and requested to be baptized right away. The priest agreed.
In the long run, “the fruit of this work is going to come to light over the years,” Provost says, “as it lays the foundation for really healthy marriages and how its [graduates] are going to raise their kids.”
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Are Parents Pushovers? DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:Facts of Life
The vast majority of mothers surveyed by Parents magazine — 88% — say they think parents let children get away with too much today. Four out of 10 wish they were stricter than they currently are. And 42% say they don't follow through on threats because they “get worn down.”
Source: The Wichita Eagle, Jan. 8 Register illustration by Tim Rauch
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: My Holy Valentine DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:For many single Catholics today, the approach of St. Valentine's Day (Feb. 14) means getting ready to dodge a hail of arrows fired by more secular cupids than you can shake a heart-shaped box at.
The onslaught comes in the form of myriad signals sent by the popular culture — via greeting cards, advertisements, supermarket displays and so on — hammering home the idea that the end goal of dating is to “hook up” with “someone special.” The exact meaning of those sorts of terms is left to the parties involved to define.
Catholic observers agree that singles who buy into this ethos, especially the ones who'd like to marry one day, usually find frustration and misery at some point along the long walk on that proverbial beach.
“As goes the courtship, so goes the marriage — and usually worse,” says Father Thomas Morrow, author of Christian Courtship in an Oversexed World: A Guide for Catholics (OSV Publishing, 2003). “The solution is to go back to a Christian approach to courtship. Men and women should be taking the biblical approach to heart.”
This, he says, begins with the principle that “man is the pursuer and he pursues the prize.” He points to the example in Genesis of Jacob's 14-year pursuit of Rachel.
Father Morrow's observation is that men today tend not to woo and pursue like they used to. When asked why, he reports, many men complain about women who aren't willing to give them the lead.
But that's not true of all young women, says Anastasia Northrop of Cheyenne, Wyo., the young founder of the Theology of the Body International Alliance (theologyofthebody.net).
“A woman wants to be pursued and desired in the best sense of the word,” she says, adding that a male acquaintance recently assured her that “pursuit is very important for us men.”
Author and speaker Mary Beth Bonacci, founder of Real Love Productions, says there's “something very natural” about this equation — “and that's not stereotyping. It's acknowledging our nature.”
Reversing male and female roles doesn't fit with the Christian conception of courtship, Father Morrow says. “It's ridiculous for a woman to ask for a man's phone number. If the man is fulfilling his role as the pursuer, he will do the asking.”
And by the way, men: You pay — for both the dinner and the movie. “If he doesn't pay, she's not being treated like a prize” he's truly trying to win, Father Morrow says.
Friendship First
That's not to say the man needs to instantly make up his mind whether or not she's the woman he wants for his wife. In fact, Father Morrow says, couples are wise to “friendship-date” for the first one to three months. In this getting-acquainted period, the couple speak to one another just once or twice a week.
Michael Patrick of Atlanta says an ideal way to do friendship-dating is to make it part of a group experience. Double-dating, or going out with even three or more couples, is perfect, he says, for seeing a person's social side. How do they treat others? How do they interact? This will all come out among friends.
Roy Thompson, also of Atlanta, sees another benefit to the friendship-first strategy: It isn't as difficult or agonizing to put the brakes on a relationship in this phase, if one side wants to discontinue meeting. “If you're dating in a platonic way, there's not a lot of emotional attachment,” he says.
What if the pursuer decides he would like to move things from friendship to courtship?
Writer and speaker David Sloan, founder of the God of Desire seminars and Web site, counsels men to make the transition carefully and prayerfully. The commitment to formal courtship, he says, should only come “after we've taken plenty of time to get to know the real truth of who the person is.”
“All our relationships must grow out of our relationship with God as our Father and we as his children,” Sloan adds. “All romantic relationship must grow out of our recognizing each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.”
He points to the groom of Song of Songs, who exclaims, “You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride” (4:9).
“We, too, must learn to love each other like brothers and sisters whose identity is based on being children of the living God,” Sloan says. “This is made deeper through friendship. Then we will be able to help one another grow closer to heaven at every step of our dating and courtship relationship.”
The different roles in courtship were written on our hearts but lost along the way, he continues. “We've got to recover the great glory and splendor of womanhood. Courtship and the beginning phase of dating is nothing other than man recognizing the glory of a woman and striving to earn her heart.”
For Northrop, a gesture such as opening a car door or carrying a bag is a beautiful way for a man to show he's attentive to a woman's needs and genuinely respects her — “as a brother in Christ and as a date, for sure.”
“Feminism got that all wrong,” thinking such actions imply that women are too weak to do anything for themselves, Bonacci says. The fact is, she says, “these little things say, ‘I honor you, I respect you, I put my strength at your service.’ I find that touching, beautiful, flattering.”
Nor should chivalrous behavior end when the wedding bells ring, all agree.
“The man must court the woman throughout the whole marriage,” Father Morrow says. “If he does, the man will always have a smile on his face. And the woman has to build him up, praise him, in the courtship and the marriage.”
Touch of Respect
One question that never fails to come up for dating Catholics: What is an appropriate level of touching?
According to Father Morrow, friendship-dating can include “a nice, warm hug because friends do that. They don't hold hands, but they do hug. There's something very non-exploitative about a friendly hug.”
Sloan speaks of what he calls the “snuggle zones” — and stresses that God must be invited in. “We have to be seeking the God of desire not only for ourselves but also for this person toward whom he has drawn us.”
That means praying in every aspect, “including when we're confronted with temptation,” he says. “Rules may be helpful, but prayer will protect us more profoundly than any set of rules when we experience temptation in our embraces.”
“The first thing to recognize is that God himself is the source of our attractions and desires for each other,” Sloan says. “Marriage may be the particular purpose of courtship, but it's not the ultimate purpose. The ultimate purpose is to be drawn closer to God and attain heaven through discovering both who God is and who we are as man and woman made in his image.”
“To me the bottom line of everything is respecting the other person,” Bonacci says. “These are human persons loved by God, not instruments for my own pleasure and satisfaction.”
Keep those words in mind, and you just might find the rest of your St. Valentine's Days worthy of the saint himself.
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 02/08/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 8-14, 2004 ----- BODY:Parliamentary Probity
BBC, Jan. 22 — Three Labor Party members of Parliament in Britain have decided to survey doctors about the link between abortion and breast cancer.
One of them, Claire Curtis-Thomas, referred to studies suggesting the link and stated that women have a right to know all the consequences before undergoing abortions.
Curtis-Thomas told the news service that 28 of 37 such studies carried out since the 1950s found an increased risk of cancer among women who had abortions.
“We want to see whether or not the U.K. experience either supports or refutes this evidence,” she said. “The risk as far as we are able to see is approximately double, and there are a huge number of young women choosing abortion in this country.”
Driving Unborn Aussies
The proposed change is part of a Department of Justice review paper on dangerous driving laws released Jan. 18.
Under current law, the death of an unborn baby in an auto accident is considered only an injury to the pregnant woman.
The Accidental Pro-Lifer
After the day's naming went into effect in Orlando, Fla., Jan. 18, Mayor Buddy Dyer said he did not remember signing the declaration last October. It only came to his attention, according to the paper, when fellow Democrats criticized him for recognizing a pro-life cause.
The mayor countered: The declaration wasn't necessarily meant to make a statement about abortion but only to commemorate the services of Orlando's First Life Center for Pregnancy, which is known for its strong pro-life stance.
Silent No More
“My name was ‘Gullible,’ and this is my story,” said one of 14 speakers who came to tell their stories about their abortions and why they ended up regretting their choice.
Women who at first saw the Roe v. Wade decision as a step forward, the newspaper said, are now part of a new movement to overturn it. They formed groups such as Silent No More, who led the march on the Colorado capitol, and are becoming common at the annual marches.
The women who spoke shared a host of problems associated with abortion, including infertility and suicide attempts.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: A New Kennedy? DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:BOSTON — Just as bishops start cracking down on the Catholic politicians whose votes protect abortion laws, a Catholic abortion-supporter has become one of the leading candidates for president.
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's victories in nearly all of the Democratic primaries in Arizona, Delaware, Missouri as of Feb. 9 placed him as the front-runner among the Democratic candidates vying to face off against President Bush in November.
In his 2003 book, A Call to Service: My Vision for a Better America, Kerry says he is a “believing and practicing Catholic, married to another believing and practicing Catholic.”
Yet Kerry supports all forms abortion, including partial-birth abortion. Six times, he was faced with legislation that would outlaw the procedure in which a doctor kills a baby with scissors as the baby is being born. Six times, he voted to keep the procedure legal. Kerry has promised that, if he becomes president, he will only appoint Supreme Court justices who support abortion.
“If you believe that choice is a constitutional right, and I do, and if you believe that Roe v. Wade is the embodiment of that right … I will not appoint a justice to the Supreme Court of the United States who will undo that right,” Kerry said in January while campaigning in New Hampshire.
NARAL Pro-Choice America has described Kerry as having a 100% pro-abortion voting record, and Kerry hired NARAL's vice president as his communications adviser.
Catholic pro-life leaders say Kerry should choose one or the other: abortion-support, or his faith. “Many men and women, in many races throughout the nation during Election 2004, claim to be Catholic and want to keep abortion legal,” said Father Frank Pavone, executive director of Priests for Life. “The two claims are as irreconcilable as claiming to be Catholic and not believing in God.”
Father Pavone pointed to the U.S. Catholic bishops’ 1998 document, “Living the Gospel of Life.”
“We at Priests for Life, and I personally, will not tire of repeating all year long what the bishops declared: ‘Catholic public officials who disregard Church teaching on the inviolability of the human person indirectly collude in the taking of innocent life. … No public official, especially one claiming to be a faithful and serious Catholic, can responsibly advocate for or actively support direct attacks on innocent human life.’”
Based on Kerry's record, John-Henry Westen, editor of LifeSiteNews.com, described the senator as “a textbook pro-abortion Catholic.”
Kerry has his Catholic supporters. It was widely reported that a majority of those voting for him in the New Hampshire primary were Catholic.
“We believe that we can make a positive impact if we address the conditions that cause women to consider abortions,” said Ono Ekeh, a small-business owner who has organized a Catholics for Kerry group online. “I believe if women's issues were addressed adequately, such as child care, economic empowerment, domestic violence, health care and the like, that would positively impact the percentage of abortions considered or performed.”
But Father Frank Pavone says that next to the right to life, other issues pale. “The fundamental human right is to life — from the moment of conception until death. It is the source of all other rights.”
Ekeh, of Waldorf, Md., also argued that “Kerry is consistent in keeping his personal faith separate from his public duties as a legislator. We have to remember that this is not the Catholic Republic of America.”
Frank Pavone quotes Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput in response to that argument. “John Kennedy promised a group of Protestant ministers that he would-n't let his Catholic faith interfere with his service as president if he got elected,” wrote Archbishop Chaput. “I think all Americans — not just Catholics — have been paying for that mistake for 40 years.”
Kerry describes his Catholicism as having three particular implications that bear upon his candidacy. In his book he describes them as: “Our obligation to love God with all our hearts, souls and minds and to love our neighbors as ourselves”; his commitment to “equal rights and social justice”; and the “constitutional principle of the separation of church and state.”
Princeton Professor Robert George argued in his recent Register interview that the Church/state principle doesn't keep a Catholic from following Church teaching. “There is no conflict between the two. Properly interpreted, there is nothing in the Constitution that a Catholic should reject.”
Speaking specifically of abortion, he said, “Those constitutional doctrines that are incompatible with Catholic faith have been manufactured by willful judges.”
Benedictine Father Matthew Habinger, director of Human Life International, said the faith actually helps a politician.
“A Catholic politician should have a keen sense of morality. He or she naturally looks to the Church for moral guidance. The Church is a universal teacher, and proclaims the truth about human dignity and human rights everywhere in the world. She only proposes the truth; she does not impose it. But when dealing with her own sons and daughters, she expects that basic moral truths are firmly grasped and that basic human values are respected.
“How can a Catholic vote for abortion, or slavery, or discrimination against any grouping of people? If all human life is sacred, then how can a Catholic politician turn against it at any stage?”
Bishops React
Kerry's position has also come under fire by U.S. bishops.
During Kerry's campaigning in Missouri, St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke said if Kerry were to present himself for Communion, he would deny him.
“I would have to admonish him not to present himself for Communion,” Archbishop Burke told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I might give him a blessing or something. If his archbishop has told him he should not present himself for Communion, he shouldn't. I agree with [Boston] Archbishop [Sean] O'Malley.”
“The archbishop has the right to deny Communion to whomever he wants, but Sen. Kerry respectfully disagrees with him on the issue of choice,” said Kim Molstre, a Kerry campaign spokeswoman.
Last summer, Archbishop O'Malley released a statement saying that a Catholic politician who supports abortion should not receive Communion. He did not, however, bar priests from giving it.
Late last month, Archbishop O'Malley told LifeSiteNews.com, “These politicians should know that if they're not voting correctly on these life issues than they shouldn't dare come to Communion.”
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: A Catholic Candidate From Massachussetts Who Puts Politics Before Faith ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS : News -------- TITLE: Do Catholic Textbooks Meet the Catechism Test? DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:INDIANAPOLIS — The task of bringing high-school catechetical texts into conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church is proving to be a daunting one for the group of U.S. bishops charged with reviewing the materials.
Although the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee to Oversee the Use of the Catechism has informed publishers of deficiencies in a number of textbooks and given them examples of how they might improve the books, the panel has encountered resistance from some quarters.
At the bishops’ meeting in Washington, D.C., last fall, Archbishop Alfred Hughes of New Orleans, who heads the committee, said a review of 25 high-school texts since mid-2001 had found most were deficient in key areas, yet many of these books are still being used widely throughout the country.
The weaknesses, he told the bishops, included descriptions of the Catholic Church in some texts as “one Church among many churches” and presenting doctrinal subjects with “tentative language,” making it seem as if Catholic doctrine is just one position among many rather than the truth.
Archbishop Hughes was not available for an interview with the Register, but Archbishop Daniel Buechlein of Indianapolis, the former head of the committee who serves as a consultant to the panel, characterized some of the textbooks he has seen as “pretty alarming.”
“What we have found failing in the high-school texts could easily be summarized as reflecting the 10 major deficiencies we had found in textbooks earlier at the elementary level,” Archbishop Buechlein said.
Msgr. Daniel Kutys, executive director of the bishops’ Office for the Catechism, said the key problem-areas include an ecclesiology that fails to clearly delineate the Catholic Church from other churches, an unbalanced Christology that focuses more on Christ as a human being than his divine nature and an avoidance of masculine names or pronouns for God to such a degree that it impacts Trinitarian theology. Some, for instance, do not call God “Father” or will talk about Jesus but not use “Lord.”
He said publishers have complained that some of the changes the bishops want are methodological, not doctrinal, but the ad hoc committee has said methodology can have doctrinal implications.
‘Clear Statement’
For example, Msgr. Kutys said, some writers and publishers want to present Catholic teachings by saying, “Catholics believe that …” Yet if high-school students are taught “Catholics believe abortion is wrong,” he said, there is nothing in the statement to say that what Catholics believe is the truth.
“We want the catechetical text to be a clear statement of what we believe without formulas that imply it is a matter of opinion,” he said. “It should be a clear statement of the truth of our faith.”
Even though publishers submit their texts to the ad hoc committee voluntarily, some couldn't or wouldn't make the recommended changes, Msgr. Kutys said.
“The bishops on the committee are a little bit frustrated,” he said. “They feel very comfortable [with materials] on the elementary level. A lot of those textbooks carry doctrinal conformity to the Catechism. They're a little frustrated that more high-school books didn't.”
Archbishop Hughes, he said, felt bound to let the bishops know that some of the nonconforming books are still on the market.
“Not all of them are horrible, but a lot still have these problems,” he said.
Msgr. Kutys said he is still hopeful publishers will cooperate and bring their texts into conformity.
Neither Archbishop Buechlein nor members of the committee have named publishers whose high-school texts are deficient, although the group has made available a list of those that are in conformity.
Among the high-school texts on the list are six published by Ave Maria Press; three by St. Mary's Press; two by the Midwest Theological Forum; and one each by the Apostolate for Family Consecration, C.R. Publications, Harcourt Religion Publishers, the Legionaries of Christ, Priory Press and Resources for Christian Living.
Ave Maria, for example, has been involved in a review of its materials from the outset under a plan it established to publish and obtain approval for one high-school text a year. Harcourt, on the other hand, concentrated first on getting its elementary texts in conformity and now is working on the secondary ones. Some smaller publishers were able to submit an entire series for approval.
Ave Maria's publisher, Frank Cunningham, said the Notre Dame, Ind., company started submitting materials for review in the late 1990s.
“We were at the point where we were starting a new round of high-school textbooks, so obviously it was something we wanted to do,” he said. “We wanted to make sure we could use the Catechism and relate our texts to it.”
Voluntary Process
Cunningham said because the process is voluntary, some publishers might have opted not to submit their texts.
“The only thing we could see was this would be a help to us,” he said.
Since Archbishop Hughes made his comments in November, Archbishop Buechlein said he has seen some movement toward conformity. He also is hopeful that an effort by the bishops’ Committee on Catechesis, which he chairs, to develop doctrinal curricular guidelines for high-school catechetics will help bring uniformity to what is being taught at the secondary-school level.
“It's a way for us to address the fundamental doctrinal needs that we see missing at the secondary level,” Archbishop Buechlein said.
The Indianapolis archbishop said he believes most bishops are insisting that the texts used in schools in their dioceses be ones that have been declared in conformity with the Catechism.
At the November meeting, two bishops suggested that the U.S. bishops publish their own high-school catechetical series.
“We're not saying we would not at this point,” Archbishop Buechlein said. “It depends on whether the publishers cooperate.”
He said in many cases it is not the publishers themselves who are resisting change but their writers.
“I don't know if they have difficulty finding writers,” he said, “or if the writers don't agree with what the bishops are saying.”
Judy Roberts writes from Millbury, Ohio.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Judy Roberts ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: South Dakota Hopes to Ban (Almost All) Abortion DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:PIERRE, S.D. — On the 31st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, South Dakota state Rep. Matt McCaulley, R-Sioux Falls, introduced a bill that could ultimately lead to a reversal of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision.
South Dakota House Bill 1191 would make abortion a class 5 felony, punishable by a $5,000 fine, five years in prison or both. The bill provides for exceptions to protect the life of the mother if birth or continued pregnancy constitutes a clear and immediate threat of death to the mother or serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.
First elected in November 2000, McCaulley is serving his second two-year term. A Baptist, he said the idea for the ban first came to him more than a year ago.
“It came from the frustration that it is 31 years after Roe v. Wade and here we are still talking about the same issues,” McCaulley said. “That decision was made by nine people 1,500 miles from South Dakota, not by elected officials in the state who are accountable to the public for their decisions and responsible for the moral direction of our society. Under the 10th Amendment, this is our decision. States get to decide if they want to protect unborn human life.”
McCaulley's move reflects the fact that the states have been a key battleground in the fight to protect unborn children's lives. While it took eight years to pass a federal partial-birth abortion ban, many states have enacted their own.
Michael New, a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard-MIT Data Center, found that state-level pro-life legislation had played an important role in the overall decline in abortions — and popular support for abortion — during the 1990s.
Americans United for Life has also recognized this trend. The pro-life law firm recently issued its first review of state policies and ranked states according to the efforts made to protect women and children. South Dakota was ranked ninth.
In writing the bill, McCaulley sought direction from leading pro-life organizations and medical and legal experts. A colleague encouraged him to contact the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Thomas More Law Center.
“They saw it as a unique opportunity to get involved in confronting the decision,” McCaulley said. “They've been critical in helping prepare the language.”
“There were some, even in the pro-life movement, who said this isn't the right time because of the makeup of the Supreme Court,” said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel for the Thomas More Law Center. “When is the right time? How many more millions of babies have to die before it's the right time? If the legislation is passed it would be at least two years before it would even go to the Supreme Court.”
In order to build support for the bill, McCaulley visited his legislative colleagues individually. He found them overwhelmingly supportive. Forty-seven of his House colleagues and 18 state senators agreed to co-sponsor the bill.
“My colleagues liked the concept of a full frontal attack on Roe v. Wade,” McCaulley said. “They support the idea that abortion is a moral issue to be decided by the state's elected officials.”
Against the ‘Mainstream’?
Not everyone, however, is pleased with the bill.
“Planned Parenthood opposes legislation that would ban abortion in South Dakota; it stands in stark contrast to the values of mainstream South Dakota because it provides no exception for victims of sexual assault and incest,” said Kate Looby, South Dakota state director for Planned Parenthood of Minnesota/South Dakota.
Planned Parenthood operates the state's only abortion business. In 2002, the business performed 815 abortions.
“That any business is making money by taking lives is appalling to me,” McCaulley said. “That's the only business that I want to put out of business. I see it as economic development.”
Looby also sees the legislation as an “irresponsible use of taxpayer dollars.”
“The authors and co-sponsors of the abortion-ban legislation know if their bill is passed and signed into law, it will be immediately challenged in court, and it will almost certainly lose,” she said. “It is in direct conflict with Roe v. Wade, and the South Dakota taxpayers would be forced to foot the legal bills, which could run into the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars.”
Thompson acknowledged the likely court battle that would ensue if the legislation were passed.
“Roe v. Wade was an exercise of raw judicial power not based on any reasonable interpretation of the constitutional text,” Thompson said. “The Roe decision carries the same moral implications as the Dred Scott decision that upheld slavery by regarding a segment of our population as nonpersons. The court was wrong then, and the court is wrong now. We have a moral responsibility to confront this lawless decision whenever the opportunity presents itself.”
McCaulley explained that the bill is meant to address the limitations of Roe v. Wade.
“Medical and scientific discoveries over the last 30 years have confirmed that life begins at conception, a question the Roe court said they could not answer,” McCaulley said. “I'm asking the Legislature to answer that question.”
“Our findings question some of the holdings in Roe v. Wade,” McCaulley added. “Ultimately, it should be overturned. If our law provides the basis for that, then so be it.”
The bill is not without precedent. South Dakota law already protects unborn children whose lives are terminated without the consent of the mother.
“Fetal homicide is a class B felony,” McCaulley explained. “This bill is extending that protection.”
A committee hearing on the bill took place Feb. 5. McCaulley expected a House vote on the bill Feb. 9 or 10. After that it would be sent to the Senate. Gov. Mike Rounds, a Catholic who opposes abortion, would not say if he would sign the measure, adding that he has not yet reviewed the legislation.
“The morality of the 1973 court has been imposed on the rest of us,” McCaulley said. “In our lifetime we will see the end of abortion. It's just a matter of us stepping up to the plate and doing what needs to be done.”
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: A Dream Team for City's Poor DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:MEDFORD, N.J. — A bathroom renovation for an elderly woman. Clothes and formula for a new mother. They are remarkable stories of how modern-day Catholics help others every day. But they were made possible by an event 12 years ago.
A simple food drive on Columbus Day weekend 1992 did more than feed the poor. From it, two local chapters of long-established Catholic organizations formed a long-lasting partnership in Medford, N.J.
Those organizations were the Knights of Columbus, which conducted the drive, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
“The relationship between the two organizations has just grown and grown” in the last 12 years, noted Warren Murray, a Knight of Columbus who was chairman of the original event. He said his St. Mary of the Lakes Council was responding to the Knights Supreme Council's call to hold a food drive that year to mark the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ landing in America.
The collection turned out to be the ticket to supplement the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners St. Vincent de Paul provided to 450 needy people that year. Since then, this annual “hunger harvest” collection hasn't stopped.
After last October's drive, “we had St. Vincent's literally bursting at the seams,” said the council's current Grand Knight, Jack Archible. “There was no room left in the pantry and the society had to actually store the food in trailers.”
The partnership in this town near Philadelphia quickly turned to year-round help, including the Knights delivering food to the needy throughout the year.
One family especially affected Murray. A hardworking father and mother had jobs but lost everything after an unscrupulous person duped them into believing they were buying a house instead of merely renting. Murray found them forced to live with their three children — two in high school and one severely handicapped — in a cheap hotel in a drug-infested area.
“Imagine five people living in a hotel room with curtains hanging across a rod for some privacy,” Murray said. On their own the Knights collected money from the council members to give the family extra financial help to pay their bills.
Murray's wife, Kay, a 15-year worker with St. Vincent de Paul, also stressed the benefit of deliveries to “those who are disabled, mentally challenged but [who] live alone.”
With the food they receive but couldn't otherwise afford, “these mentally challenged people get the opportunity to invite someone to their home for Thanksgiving or to bring food to a family member's home, which makes them feel good about themselves,” she said. “The help has a way of expanding itself.”
Wheels for Work
Simultaneously, the Knights-St. Vincent's partnership put cars donated to the society into running condition at nominal costs, then gave them to poor workers in dire need of one.
“To be able to give one of these poor families a car” makes an immeasurable impact, according to Archible. He was particularly happy for one woman who held down two jobs to support her three children but had to rely on buses.
“This car cut down three hours in traveling time each day for her,” Archible explained. The change it made in her family's life “was tremendous.”
For some, the car was the “only way they could keep their jobs,” said Joseph Becker, the Knight formerly in charge of the program. He explained other pressing needs the partnership addresses, such as refurbishing Holy Name Convent in Camden, N.J.
On one home visit, Becker discovered an 87-year-old woman who couldn't climb stairs to her second-floor bathroom. She could only reach a tiny, badly deteriorated first-floor powder room.
Last July, Knights put in a new downstairs bathroom “with a sit-down shower, new floor and ceiling,” Becker said.
Archible saw the bath project as “the perfect situation.”
“Here's an elderly woman who didn't have two cents to put together, but whatever she did have she sent to St. Vincent's on a monthly basis,” he said. “This woman has no other family. I don't know what she would have done without St. Vincent de Paul and the Knights working together.”
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Medford paid for the materials, according to its president, Nancy Sanson. Whatever the job, “you can count on” the Knights, she added. “If they say they'll do something, they will do it.”
Sandy Meyers is certainly grateful for the help. “It made a difference in my son's life,” she said. “We had nothing. The Knights helped me because I chose to have my son Brandon after doctors told me to consider aborting him. [The Knights] were always there for me when I decided to keep Brandon.” There was help with formula, food and other things for the baby.
The doctors were pressuring her to have an abortion because they thought something was wrong with the baby. Although under intense pressure, she wasn't leaning in that direction.
One night she woke up screaming because of a vivid dream in which she had had the abortion. And immediately after, she said, Jesus stepped out from behind a screen and said very clearly to her, “I want you to know you just killed a perfectly healthy child.” That moment Meyers solidified her decision to have the baby.
Meyers, who is not Catholic, said the Knights and St. Vincent de Paul group also helped her out spiritually.
“The guys coming with the diapers and formula were always kind and happy and didn't look down on me,” she said. “Everyone at St. Vincent's always prayed and let me know God was looking out for me, which I absolutely believed because I never would have succeeded as much as I have.”
Today, Meyers is back on her feet, with a good job and the sole support of her three children.
Religious affiliation is an issue that gives many in social-justice programs difficulty. The New York Times recently reported that the Salvation Army of Greater New York has begun an effort to get back to its religious mission.
The New York division's new leaders, the Times said, have reminded employees who deal with children that they must promise to follow the organization's religious mission in working with them. Much of the Army's work involves service to the poor, and the New York division receives $70 million in state and city funds for its programs.
The article pointed out that Catholic Charities and other religious organizations that receive public aid to carry out services to the needy said they do not require social-service employees to reveal religious affiliations or commit themselves to a religious mission.
Family to Family
The Knights-St. Vincent de Paul collaboration facilitates something that has always been a characteristic of Christian charity: families helping families.
All three of Archible's sons have collected and delivered food since 1993. “It's brought a lot of reality into their lives,” he noted. They saw that “not everybody has a hot meal, a clean house.”
His oldest, a dental student with little free time, continues to volunteer. “Even his girlfriend begged to get involved,” Archible said.
Murray recruits lots of help for the annual drive from youngsters in his parish's confirmation classes, who must do 20 hours of community service. The kids obviously inspire the public.
“The stores and hours where the children are collecting are the most productive ones,” Murray said.
Father Richard Vila of St. Mary of the Lakes Church finds the children realize how blessed they are. Because Medford is a somewhat affluent area, “it really opens up their eyes to see how other people live,” he said. “Not everyone has a nice warm house and all the luxuries that all the people here have. One of the Knights told me how his sons would come back crying because they were so deeply moved when they saw these houses.”
The impact of this partnership “also allows people to see the Church at work, helping whoever is in need,” Father Vila said. “You realize these are also God's children who are not as blessed and gifted at those here. These partners are “consumed in others, not consumed in themselves. I see people who are very selfless.”
As Archible learned, “It's more rewarding for the people bringing food than it is for those getting it.”
Joseph Pronechen is based in Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: Knights of Columbus and vincent de Paul ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: FCC Commissioner Speaks Out on Super Bowl Scandal DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Michael Copps was used to hearing complaints, even before the Janet Jackson Super Bowl halftime scandal.
But the commissioner with the Federal Communications Commission — one of five appointed by the president to five-year terms — says after the singer's on-air “wardrobe malfunction,” the FCC has received more than 200,000 complaints regarding the MTV-produced halftime concert.
A parishioner at St. Mary's Parish in Old Town Alexandria, Va., and the father of five children, Copps is very concerned about the direction of the media. He spoke with Register staff writer Tim Drake from his office in Washington, D.C.
Your family is active in your parish, I understand.
My biggest memory has been the pride you feel as your kids go through their first confession and Communion and the high state of nerves, and the high feeling of happiness once they've done that.
We've been at St. Mary's Parish in Old Town Alexandria, Va., since 1976. My wife is the parish secretary there. Our children have been baptized there, our sons have been altar boys there, and two of our children have been married there. We've spent 25 continuous years of Catholic elementary school getting our children through eighth grade there. Four of them have attended Catholic high schools.
That makes it a meaningful experience, seeing your children immersed in it and a part of it their entire lives.
Did you watch the Super Bowl with your family?
I was at my newly married son's house in Georgetown with my 16-year-old daughter. You should be able to watch and enjoy the game rather than worrying about what's coming next — whether it's a violent commercial or a commercial about erectile dysfunction.
That's not the way it should be. It detracts from the sport. We should be talking about what a great game it was, particularly the second half, rather than talking about what happened during half-time.
What was your reaction to the halftime show?
I had to drive my daughter home during halftime, so I missed it. I've seen it many times since. It's been a very galvanizing event because there is so much outrageous and trashy stuff on TV, some of it in even less taste than what we saw there. Yet here you had people gathered with their families.
I've been trying to get my colleagues interested in indecency for three years. They have responded that people can turn it off, use a V-chip or send their children to their bedrooms. In this instance, the V-chip wouldn't have saved anything. The Kaiser Foundation has said that two-thirds of kids have a TV in their own room. Pretty soon children will have their own recorders and will be able to record it and watch it the next day.
It's a sad situation. When I first got here, I called it the “race to the bottom.” You begin to wonder if there is a bottom to it. We have done a gosh-awful job of enforcing the indecency statute.
With the increase in indecent material, why has it taken the FCC so long to respond?
I don't know that they've responded yet. We'll see how quickly they respond and what they do. There are other complaints sitting down there and they're taking too long. It hasn't been a priority around here that it deserves to be.
What do you see as the primary cause for the rise in indecent material?
One cause is that we haven't done our job, so there's no fear of us enforcing the statutes. Another cause is greater consolidation in the media with fewer people owning more and more outlets. I begged my colleagues to examine whether the rising tide of indecency was tied to the rise of consolidation, but they didn't even address the question. I hope that we can come back and take a look at that.
We have 50 years of research showing the correlation between television violence and kids’ behavior. We need to grapple with excessive violence as indecency. It's every bit as bad as excessive sexual content.
How many complaints does the FCC receive in a given year?
Last year we received 240,000.
When I first got here, if 500 people wrote about an incident, they would count it as one complaint. Now we count everything that comes in. We've received about 200,000 e-mails on the Super Bowl halftime alone, so I expect to see that number go way up this year.
What happens to these complaints?
Complaints go to the enforcement bureau. They look at it and determine whether they have enough information to proceed. They used to expect that the complainant would supply a tape or transcript, but now they don't require that. If they think there is enough cause to look into it, they will send a letter of inquiry to the station and ask for whatever information they think they need.
What can the FCC do to better curb this kind of material?
We have an indecency standard that's been upheld by the courts, so we don't have to debate the policy, we need to enforce it. We take an oath to implement the law. Last year, there were 240,000 consumer complaints, yet we issued only three notices for apparent liability.
Now that we have a new commitment, I pray that it's a genuine commitment.
I will believe that the commissioners are sincere when we send up some of these cases for possible license revocation and we assess fines that go beyond the cost of business.
Viacom has been cited many times for different programs on different channels, but currently, they can pay the fines and then pocket the profits on one 30-second advertisement that airs during the Super Bowl. If we could send a couple of these to hearings for license revocation, the broadcasters would get the message real quick.
We could enforce the statute and fine for every utterance on a channel.
If, for example, a shock jock on the Clear Channel network says 10 offensive things, we could fine them for every utterance rather than fining them one time for $27,500. That could add up to $750,000 or $1 million real quick.
We also should be making the FCC more user-friendly for people to access and use our system and not put so much of the burden on them. Once it becomes a priority, there are things we can do.
Is a code of conduct a possibility?
We used to have in this country for many, many years a voluntary code of broadcaster conduct. It lasted in radio from the 1920s to the 1980s and on TV from the 1950s to the 1980s.
There was a narrow part of the code dealing with advertising that was thrown out by the court. When that happened, the broadcasters took the opportunity to waltz away from the code.
I'd like to see us have an industry-sponsored code of conduct for radio, television and cable. In 1997-98 the Justice Department responded positively that a code would still be legal, so I would like to see the industry step up to the plate to do that.
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Catholic Groups Make Headway in Bible-Study Programs DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For more than 50 years, a popular Protestant Bible study has been leading Catholics away from the Church. Three new Catholic Bible-study programs hope to change that.
The new programs are introducing many Catholics to the Bible in a way that's faithful to Church teaching, some for the first time.
Gail Buckley had been involved in the Protestant Bible Study Fellowship at Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C., for several years. Her program was one of three offered in Charlotte and had more than 400 members.
She described the San Antonio-based Bible Study Fellowship as anti-Catholic.
“They say it's nondenominational, but it's not,” Buckley said. “They never speak of Mary or the sacraments. It was very contradictory to the Catholic Church.”
A former Methodist, Buckley came into the Church in 1994. She now oversees Catholic Exchange's Catholic Scripture Study — a program written by biblical scholar Scott Hahn and Catholic author Mark Shea.
Catholic Scripture Study's format is modeled after Bible Study Fellowship's popular seven-year study. It brings participants together weekly for prayer, 45 minutes of small-group discussion and a 30-minute wrap-up lecture. The study sends material and discussion questions to participants.
Started last September, Catholic Scripture Study currently has 70 groups meeting across the country. They vary in size from 30 participants up to 300. At Buckley's parish, St. Vincent de Paul in Charlotte, more than 275 participate weekly.
Father Patrick Winslow, parochial vicar at St. Vincent de Paul, provides the lectures. Each week his lectures are recorded and uploaded onto the Catholic Scripture Study Web site along with his lecture notes.
Group leaders are free to download the lectures for replay for their groups, or they can give their own lectures based on Father Winslow's notes. Buckley said virtually all the groups replay the lectures, but Father Winslow's notes are quite extensive and it would be difficult for anyone to deviate from them.
What Jesus Meant
Prior to starting a Catholic Scripture Study group in Baltimore, Barbara Melanson had participated in Community Bible Study, another popular Protestant Bible study, for five years.
She recalled that during her last year with the study, the group discussed the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John.
“We were asked what we thought Jesus meant by John 6. There were four Catholics in my group who weren't sure. I told them, I can tell you exactly what he means. Jesus is saying, ‘I am giving you my flesh and blood to eat.’ If you read the next few passages the people say this is too hard for us,” Melanson explained. “There wasn't a sound in the room.”
Afterward, the teacher asked Melanson not to share her opinion with the entire group. When the whole group gathered, the teacher explained that what Christ meant was that “the word became flesh, and it is on the word that we gnaw and digest.”
“Not one of these Catholic women knew that the Eucharist was the Body of Christ,” Melanson said. “That set me on my journey.”
“They say it's nondenominational, but it's not,” Buckley said of the Bible study.
In September, Melanson started a Catholic Scripture Study group, which now brings 92 women together on Tuesday mornings and 92 men and women on Thursday evenings at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Community in Baltimore.
The study draws from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the writings of Church Fathers, saints and popes. “It opens up multiple layers of meaning,” Melanson explained.
A Bible study geared specifically toward mothers and their children is being used in the Midwest. Titled Making Connections with MACH1 (Mothers and Children): The Bible, Coffee and Community for Moms, it was first developed in 1997 by Catholic mothers Roberta Johnson and Carol Tepley. The study received an imprimatur from Bishop Victor Balke of the Diocese of Crookston, Minn.
“The study is designed to draw participants back into the sacraments and provides hospitality so that they are drawn back each week, hopefully to form closer relationships with Christ and the body of Christ,” Johnson said.
Directed at women raising children, the study meets weekly at four parishes in the Fargo, N.D., Diocese and one in the Crookston Diocese.
A Great Adventure
Currently, the nation's largest Catholic Bible study is taking place in St. Paul-Minneapolis under the leadership of Catholic radio talk-show host Jeff Cavins.
The 24-week Great Adventure Bible Timeline seminar has more than 1,000 participants who meet weekly at the Church of St. Paul in Ham Lake and Our Lady of Grace in Edina, suburbs of the Twin Cities. Like the Baltimore program, it started last September.
Carol Locke coordinates the program, which is also modeled after the popular Protestant studies. Participants gather for a half-hour of praise-and-worship music followed by a 10-minute introduction, 45-minute small-group discussions and a 45-minute wrap-up lecture by Cavins.
Ascension Press has been videotaping the lectures to make them available to other Bible-study groups nationwide.
Locke, too, had been a participant in a Bible Study Fellowship study for nearly 15 years. She remembers asking herself the first time she attended one, “Why can't we have something like this in the Catholic Church?”
The Catholic Bible-study groups ensure participants are getting accurate, faithful teaching, and the new Catholic programs have detailed leaders manuals that give step-by-step instructions.
The Catholic Scripture Study was written largely by Scott Hahn, a former Presbyterian who has become a well-respected Catholic biblical scholar and has taught for many years at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. It was developed following the guidelines of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and is awaiting an imprimatur from Bishop Robert Brom of San Diego.
And Cavins, who teaches the Great Adventure seminar, holds a master's degree in theology from Franciscan University.
An additional Bible-study course is available on the Internet free of charge. The Steubenville-based St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, founded by Hahn, began offering a no-cost Scripture course online last fall. The program currently has more than 750 registered participants from around the world.
“Catholics have been a bit slower to get on the Bible-study bandwagon,” said Hahn's executive assistant, Emily Stimpson. “Scott and [his wife] Kimberly Hahn's dream is that 10 years from now, when someone moves to a town and asks, ‘Where is the best Bible study in town?’ they'll be directed to a Catholic Bible study.”
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Salvation Army Reasserts Religious Mission
The Salvation Army is a Protestant denomination begun in the 19th century in England, modeled in part on the Society of Jesus. But the New York branch has long been known within the Salvation Army as the least religiously oriented division.
Leaders in the New York branch of the charity have decided to change that; they will now include religious mission statements in job descriptions and require employees dealing with children to fill out forms detailing the denomination's values and reveal their religious affiliations.
Some employees are rebelling against the initiative, citing the fact that the charity accepts government funds and claiming the group is violating the separation of church and state.
Catholic Charities of New York, the paper noted, does not require employees to reveal their religious affiliation.
Compromise in Austin
KEYE-TV (Texas), Jan. 28 — A long-broiling controversy over Catholic ethics and health care in the Texas capital came to a kind of resolution Jan. 28.
As the health care industry consolidates, many hospitals and clinics that were previously secular have come under the direction of Catholic agencies, hospitals and religious orders.
The change has led to fierce clashes over whether those hospitals would continue to provide services that violate Church teaching — such as sterilization, in vitro fertilization, contraception and even abortion.
Such was the case in Austin, Texas, where Brackenridge Hospital, owned by the city, came under management by Seton Healthcare, a Catholic organization. Seton had announced that it could not offer services Catholics consider immoral, leading many to call for its ouster from the hospital. Now it appears a compromise has been reached.
One floor of the hospital building will not be managed by Seton but by the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston under the title “Austin's Women's Hospital.” That mini-hospital will offer contraceptive and sterilization procedures without the cooperation of Seton staff.
Georgetown Controversy Over Fetal Research
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Jan. 30 — The Associated Press reported that researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center will be permitted to continue experimenting with stem cells taken from aborted fetuses.
Jesuit Father Kevin Fitzgerald, a Georgetown bioethicist, told the wire service that “while using such cell lines would not be our preference,” it was permitted by Church guidelines since the research could lead to important medical advances.
He said the fetuses being used were not destroyed in order to use them for research.
Thus, he said, “the connection to abortion was distant and remote enough so as to not encourage or contribute to abortion in any way.”
The issue had become a controversy after Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick complained to Georgetown, citing reports from pro-life groups.
“Georgetown reviewed the concerns the cardinal raised,” a university spokesman said, “and we're comfortable, and the cardinal's comfortable with their response.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Churches Fight New Weapons Laws DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:ST. PAUL, Minn. — Church leaders in Minnesota and Utah are fighting laws that allow for concealed weapons to be carried into churches unless the property owner forbids them.
In Minnesota, the Personal Protection Act was passed on the rationale that if people are freer to carry guns for self-defense, there will be less crime.
In Utah, the uproar is regarding the fact that churches must state clearly that guns are banned from their premises by telling people personally, announcing it, having a sign outside or other ways. Additionally, churches must register with the state that they intend to ban the weapons from the premises.
“The state of Utah is presuming to tell the various religious institutions in the state that we can do what we have been doing for millennia,” said a press release from a coalition of Utah's religious leaders. “The state is telling us that we cannot prohibit permitted concealed weapons from being brought into our holy spaces unless we register with a designated state agency.”
It's this last requirement that got to Bishop George Niederauer of Salt Lake City.
“I don't need the state of Utah's permission to make such a policy for Catholic churches,” he told a press conference in December. “It is a surrender of our private-property rights to submit to such a law.”
The diocese, along with most other churches in the state, is refusing to comply.
For a while, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has its world headquarters in Salt Lake City, did not comment on the issue or register with the state. But on Jan. 30, the Mormon leadership said guns do not belong in houses of worship and that the sect would notify people of their intent to ban them from their churches by notifications in newspapers and registering with the state on its Web site.
Mormons dominate the state of Utah in nearly all aspects of life as they make up slightly more than 66% of the population. The second-largest religion is Catholicism, with approximately 100,000 members out of a population of 2.2 million. The Legislature is nearly 100% Mormon.
No penalties are attached for noncompliance to the new law, and there is talk that the legislator who sponsored it might be willing to reverse it.
Utah changed its law regarding concealed weapons in 1995, said Dee Rowland, the diocese's government liaison. Prior to that, the applicant had to show cause to carry a concealed weapon; now, the state must show cause why the person can't carry a weapon.
That change brought a proliferation in weapons and also resulted in several accidents and murders, including one in the Genealogical Center on the Mormon church campus.
The law did not prohibit guns in schools or churches, and the state Parent-Teacher Association and Utah Educational Association started a signature drive to change that. But the effort failed, Rowland said, because the associations’ members failed to support it.
‘Welcome to St. Mary's’
Minnesota does not have the same state-registration requirement Utah has, but Church leaders think parts of the new law are not only onerous but also unconstitutional.
The main part of the law allows more people to carry weapons. Prior to the bill's passage, county sheriffs were the only ones who could decide who could get a concealed-weapon permit. The new law imposes state standards and only bars criminals who have been convicted of certain felonies from having a permit.
But other parts of the law directly impact churches because of certain requirements for restricting concealed guns from property. So the Minnesota Catholic Conference decided to sue the state in Ramsey County and joined with a number of other religious groups to do so.
Their suit is similar to another one in Hennepin County initiatedby Edina Community Lutheran Church. That church happens to have former U.S. Attorney David Lillehaug as a member and he is representing the churches in both cases.
The churches are challenging the law on several points, saying it violates the U.S. and Minnesota Constitutions’ provisions for the free exercise of religion, free association and free speech.
Among their concerns: The law requires that signs stating that the property owner “bans guns in these premises” be at all entrances in a specific size, typeface and font size. It also does not allow for the banning of weapons from parking lots.
The law requires that people be individually told guns are not allowed in church.
“Imagine your reaction when approaching a church on Sunday to be greeted not with, ‘Hello, welcome to St. Mary's, peace be with you,’ but, ‘Hello, St. Mary's Church does not permit you to carry a gun on these premises,’” said Bishop John Nienstedt of New Ulm, Minn. “Somehow the whole atmosphere is altered by this requirement.”
Concerned About Violence
This isn't a simple exercise of state interference with church affairs, though. More than that, the bishops are concerned about the increase of violence in society.
“We ought to be teaching one another how to live together in harmony rather than making self-defense our first and most pronounced priority,” Bishop Nienstedt said.
Under the law, landlords cannot forbid their tenants from having firearms on their property. This directly impacts the Catholic Church because, for instance, the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul owns apartments nearby that were renovated and are now rented to low-income families. Other parishes and Church institutions have similar arrangements.
The suit in Hennepin has had some successes. The churches originally asked for an injunction to be granted on the signs, the parking lot and landlord-tenant issues. The judge in the case ruled favorably in regard to the signs but determined that the churches did not have standing on the parking-lot and landlord issues.
Lillehaug appealed that ruling and the Minnesota Court of Appeals recently remanded the case to the district court after determining that the churches do have standing on those issues.
A hearing in the Ramsey County case is expected in late February and the judge in Hennepin should be ruling on a new injunction request in the next month or two.
Thomas A. Szyszkiewicz writes from Altura, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Thomas A. Szyszkiewicz ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Hidden Fruit: So Far, Catholic-Muslim Dialogue Has Limited Gains DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — It was a small but cheering development for Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald.
His dialogue partner on the Islamic-Catholic Liaison Committee, Professor Hamid Al-Rifaie, last month urged Catholics and Muslims to close the gap between them for the common good.
“The world is in need of religious values,” he said, “and it is our duty, Muslims and Catholics, to present common values to guide the march of civilization.”
The liaison committee, which completed its ninth session Jan. 20 at the Vatican, is the highest official meeting between the two faiths. It is co-chaired by Al-Rifaie, president of the Saudi-based International Islamic Forum for Dialogue, and Archbishop Fitzgerald, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. It aims to promote greater understanding between the two faiths and to work toward justice and peace.
This year, participants called for “an immediate end to all conflicts, including all forms of armed conflict,” appealed for “full respect of humanitarian law” and stated that dialogue was the most effective way to end war and to realize “justice and peace among human beings and societies.”
All admirable ideals, but when Christians in Muslim countries continue to be persecuted, are treated as socially inferior and discriminated against under Muslim law, many observers wonder how relevant and authentic the dialogue really is.
Reflecting on his first year as council president, Archbishop Fitzgerald told the Register that “tension has not arisen” between Muslims and Christians in a number of Muslim countries owing to Pope John Paul II's opposition to the war in Iraq. However, he was reticent to say if relations were altogether good.
“Sometimes there are good signs, sometimes there are reversals; this is happening all the time,” Archbishop Fitzgerald said.
Today, many Muslims still identify Christians with colonialism and the Crusades, yet the liaison committee is trying to change this by helping “Christian and Muslim communities around the world to relate better,” Archbishop Fitzgerald said. In turn, it is hoped this “culture of dialogue” will impel political leaders to pay more heed to questions of human rights and freedom.
“If they feel there is pressure on them from their constituents,” Archbishop Fitzgerald said, “they will pay attention.”
But exacting change indirectly means the committee lacks the political clout to radically hasten reform. “The people who can actually make the changes are the political leaders, and we're not meeting with them,” the archbishop acknowledged. “That's not what this committee is about.”
Sensitive Issues
Still, sensitive issues are not wholly ignored. Despite not being included in the final statement this year, Catholic concerns over a growing exodus of Christians from the Holy Land — many of whom are said to be leaving because of discrimination by Muslims — were discussed.
“We got a very good hearing for that,” Archbishop Fitzgerald said. “We do speak about the difficulties Christians face in other parts of the world and it is a forum for that. The Muslims also present to us the grievances they may have.”
Dominican Father Joseph Ellul, professor of ecumenical theology and Islamic studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, concurs that touchy issues are rarely overlooked.
“Where there are cases of unequal treatment of Christians, I have never known any reluctance on the part of Church officials engaged in dialogue about broaching the subject and voicing their concerns,” he said.
But one factor making relations with the Church difficult is the absence of any overriding central Muslim authority with which to deal. Also, while open dialogue has been the salient feature of John Paul's pontificate, it is not a universally supported approach in Rome.
Some Vatican officials told the Register they have grave doubts about both interreligious relations and ecumenism, believing that too much emphasis on dialogue is compromising evangelization and making the Gospel message unintelligible.
It is also of particular concern to the Vatican skeptics that so little seems to be done in Muslim countries to reciprocate acts of tolerance in Christian countries.
But Archbishop Fitzgerald countered this charge, saying that “in some places there has been change.” He singled out Tunisia for opening up religious education and praised “gestures of good will” from rulers in the Gulf who have “put property at the disposal of Christians and allowed Christians to build a church.”
Doctrinal Differences
On doctrinal matters, Archbishop Fitzgerald revealed that a group in the United States had produced a joint statement on revelation.
“We can talk about these things so long as we are exploring these differences,” he said. “We're trying to understand the logic, the coherence of Islam, just as we would like them to understand the coherence of Christianity.”
He noted that the purpose of the dialogue was not to convert the other to each other's religion but to help “one another in our progress toward God.”
The mission of the Church, he said, is wider than “the proclamation of Jesus Christ and inviting people to join the community of the Church.”
“Muslims,” he conceded, “have not developed their thinking along the same lines but in practice this is what they are doing.”
But if questions of doctrine, such as deeply divergent understandings of Jesus and Mary, are not tackled head on, is there not a danger of the dialogue lacking authenticity?
“Not at all,” the archbishop countered. “If we are engaging in arguments that only develop into polemics, this doesn't help at all.”
He believes these issues are more suited for a “growing number” of academics in Islamic universities who are “deepening their knowledge of our faith.”
But even in the lecture hall, progress has been minimal. Greater fruit is said to be borne at the grass-roots level where Christian and Muslim relations are better because they are not so politicized.
Archbishop Fitzgerald agrees, but counsels patience in dialogue at all levels.
“I suppose if we were a commercial enterprise, our stocks would not rate high,” he said candidly. “But dialogue is not like that. It's a very slow process and we cannot expect quick results.”
(CNS contributed to this story.)
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: The Americas Are Home to Half Of the World's 1.07 Billion Catholics DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Catholics worldwide numbered 1.07 billion in 2002, and half of them were in the Americas, the 2004 Pontifical Yearbook says.
The new volume, presented Feb. 3 to Pope John Paul II, also shows an increase in diocesan priests and a continuing decrease in the number of religious-order priests and women religious.
A Vatican statement summarized some of the highlights in the yearbook that includes the names of all the bishops, members of the Roman Curia and superiors of religious congregations and orders as of 2002.
There are 4,217,572 persons engaged in pastoral activity, down 1.2% from the previous year's tally of 4,270,069.
That number was broken down as follows: 4,695 bishops; 405,058 priests (267,334 of whom are diocesan); 30,097 permanent deacons; 54,828 religious (not priests); 782,932 women religious (51,371 of whom are contemplative nuns); 28,766 members of secular institutes; 143,745 lay missionaries; and 2,767,451 catechists.
According to the data, in 2003 the Pope created 30 new cardinals and appointed 175 new bishops.
The volume states that out of a total world population of 6.2 billion, baptized Catholics number 1.07 billion, or 17.2%.
The yearbook states that 50% of Catholics are in the Americas, 26.1% in Europe, 12.8% in Africa, 10.3% in Asia and 0.8% in Oceania.
In relation to the present population in each continent, the percentage of Catholics is as follows: 62.4% in America, 40.5% in Europe, 26.8% in Oceania, 16.5% in Africa and 3% in Asia.
Compared with year-earlier figures, the total number of priests has remained stable (405,067 in 2001). The number of diocesan priests rose to 267,334 from 266,448 in 2001. The number of religious-order priests fell to 137,724 from 138,619 a year earlier.
The number of permanent deacons increased in 2002 by 3.1% and that of lay missionaries by 3.4%. The number of women religious and catechists slightly decreased.
Major seminarians numbered 112,982, up from 112,244 a year earlier. Candidates to the priest-hood rose 5.8% in Africa, 1.4% in the Americas. In Europe and Asia their number slightly decreased.
The yearbook, published by the Vatican Press, will soon be for sale in bookstores that stock Vatican works.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Sikhs Seek Pope's Help on Turban Ban
Debate on the bill in France's Lower House of Parliament began Feb. 3, with a vote scheduled for Feb. 10. Protests by religious-rights groups were planned for Feb. 7 and Feb. 14, according to Agence France-Presse, which noted that leftist members of Parliament have asked for the ban to be made even stricter.
Currently, it bans all Muslim head scarves, Sikh turbans, Jewish yarmulkes and “conspicuous” crosses. The leftist lawmakers said the bill should ban all “visible” crosses.
In 1905, the French Republic tore up its concordat with the Vatican, removing crucifixes from public schools and forcibly expelling every member of a religious order — regardless of age or infirmity — from the country.
The French government has said it is acting in the spirit of the 1905 legislation.
John Paul Praises Taiwan for Religious Freedom
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Jan. 30 — Meeting with Taiwan's new ambassador to the Holy See, Chou-seng Tou, Pope John Paul II praised the country for its commitment to religious liberty.
“The Republic of China has shown its respect for the various religious traditions found therein and recognizes the right of all to practice their religion,” the Pope said.
The Vatican is one of only 27 nations that maintain relations with Taiwan, which neighboring communist China sees as a renegade province and is eager to annex.
Mainland China broke relations with the Vatican shortly after its communist revolution, expelling all missionaries and closing most churches. The People's Republic continues to persecute the millions of Catholics who maintain their ties to Rome while supporting a “Patriotic Church” that rejects papal authority and takes its direction from the officially atheist government.
John Paul said all governments “must strive to give their citizens the necessary freedom to realize fully their true vocation.” He asserted that the progress of liberty “requires first and foremost the free exercise of religion in society.”
Pope Encourages Support for Bigger Families
“The cultural and social context very often does not favor the family and the mission of parents,” he said. “Furthermore, many married couples would like more children but are almost forced to renounce this due to economic difficulties. The help of public institutions, although significant, often turns out to be insufficient. One feels the need for a more organic politics in favor of the family.”
The Holy Father also urged believers not to despair in their battle against abortion. Christians, he said, must not “resign ourselves to attacks on human life, above all abortion.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Sant'Egidio Marks 36 Years of Love for the Poor DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Seated on one side of this reporter was a very elderly woman with a wizened, smiling face. On the other was a placid old gentleman, wide-eyed and blinking in a wheelchair.
They were seated near a boy with Down syndrome, homeless men and women — and hundreds of clergy, religious and laity from around the world.
Such was the diverse cross-section of society attracted to the Sant'Egidio Community, which celebrated Mass on Feb. 5 to mark the 36th anniversary of the founding of the organization.
The community is a fruit of the Second Vatican Council and began in Rome in 1968 at the initiative of a young man named Andrea Riccardi.
Now 53 and after winning numerous prestigious awards, Riccardi leads a movement of lay people numbering 50,000 members in 63 countries.
Its aim is to serve the Church and the world through prayer, solidarity with the poor, communicating the Gospel, ecumenism and dialogue.
“The liturgy tonight created an atmosphere of sympathy — a togetherness of the heart,” said Bishop Luigi Paiaro of Nyahururu, who had flown in from Kenya to attend the event in the splendor of St. John the Lateran Basilica.
“That's what the Sant'Egidio Community is to me — its charism is knowing how to interpret new aspects of the Gospel that have been forgotten, namely compassion and love for the poor.”
The principal celebrant in the colorful liturgy was Cardinal Camillio Ruini, the vicar of Rome. “He gave us substantial support,” Sant'Egidio spokesman Claudio Mario Betti told the Register after the Mass. “What we are trying to live is the reality of the Gospel.”
Spirit of St. Francis
And it is a philosophy that has garnered plenty of respect.
In addition to the domestic work of running soup kitchens for the homeless and building “family homes” for the elderly, the community is very active on the world stage, mediating conflicts, campaigning for fair treatment for AIDS victims in Africa and pushing for a moratorium on the death penalty.
Like its first reference points, St. Francis of Assisi and the early Church Fathers, the community has been able to break down barriers and act as the instrument of miraculous achievements.
The movement's part in brokering peace in Mozambique's civil war, for instance, is said to have been substantial. It has also worked closely with the British Foreign Office in the field of conflict resolution in Africa and Serbia, and continues to work for lasting peace in war-torn Liberia, Sudan, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
And its success in this field and efforts in dialogue have paid unexpected dividends, hastening progress in interreligious relations.
“We were actually asked by Algeria to work for peace — Muslims asking us as Christians to do this,” Betti said. “[They] thought it amazing what we had done in this area — our work had echoed throughout the Muslim world.”
The community has also had a positive effect on relations with Judaism.
“We have very good relations not only with the community but also its leaders,” said Oded BenHur, Israel's ambassador to the Holy See. “We might actually join our activities in Africa in the battle against AIDS — it's about time we joined hands.”
But while the community is committed to interreligious and ecumenical dialogue, it is criticized by some quarters, including some in the Vatican, who believe its work is having a relativizing effect on the Gospel message.
Betti agrees in “some way” with that argument, but he has great faith in dialogue and insists the community is not trying to confuse the message of Christ.
“Only when one is profoundly rooted in one's own faith and tradition can one dialogue,” he insisted. “Sant'Egidio is profoundly Catholic and Christian and that's why it is able to do this.”
John Paul's Servants
As with almost all the issues it champions, the community follows closely the pronouncements of Pope John Paul II.
“At the first World Prayer Day for Peace in Assisi, the Pope didn't want us to become involved in some kind of syncretism,” Betti said. “But there are things we can do together — work in justice, peace carried out in charity and love,” he said.
The same day as the anniversary, the community launched a campaign that looks at new ways to help the elderly, who, Betti pointed out, “are usually forgotten.” The community is trying to help the elderly in emergency situations, such as the heat wave that claimed thousands of lives in Italy last summer.
So the work of the community, which the Holy Father once said had no limit “but charity,” continues.
And its efforts remain highly valued, as much outside as inside the Church.
“If [Sant'Egidio] didn't exist,” said concelebrant Cardinal Renato Martino after the Mass, “then you would have to create it.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: The Basic Requirements for Communion With God DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Register Summary
Pope John Paul II met with 5,000 pilgrims during his general audience Feb. 4, offering his reflections on Psalm 15 as he continued his teachings on the psalms and canticles from the Liturgy of the Hours’ evening prayer.
Unlike some religions that require first and foremost an external ritual purification in order to be admitted into the presence of the divinity, the Holy Father noted that Christians need a purification of conscience “so that a love of justice and of our neighbor will inspire our choices.”
Psalm 15 presents 11 qualities that “constitute a perfect synthesis of the basic moral commitments that are present in the biblical law,” the Pope said. These qualities, he added, “could serve as the basis of a personal examination of conscience.” The psalm makes it clear that there can be no separation of faith from daily life, of prayer from work or of worship from social justice, the Holy Father said. He pointed out that the prophet Amos, like many other prophets, vehemently denounced any worship that is detached from daily life.
John Paul noted that Jesus also cherished the precepts found in Psalm 15. “If you bring your gift to the altar,” Jesus said, “and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother …” Quoting St. Hilary of Poitiers, the Holy Father said we should all make an effort to assure that this short, simple psalm is “rooted within our most intimate being, written on our heart and recorded in our memory.”
Biblical scholars often classify Psalm 15, which has been offered to us for our reflection, as part of an “entrance liturgy.” It calls to mind a sort of procession of the faithful who congregate at the doors of the Temple of Zion for worship — which occurs in some other texts in the Book of Psalms (see, for example, Psalms 24, 26 and 95). In something akin to a dialogue between the faithful and Levites, the conditions are outlined that are indispensable for being allowed to partake of this liturgical celebration and, therefore, of intimacy with God.
On the one hand, the question is raised: “Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy mountain?” (Psalm 15:1). On the other hand, the qualities that are required to cross the threshold that leads to the “tent” — the Temple on the “holy mountain” of Zion — are listed. Eleven qualities enumerated, and they constitute a perfect synthesis of the basic moral commitments that are present in the biblical law (see verses 2-5).
Purity of Conscience
At times the facades of Egyptian and Babylonian temples were engraved with the conditions that were required to enter the sacred chamber . However, it is worth noting that they were significantly different from the conditions this psalm proposes. In many religious cultures, an external ritual purification that entailed ritual washings, gestures and special clothing was required above anything else in order to be admitted to the presence of the divinity.
Psalm 15 instead calls for the purification of our conscience, so that a love of justice and of our neighbor will inspire our choices. Thus we can feel in these verses the vibrant spirit of the prophets, who repeatedly invite us to combine faith with life, prayer with life's commitments and worship with social justice (see Isaiah 1:10-20, 33:14-16; Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:6-8; Jeremiah 6:20).
Let us listen, for example, to the prophet Amos as he vehemently denounces in God's name any worship that is detached from daily life: “I hate, I spurn your feasts, I take no pleasure in your solemnities; your cereal offerings I will not accept nor consider your stall-fed peace offerings … then let justice surge like water and goodness like an unfailing stream” (Amos 5:21-22, 24).
Examination of Conscience
We now come to the 11 commitments the psalmist lists, which could serve as the basis of a personal examination of conscience every time we prepare to confess our sins in order to partake of communion with the Lord in our liturgical celebration.
The first three commitments are of a general nature and express an ethical choice: following the path of moral integrity, practicing justice and, lastly, perfect sincerity of speech (see Psalm 15:2).
Three duties follow that we can describe as relating to our neighbor: eliminating slander from our speech, avoiding any action that can harm our brother and refraining from insulting those who live near us in daily life (see verse 3). Then the demand is made that we take a clear position in the social realm by despising the wicked and honoring those who fear God.
Finally, three final precepts are listed for our examination of conscience: to be faithful to our word and to our oaths, even in those cases where the consequences will be detrimental to us; not to practice usury — a plague that is a disgraceful reality even in our days that can place a stronghold on the lives of many people; and finally to avoid all corruption in public life, another commitment that we could also rigorously practice in our time (see verse 5).
A Moral Decision
Following this path of a genuine moral choice means being ready to encounter the Lord. Even Jesus proposed an essential “entrance liturgy” in his Sermon on the Mount: “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24).
Whoever acts in the way that the psalmist indicates — this prayer concludes — “shall never be shaken” (Psalm 15:5). In his Tractatus super Psalmos, St. Hilary of Poitiers, a fourth-century Father and Doctor of the Church, comments on this ending with the following words, which associate it with the initial image of the tent of the Temple of Zion: “Acting according to these precepts, we dwell in the tent and we rest on the hill. Therefore, remain firm in guarding these precepts and carrying out the commandments. This psalm must be rooted within our most intimate being, written on our heart and recorded in our memory; night and day we should ponder the treasure that its rich brevity offers. Thus, having acquired this richness on our path to eternity and dwelling in the Church, we will at last be able to rest in the glory of the body of Christ” (PL 9, 308).
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: A 'Roman' at Heart: Canada's Archbishop Exner Retires DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:In the religious controversies of post-Reformation northern Europe, the partisans of Rome were styled the “ultramontanists” for their loyalty to the Pope who lived beyond the mountains (ultra montes in Latin). For their opponents, the advocates of national churches in France and Germany, the Pope was indeed beyond the mountains — south of the Alps to be specific.
During the 1990s, Catholics in Canada got used to looking out beyond the mountains, too — the Rocky Mountains. Out on the West Coast was Adam Exner, who, after 13 years as archbishop of Vancouver, retired Jan. 10, to be succeeded Feb. 17 by Bishop Raymond Roussin, currently serving in Victoria.
Archbishop Exner, born 75 years ago Christmas Eve, had reached the mandatory retirement age for bishops, and so it was expected he would be replaced soon. But it will be difficult for anyone to replace a man who for three decades as a bishop in Kamloops, Winnipeg and Vancouver became a point of reference for Catholic faith and practice in Canada.
He was called by his critics an “ultraconservative,” which is the contemporary rendering of “ultramontane.” He was not very conservative in the sense of sticking to the traditional way things are done. He was an early promoter of lay involvement in administration and evangelization, welcomed the “Alpha” evangelization programs to his diocese and has been at the fore-front of reaching out to the many communities that make up British Columbia, from the Native Canadians who were there first to the Asians who are only the most recent immigrants.
Yet just as “ultramontane” once meant simply holding to the traditional faith about the role of the Bishop of Rome, today “ultraconservative” means simply holding to traditional Christian moral teaching. Not about the obligation to care for the poor, of course, but about sex.
Archbishop Exner did more than just keep the faith, hunkered down in a corner somewhere hoping that nobody would notice. He was bold enough to propose it anew and insist that it shape the teaching and practice of Catholics and their hospitals and schools. In an environment that includes the local Anglican Bishop Michael Ingham, the ecclesiastical pioneer of “homosexual unions,” Archbishop Exner was sometimes criticized for being from a different planet let alone from beyond the mountains.
He was not alone among bishops in his courage, but the size of his archdiocese and his relative facility with the media gave his voice prominence. More than that, though, Archbishop Exner was a man who realized that to be a Christian leader is to be a missionary, not a manager. The major emphasis of his diocesan synod was to convince Catholics to adopt a “mission model” rather than a “maintenance model” of the Church.
As a young man Adam Exner joined a missionary order, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, hoping to be sent abroad as a missionary. He never was. Kept at home to teach theology and administer seminaries, he eventually ended up in multicultural Vancouver, where it is only necessary to drive, not fly, to see the whole world.
More than that, the hip secularism of the West Coast is exotic mission territory indeed, and Archbishop Exner finally got his chance to preach the Gospel to a hostile culture. Last year the archbishop's home was the scene of an angry protest by homosexual activists, which led to a police investigation of death threats and increased security.
Amid all this, Archbishop Exner went quietly about his work, so much so that his associates find it difficult to recall memorable anecdotes of working with him. It was all so ordinary, but for all the lack of ostentation he became perhaps the leading Catholic voice in articulating the Christian challenge to the culture today.
I only met him once, a few years ago in Rome. I was dispatched to give him a ride.
I only met him once, a few years ago in Rome. He was coming to the seminary to ordain a young man from Kamloops, and as the resident Canadian I was dispatched to drive him over. Although we had plenty of time before the Mass began, he was in a hurry to get everything in the sacristy in order. The rush? He intended to spend a good half-hour in prayer before the ceremony began. It is not that remarkable that a bishop should want to pray. But not all are quite so insistent upon it.
That was what Archbishop Exner did for so long. Just the things that bishops are expected to do but — human weakness being what it is — don't always do. In his dutiful discharge of his ordinary duties, he became an inspiration to many, drawing the attention of Canadian Catholics to the land over the mountains.
I don't expect that Archbishop Exner will fade away. But his years of obligatory teaching and preaching and governing are now behind him. I expect that he will likely want more time to pray. He has earned it.
Father Raymond J. de Souza served as the Register's Rome correspondent from 1999-2003.
He writes from Kingston, Ontario.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Raymond J. de Souza ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Mob Pillages Church in Sri Lanka
MISSIONARY NEWS AGENCY, Jan. 28 — Some 20 men armed with metal bars and spears ransacked a Catholic church in Mattegoda, Sri Lanka, Jan. 25, the Missionary News Agency reported.
The mob destroyed several religious statues and some furnishings, then burned a large number of Bibles.
This is only the most recent in a series of almost 100 incidents that pitted local Buddhists against the small Christian minority, which makes up only 7.5% of the population. Buddhists have complained that evangelical Protestant churches are conducting “unethical conversions.”
The leader of this campaign, Buddhist monk Gandodavila Soma, died recently of a sudden heart attack; his followers have insisted he was murdered by Christians.
“The Catholic Church,” said Vincent Marius Joseph Peiris, vicar bishop of Colombo, “is suffering the consequences of the invasive behavior of fundamentalist evangelical sects.”
Mugabe Is ‘Breaking God's Rules’
CATHOLIC INFORMATION SERVICE AFRICA, Jan. 28 — Post-colonial African dictator Robert Mugabe, who is Catholic, is “breaking God's rules” by his seizure of farms from local whites, warned Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, according to Catholic Information Service Africa.
The news service reported that Archbishop Ncube lamented Mugabe's decline in stature, saying he had once been “such an honest leader — admirable and dynamic.”
But now, the archbishop said, “Mugabe's evil doings are there for everyone to see, as he is trying to destroy the Church. … The Bible says that you shall not steal, but Mugabe's cabinet has stolen properties belonging to the white farmers who were forcibly removed from their land. That is breaking God's rules and commandments.”
Aussie PM Backs Men-Only Move on Teachers
Howard's next target is that country's Sex Discrimination Act, which has resulted in a heavy imbalance of female teachers in Catholic schools. Howard hopes to change the law so as to allow those schools to prefer male candidates for new teaching posts, the paper reported.
The low proportion of male teachers is often blamed for poor literacy skills among boys. But last year Catholic schools in New South Wales were prevented by the Australian government from offering male-only scholarships for teacher training.
Anglicans to Cancel Sunday Services?
This idea came out in connection with the Anglican General Synod in London, which this month will consider finding more convenient times for parishioners than Sundays.
“We have to put ourselves out there,” David Murray, administrator of the Diocese of Perth, told the Australian paper. “We have to sell ourselves more. Things will be completely different in 25 years and I can imagine a future where there is no such thing as a traditional Sunday church service.”
Archbishop Barry Hickey of Perth responded that Sunday remains the Day of the Lord — something that can never change.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Everyone Loses DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:The typical argument for homosexual marriage looks hard to refute. We shouldn't discriminate against homosexuals, right? After all, their sexual orientation is something they must live with, just like anybody else. Why deny them the benefits of marriage?
The logic of it seems inescapable, because each sentence in this line of reasoning has a large element of truth. Indeed, homosexuals should not be unfairly discriminated against. That many people must live with this orientation is undeniable.
But start questioning the argument's assumptions, and difficulties start to show.
Is marriage unfair discrimination?
Certainly denying homosexuals marriage “discriminates” against them. But, as author Stanley Kurtz points out, marriage “discriminates” against many people, not just homosexuals. It “discriminates” against single people, widowed people, celibate people, divorced people and so on. But is this discrimination unfair? No — because the reason society discriminates in favor of married couples is because marriage gives society a clear benefit: It produces children.
Marriage by its very nature is “discriminatory” in the sense that it recognizes that a man and a woman who have devoted themselves to each other for life are a benefit to society. Since they are a man and a woman, it is likely that children will come from their union. Since they promise to stay together, it is likely those children will be provided for, protected and their education will be seen to.
Yes, it “discriminates” against everyone who isn't a man and a woman who have pledged themselves to each other — and that's why it works.
But homosexuals suffer lots of
It would help them — if it's their unmarried status that causes people to unfairly discriminate against them.
But that's not the real source of the problem, Kurtz writes. “The real source of the challenges of gay life is the problem of sexual difference. It is terribly difficult to grow up with a different sort of sexuality than most of the world around you. Marriage does not cause this problem, and it cannot solve it.
“Yet, out of understandable compassion for the sorrows and difficulties of gays, many Americans want to offer marriage as a kind of consolation or remedy for the challenges inherent in the gay situation. The increased social tolerance for gays in America is largely a good thing, as far as I'm concerned. But using marriage to accomplish a purpose for which it was not intended — and which it cannot fulfill — will not fundamentally alter the situation of gays.”
What it will do is fundamentally alter marriage. When homosexuals marry, marriage will cease to be society's way of promoting and protecting the procreation of children.
And that brings us to the last part of that argument: Is the homosexual lifestyle a healthy alternative to the heterosexual lifestyle?
Homosexual men and women deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, just like everybody else. It doesn't follow, however, that homosexual sexual practices are a healthy alternative to monogamous heterosexual lifestyles. In fact, it can be stated as a medical fact that such practices are not healthy. Dr. Rick Fitzgibbons recently spelled out the medical consequences of homosexual sex in an interview with Zenit.
“The sexual practices of homosexuals involve serious health risks and illness,” he said. “Specifically, sodomy as a sexual behavior is associated with significant and life-threatening health problems.”
In other words, the argument for homosexual marriage gets it all wrong. If homosexual marriage is legalized, unfair discrimination against homosexuals will continue. Marriage will lose its status as the unique institution that brings children into the world and protects them. Harmful and deadly sexual practices will be given special honor by the law.
If homosexual marriage looks like a win-win for society, look again. If it's legalized, everyone loses.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:‘Monks’ R Us
Regarding “Irish Treasures That Dispelled the Darkness” (Travel, Jan. 25-31):
I thoroughly enjoyed Marie Whitla O'reilly's article on her day trip to Dublin. Although a “cradle Catholic,” I have only recently been learning of our beautiful Catholic culture as expressed in paintings, music, sculpture and architecture.
(My great-great grandfather was Augustus Welby Pugin, a Catholic convert who designed the neo-Gothic cathedrals in England in addition to hundreds of ecclesiastical pieces, furnishings, wallpaper, etc.)
The article affirmed my reasons for home schooling four of our eight children. Like the Irish monks I, too, am attempting to preserve and pass on our Catholic culture in an effort to thwart the invading secularism that has permeated our parish schools.
Dear bishops, take note: Today's home-schooling families are the “Irish monks” of the 21st century.
Thank you for a beautiful article and for the Register! May God bless all your staff for your fine publication.
Diane Thunder Schlosser
Elm Grove, Wisconsin
More Mass for America
I hope I am not too late to bring John Naughton's wonderful idea to the forefront and encourage all readers to do what he suggested (“Mass for America,” Letters, Jan. 11-17): Pray for unity and offer daily Mass and holy Communion up to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, that they will protect and bless our country.
I am a daily communicant and was thinking along these same lines for quite some time. I would even go so far as to add that we, in union with one another, offer and consecrate our country to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Patroness of the Americas, in light of the promises she made at Fatima and the great role she plays in world history.
Whoever has the time could add the daily rosary. It would be wonderful if our bishops would make this call to all Catholics, but we cannot wait and rely on them. Let's start with a small group. You, the editor, could invite others through your paper to join and keep this idea alive.
May America become a beacon for pro-life and Christ's teaching in the world. I am sure our country will be blessed and prosper.
Agnes H. Pilot
Westwood, Massachusetts
Thanks for Franciscan
I am writing in response to Tim Drake's article on the mandatum and Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio (“Taking an Oath,” Feb. 1-7). I have one daughter who graduated last year (Ellie), and a son, Lucas, who is currently a junior at the university.
Orientation Weekend for the freshmen is when the faculty takes the oath of fidelity to the magisterium of the Church. We have attended three orientation Masses at Franciscan University. These Masses have convinced us that we have made the right decision.
As parents we are so impressed with Steubenville's focus on the truth that we make the huge financial sacrifice to send our kids there. Last year, we spent one-third of our pre-tax income in tuition and room and board for two students. We passed up “Catholic” colleges in our area that would have cost us much less because we could not trust them to strengthen our children's faith. They could have lead our children away from the faith and asked us to pay for the privilege.
We thank you for highlighting Steubenville and the great gift they are to our country.
Mary Hennessey
Cincinnati
Our Kennedy in Washington
Regarding “Bringing the Rosary to Capitol Hill” (Inperson, Dec. 14-20):
Tim Drake's interview with U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy, the Minnesota Republican who lives the Catholic faith without shame or hesitation and with much courage, was simply extraordinary.
This interview was enough to make me feel very proud to be Irish — and to feel overwhelmed with the four-generation history of this particular Kennedy family.
Bill McCuen
Doylestown, Ohio
Truth Floats
I am a recent convert to the Catholic faith — so recent, in fact, that I am not yet confirmed. Upon reading some of the letters and articles in the Register, I am eternally grateful that we started at the parish we did, St. Isidore's in Grand Rapids, Mich. It is an old Polish church. In physical beauty and in many other ways, St. Isidore's is a very orthodox parish.
For Mr. Skuba, who laments that many priests seem afraid to mention God's justice along with his mercy, there is Father Don. He is not afraid to give a good, old-fashioned homily.
More than once he has asked the congregation when we are going to put Christ at the head of our lives.
For Mr. Aiello, who fears that the issues are not being addressed, well, I can't remember a specific homily, but I am quite certain that those issues have been addressed and addressed well. I certainly don't feel as though I have a lack of knowledge about many issues facing the Church.
And as for the renewal, our RCIA director has told us that she has never had as big a group as us in 15 years. That seems to me a good sign.
I realize parishes like those described by Mr. Skuba and Mr. Aiello do exist. I've been to a few, and it is depressing. I would even agree that some priests are afraid of emptying the pews, which are already sparsely populated. They needn't worry. At St. Isidore's, the most traditional and orthodox parish I've been to (the only one in the area that might still perform the Latin Mass), the pews are packed at virtually every Mass.
Preach the truth and the people will listen. I certainly did.
Eric Postma
Holland, Michigan
Grave Family Matters
I write in response to the Family Matters column in the Jan. 25-31 issue titled “Sneaky Conceptions?”
I find the case for the use of natural family planning by many Catholics today to be less than virtuous or substantially grounded in the Church's teaching on such. What I have very often found presented as legitimate grounds for regulating births boils down to a rather self-centered, anti-child mentality — much the same as that of the contraceptive user.
Anyone who has a basic understanding of marriage from the Catholic standpoint recognizes the purpose is twofold: union and procreation. To enter into the marriage covenant without full openness to the child component “right now” indicates that the couple isn't ready for marriage unless, of course, one of the grave reasons listed in Humanae Vitae is truly present. To say, however, that as a newlywed couple you prayed about having children and “felt God was asking you to wait” because of graduate studies and high rent boggles the mind as to the gravity of the situation and is very misleading. Perhaps it is marriage that should have waited until the couple could fully embrace its rights and responsibilities.
While nobody can judge the motives behind a couple's choice for the use of natural family planning, accountability to the guidelines established by the Church must go beyond the legalism of its objective morality and truly weigh the gravity issue seriously. A couple in poverty or under a one-child regime as in China or dealing with serious health issues can necessitate NFP use. But the ultimate question at hand is: Has the couple truly surrendered to God's will for marriage or is there a conscious or unconscious clinging to one's own will instead? Natural family planning isn't meant to be the Catholic version of birth control in the negative sense but rather a resource for exceptional situations that warrant its use.
Jodie D'Angiolillo
South Brunswick, New Jersey
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Contemplating the Cosmos DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:In “Mars Probe Revives Theology Debate: Who Might Be Out There?” (Jan. 18-24), speculations behind the launching of the Mars rover Spirit are discussed. The official view is that the $820 million project is justified by the possibility of finding water, or traces of water, on Mars — thereby opening up the possibility of life there, in the past or in the future.
This conjectured “possibility” has, however, no basis in fact. In effect, on Earth itself, employing not only water but also a “soup” of additional inert materials, along with real or synthetic lightning flashes, no such transition is acknowledged as having taken place. (Biology textbooks give vivid pictorial descriptions of this taking place but do not declare, as truth requires, that the scenarios are imaginary, not observed.)
Whence, therefore, the grounds, scientific or otherwise, of the possibility of such a water-to-life occurrence on Mars? (The same non-results would occur if such a transition were actually impossible!)
Hence the actual status of affairs is that the Mars enterprise has no claim that a possible water-to-life transition should exist, since no evidence fulfilling such a possibility of a transition from the nonliving to the living is known to exist.
In view of the non-evidence, optimism for a Mars nonliving-to-living transition is futile, a futility broadened by imaginary views of life from the nonliving now proliferating through the universe! (Meanwhile, sick and homeless people wander the streets of the nation's capital.)
Someone has mentioned, however, that the money is actually well spent. The aim of the expedition, it is said, is to distract the public from thinking about God.
Such a thought is not so outlandish, since a world without God was the aim of Cornell astrophysicist Carl Sagan, an evangelizing atheist. Steven Squyres, NASA's lead scientist in the Spirit mission to Mars, was attracted to Cornell by Sagan.
When the Mars dust settles, the fact is life does exist on Earth: We see when it ends — but no one knows, so far, on earth or on Mars, how it begins, other than by postulating a God. The non-God view is being now reduced, believe it or not, to rightly refuted “spontaneous generation”!
Father Pierre Conway, OP Dominican House of Studies Washington, D.C.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: As the World Watched: The Super Embarrassment DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Coming from Chicago, I'm accustomed to feeling embarrassed while watching sporting events.
We have a professional basketball team that can't shoot or dribble. We have a hockey team that can't skate. Our football team has a different quarterback most every week and a new coach every couple years. Our baseball teams … well, wait until next year. So I'm often embarrassed by the poor performance of the teams I root for. (Okay … we have a pretty good soccer team, but most Americans, unfortunately, don't care about the sport the rest of the world loves.)
I was looking forward to the Super Bowl. I wasn't emotionally attached to either of the teams involved, so I could observe dispassionately, appreciating the efforts of two great teams. So I plopped in front of the television Feb. 1 and prepared to enjoy 60 minutes of hard-hitting action.
I didn't expect to be embarrassed. But I got a lot I didn't expect.
The Super Bowl is no ordinary sporting event, of course. In fact, sometimes it is hard to remember it is an athletic competition. The pre-game show goes on for hours (but not with me watching). The post-game show goes on for hours (but not with me watching). The game itself takes about four hours to play, which means three-quarters of the time is spent doing things other than playing football.
There other things include commercials, instant replays, timeouts and the halftime show.
Ah … you knew I would get around to the half-time show. If you missed it, you are fortunate. If your children missed it, you are even more fortunate. It was a vulgar combination of obscene song lyrics, sexually suggestive dancing and nudity.
The most-renowned portion of the nudity occurred at the end of the program as a collaboration between Janet Jackson (the “undressee”) and Justin Timberlake (the “undressor”). The whole world was exposed to more of Janet's womanhood than most of the world really wanted to see.
But even before that crowning achievement of tackiness, the show had established a new standard for vulgarity approaching pornography on the free airways on a Sunday evening.
Judged by whatever community standards you wish to impose, the show was an artistic, cultural and broadcast disgrace.
Someone ought to be ashamed. Lots of people ought to be ashamed. But I'm amazed at the people who are not.
The quarterback of the winning football team said at the post-game press conference that he was sorry he missed the halftime show, given what he had heard about it. I suppose he can check it out on instant replay.
One of the Democratic presidential candidates said he didn't think it was such a big deal. Of course, he admitted that as a doctor he was used to seeing naked things. But I doubt he does his examinations on live television with millions of children watching.
The governor of Illinois was speaking to a high-school assembly the day after the Super Bowl. He said he was just kicking himself for having missed the halftime show. Was he sorry his grade-school daughter missed it, too?
Do you get the feeling we lost an opportunity for a little moral leadership here?
Someone once said that your true character is shown by what you do when no one's watching. What does it say for our character when someone does something like this when everyone is watching — and we defend it?
Yes, the halftime show offered a lot I didn't expect. Yes, I was embarrassed to watch it. No, I'm not an innocent just in from the cabbage patch. I've been embarrassed before. I've been around long enough to have done some pretty stupid things, things I'm embarrassed, even ashamed about. Luckily, I've never done them in front of a television audience of 89 million.
But this performance gave us all much to be embarrassed — certainly ashamed — about.
The Super Bowl is one of the few American sporting events that is seen around the world. Even within our country, it is one of the few things that all members of the family watch.
Young and old, male and female, sports fans and sports agnostics — they all show up to see this cultural experience.
This year everyone saw a good football game (cleverly slipped in around the commercials and promotions). The halftime show was an opportunity to showcase for the world the best America has to offer: the best music, the best dance, the best show-manship. The very best.
Instead, we showed the world the sort of thing a person might see in the sort of dives my mother told me to avoid. Instead, we gave the world “Victoria's Secret meets Marquis de Sade.”
I pray that next year the Super Bowl will be a vehicle to showcase the best America has to offer. The folks planning halftime should think like they are planning the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Give us a show that will bring a lump to the throat and make me proud to be an American.
Jim Fair writes from Chicago.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jim Fair ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Where Have All the Pro-Life Democrats Gone? DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:On Jan. 22, 2003, all nine Democratic presidential candidates appeared together for the first time. The setting wasn't a union hall, soup kitchen or school playground. Rather, as a top official with the U.S. bishops’ conference pointed out to me, it was at the annual dinner of NARAL Pro-Choice America.
The abortion clinic is indeed the unifying symbol of the presidential wing of the Democratic Party, and nothing in the present campaign suggests it will be replaced. Of the five remaining major contenders, each one supports not only a rollback of the ban on partial-birth abortion but also reproductive human cloning.
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the party's front-runner, reaffirmed in late January that he would impose a “pro-choice” litmus test on any prospective nominee to the Supreme Court. “If you believe that choice is a constitutional right, and I do, and if you believe Roe v. Wade is the embodiment of that right,” Kerry was quoted on Newsmax.com as saying, “I will not appoint a justice to the Supreme Court who will undo that right.”
To be sure, this sad story line is nothing new. Since the Supreme Court in 1973 ruled in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, not one Democratic presidential candidate has called for the overturning of those decisions. The closest any of them came to a pro-life stance was in 1976 when candidate Jimmy Carter said ambiguously that he would favor a national law to restrict abortion.
But this story line was also not ever thus. As late as 1972, one of the party's top three presidential candidates, Sen. Edmund Muskie of Maine, was an avowed pro-lifer. According to the Feb. 7, 1972, New York Times, Muskie said he treasured “the value of human life” and favored abortion only if necessary to save the life of the mother.
By contrast, Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota, the party's eventual nominee, said he supported legal abortion, though not on demand.
What happened? Why is the basis of the party now cultural and not economic?
These questions are not only interesting because so many observant Catholics are registered Democrats but also important. If the pro-life movement is to succeed, it will need broad-based political support. Understanding how the party got to this mess should go a long way to helping clean it up.
Who's Pro-Life?
Any good answer must start by classifying the type of people who oppose legal abortion. In general they fall into three camps. The first, unsurprisingly, is composed of the religiously devout, whether Catholic, Jewish or Muslim. Every major poll has consistently shown this to be true.
The second group is those who live in the South, Midwest and Rust Belt, especially in small towns and rural areas. Of the 30-odd states that place major restrictions on the procedure, most are in those three regions.
The third, surprisingly, are the white working class. According to a 2002 Gallup poll, 65% of people making less than $20,000 annually said they support major curbs on abortion and 60% of those making $20,000 to $29,999 did so. By contrast, 55% of Americans overall backed such restrictions.
Indepth
During the Democratic Party's New Deal era, its presidential wing either represented or had ties with each of these three groups. As late as 1968 the party's kingmaker was Mayor Richard J. Daley of Chicago, who practically embodied all three groups. He attended daily Mass, was the mayor of a large Midwestern city and lived for most of his life in a weathered bungalow in the working-class Irish neighborhood of Bridgeport.
Democratic presidential candidates could still represent these New Deal constituencies, but the events of the 1960s and ‘70s have made that increasingly difficult.
The change started with the decline of the big urban political machines in cities such as Chicago, New York and Pittsburgh. The leaders of these tended to be blue-collar Irish Catholics who represented a white ethnic clientele. As white city-dwellers began fleeing the cities en masse in the mid-‘60s, the machines lost the heart of their base.
Then, during the party's bloody and chaotic 1968 convention in Chicago, party delegates approved a reform body to study and recommend ways of altering the way presidential delegates were chosen. At that time the aim of the commission was modest — to open up the party to young people, whom party bosses had excluded in ‘68. But by mid-1969 the commission had acquired a revolutionary intent — to end the Vietnam War and remake the Democrats as the party of the young, women and minorities.
The 28-member body became known as the McGovern or McGovern-Fraser Commission (1969-72), after its chairmen, Sen. McGovern and Rep. Donald Fraser of Minnesota.
The commission's staff and membership ended up being dominated by opponents of the war. They tended to be upper middle class and secular rather than working class and religious. Indeed, one of the commission's early interns was 21-year-old Alex Sanger, grandson of Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, and currently president of the organization's international branch.
As a result, the McGovern commission abused its mandate. It gave the national party unprecedented power over state and local parties. And it rewrote the rules by which presidential delegates were selected, requiring soft quotas for women, young people and blacks.
In so doing the McGovern commission revolutionized the way the party picked its presidential nominee. Under the old boss system, which had been in place since 1832, local and state party leaders chose the candidate, whose prospects could be bolstered by running in a handful of state primaries and caucuses.
In its place the McGovern commission created the modern primary system. The number of state primaries jumped from 16 to 28. And party bosses lost control over who became the party's nominee and direct only one-third of party delegates. The ultimate symbol of this revolution occurred at the 1972 convention, when Mayor Daley's Illinois delegation was denied seating.
By revolutionizing the way the Democratic Party chose its leaders, the McGovern commission revolutionized the makeup of its followers.
One major group to join the reformers was “pro-choice” feminists. Previously many if not most feminists had been aligned with the Republican Party, which had been the party of the middle and upper classes. But the feminist movement began to switch sides in 1972. Taking advantage of the commission's new soft quotas for women as presidential delegates, Bella Abzug and others were able to get into the party leadership on the ground floor.
But by bringing feminists into the Democratic Party, the McGovern commission alienated each of the three major pro-life constituencies.
Where They Went
Many changed their registration to Republican or identified with the Republican Party.
Others simply stayed home during Democratic primaries, thus increasing the power of the party's social liberals. Indeed, in the January Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary 55% of Democratic voters had a four-year-college education. By contrast, only 42% of all voters in the 2000 presidential election had a university degree.
There's no question the above reasons don't fully explain why the abortion clinic is the defining symbol of the Democratic Party's presidential wing. The Supreme Court's rulings in Roe and Doe were indispensable. So was the rise of the New Right in the mid to late 1970s in the Republican Party.
But the decline of the big-city machines and the advent of the modern primary system arguably impact the Democratic Party the most today. As things stand, pro-life candidates simply can't win in Democratic primary contests.
A classic example would be that of Sen. John Breaux of Louisiana, who announced in December he was retiring after 31 years in Congress. In theory Breaux is an ideal presidential nominee: a deal maker, smart, likable, moderate, from a Southern state.
Nevertheless, as he well knows, his pro-life position would be an automatic disqualifier. “You can't get through the nomination process,” he once told me plainly. “I think you could win the general election — but not the primary.”
Mark Stricherz, a Phillips Foundation Fellow, is a writer living in Washington, D.C.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mark Stricherz ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Priest in the Family: Our Very Own White Horse DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:It was one day a very long time ago when the Rev.
John Brennan was a boy of 8 or so and everybody called him Jack and his St. Louis neighborhood was alive with the cacophony of children at play, taking endless rides in a red wagon.
Up and down the hills of the then quite tony South St. Louis streets, Jack would pull these other children in that wagon until his older brother Richard, just as much a curmudgeon at 12 as he would be at 80, suggested in colorful language that Jack was a sucker for hauling all those neighborhood “punks” around without them ever reciprocating.
Jack was nonplussed at his broth-er's gruff evaluation of human nature. As the family legend goes, Jack shrugged his shoulders and said that it was okay, he didn't mind — because he was a white horse.
I never knew him as Jack. My brothers and sisters and I, all 10 of us, never knew him as Uncle John, either. He was forever and always Father John, and he was our family's own personal white horse as long as he lived.
My uncle was a jumble of contradictions — a pious observer of the Divine Office and user of language that could peel the paint off a battleship. He had the bearing of a man at ease in his own skin and he remains for me to this day the only man I have ever known who could smoke a pipe without a whiff of pretension. He had extremely strong views on just about everything, and he held fast to an incredible faith in the sacraments of the Church.
Father John Brennan was also the most profound man I have ever met. He might not have had an answer to every problem in the world people faced, but he got close. I remember one Sunday dinner discussion — or was it an argument? One of my brothers, in the throes of 1960s idealism, challenged Father John about God leaving behind such an untidy world that had room in it for starvation, Adolf Hitler and the Vietnam War. Father John puffed on his pipe — unpretentiously, I remind you — and said, “What do you expect? They crucified the boss.” If you take the time to reverse engineer that statement, it is not as simple as it might originally seem.
When I dropped out of college to the bitter disappointment of my parents, my dad went to Father John for advice and help. To further my father's consternation with me, Father John's response was to take me golfing every week during my hiatus from higher education. We never talked much about the great questions of life. No, as I recall, we were more concerned with keeping our eye on the ball, maintaining proper balance at address and having “quiet” hands when we putted. But just being with Father John and playing golf was therapy, philosophy and theology all rolled up into 18 holes of frustration.
My brothers and sisters all have their own “Father John episodes,” and I'm positive they have wrapped themselves around a memory where Father John said something or did something that brought the Gospel message to them in a penetrating and unique way.
We also learned, over time, that Father John wasn't just our white horse.
A while back, our family was invited to a dedication ceremony at one of Father John's old parishes. They were posthumously naming their new parish center in Father John's honor, something in life he would have scoffed at in mostly sailor's par-lance. But we proud nieces and nephews were glad to attend.
After Mass, a middle-aged Hispanic woman approached us. She told us she was a young child when she and her mother, fresh from a less-than-documented border crossing, knocked on Father John's door. They were alone, penniless and afraid. A large priest in his cassock opened the rectory door, took them in, showed them the hospitality of Jesus and helped them find a way. That was Father John.
Father John had an incredible ability to always cut to the truth of a given situation. Sometimes that knife cut deeply and sometimes Father John paid dearly for taking on so much of the world and its toils. His primary defense mechanism was humor. You could tell Father John the most horrible news and his first reaction was almost always to laugh. He had a keen sense of the absurdity of life and yet had only love for the producers of so much absurdity.
There were also times when all of the sorrows he carried deep within him would overwhelm him and his body and spirit would be broken. These were terrible times and they just weren't talked about much. But leave it to Father John to be able to go through these brutal periods of physical and emotional darkness and come out the other side, maybe not stronger physically but recouped emotionally and spiritually and without the hint of shame about having gone through it. Like all good saints, he was honored by God with more than his share of suffering.
Personally, I think about Father John just about every day. As a family that grew up during the climax of triumphalism, we used to feel sorry for all those “Protestant” kids who had to go to public school.
Today, much older and ever so slightly wiser, we understand our faith in a more embracing manner. But there are still times when I feel sorry for all those Protestants and Catholics alike who never had their very own white horse.
Robert Brennan is a television writer in Los Angeles.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Robert Brennan ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Sneer Clear DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Spirit & Life
G.K. Chester ton, no stranger to argument and debate, wrote: “It is generally the man who is not ready to argue who is ready to sneer.” And not just sneer but also glare, shout, scream — and demand a duel to the cyber-death with flaming e-mails heavy with emotion but light on logic.
I encounter these irritable attitudes often, as argument is a staple of the apologetics diet. (“Argue” comes from a Latin word meaning “to prove.”) Civilized argument and debate, when pursued in the interest of learning more about the truth, are good things. But many people, even some who engage in apologetics, don't like the necessary give-and-take. They want to give but not take; they like to talk but aren't into listening.
True confession: I've been guilty of this myself, and on more than one occasion. “How come this silly person won't listen to me?” I have occasionally thought to myself. “After all, I'm right. Isn't it obvious?” Perhaps I was right, but my approach was all wrong. Without really listening to the question or argument of the other person, I failed to demonstrate the reasonable nature of my belief.
Once, as a young evangelical Protestant, I passionately informed a Methodist lady that, unless a person outwardly hears the Gospel and the name of Jesus Christ, they have no chance for salvation. The lady made many good points against this flawed position, but I comforted myself with the knowledge that she believed in the ordination of women and thus could not be taken seriously.
Since becoming Catholic I've sat in that Methodist's seat. Catholic apologists are often informed that the Catholic position cannot be taken seriously because — take your pick — the Pope tells Catholics what to think, Catholic tradition is not biblical, Catholics might not even be Christians or Catholics are the spawn of the Antichrist.
Especially irritating are e-mails that say they offer “arguments” along these lines: I watched you on television. I didn't like that you criticized non-Catholics. I feel like you are a very angry person. Why are you so divisive? Shouldn't Christians get along? By the way, I doubt Catholics are Christian.
A more aggressive variation goes like this: I read one of your articles. You don't know anything. You obviously haven't read the Bible. You are a liar. Repent.
One recent e-mail — very long and repetitive — stated that my hour with Father Mitch Pacwa on EWTN had been “a futile exercise to protect Roman Catholic doctrine and not the explanation and extension of the Christian faith through Scripture.” No examples or proof of this was given, possibly because Father Pacwa and I spent most of the show examining passages of the Bible. The writer then claimed that to “argue these theological differences in the public media leaves both Catholic and Protestant Christians confused and unfulfilled.”
This person's ability to see into the heart and mind of everyone who viewed the show would be breathtaking — if it were real. As for arguing, didn't Jesus and his apostles have an argument or two with those who opposed his teachings and the Gospel? Of course they did, in part because they cared too much to leave people confused about vital dif ferences of belief.
So argument and debate can be necessary and good things. Don't agree? Please don't sneer — I think we can all agree that sneering is not good, or necessary.
Carl E. Olson is editor of Envoy magazine and author of Will Catholics Be ‘Left Behind’?
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carl E. Olson ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Cardinal Newman's Project DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Had my London guidebook failed to spotlight this historic site, I would have put it on my list of things to see anyway.
After all, Brompton Oratory is well known as one of relatively few Catholic churches in England's capital — and as one of the most magnificent places of prayer in the entire United Kingdom.
So first thing Sunday morning I hopped on the near-empty Tube, jumped off at the second station and began walking through unusually sunny streets. My plan was to get to the church well before Mass.
My extra-early departure proved fortunate, for I headed in the wrong direction once I scaled the stairs from the station. Map in hand, I quickly realized my mistake and restarted. I didn't have to walk far before recognizing the Victoria and Albert Museum. At that point I had to chuckle: The oratory is directly adjacent. I'd passed the building several times during my stay without ever pausing to see what it contained.
It wasn't until I got home that I discovered that I (and my guidebook) had been referring to the famous site by one of its nicknames. Casually called the ORatory around town (pronounced “ora-tree” here), it's more formally referred to as the Brompton Oratory or the London Oratory outside the city. Yet both of those are shorthand as well: Its true name is the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Built between 1880 and 1884, the church — the second-largest Catholic church in the city — is a virtual upstart by London standards. It is home to a community of priests called the Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, or Oratorians, an order imported to England by Oratorian (and later Cardinal) John Henry Newman in the 1840s. The London Oratory was founded not many years after in what the parish Web site calls “converted premises” (no pun intended, I'm sure) that might have been a whiskey store or dance hall.
Newman's School
Like so many parishes in my home diocese, parishioners of the oratory worshipped in a “temporary” church for a number of years — but their ultimate spiritual home was worth the wait.
In 1874 the congregation launched an appeal to raise the funds to build what was to become a major London landmark. Six years later, the foundation stone was laid. The neo-baroque building was consecrated on April 16, 1884. The architectural style is Italianate, a clever reference to St. Philip, who is sometimes called “the second apostle” of Rome, following the Eternal City's first apostles, Sts. Peter and Paul.
Construction cost about $173,000 and continued even after Cardinal Edward Manning officially opened the church. The façade at the south end was added in 1893, and the outer dome was completed about three years after that. The last major external work was the erection of the memorial to Cardinal Newman in 1896, six years after his death. It's interesting to note that these followers of Cardinal Newman, who is known to so many young people because of the Newman Centers at their colleges, established the Oratory School in 1852; it is still going strong.
To this Southern Californian's eyes, the church was nothing short of spectacular. The walls are lined with altars and chapels: the Calvary Altar, St. Wilfrid's Chapel, Blessed Sebastian's Altar, the Seven Dolours Chapel. Parishioners drifted to particular altars for prayers before Mass, but I visited each of them. At each, I tried not to feel overwhelmed by the elaborate altars and elegant statues, the marble pillars and sparkling chandeliers, the bas-relief Stations of the Cross and the light pouring in from the dome before the altar.
Each chapel is somewhat cavernous, with rows of chairs standing before it, ready to hold petitioners or worshippers at Mass. Behind the altar hung, in most of the chapels, a portrait of the saint to whom the chapel was dedicated. Many of these were commissioned by priests of the oratory. St. Joseph's Chapel and the Lady Chapel are the exceptions. Behind the one altar stands a sculpture of St. Joseph and behind the other a statue of Our Lady of Victories that dates back to an earlier oratory on a different London street.
The Lady Chapel is also unique because it originally belonged to a different church. It was part of the Chapel of the Rosary in a Dominican church in Brescia, Italy. When that church was demolished and its contents put up for sale, one of the oratory fathers discovered the chapel and had it transported to England. The oratory has put its mark on the chapel, so to speak, by adding sculptures of St. Pius V, a contemporary of St. Philip, and St. Philip himself.
Mind on the Mass
It would take a crowd of considerable proportions to fill a church this size; I noticed many empty seats around mine. Yet quite a few worshippers attended this 8:30 a.m. Sunday Mass. We prayed together the Our Father and the creed, though my pronunciation was different than the others’ and some of the names of individuals for whom we prayed were unfamiliar to me.
I often find it difficult to focus on the liturgy in a church so spectacular. I tend to be distracted by the beauty of the decorations and design. But in Brompton Oratory, I managed to keep my mind on the Mass. Once it began, I didn't so much as glance at the intricate carvings of the pulpit, near which I sat.
The Mass ended all too quickly, and we scattered in different directions — I, like many of the others, stopping off at a chapel before leaving the dim church and plunging into the bright sunlight again.
Outside I was surprised to see an older woman keeping watch over a table filled with books, holy medals and small knickknacks, her tiny dog resting patiently near the cash box. She smiled as I looked the things over, hastening to tell me who had blessed which medal.
I left a pound or two poorer but a medal and a book richer, thinking back on the quick hour I'd spent in Brompton Oratory — a church with three names, a rich history and a special place in my memories of London.
Elisabeth Deffner writes from Orange, California.
----- EXCERPT: Brompton Oratory, London ----- EXTENDED BODY: Elisabeth Deffner ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Good Sport DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:You might be a dyed-in-the-wool hockey fan, or you might be among the clueless majority who don't “know a blue line from a clothesline,” to quote sportscaster Al Michaels. It was his euphoric outburst in the final seconds of the 1980 Winter Olympics USA-Soviet hockey showdown — “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”— that gave the “Miracle on Ice” its enduring moniker and this film its title.
It doesn't matter where you stand on hockey. Miracle will make you want to stand up and cheer. The Miracle on Ice belonged to all of America, fans and non-fans alike. In Miracle, director Gavin O'Connor and first-time screen-writer Eric Guggenheim have crafted an accessible, meticulous, rousing tribute to the legendary game that should both please mainstream audiences and hold up to aficionado scrutiny.
The film does this, in large part, by telling the story more or less as it happened, without hyped-up drama or emotion, sentimentality or extraneous subplots. The bare facts of the story are drama enough. A tough coach forges a team of raw American college hockey players into an upstart Olympic team that goes up against the seasoned, indomitable Soviet squad and pulls off the upset of the century.
Miracle manages the neat trick of establishing this game as much more than a game without making it all about politics or turning the Soviet players into ideological bad guys. Like Seabiscuit, with its Depression-era tale of a scrappy underdog racehorse taking on the much-favored champion thorough-breds, Miracle establishes its setting in a time when American spirit is at a low ebb. People are ready to rally behind an underdog hero who can help them believe in comebacks and David-and-Goliath upsets.
Anchoring the film is Kurt Russell's expertly focused, restrained performance as Herb Brooks, NCAA coach and former Olympic hockey player. Brooks was the last player cut from the 1960 Olympic team — coincidentally, the last U.S. hockey team to win Olympic gold.
An effective opening title sequence establishes the political and cultural milieu — the Iranian hostage crisis, the gas lines, Jimmy Carter's “crisis of confidence” speech. With turmoil over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and Carter threatening to boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Cold War tensions were at a head. Every America-vs.-the-Soviets competition at the winter games in Lake Placid was highly charged. Americans were in need of an infusion of confidence and cando spirit. As the film suggests, a triumph over the Russians might just lift the collective spirit of the entire nation.
Yet what were the odds of that? The Eastern-bloc hockey teams were the best in the world, and the Soviets were the clear favorites. Even the NHL all-star dream team couldn't stand up to the Soviet machine. For the Olympics, since amateur status still meant something in those days, Team USA would have to turn to raw college kids.
But Brooks has his own theories about why the Soviets win — and how they can be beaten.
His first principle is that, in hockey, teamwork and group synergy matter more than individual skill. An All-Star team is at an inherent disadvantage because the players, talented as they are individually, aren't playing the same game.
Like military training, Brooks’ program is designed to break down each player's sense of self-possession so a group of individuals can behave as a single unit with a single purpose: winning. This goal is all the more daunting because he is selecting players from rival colleges; their animosities toward one another are a major obstacle.
Part of Brooks’ unorthodox approach involves taking a rather antagonistic stance toward his recruits. He refocuses their resentment on him, thereby giving them common cause with one another. “I'm here to be your coach — not your friend,” he barks the first day. He holds himself aloof from his players, drives them obsessively past the point of exhaustion and threatens to bench or replace them at a moment's notice. Yet when he does have to cut a player, we see how incredibly difficult it is for him.
Brooks isn't an inspiring leader in the traditional mold. He isn't even entirely likeable or sympathetic, not necessarily the guy you'd like to have over to your house for dinner. What he is is the guy who can take recruits and train them to skate blade to blade with the best team in the world.
Certain that talent and experience favor the competition, Brooks emphasizes endurance, speed and creativity. “I can't promise you that you will be the best team,” he tells his players, “but you will be the best-conditioned team. That I can promise you.”
It's a strategy that will lead to a nerve-wracking pattern in the big games as the talented and experienced competition takes the lead early on. By the third (and final) period, though, as endurance becomes a factor, the strong, well-conditioned American players become increasingly competitive.
The uncompromising rigor of Brooks’ training regimen at times borders on cruelty or even goes over the edge. One grueling line drill following an embarrassing pre-Olympic defeat goes on for so long that it becomes an endurance test for the audience as well as the players. It's an approach that would be unendurable — except for the fact that it might be the one thing that could work.
Although countless Americans are rooting for Team USA to “beat the commies,” Brooks and the team keep the emphasis on hockey. In a memorable shot, we see Team USA walk out to the ice past a wall covered with countless telegrams and letters from well-wishers. Brooks does his best to keep the players insulated from public scrutiny. (The players later attested that they had no idea the extent to which the country was hanging on their every play).
Refreshingly, the film doesn't resort to having the Russians sneer and swagger or belittle our team, as many sports movies do. The Russians are simply the other team, the competition. We root for Team USA not because the other side is despicable but simply because it is our team. The David vs. Goliath subtext only adds to our affection for our guys.
Miracle is a celebration of the virtues on display in team sports at their best: sacrifice, teamwork, dedication and achievement. It is the best sort of true story, a story so satisfying that it couldn't have been made up or fudged. As Al Michaels put it at the medal ceremony, “No scriptwriter would ever dare.”
Content advisory: Recurring sports roughness and an on-ice brawl; limited minor profanity; a couple of vulgar expressions.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video/DVD Picks DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Hulk (2003)
Not the best or most exciting of comic-book movies but the most thoughtful and arguably one of the most interesting, Ang Lee's Hulk offers a new look at Marvel Comics’ green-skinned Jekyll-and-Hyde pulp antihero through the director's poetic, psychologically attuned sensibilities.
The result is an unusually restrained character drama that eventually segues into comic-book action, much like Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) himself morphing into the Hulk. It's also a cautionary tale about the dangers of seeking to usurp the Creator's prerogatives — something the villain expressly professes as his intention (note the name of the sinister corporation: Atheon).
In re-imagining the Hulk's origins as involving not just a single gamma-ray related accident in Banner's scientific career but a legacy of fateful events extending to Banner's childhood and even his paternity, Ang Lee recasts the story from a simple character allegory to an intergenerational tale of overreaching fathers and wounded children.
Lee's deliberate pacing, psychological drama and somewhat head-scratching climax might bewilder comic-book fans expecting a mere action-fest, but it's something more ambitious. The sometimes-cartoonish CGI Hulk is no Gollum, but he's effective enough, and his soaring leaps are among the film's best images. Another visual highlight: virtuoso split-screen work that evokes comic-book panel layouts.
Content advisory: Stylized, sometimes-intense comic-book violence; implied domestic violence; limited profanity and crass language; fleeting rear nudity. Teens and up.
Microcosmos (1996)
To human sensibilities, insects are very far from the most appealing forms of life on the planet — yet the sheer fact that God has made so very many of them can hardly fail to impress upon us that he must think more of them than we are inclined to.
What Winged Migration did for birds and Atlantis did for life under the sea Microcosmos does for the insect world. It's an astonishingly up-close and personal look at an infinitesimal world as alien as anything captured by the Hubble telescope or the Mars rovers — but also a world of strange fascination and unexpected beauty.
These three documentaries bring us closer to their subjects than any other nature film I've ever seen. For Microcosmos, specially built cameras with powerful magnifying lenses were built to capture insects as vividly and powerfully as players in a football game or cars in a car commercial. Stag beetles lock horns as fearsomely as rams, raindrops land among insects like hailstones, snails mate as tenderly as humans and a pheasant picking off ants looms like the T-rex in Jurassic Park.
Like Winged Migration and Atlantis, Microcosmos is about showing, not telling; the images are so arresting that no running commentary is needed, just as a symphony needs no lyrics.
Content advisory: Some documentary footage of invertebrate carnage and mating; fine for kids.
The Court Jester (1956)
See Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood — and then see Danny Kaye in The Court Jester. As the former is the ultimate Hollywood swash-buckler classic, the latter is the ultimate swashbuckler spoof and one of Kaye's finest, funniest hours. Not only does it terrifically succeed where movies like Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men in Tights miserably fail, but Jester also is as merry, high-spirited and wholesome as the adventures it parodies, with none of the cynical, anarchic spirit (or content issues) of the likes of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
It's also a genuinely entertaining tale, with a convoluted plot involving an evil usurper king (Cecil Parker), a scheming knight (Basil Rath-bone) who covets the false king's throne and a Robin-Hood/Zorro-type hero-outlaw called the Black Fox (Edward Ashley). Kaye stars as former circus performer Hubert Hawkins, now the meekest of the Fox's merry men, who dreams of derring-do but is charged with caring for a royal infant who is the true heir to the throne in hiding.
Viewers always remember the classic tongue-twisting wordplay of the “vessel with the pestle” scene, but Jester is full of hilarity, from Hawkins’ sparkling debut as a jester to his rapid-fire personality changes under hypnosis to his accelerated elevation to knighthood. It could not better be!
Content advisory: Comic
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:All times Eastern
SUNDAY, FEB. 15
Youth & Family Encounter 2002
EWTN, 7 p.m.
You'll find sure signs of hope for the Church when you witness this large gathering in Baltimore that was sponsored by the Legionaries of Christ and their apostolic movement, Regnum Christi. Family therapist Ar t Bennett spoke, as did Legionaries U.S. superior Father Anthony Bannon and Father Owen Kearns, the Register's publisher and editor in chief.
MONDAY, FEB. 16
Presidents’ Homes
Travel Channel, 9 a.m., 2 p.m.
On Presidents Day, come calling: Step into the homes of Presidents Eisenhower, Lincoln, Reagan, Franklin Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt, and stay awhile.
TUESDAY, FEB. 17
The Everlasting
Man — Chesterton
Familyland TV, 1 p.m.
The prolific English author G.K. (Gilbert Keith) Chester ton (1874-1936) found peace of heart once he became Catholic. This “Peace of Heart Forum Classic” gives us insights into Chesterton's spiritual life and intellect. His 69 books included The Everlasting Man (1925), in which he defended the Church from materialists and reminded us that Christ is at the center of history.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18
Towing
History Channel, 10 a.m., 4 p.m.
This lively look at the wonderful world of towing things shows us not only flatbed trucks but also tugboats, roller coasters and funicular railroads.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18
Holland's Barriers to the Sea
Discovery Channel, 10 p.m.
In the latest stage of their never-ending, centuries-long national effort to keep the sea at bay (pun intended), the people of the Netherlands employ a giant sea-surge barrier and an extensive system of dams and barriers that nowadays is computer-controlled.
FRIDAY, FEB. 20
The World Over
EWTN, 8 p.m.
Host Raymond Arroyo interviews actor-director Mel Gibson about his new film, The Passion of the Christ, set to open in theaters Feb. 25, Ash Wednesday.
SATURDAY, FEB. 21
Stalin: Man of Steel
History Channel, 8 p.m.
He called himself Stalin (“man of steel”), but his real name was Iosef Dzhugashvili (1879-1953). As dictator of the Soviet Union for four decades, he presided over a state terror apparatus that murdered tens of millions of people. Apologists for Marxism first denied his crimes, then excused them and now call them an aberration — but, in fact, Stalin was the quintessential communist. He carried on Vladimir Lenin's policy of bloodshed.
SATURDAY, FEB. 21
Best Young Chefs Competition
Food Network, 9 p.m.
See what's cookin’ at this major contest for chefs under age 27.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dan Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: College Students Help Close California Abortion Site DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:VENTURA, Calif. — A committed group of pro-life Thomas Aquinas College students know prayer was responsible for the recent closing of an abortion business. What they didn't anticipate was some assistance from above.
The business closed Nov. 6, exactly six years after the tragic death of the group's founder, 19-year-old Angela Baird. The students think it's only appropriate considering Baird offered her last sufferings for the victims of abortion.
Family Planning Associates closed its Ventura office, referring clients to its business in Mission Hills. Founded in 1969 by Dr. Edward Allred and Dr. Kenneth Wright, Family Planning Associates is California's largest abortion business with 18 sites across the state.
The abortion business was one of several that came under scrutiny last year by the Denton, Texas-based Life Dynamics Inc. for its willingness to ignore state laws in covering up illegal sexual activity between adult males and underage girls.
According to Baird's mother, Peggy, Angela began pro-life sidewalk counseling work on her own initiative in the ninth grade.
“The life issues were something we had discussed as a family,” Peggy Baird said, “and Angela had that interest. She kept pushing, as 14-year-olds will.”
Angela marched in rallies in Spokane, Wash., and eventually went through training to be a sidewalk counselor. She often did sidewalk counseling at Planned Parenthood.
“Later in high school she attempted to get friends to go with her,” her mother said. “She was disappointed that people wouldn't go down with her. She was also disappointed that there wasn't a group at Thomas Aquinas College.”
Just months before her death, Angela organized a small group of Thomas Aquinas College students to pray in front of Family Planning Associates’ Ventura office every Thursday, a day abortions were performed.
On the afternoon of Baird's death, nearly 100 students gathered to pray 15 decades of the rosary and the chaplet of Divine Mercy in front of the abortion business.
A sophomore from Spokane, Baird died after a hiking accident. She was with a group of seven other students on a hiking trail in Los Padres National Forest, located behind the campus, when she lost her footing on an overhang and fell 60 feet onto the rocks below.
Jon Daly, then a junior, quickly went to aid her. He placed a rosary in her hand and prayed with her until the paramedics arrived three hours later.
“I asked her what she wanted to pray for,” Daly said. “The first thing she said was to pray for aborted babies, then she said to pray for her dad and to her guardian angel.”
In a letter to Baird's parents, Daly wrote, “I will never forget that reply; her love for the unborn and the aborted is one of the most beautiful things about Angela's life.”
Answered Prayer
Mike Martin, a 21-year-old junior from Seattle, has been involved with the college's pro-life prayer group since the second semester of his freshman year.
“I've always been pro-life … but I think it's really good to perform some action, to put what you believe and have learned into action,” Martin said. “I know it's good for my soul.”
Approximately 10 students from campus went to the abortion business every Thursday and Friday to pray.
“We usually say a rosary on the way there, two rosaries at the site and the Divine Mercy chaplet and a rosary on the way back to campus,” explained Martin, who often brings the prayer sheet. “We would also say a prayer for the canonization of Blessed Gianna Beretta Molla, for former college chaplain Father Thomas McGovern and for Angela Baird.”
Meghan Patterson, a 19-year-old freshman from Temecula, Calif., was the first to learn the abortion business was closing. Students had noticed a decrease in the site's traffic and wondered if the schedule for abortions had changed again.
Patterson, who was new to the prayer group that day, inquired inside. She learned the business was closing and that day was the last day for follow-up visits.
“When I went outside to tell the others,” Patterson said, “someone remembered it was the day Angela had died. When she said this, we all choked up and realized it was like a miracle.”
The presence of the pro-life club was one of the aspects that attracted Bridget McBryan, a sophomore from Philadelphia, to the campus. After a year at Mount St. Mary's in Maryland followed by a year volunteering with the Pennsylvania pro-life group Generation Life, McBryan transferred to Thomas Aquinas.
That night McBryan made an announcement to the other students gathered in the cafeteria during dinner.
“Most of the student body has a good idea of who Angela was,” McBryan said. “I told the other students that it was the anniversary of her death and told them that the abortion clinic had closed.”
Martin said the coincidence didn't sink in until later.
“It's amazing that the closing coincided with the anniversary of her death,” he said. “It shows her intercession and shows that she is still involved in heaven praying for the unborn.”
Angela's parents learned of the abortion business’ closing from their son Joe the day after it closed. Both said the news has helped them in their loss.
“I'm glad that it's closed and that it happened in that way,” said Mike Baird, Angela's father, who does survival training for the Air Force and U.S. Customs. “It keeps it [her death] from being as difficult as it is.”
“The date was not a coincidence. It's a powerful reminder that God does answer our prayers,” Peggy Baird said. “It's easy for those in the pro-life movement to get discouraged. None of us knows the effect we will have. This is a visible and powerful reminder … that God really is active here.”
“Students faithfully passed down this ministry to the unborn — and the story of the young woman who started it — from year to year,” said Norbertine Father Michael Perea, the college chaplain. “To see this kind of faith in our students is a real inspiration for all of us.”
The week after the business closed, the students returned to the Family Planning Associates business to pray in thanksgiving. While there, they saw the business moving out.
The business’ closing and the power of prayer has served to encourage the students to continue praying and asking for Baird's intercession.
“A victory like that definitely encourages me to know that our prayers are working,” McBryan said.
With the Ventura office closed, the students have turned their attention to another nearby abortion business. The students hope they might have similar success at the Ventura-based Planned Parenthood.
But, Martin said, “It might take a few years.”
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Headlong Into the Apostles' Creed DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:ADVENTURES IN ORTHODOXY
by Dwight Longenecker
Sophia Institute, 2003 192 pages, $14.95
To order: (800) 888-9344
www.sophiainstitute.com
Partitioning the platform of the Apostles’ Creed into 20 interdependent springboards, Dwight Longenecker, a convert to the Catholic faith from Anglicanism, leads us through an invigorating series of dives into deep apologetical waters.
He sees to it that our imagination tumbles and flips as we jump from anthropology to science and theology to art, but Longenecker never loses sight of his purpose: illuminating and elucidating for us the concise statement of belief that defines us as Christians.
An underlying theme of the book is how to think and act “incarnationally.” He writes: “Do you want to find God? Then contemplate the Incarnation, for the Incarnation is the living proof of that universal principle that you must go down to meet God, for God always comes to us from below, and we must stoop to find him.”
Elsewhere he parses the proposition of God becoming man by comparing the event's universal aspects with its particulars. “The one Spirit surging through creation was to become specified in individual people,” he writes. “That's why Moses could see a burning bush only outside himself, but at Pentecost Peter had the burning fire first alight on his head, then burn its way into his heart, his mind and every fiber of his being.”
Throughout, Longenecker joins common-sense philosophy with poetic imagery to shake open our minds as well as our eyes to the wonders of the faith before us. “The Christian way is more like the trapeze than the tightrope,” he writes. “We're not called to tread a delicate balance between the spiritual and the physical but to leap off the platform and fly through the air, borne up by the strong arms of both. This is more difficult and dangerous than walking a tightrope. But if it's more difficult and dangerous, it's also more exhilarating and beautiful.”
With Chestertonian flair, Longenecker creates and sustains a character who appears every now and again throughout the book. He's “The Man From Missouri,” a skeptic whose “practical” view of life we all, Christian or not, tend to accept — often in lieu of an adventure in Christian orthodoxy.
“I've never been to Missouri, yet wherever I turn, I find myself living there,” he writes. “Missouri, as any home-grown American will tell you, is the ‘Show Me’ state. …
[T]he Man From Missouri is the archetypical squinting, chin-rubbing yokel who won't be taken in by nobody, no way, no-how. If Missouri is a flat state in the middle of America, it's also a state of mind in the middle of our culture.”
It is with such amusing (and deftly orchestrated) shifts in perspective that we explore the Creed line by line. By book's end, we sense we've just climbed a soaring spiritual ladder. The rungs we've stood on have allowed us to grasp both posts of the ladder even though they're in a certain tension with one another: time and space, beauty and truth, obedience and risk, pleasure and pain, justice and mercy, humility and divinization.
“The Creed provides a starting point with which to climb, and all real inquiry should be taking us further up the ladder,” Longenecker writes.
Read this book and discover a trapeze at the top of that ladder, a refreshing pool below and, within, the desire for jumping off — straight into the “exhilarating and beautiful” adventure orthodoxy can be.
Robert Trexler writes from Amherst, Massachusetts.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Robert Trexler ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Board Additions
Edward Schroeder, a retired international president of United Parcel Ser vice, and David Seng, retired director, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Montag & Caldwell Investment Counsel Inc., will join the board of one of the few Catholic colleges in the South.
Southern Catholic, located in Dawsonville, Ga., plans to open in fall 2005.
Catholics’ Centennial
In 1903, when the Stanford Newman Club formed, the paper reported, Catholics were a minority on campus. Now, however, an estimated 30% to 40% of the student body identify themselves as Catholic, the most-represented religion on campus.
More than 800 students and faculty attend Mass and each year about 50 infants and 10 adults are baptized, 25 students and faculty members are confirmed, and about 75 couples participate in the sacrament of marriage.
Ecologically Unsound?
The environmental group said it was afraid the area would not only be converted to a school and town but also a massive new subdivision.
Ave Maria was mentioned as part of the Sierra Club's argument against a government-proposed $8.4 million plan to restore the Everglades. The organization said the plan to provide water to cities and towns has been twisted.
A spokesman for Barren Collier Partnership, which is working with Ave Maria on the new site, said the university is planned for “the least impactive place we could find to put it” and it complies with the anti-sprawl provisions in the county's plan.
Pro-Life at Pitt
Its mission, according to the student newspaper, is to “educate the university community on the value of human life and in matters pertaining to abortion and the right to life. We will seek to foster and support positive alternatives to abortion for pregnant women, especially those in the university community.”
Among its activities, said the organization's president, sophomore N'djamina Johnson, was a trip to Washington for the annual March for Life.
‘Monologues’ Update
CARDINAL NEWMAN SOCIETY, Jan. 30 — Already the protest campaign launched in early January by the Cardinal Newman Society against presentations of “The Vagina Monologues” is having an impact.
According to the group's Web site, 11 Catholic colleges and universities have said they will not host or sponsor the play. Several college leaders have also indicated they will not allow the play on campus.
The Catholic University of America and St. Joseph's College in Indiana are among those who have cancelled plays or banned the play on their campuses.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: 'Whoever Receives One Such Child in My Name Receives Me' DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Here is John Paul II's Message for Lent 2004, issued by the Vatican press office.
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
1. The evocative rite of the imposition of ashes marks the beginning of the holy season of Lent, when the Liturgy once more calls the faithful to radical conversion and trust in God's mercy.
This year's theme — “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me” (Matthew 18:5) — invites us to reflect on the condition of children. Today Jesus continues to call them to himself and to set them as an example to all those who wish to be his disciples. Jesus’ words call upon us to see how children are treated in our families, in civil society, and in the Church. They are also an incentive to redis-cover the simplicity and trust which believers must cultivate in imitation of the Son of God, who shared the lot of the little ones and the poor. Saint Clare of Assisi loved to say that Christ, “lay in a manger, lived in poverty on the earth and died naked on the Cross” (Testament, Franciscan Sources, No. 2841).
Jesus had a particular love for children because of “their simplicity, their joy of life, their spontaneity, and their faith filled with wonder” (Angelus Message, Dec. 18, 1994). For this reason he wishes the community to open its arms and its heart to them, even as he did: “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me” (Matthew 18:5). Alongside children Jesus sets the “very least of the brethren”: the suffering, the needy, the hungry and thirsty, strangers, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned. In welcoming them and loving them, or in treating them with indifference and contempt, we show our attitude towards him, for it is in them that he is particularly present.
2. The Gospel recounts the childhood of Jesus in the simple home of Nazareth, where he was obedient to his parents and “increased in wisdom and in years, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). By becoming himself a child, he wished to share our human experience. “He emptied himself,” writes the Apostle Paul, “taking the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a Cross” (Philippians 2:7-8). When at twelve years old he remained in the Temple in Jerusalem, he said to his parents who anxiously looked for him: “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” (Luke 2:49). Indeed, his whole life was marked by a trusting and filial obedience to his heavenly Father. “My food,” he said, “is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34).
In the years of his public life Jesus often insisted that only those who become like children will enter the Kingdom of Heaven (cf. Matthew 18:3; Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17; John 3:3). In his teaching, young children become a striking image of the disciple who is called to follow the divine Master with childlike docility: “Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:4).
“To become” one of the least and “to receive” the little ones: these are two aspects of a single teaching which the Lord repeats to his disciples in our time. Only the one who makes himself one of the “least” is able to receive with love the “least” of our brothers and sisters.
3. Many believers strive faithfully to follow these teachings of the Lord. Here I would mention those parents who willingly take on the responsibility of a large family, mothers and fathers who, rather than considering success in their profession and career as the highest value, make every effort to pass on to their children those human and religious values that give true meaning to life.
With great admiration I also think of all those committed to caring for underprivileged children and those who alleviate the sufferings of children and their families resulting from war and violence, inadequate food and water, forced immigration and the many forms of injustice present in the world.
Together with such great generosity, however, a word must be said about the selfishness of those who do not “receive” children. There are young people who have been profoundly hurt by the violence of adults: sexual abuse, forced prostitution, involvement in the sale and use of drugs; children forced to work or enlisted for combat; young children scarred forever by the breakup of the family; little ones caught up in the obscene trafficking of organs and persons. What too of the tragedy of AIDS and its devastating consequences in Africa? It is said that millions of persons are now afflicted by this scourge, many of whom were infected from birth. Humanity cannot close its eyes in the face of so appalling a tragedy!
4. What evil have these children done to merit such suffering? From a human standpoint it is not easy, indeed it may be impossible, to answer this disturbing question. Only faith can make us begin to understand so profound an abyss of suffering. By becoming “obedient unto death, even death on a Cross” (Philippians 2:8), Jesus took human suffering upon himself and illuminated it with the radiant light of his resurrection. By his death, he conquered death once for all.
During Lent, we prepare to relive the Paschal Mystery, which sheds the light of hope upon the whole of our existence, even its most complex and painful aspects. Holy Week will again set before us this mystery of salvation in the evocative rites of the Easter Triduum.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, let us set out with trust on our Lenten journey, sustained by fervent prayer, penance and concern for those in need. In particular, may this Lent be a time of ever greater concern for the needs of children, in our own families and in society as a whole: for they are the future of humanity.
5. With childlike simplicity let us turn to God and call him, as Jesus taught us in the prayer of the “Our Father,” “Abba,” “Father.”
Our Father! Let us repeat this prayer often during Lent; let us repeat it with deep emotion. By calling God “Our Father,” we will better realize that we are his children and feel that we are brothers and sisters of one another. Thus it will be an easier for us to open our hearts to the little ones, following the invitation of Jesus: “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me” (Matthew 18:5).
In this hope, I invoke upon each of you God's blessings, through the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Word of God made man and Mother of all humanity.
From the Vatican, Dec. 8, 2003
John Paul II
----- EXCERPT: Message of His Holiness John Paul II for Lent 2004 ----- EXTENDED BODY: John Paul II ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Prepare to Prepare: Lent By the Book DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Regulations for Fast and Abstinence:
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of both fast and abstinence from meat. Fast binds all over the age of 18 and under the age of 59. On days of fast, one full meal is allowed. Two other meals sufficient to maintain strength may be taken according to each one's needs, but together they should not equal another full meal. Eating in between meals is not permitted, but liquids, including milk and juices, are allowed. When health or ability to work would be seriously affected, the law does not oblige.
The following is the section on Lent in the Vatican Directory on Popular Piety:
Lent precedes and prepares for Easter. It is a time to hear the Word of God, to convert, to prepare for and remember Baptism, to be reconciled with God and one's neigh-bour, and of more frequent recourse to the “arms of Christian penance”: prayer, fasting and good works (cf. Mattew 6, 1-6. 16-18).
Popular piety does not easily perceive the mystical aspect of Lent and does not emphasize any of its great themes or values, such a relationship between “the sacrament of 40 days” and “the sacraments of Christian initiation”, nor the mystery of the “exodus” which is always present in the lenten journey. Popular piety concentrates on the mysteries of Christ's humanity, and during Lent the faithful pay close attention to the Passion and Death of Our Lord.
In the Roman Rite, the beginning of the 40 days of penance is marked with the austere symbol of ashes which are used in the Liturgy of Ash Wednesday. The use of ashes is a survival from an ancient rite according to which converted sinners submitted themselves to canonical penance. The act of putting on ashes symbolizes fragility and mortality, and the need to be redeemed by the mercy of God. Far from being a merely external act, the Church has retained the use of ashes to symbolize that attitude of internal penance to which all the baptized are called during Lent. The faithful who come to receive ashes should be assisted in perceiving the implicit internal significance of this act, which disposes them towards conversion and renewed Easter commitment.
Notwithstanding the secularisation of contemporary society, the Christian faithful, during Lent, are clearly conscious of the need to turn the mind towards those realities which really count, which require Gospel commitment and integrity of life which, through self denial of those things which are superfluous, are translated into good works and solidarity with the poor and needy.
Those of the faithful who infrequently attend the sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist should be aware of the long ecclesial tradition associating the precept of confessing grave sins and receive Holy Communion at least once during the lenten season, or preferably during Eastertide.
The existing divergence between the liturgical idea of Lent and the outlook of popular piety need not prevent an effective interaction between Liturgy and popular piety during the 40 days of Lent.
An example of such interaction is to be seen in fact that popular piety often encourages particular observances on certain days, or special devotional exercises, or apostolic or charitable works which are foreseen and recommended by the lenten Liturgy. The practice of fasting, characteristic of the Lenten season since antiquity, is an “exercise” which frees the faithful from earthly concerns so as to discover the life that comes from above: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Canadian Companions Kicked Off a Texas Tornado DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Priest Profile
Parish life at Houston's Queen of Peace Church was running on empty. There were few lay ministries, Mass attendance was low and school enrollment was edging toward extinction. By the accounts of parishioners who prayed their way through the lean years, the inner-city community sorely needed … well, some thing.
God responded to the prayers, say those same parishioners, with a someone. Or, more accurately, several of them: Father Christian Riesbeck and his new religious community, the Companions of the Cross from Ottawa. Father Riesbeck came to Queen of Peace in the fall of 1999 as pastor and three other priests from his community came to staff the local Catholic Charismatic Center. Together, it seems, they set off a firestorm of the Holy Spirit.
When the new priests arrived, Queen of Peace had about 800 families on the parish rolls. Four years later, that number had doubled. The religious-education classes mirrored that rate of growth — enrollment is now up to 600 students — and the school boasts a modest but growing student body of 140. Most parishioners are Hispanic, with a large number of newly arrived Mexicans. To serve them better, Father Riesbeck spent seven weeks in Mexico learning Spanish before taking up his pastorate.
Father Riesbeck “was given a parish that nobody else wanted. Pastors would leave after a year or two in the past,” says Deena Wolf, who teaches religion at Queen of Peace School. “Now our parish is thriving. I hear constantly from the children that Father Christian has brought them closer to God. Many of them are expressing interest in the priest-hood. Parents send their children to our school because of Father Christian. Our school was close to being shut down before he arrived.”
“Father Christian has gone above and beyond the call of duty,” says Mica Espinosa, who prepares children for the sacrament of confirmation and leads a youth program. “God has sent us an angel in our midst. He is firm and to the point and does not sugarcoat his teaching. He speaks the truth about what the Church teaches.”
Bishop Joseph Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston has called Father Riesbeck “a very good and zealous priest who's doing a very good job at one of our Hispanic parishes.”
Recalling his early days as the only resident priest at the parish, Father Riesbeck says: “I was alone, a young new pastor with five Sunday Masses to celebrate. There were no sacristans. In fact, after every Mass, because of the tight schedule, I would have to run back to the sacristy and get ready for the next Mass with just enough time for a quick restroom break.”
Three of the five Masses on Sunday are offered in Spanish, as well as one of the two Saturday evening Masses.
The church also was in a fast-advancing state of disrepair. “I found out after a heavy rainstorm that the new flat roof that had just been installed over parts of the church was leaking,” he says. “The sacristies started flooding and I found myself on the roof trying to brush off the water to minimize the damage. It took almost 10 return visits from the roofers to get it fixed.”
After a month of this exhausting routine, his fellow priests at the Catholic Charismatic Center rearranged their schedules to help Father Riesbeck on weekends.
Once the weekly routine and leaky roof were settled, it was time to attend to the spiritual needs of the parish.
Father Riesbeck formed a youth group and an evangelization committee. A small group of zealous parishioners were trained to run adult catechism classes and go through the neighborhood inviting people to return to Mass.
“There were 200 students preparing for first Communion and many of them were not even attending Sunday Mass,” Father Riesbeck says. “We realized that we needed to start evangelizing the parents as well and started classes for them.”
The parish hired a business manager to take care of the finances and deal with vendors, installed a new rectory staff, opened a St. Vincent de Paul Society chapter to take care of the poorer families in the area and formed a Knights of Columbus council to activate the lay apostolate.
“We have more than 300 volunteers involved in various ministries,” Father Riesbeck says. The parish was shaping up, but the pastor still had a dream.
In Adoration Falling
One of the goals Father Riesbeck had when he arrived was to establish perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. This goal was realized a little more than a year and a half into his pastorate.
He turned the church's crying room into a round-the-clock adoration chapel. Parishioners sign up for an hour or more of adoration each week. “Since I was ordained a priest, it was my dream to see a perpetual adoration chapel instituted wherever the Lord would send me,” he says. “I was overwhelmed by the response and since Easter of 2001, Jesus has been adored in the Blessed Sacrament around the clock in our chapel.”
“I can see how the parish has changed over the years,” says Paul Blubaugh, who attended the parish grammar school in the 1970s and was married in the church in January. “Father Christian is into experiencing Jesus in a very personal way. He has helped me in that regard to renew my faith and become more active in the church.”
Wolf concurs. “Father Christian teaches all catechists and school teachers that we must evangelize first,” she says. “He tells us that everyone must first develop a personal relationship with Jesus. He stresses this from the pulpit. The miracles that have happened because of this are astounding. Many who had turned away from the Church are now coming back.”
Stephen Vincent is based in Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Let There Be Politeness on Earth ... and Let it Begin With Everyday Graces DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Meet Karen Santorum and you get the feeling the last words that appear in her new book, Everyday Graces: A Child's Book of Good Manners, probably about sum her up.
They are the words that close the book's acknowledgments. She writes, “Finally, my greatest thanks goes to Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, for giving me strength through the long nights as I worked after tucking my children into bed and for giving me the honor of serving him through this world.”
Faith, family and service are what Karen and her husband, Rick, the junior Republican U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, are all about.
I spoke with Mrs. Santorum recently when she came to Manhattan to talk about her book, a collection of instructive literature she has edited for children. I was instantly struck by how qualified she is to have taken on this particular project. If anyone can impart good manners on children — and to have them enjoy the lesson — it is Karen Santorum. That first impression only deepened as our interview progressed.
Everyday Graces is the perfect companion to William Bennett's best-selling Children's Book of Virtues. It's a handy guide, a finely illustrated keepsake and an educational tool.
“This book,” she writes in her note to parents in the introduction, “grew out of my frustration at not being able to find a book on manners for children that instructs through stories rather than by rules and dos and don'ts.”
There are some old favorites here — Mother Goose, Anne of Green Gables and Black Beauty, among many others — along with proverbs and tidbits from such sources as Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac.
Santorum is evangelical, one could say, when it comes to getting across that manners matter. And maybe they should matter to Catholics more than most. After all, you can't very well build a civilization of love on a society of boors. So let there be politeness on earth, and let it begin with me. She didn't write those exact words, but she could have.
“Ironically, when many people think of manners,” she writes in the introduction, “they imagine blue-bloods dressed in fine linen and lace at a polo club, sipping rare imported tea with pinkies extended. … [G]ood manners are really quite simple. In our everyday activities we can be abusive, selfish and contentious, or we can be kind, considerate, generous and cooperative. This choice applies to all, both rich and poor, in every culture. The concept of politeness has been present in all human societies and has enabled civilizations to thrive.”
Santorum told me: “For me, this isn't just about a book. This is about a mission to increase civility in our culture. I think we have reached a saturation point of rudeness.” When you look at road rage, school violence and “teachers who are not able to teach effectively, parents who cannot control their kids, “you realize that we need to start thinking about it and doing something about it. I think if we start teaching children good manners, that will make a big difference.”
Please and Thank You
As Santorum sees it, the Everyday Graces mission is in some ways a belated recovery project. Half a century ago, she notes, most colleges and universities offered classes on manners. By the time the children of baby boomers began going to college, such things had long since been dismissed by the ’60s generation as “bourgeois trappings.” By now they're nothing more than a quaint artifact in university archives, not that anyone spends much time digging through those.
“We are feeling the effects of that today” in myriad ways, Santorum says.
Santorum's book is aimed at children ages 5 through 10. But she's quick to point out that some “older” folks have found it appealing as well. The day we met, her parents had told her that their 70-year-old friend had been reading it — and praising it.
Karen Garver Santorum, a native of Pittsburgh (and one of 12 siblings), is the mother of seven children. She writes in her book: “There is no greater joy in life than to be a mother. It is the most important job I will ever have.”
A graduate of Duquesne University and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, she is also a nurse and an attorney. “We have wonderful kids,” she says. “But we're working on things. And they do know — my little ones know, my bigger ones are working on bigger things — if they don't say ‘please’ they don't get anything.”
Everyday Graces can help parents trying to teach politeness because “children learn best through emulating good behavior and by recalling their favorite heroes from stories. I really wanted to do a book that teaches good manners through literature because kids are in so many different situations and I love when they will recall their favorite hero and how that hero got through whatever they were going through and to emulate the good behavior.”
Civil Agents
Asked to pick an item from the book that sums up the importance of manners, Karen says: “I love the story ‘You Are Special’ by Max Lucado. It sort of goes through the main theme of the book: God makes us all, he makes us all uniquely and we ought to love and respect one another for our differences.”
‘If they don't say please, they don't get anything.’
“You Are Special” tells the story of the Wemmicks, small wooden people carved by a woodworker named Eli. The Wemmicks spent their days judging their fellow wooden people, handing out gold stickers to the attractive and talented Wemmicks and dots to those who are rough or clumsy. One day Punchinello, one of the well-dotted Wemmicks, goes to Eli's workshop. There Punchinello apologizes to his maker for his dots.
“Oh, you don't have to defend yourself to me, child,” Eli says. “I don't care what the other Wemmicks think.”
“You don't?” Punchinello says.
“No, and you shouldn't, either,” Eli answers. “Who are they to give stars or dots? They're Wemmicks just like you. What they think doesn't matter, Punchinello. All that matters is what I think. And I think you are pretty special.”
Karen Santorum has squeezed me in between Montel Williams and Sean Hannity — though you'd never know she's on a full schedule or that she hasn't eaten yet (thanks to her exemplary manners, we “talk book” first).
As our interview wound down, Sen. Santorum joined us, fresh out of a lunch meeting and ready to join his wife on Hannity's syndicated radio show. What's it like being the man behind the woman in the spotlight? I asked. “Relaxing,” he answered, adding that he's proud of how “user-friendly” Karen had made Everyday Graces.
“I really believe in the message,” he said. “It's a tool parents can use to help civilize our culture.”
Too soon, the Santorums wished me well and went off to their appointed rounds — leaving me to contemplate one of the writings in Everyday Graces. “Grace finds beauty in everything. Grace finds goodness in everything.”
Kathryn Jean Lopez is editor of National Review Online.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kathryn Jean Lopez ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Delightfully Debt-Free DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Family Matters
My wife and I have struggled with debt constantly for the last 10 years. Just as it seems we are making progress on reducing the credit-card balances, a major expense comes up that we have to put on the credit card. We are getting weary of being in this bondage. Can you show us how to get off of this seesaw?
I recently came across the statement, “Personal debt has given America three distinct classes of people: the haves, the have-nots and the haven't-paid-for-what-they-haves!”
It's a funny line — and a sad commentary on the state of family finances in America. Even during “boom” economic times, a majority of Americans continue to struggle with credit problems and the emotional bondage that comes with them (see Proverbs 22:7). By eliminating your consumer debt, you'll go a long way toward achieving financial peace. Here are the keys to becoming debt-free.
Make a commitment to go no further into debt. If you can't muster the discipline to avoid credit-card purchases you can't pay off immediately, cut up your credit cards.
Develop a realistic budget, one that incorporates an amount to repay your existing consumer debt. Use a software program such as Excel or Quicken to help calculate a debt-repayment schedule. Make sure your budget balances.
Review your budget for spending habits that can be changed to allow for a more rapid debt repayment. While it won't be easy, eliminating some of your “wants” in the short term will allow you to get out of debt much more quickly. In the long run, you'll be happy you made this decision.
Be accountable to someone. Preferably, this can be your spouse — but if you don't have the discipline to stick with the plan on your own, bring in a friend, family member or pastor to help you stay on track.
Set up a visual system to show your progress, such as a chart on the refrigerator that shows your declining debt balances. Depending on the circumstances, it's not uncommon for a debt repayment plan to take from one to five years. A visual aid, which tracks your progress, can help you persevere.
Here is one more tip that will be critical in your situation, given the “seesaw” effect you mentioned. Too often, families fail to plan for what I call “irregular expenses.” Just when they think they are making progress, a major “problem” takes them by surprise, whether it's the transmission on the car or the washing machine breaking down. These aren't really surprises; it's just that they don't occur as regularly as most other bills. The solution to this problem is to include a reasonable amount for these items in your budget and to set the money aside so it will be there when you need it.
While becoming debt-free takes time, the rewards of financial freedom are worth the short-term sacrifice. God love you!
Phil Lenahan is director of media and finance for Catholic Answers in El Cajon, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Phil Lenahan ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Former Foreigners DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Facts of Life
They like us. They really like us. According to a survey released in January by the public-policy research firm Public Agenda, no fewer than 80% of immigrants say they would still come to our country if they were making the choice all over again. And almost three-quarters (74%) say they plan to stay put on American soil.
Source: publicagenda.org Register illustration by Tim Rauch
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 02/15/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 15-21, 2004 ----- BODY:Life and the Law
THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION, Jan. 21 — The sharp decline in the number of abortions during the 1990s is largely the result of pro-life laws, according to a new study by the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank.
Data gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the number of abortions fell from 1,035,573 in 1990 to 854,416 a decade later, a 17% drop.
While economic growth might have played a part in the development, Heritage analysts believe its prime source was the enactment of parental-involvement laws, partial-birth abortion bans and informed-consent mandates.
In 1992, few such laws existed. By 2000, 27 states had informed-consent laws on the books, 12 had banned or restricted partial-birth abortions and 32 were enforcing parental-involvement laws.
Abortion-Site Scrutiny
The legislation, which the House approved by a wide margin, would require such sites to adhere to the same health and safety standards as ambulatory surgery centers. It would require more frequent state inspections, bringing more accountability to the sites.
The bill's opponents say it would be costly and, according to one pro-abortion lobbyist, “Virginia could become the state where abortion will continue to be legal but will be almost unavailable.”
The bill now advances to the state's Senate Education and Health Committee, which narrowly defeated a similar measure last year.
Survivors Speak
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Jan. 28 — Young pro-lifers caused a stir when they rallied against abortion in front of a middle school in Rocklin, Calif., Jan. 27.
The youths, some as young as 11, handed out pamphlets and carried posters as students arrived for school. The event was sponsored by Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, a Southern California group that helps youth spread the pro-life message to young people.
While some parents complained about the protest, the news service reported, school officials said they could not stop the protest as long as entrance to the school isn't blocked.
Guarding the Unborn
Pro-lifers strongly support such legislation, as it would assign “personhood” to the fetus, the newspaper reported.
Bush's motion, announced Jan. 27, comes several months after an appellate court ruled that the unborn baby of a mentally retarded 23-year-old rape victim was not entitled to a guardian. The governor said he was disappointed with the decision.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Supreme Court to Consider Death Penalty for Teens DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — Christopher Simmons was eager to kill. As a 17-year-old Missouri high school student, Simmons told his friends just how he'd do it: He would find someone to burglarize, tie him up and ultimately push him off a bridge.
On Sept. 8, 1993, Simmons and a friend broke into Shirley Crook's mobile home in Fenton, Mo., bound her with duct tape, put her in the back of her minivan and drove for more than an hour before stopping to throw her, still alive and bound, into the Meramec River.
A jury convicted Simmons of capital murder in 1994. Last year, Missouri's Supreme Court ruled that executing Simmons would be unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment because of his age at the time of the crime.
The ruling followed the constitutional reasoning of the U.S. Supreme Court in banning the execution of the mentally disabled in 2002. At the time, 30 states had already abolished capital punishment for the mentally handicapped.
Simmons’ fate now lies in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court. This fall, it will revisit the constitutionality of executing teen-aged murderers.
The nation's highest court last addressed the issue in 1988 and 1989, ruling the death penalty out for offenders who were under 16 when their crimes were committed but allowing it for those 16 and 17.
Since then, five states have banned the execution of young offenders. Today, only 22 of the 38 states with a death penalty allow it for minors.
Harris County, Texas, which includes Houston, is the only jurisdiction in the country with executions currently scheduled for those who committed capital murder while under age 18. Last month, a Houston judge ruled that in March the state will execute a killer who was 17 at the time of his offense, despite the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to examine the constitutionality of executing young offenders.
In 2002, 71 people in 13 states were executed — 33 of them in Texas, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
“Texas has a horrible reputation,” said Bishop Joseph Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston, one of the most outspoken American bishops against the death penalty. “The fact that they would execute a child just compounds the horror of this brutal assault upon human life that is a gift from God. To inflict capital punishment on children seems barbaric and lacking an understanding of children and their abilities at a tender age to make decisions — even though they've done terrible things.”
Death-Row Chaplain
Father Ron Cloutier, director of correctional ministries for the Diocese of Houston-Galveston, has daily contact with prisoners — including those on death row. He says once they reach their mid-20s, most young killers are extremely remorseful for their crimes.
“For the most part, those I work with on death row were under the influence of drugs or alcohol when they killed,” he explained. “They've had years to sober up and mature. When you talk to someone who committed a crime when they were 16, they were still fighting their hormones and did a lot of foolish things. When they're older, they learn that there are different ways to express that rebellion.”
Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, a Catholic, told the Register that capital punishment is reserved for the most brutal killers and is morally appropriate even for teens.
“In the Catholic faith, the age of reason is age 7. So you can commit venial or mortal sin at a very tender age,” he explained. “With someone who is well past puberty, who is certainly capable of making informed decisions about his or her conduct, if those individuals commit premeditated killing with malice, with viciousness, the death penalty in extreme cases is appropriate — and quite truthfully is appropriate under Catholic moral teaching.”
Keating raised the example of Sean Sellers who, as a 16-year-old, murdered a convenience-store clerk. Six months later, he murdered his mother and stepfather. Of the 54 people executed while Keating was governor of Oklahoma from 1995-2003, Sellers was the only young killer.
“Here's an individual who had an opportunity with reflection and with premeditation to repeat the killing that he did to an innocent convenience-store clerk who was sipping a cup of coffee when he shot him in the head,” Keating said. “Sellers knew exactly what he was doing, planned it and executed it with a mature mind and evil heart. I think individuals like that should forfeit their lives.”
While the Church recognizes that legitimate state authorities have an obligation to protect society from aggressors, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says capital punishment may be used only “if this is the only way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.”
In his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), Pope John Paul II wrote that “today, … as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.”
‘If Clergy Speak’
Kevin Mannix, a Catholic attorney who ran for governor of Oregon two years ago, says the death penalty should remain an option for U.S. juries.
“In an existential sense, the Holy Father has said that our prison system and justice system is sophisticated enough to protect society with life imprisonment,” he said. “I differ with that interpretation of our system. I think there is room for a moral determination that a person is so dangerous to society that the system isn't safe enough, other than the death penalty, to assure its protection.”
James Megivern, a Catholic whose 1995 book, The Death Penalty: A Historical and Theological Survey, chronicles the history of capital punishment, says U.S. Catholics are evenly split on the issue.
“One of the studies indicated that [Catholics] are overwhelmingly opposed to [capital punishment] when it is opposed from the pulpit,” he said. “If clergy are informed and willing to speak out, people — especially the younger generation — understand what was being said. John Paul II has put the whole question back in terms of the Gospel. Could you see Jesus operating a guillotine?”
Bishop Fiorenza agrees.
“There is a mind-set here that if you're guilty of a capital crime, you have to pay with your life,” he said. “Thank God, the attitude is changing. We see great progress in that young people are now becoming opposed to capital punishment. In time, I think a majority of people will be in opposition to it. It's only then that the politicians will come around.”
But legal experts are uncertain how the Supreme Court will rule when its decision comes down this fall. Cloutier, who points out that the United States is one of the few countries that executes young people, says despite the high court's current 5-4 split in favor of the death penalty, it's hard to predict how it will decide.
“There's a lot of public sentiment that a lot of innocent people are being executed,” he said. “I think the mind of the court is changing slightly. That might not have been the case a few years ago.”
Patrick Novecosky writes from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Patrick Novecosky ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: What Are Others Doing? DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:NEW YORK — Child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church has been in the media spotlight for two years now. That is the most likely reason why 64% of Americans believe Catholic priests frequently abuse children, according to a Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll.
The perception could be reinforced later this month when the U.S. bishops’ National Review Board releases the results of a study on sex abuse in the Church throughout the United States between 1950 and 2002.
But the numbers of clergy abusers being reported in the press have no context, as “there's no other comparable study by any other institution,” noted the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Wilton Gregory.
To help give some of the context, here are some statistics:
— The Gallup Organization reported that 1.3 million children were sexually assaulted in 1995.
• According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, nearly 50% of all rape victims are under age 18, 29% of rape victims are 12-17 years old and 15% of rape victims are younger than 12. The American Medical Association reported in 1995 that 61% of all female sexual-abuse victims were under 18.
• Some 250,000 to 500,000 pedophiles reside in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, and 100 children are kidnapped by strangers each year.
• Gene Abel, a researcher at Emory University in Atlanta, said convicted child molesters who abused girls had an average of 52 victims each. Men who molested boys had an average of 150 victims.
• A 1978 survey reported that one in every three to four girls and one in every six to eight boys is sexually abused before age 18.
Clearly, sexual abuse is rampant and has been for some time. And obviously, all of this is not wreaked by Catholic priests. In fact, about 95% of victims know their perpetrators, according to the California Consortium to Prevent Child Abuse.
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has been looking at this issue in preparation for the report coming from the bishops’ conference Feb. 27. The league's report looks at clergy of other denominations, coaches, psychologists and teachers.
Teachers Who Abuse
Teachers come in for the hardest hit. The report cites an American Medical Association report in 1991 that says, “17.7% of males who graduated from high school and 82.2% of females reported sexual harassment by faculty or staff during their years in school. Fully 13.5% said they had sexual intercourse with their teacher.” Those figures are not broken down between public and private schools.
New York City schools seem to have a particular problem, the Catholic League reported. “In New York City alone, at least one child is sexually abused by a school employee every day,” the report said.
And it isn't simply a matter of the abuse. The league report shows that a lot of this activity is covered up by those who are in authority. “One study concluded that more than 60% of employees accused of sexual abuse in the New York City schools were transferred to desk jobs at district offices located inside the schools,” it said. “Most of these teachers are tenured and 40% of those transferred are repeat offenders.”
Calls to the New York City Department of Education, Boston Public Schools and the National Educational Association seeking comment were not returned.
The problem isn't solely with perpetrators and the people who protect them. It also extends to law enforcement and the judicial system. The Miami Herald recently had a four-part investigation into the Florida court system, which allows judges to withhold adjudication on people who are arrested for a variety of charges, thus allowing the person to walk free without any criminal record. This applies even to child sexual abuse.
The Herald examined 18,000 child sex-abuse cases during the last decade and found that: “More than half of adults who solicit children for sex online get withholds of adjudication, meaning they have no conviction on their record even though they plead [guilty] to the crime.” “Nearly eight in 10 people who publish or peddle child porn on the Internet get their convictions erased …” “Four in 10 people who own child-porn pictures or videotapes get withholds.”
The newspaper reported on the case of a 20-year-old man, Alan Salazar from Houston, who lured a 14-year-old girl from the Miami area via the Internet and flew her to Texas. Fortunately, Houston police showed up just in time. The man was charged in both Texas and Florida but was given a withhold in both states. He got four years of probation.
“A Herald computer analysis shows the Salazar outcome is typical in Florida,” the newspaper said. “State investigators spend several hundred thousand dollars yearly to trip up Internet exploiters, but most get their convictions forgiven.”
No Surprise
None of this comes as a surprise to Kenneth Wooden. The one-time reporter for CBS’ “60 Minutes” and ABC's “20/20” now has an operation called Child Lures Prevention, which gives seminars on preventing children from being lured by pedophiles.
The media veteran calls the current secular press coverage of the Catholic Church's woes the “the perfect media storm.” But he thinks that storm is part of the “consistent level of hypocrisy” in society that surrounds the issue.
Wooden, a Catholic, once participated in a federal sting operation against child pornographers called Operation Borderline. That netted more than 200 people who had violated the law. But what fascinated him was that those who were arrested represented “47% of all occupations in the Department of Labor's occupation handbook,” he said. That included “a top engineer at IBM and one of the wealthiest guys in Vermont.”
Even members of Congress and big-time businessmen in New York and Washington, D.C., have been caught in this kind of activity, Wooden said.
The hypocrisy was also seen in the case of the Boise Boys, a scandal that happened twice in Idaho where boys were kept for men to come and molest them. In fact, Wooden said, so many men were going there that Trans World Airlines, which was still operating at the time, added seats on its routes to Boise.
The Catholic League said the aim of its report (at www.catholicleague.org) is “to challenge those who continue to treat this issue in isolation” by not examining the situation in other religions and professions.
“Too often,” the league said, “assumptions have been made that this problem is worse in the Catholic clergy than in other sectors of society.”
Thomas Szyszkiewicz writes from Altura, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: SEX ABUSE CONTEXT ----- EXTENDED BODY: Thomas Szyszkiewicz ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: For Lent, Three Ways To Give DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — The Gospel reading for Ash Wednesday, taken from Matthew 6, calls followers of Christ to give alms, fast and pray during Lent.
Catholics around the country, whether on their own or at the behest of organizations that help the poor, are finding ways to make sacrifices for the needy.
Since 1976, Catholic Relief Services has tried to help Catholics adhere to the call to fast and give alms with calendars and simple cardboard cartons, known as “rice bowls,” that encourage them to give.
Though Operation Rice Bowl is the best-known and largest-organized Lent-centered fund-raising drive, it's not the only one. Three years ago Catholic World Mission, based in Connecticut, began the Schoolhouse Partner Program to help fund its program Mano Amiga (Spanish for “helping hand”).
“Everything we do has evangelization at its core, but in that we have to deal with issues of poverty from a physical, intellectual and spiritual perspective,” said Ken Davison, executive director of Catholic World Mission. “That involves medical aid, educational facilities and catechism.”
Mano Amiga's primary mission is to fund, build and help operate Catholic schools in the poorest areas of Latin America. To date, there are 16 Mano Amiga schools in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela and El Salvador. More are in the planning stages.
During Lent, Mano Amiga uses the Schoolhouse Partner Program to help Catholic children in the materially wealthy United States to raise money for their less-fortunate peers in Latin America.
Last year, the Schoolhouse Partner Program was in about 25 schools and raised about $25,000. Davison said Catholic World Mission anticipates between $600 and $1,000 from each organization that hosts the Schoolhouse Partner Program.
“This year we'll be in more schools, more parishes, more clubs and we'll have more family participation,” Davison said. “Kids are coming up with some really creative ways to observe Lent and contribute through the Schoolhouse Partner Program.”
In California, for example, three elementary-school-aged children organized a “rosary-a-thon” last year. They had people in their parish, home-school group, family and friends donate a certain amount of money per mystery. Then the children prayed all 20 mysteries, offering them for all the intentions of their sponsors and the Mano Amiga faculty and students.
Two children in Missouri, Davison reported, organized a car wash and raised $300. A friend of theirs earned $60 from baby-sitting during Lent and donated it all.
Children who participate in the Schoolhouse Partner Program receive a collection box in the design of a schoolhouse. They may also receive a CD-ROM, a St. Juan Diego coloring book and an animated video to help them learn about the Blessed Mother's appearances in Mexico.
Posters, bookmarks, prayer cards and information sheets about Lent are also part of the program, along with an array of other Lent-appropriate learning materials for children helping to raise funds.
Making God Visible
Then there are projects that start with an individual's initiative, like Operation Starfish.
It started when Father Richard Martin was walking his dog, Pete, one evening in the mid-1990s, the Arlington Herald, the newspaper of the Diocese of Arlington, Va., reported. He was ruminating about how large his parish, the Church of the Nativity in Burke, Va., is and thought, “If during Lent every family could save 50 cents a day for the 40 days of Lent, we would collect $20 from each family, times 2,500 families, which would be $50,000.”
The initial collection went beyond that vision — to the tune of $67,000. A succeeding year, parishioners came up with almost $95,000.
The proceeds were earmarked for a slum outside the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince called Cité Soleil. The donation was sent to Food for the Poor, a Florida-based agency that works in Latin America and the Caribbean.
An official at Food for the Poor commenting on Nativity's donation told a Washington Post reporter in 1998 that he had not seen any Lent project supply that big a gift.
Father Martin told the Herald he was especially impressed with the donations made by children.
One 10-year-old wrote to him: “Dear Father Martin: I help deliver a newspaper. My paycheck is $26 a month. I would like to give $25 for the Starfish Project you're working on.”
Commenting on parishioners like that, the pastor said, “We not only prayed for the people in Haiti, we made God visible.”
Operation Rice Bowl
Still, Operation Rice Bowl remains the best known — and by far the biggest — of these efforts.
“Operation Rice Bowl is simply a way to live out that call actively and remain concerned throughout Lent for our less-fortunate neighbors locally and globally,” said Beth Martin, program officer for Operation Rice Bowl.
The program began in the Diocese of Allentown, Pa., in 1975. It became an outreach program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops the next year, quickly expanding into nearly every diocese and parish in the United States.
Last year Operation Rice Bowl raised $8 million for services that ease the suffering associated with poverty oversees and in the United States. Despite a three-year downturn in the U.S. economy, Catholic Relief Services officials reported a 13% increase in donations in the past five years.
Of the money collected, 25% stays in the respective dioceses for services to the poor. About 75% is distributed outside the United States. Up to 12% of the total amount collected is used to fund Catholic Relief Services administrative costs.
Although recipients of the donations glean obvious benefits — such as food, clothing and medical care — Catholic Relief Services officials insist the program is as much a way to help those who give as it is those who receive.
“This helps enrich the spiritual journeys of Catholics during Lent,” Martin said. “In a very practical way, it enables you to connect with the world around you and have a better spiritual and prayer journey.”
Cecile Sorra, a Catholic Relief Services spokeswoman, said Lent materials are intended to make daily acts of giving educational and fun. Most parishes in the United States give parishioners the organization's Lent calendars, which offer daily Scripture passages, stories of needy around the world and suggestions for giving.
This year's calendar, for example, tells Catholics on March 2 that 26 million Pakistanis suffer from hunger. It recommends prayers for them — and 26 cents into the rice bowl. Another calendar entry says 62% of people in Burundi are unable to attend school. The gift suggestion: 62 cents.
The calendar also gives Catholics meatless and meaningful recipes for Fridays during Lent.
“These are simple meals that represent traditions around the world,” Martin said. “You can use these recipes, skip the pizza or going out to dinner on Friday night and donate the money you save to the rice bowl.”
Catholic Relief Services officials expect to distribute about 4.6 million rice bowls in time for Lent and anticipate up to 12 million Catholics will participate. That includes people in 14,600 Catholic schools, parishes, religious orders and other Catholic organizations.
Wayne Laugesen writes from Boulder, Colorado.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Fighting for Social Justice and Catholic Truth DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:Arthur Hippler was recently described in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as “a brash Alaskan,” a label to which he took great exception.
“Why not inform the reader that I am a black American?” he retorted in a letter to the editor. “But then he would not have been able to describe me as ‘brash.’”
Hippler is director of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wis., Office of Justice and Peace and has been for the last four years under Bishop Raymond Burke, now archbishop of St. Louis. A philosopher by training, Wanderer newspaper columnist Hippler breaks all kinds of stereotypes.
Register correspondent Thomas Szyszkiewicz talked with him about Catholic social teaching.
How did you come to the faith?
I grew up in an atheists’ home. My father was a fallen-away Catholic; my mother really had no religious profession at all. I grew up in a university environment, since my father was a professor at the University of Alaska. I went to public school all the way through high school.
There were people who were friends of my father's who were trying to get him to come back to the Church and they would send books home with him, which he quite irresponsibly left lying around the house. I took to reading those and other things and I read myself into the Church.
The other important thing would be my grandmother, my father's mother, who had us enrolled in Masses by the Blue Army of Fatima for a year. Within a year and a half from when she enrolled us in those Masses, the entire family was Catholic.
When he was bishop of LaCrosse, Archbishop Burke withdrew the diocese from the Crop Walk, which supports the poor in the Third World, and the AIDS Walk, which helps AIDS sufferers. What was the objection?
This turns on a misunderstanding going back to Gaudium et Spes on ecumenical collaboration. The Council Fathers were very clear in that document, repeating the teaching of popes before them, that the moral law must be the basis for ecumenical collaboration. What should join us — people of different faiths and no faith — is a shared understanding of what's naturally good for human beings. That's what's at stake in all of these things in which we have discontinued collaboration.
In both cases of the Crop Walk and AIDS Walk, they involve offenses against the moral law, actions that are condemned not only by the Catholic Church but also really are condemned by a right understanding of human nature.
People grasp the principle. For example, you heard it was a minuscule amount. What if you were collaborating with an organization that only owned five slaves? Or only ran a prostitution service with four prostitutes? Nobody would make, to me, the casuistic qualifications that well, you can collaborate, but make sure the money goes here and not there. They would shun it. If there was anything racist or exploitative about the organization with which they were collaborating, that would mark the end of the collaboration.
All that the Church is doing is being consistent with that principle. Bishop Burke's decision was a witness to the integrity of the moral law by refusing to collaborate with those who violate it. You can disagree on all sorts of things and still collaborate, but you cannot disagree on the fundamentals of the moral law. Contraception, abortion, sodomy — these are offenses against the moral law.
What makes a Catholic social justice activist different from a secular human rights activist?
There is certainly the natural law that is written in our hearts, which we have the ability to discern and follow. But without the benefit of prayer, without the assistance of grace, so often we can do things warped by our own tendencies — tendencies toward pride, vanity, all the other human passions.
For example, Dorothy Day — she went on retreat when she was just organizing the Catholic Worker Houses and on this retreat she asked herself, “How do I know that I'm helping the poor for the right reason? How do I know that I'm not just doing it for attention or vanity or pride?”
And she went to the priest and the priest told her, “When you carry out your service, think primarily of God. Focus on God. If you do what you do for the love of God, everything else will fall into place.”
And that answer gave Dorothy great peace. She said, “Okay, that's what I have to do.” And that's what any of us who works in the social apostolate of the Church has to do. You have to think primarily of the love of God and the glory of God. And hopefully, with grace and spiritual direction, you'll do the right thing. Otherwise, it is so easy for your apostolate to become chiefly about you.
I can give an example of that from the Bible. Who is the only apostle who speaks out on behalf of the poor? Judas. Just because you speak out on behalf of the poor and you make noise about helping people doesn't mean everything is all right on the inside.
In fact, the Scripture seems to imply that Judas, in John 6:70, was one of the disciples who walked away from the Eucharist. So later on it is no surprise that the man who cut himself off from the sacramental life of the Church is the one who betrays Our Lord and betrays him for money.
It is not enough to speak out and to agitate. I can make a general observation that as well as people out there pursuing issues in place of buckling down and really forming themselves according to the Church, there's also a lot of people using activism as a substitute for addressing problems in their own moral life.
The big example of that is contraception. One of the things I discovered in the Crop Walk is that, for many of the people who criticized [the bishop's decision], once you pushed them on the question, they defended contraception. And you have to wonder: Is their activism for the poor making up for a rejection of the Church's teaching on contraception?
Can you tell me what your justice and peace work involves?
A lot of justice-and-peace offices tend to be very issue-oriented; they have particular issues that are motivating people.
When Bishop Burke hired me, he made clear that he wanted people to understand the principles of Catholic social teaching such that they then would see these issues in light of the teaching. Certainly the issues are important, but so many times what you find with our Catholic people is that they do not really know how to apply what they hear in church in the secular world around them.
The Second Vatican Council described this in the Decree on the Laity as a kind of separation of faith and life. And, in fact, the conciliar documents identify this as one of the greatest errors of our age.
That's my task here in overseeing the social apostolate of the Church in this diocese — to help the people understand the depth and richness of the tradition. It isn't just activism — that's a conclusion. We want them to have the complete Gospel.
Thomas Szyszkiewicz writes from Altura, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Thomas Szyszkiewicz ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: In 'Indian' Collection, Where Does Money Go? DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — Feb. 29 marks the 120th anniversary of the national collection for black and Indian missions, an annual fund drive that raises more than $8 million a year to support schools, assistance programs and evangelization efforts in some of the poorest and most-remote communities in the United States.
Established by the Third Plenary Council in 1884, it is the oldest Catholic parishioner fund drive in the nation. The fund's success has led to a dozen more parish second collections supporting a variety of special missions for the Catholic Church in America and around the world.
Administered by the Black and Indian Mission Office of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the annual drive raised $8.5 million and distributed $8.4 million in grants during 2003. Approximately $5.2 million of the grants went to support diocesan schools and out-reach programs in disadvantaged and predominantly black communities as well as Xavier University in New Orleans, the only Catholic, historically black college in the nation, and the National Black Catholic Congress.
The balance, approximately $3.2 million, was distributed to several diocese and religious orders serving about 4.1 million Native Americans, including 500,000 Native American Catholics.
While the budget remains large, the director of the Black and Indian Mission Office, Msgr. Paul Lenz, warns it is insufficient to meet the needs of the black, Indian, Eskimo and Aleut communities who depend on it.
“Each year, [dioceses] appeal to [us] for help in the tasks of parish support and evangelization, and each year we endeavor to provide this support, but the needs continue to exceed available funds,” Msgr. Lenz said.
“The result has been the forced closing of Catholic schools that served the impoverished rural and reservation communities, the curtailment of programs that sought to reach out to those who would seek to know the love of Christ and diminished support even for those most basic, compelling efforts to feed and clothe the children of poverty,” he added.
One of the largest recipients was the Archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama, which was awarded $120,000 in 2003 to support parish programs designed to assist disadvantaged African American families. The value of the contribution is more than just financial, Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb said. “Our families see it as an indication that the wider Church in America is interested in what happens to them. That inspires them, and it inspires our parishioners to match that commitment through their own parish collections.”
For the Native American communities, the issue is more than monetary. There is also an ongoing effort to adapt the Church's mission to meet the needs of a population in transition. The March 2003 report, “Native American Catholics at the Millennium”, written by the Ad Hoc Committee on Native American Catholics, highlighted the change and the challenge it presents.
“Fewer than one-fifth of Native Americans live on federal reservations or trust lands, with an additional 16.5% living on state or tribally designated lands,” the report said. “The single-largest proportion of American Indians, 42.4%, live in smaller towns and rural areas.”
As a result, the vast majority of dioceses in the United States have a significant number of Native Americans, while only about half have programs specifically designed to serve and evangelize them.
“Very few have a pastoral plan addressing Native American concerns,” the report said, “either as a separate document or as part of a diocese-wide plan.”
‘Essential to Us’
Since ministry to Native Americans has historically involved the construction and operation of churches, schools, orphanages and hospitals, the challenge is now one of moving beyond the institutions to address the needs of communities, both in and outside the reservations, the report said.
“No single model will fit all dioceses, but identification of options, with their advantages and drawbacks highlighted, could assist bishops in their responsibilities to the [Native American] community.”
As chairman of the ad hoc committee, Bishop Donald Pelotte's Diocese of Gallup, N.M., is at the forefront of finding those options. The rural diocese, straddling the northern Arizona-New Mexico border, incorporates the Navajo and Zuni nations as well as the Acoma and Laguna pueblos.
The Diocese of Gallup also serves the largest concentration of Native American Catholics in the United States. Because of that, it is both a leading advocate for native ministry and a major beneficiary of the annual collection for black and Indian missions, spokesman Timoteo Lujan said.
“The collection is essential to us,” Lujan said. “Without it, we wouldn't be able to do what we do, and that's maintaining a presence in the Native American communities through the sacraments, catechesis and the corporal works of mercy.”
The diocese has been promoting the Builders of a New Earth lay formation program for Native Americans as well as recruiting and training lay ministers and seeking vocations to the priesthood, religious life and diaconate.
“The effort has been well received,” Lujan said.
Agreeing with Msgr. Lenz, Lujan said funding limitations mean unmet needs.
“We'd really like to increase our outreach, especially those providing food and clothing, as well as enlarge our alcoholism and domestic-abuse programs.”
“Our bishop's efforts are very welcome and the work of individual priests and deacons is welcomed by the [Native American] communities, but we're limited,” Lujan said. “This is a very rural location without population centers or much technology to help us [overcome the distances]. Those are the things we really struggle with.”
Despite being closer to urban centers and technology, the Diocese of Tucson struggles with many of the same issues, said Chancellor June Kellen. The diocese, which includes the sprawling Tohono O'Odham Nation, as well as the Pascua Yaqui, San Carlos Apache and Cocopah-Yuma reservations, received $90,000 from the Black and Indian Mission Collection in 2003.
The funding went to support the San Solano Mission near San Xavier del Bac, as well as missions to Yuma and Apache. It also funded the diocese's vicar for Native American affairs and urban out-reach programs for Indians living in metropolitan Tucson. While a wealthier area than Gallup, Kellen said the support from the collection is crucial “to keeping these missions afloat.”
“Unless you go and actually see how the people are struggling, you don't really understand the value of these missions,” she said. “These are important to their communities in so many ways, but there's so much more that needs doing. We're just glad that the collection continues to get the support it does, because it continues to make an enormous difference in the lives of so many.”
Philip S. Moore writes from Vail, Arizona.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Philip S. Moore ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:Little Sisters of the Poor Beg on Behalf of Elderly
“Everyone likes to take care of kids, and the older people get forgotten sometimes,” Sister Mary Augustine told the paper. “But you can't dump old people. They are walking history books. They've made lots of contributions. All of a sudden they're not worth anything anymore?”
There are 3,100 Little Sisters in 32 countries, The Times noted, explaining what it means to call their group a mendicant (or “begging”) order: Following the instructions of their foundress, Blessed Jeanne Jugan, the Sisters do not build up an endowment, unlike most religious charities. Instead, the Sisters rely on divine providence, living from day to day by the motto, “If God is with us, it will be accomplished.”
The paper gave an example of this attitude being rewarded: at a Little Sisters home in San Pedro, Calif., where the nuns’ superior learned Feb. 3 that she faced a payroll of $80,000 within three days with only $21,000 in the bank. She told her staff: “Wait until the mail comes in.”
That day she received an unexpected check for $50,000 from a foundation and a note promising the rest of the money.
Man Convicted in Quebec of Defrauding Nuns
CANADIAN PRESS, Feb. 5 — A Quebec court has convicted accountant Denis Schmouth of fraud, corruption and theft for his part in defrauding an order of nuns of $100 million, according to the Canadian Press news service.
The court found that Schmouth lied to the nuns about his realestate deals, managing to persuade Les Soeurs du Bon-Pasteur of Quebec City and Les Soeurs de Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil of Saguenay, Quebec, to pour their money into a Montreal shopping center that went bankrupt.
Schmouth awaits sentencing. His co-conspirator, lawyer Jean-Pierre Cantin, pleaded guilty in 2000 and drew a five-and-a-half-year prison term, while Jean-Alain Bisaillon, the project's real-estate developer, committed suicide in 2002.
Mixed Signals on ‘Emergency Contraception’
KAISER DAILY REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH REPORT, Feb. 6 — The Education Committee of the Virginia House of Delegates produced a puzzling series of decisions Feb. 4 regarding the pharmacological treatment called “emergency contraception,” which prevents conception or prevents a fertilized egg from implanting — therefore widely considered an abortifacient.
On the one hand, the committee approved a bill that would require public schools to teach students about emergency contraception as a resource for rape survivors as part of the state's Family Life Education curriculum, which also includes discussion of abstinence and adoption as a “positive response” to an unwanted pregnancy.
The same committee sent along two other bills relating to “emergency contraception” to the state House Courts of Justice Committee.
One would prohibit distribution of the medicine on state college campuses. The other would require that minors obtain parental consent before receiving the drugs.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Full-Time Adoration on the Rise in the Twin Cities, Yielding Fruit DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has been experiencing extraordinary growth of 24-hour Eucharistic-adoration chapels. Eight years ago, there were just seven parishes with chapels; today there are 37, with 26 more that want it.
Sources say the fruits of the phenomenon are starting to be seen — not least of which is a significant growth in vocations to the priest-hood.
Father William Baer, rector at St. John Vianney College Seminary, reports a “groundswell” of new vocations — twice as many seminarians as 10 years ago when Eucharistic adoration was first started there. And, in 2005, the St. Paul Seminary is preparing for what could be the largest ordination class since 1957.
Pope John Paul II announced last week that the 11th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will address the theme, “The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church.” The month-long gathering of the world's bishops, to be held in October 2005, might examine the phenomenon in this archdiocese.
Father Baer said Eucharistic adoration has also had an enormous impact on the seminarians’ spiritual lives and on the strength of their discernment and general growth in holiness.
“Many of the young men first began to hear a vocational call during their own visits to adoration chapels in their parishes,” Father Baer said. “We have not by any means needed to convert the vast majority of our men to the centrality of the Eucharist and adoration; they already come convinced of it. I would say further, why would a talented young man with many other options in life even consider the priesthood if he did not consider the Eucharist worth giving up his whole life for?”
Carol Seydel of the Real Presence Association Inc. in Chicago said nationally, parishes with perpetual-adoration chapels consistently report an increase in vocations, greater attendance at Mass and at the sacrament of penance. The association runs a Web site that promotes and educates about Eucharistic adoration.
According to the site, www.therealpresence.org, approximately 7,000 parishes — about 40% of all U.S. parishes — have some form of regular Eucharistic adoration, and 700 parishes have perpetual adoration.
Seydel said the numbers could be higher, but these are only the parishes the association knows about. She added that St. Paul-Minneapolis; Lafayette, La.; and Kansas City, Kan., are experiencing extraordinary growth.
The fruits of Eucharistic adoration were many and obvious. Vocations to the priesthood have doubled and the people keep coming.
Answering the Pope
“There is more awareness of perpetual-adoration chapels because the Pope has called for it. He himself is promoting it and that's why it's growing,” Seydel said. “Priests who are opening chapels are doing just what their Pope has asked for.”
At the 1993 International Eucharistic Congress, Pope John Paul II said he hoped for “the establishment of perpetual Eucharistic adoration in all parishes and Christian communities throughout the world.”
And, in his 2002 encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia (The Church in relation to the Eucharist), he wrote, “The worship of the Eucharist outside of the Mass is of inestimable value for the life of the Church. … It is the responsibility of pastors to encourage, also by their personal witness, the practice of Eucharistic adoration — and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in particular — as well as prayer of adoration before Christ present under the Eucharistic species.”
For 11 years, Peggy Powell has been helping parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis establish perpetual-adoration chapels. Her own parish, Epiphany Church of Coon Rapids, has had a chapel for 16 years.
Powell said many priests are hesitant to start a chapel because they fear the burden of running it will fall on them. She tells them that Eucharistic adoration is a lay apostolate, whereby lay people are responsible to organize and sustain it. The priest just needs to say Yes to it.
She noted that the desire for Eucharistic adoration gets the lay people praying for their parish priest, another spiritual benefit of the movement. It is also much needed now when many people have stopped believing in the Real Presence.
“I'm edified by the laity who are responding to [Jesus’] call, ‘Can you not spend one hour with me?’” Powell said. “God is reopening the doors of his churches through perpetual adoration. I believe we've been blessed in this archdiocese since Archbishop [Harry] Flynn came, because I know that he was instrumental in the growth of adoration in Lafayette, La. The same thing is happening here.”
Powell also credited Father Victor Warkulwicz from the Apostolate for Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in Bensalem, Pa. He travels worldwide to promote Eucharistic adoration at Masses in parishes that are starting the devotion. He has traveled to Minnesota often to help establish chapels.
Father Warkulwicz said the United States is one of the leaders in the world for perpetual-adoration chapels, and the Midwest in particular is growing at this time.
“At many places I go to, people have been praying for many years to bring perpetual adoration to their parishes,” he said. “It's the fruit of prayer, driven by their desire for quiet time with Our Lord. Many people say their adoration hour is their favorite hour of the week.”
Father Robert Sipe said perpetual adoration has had a “powerful effect” on his parish, St. Peter's in Forest Lake, Minn. He was reluctant to start it but now wishes he had started it sooner than a year and half ago.
“A surprising number of people come, and personally, I find it a great place myself. I'm there two times a day,” he said. “There's a spirit of prayerfulness that's growing in people, and certainly there's a greater sense of peace among them. There is also more frequent use of confession.”
Father Mark Juettner, pastor of St. Raphael's Church in Crystal, Minn., said some of his parishioners believe the chapel has brought a sense of peace and less rowdiness to their neighborhoods.
“When I heard it, it was astonishing. I'd love to talk to the police in the area and find out if it's true,” he said. The chapel gives people a place to go and bring their sorrows, crosses and trials, he added.
“It doesn't remove the struggles of the parish, but it provides solace and strength to withstand them so you don't feel defeated,” Father Juettner said. “What discouragement and despair would come into people's lives without it.”
Since starting an adoration hour two years ago at St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony, Minn., Yvette Woell said she is experiencing a deeper meaning to the Mass and has started going to reconciliation more often.
“It's a beautiful experience to be there; your own time with God for one hour, uninterrupted,” she said. “There's such a feeling of complete peace. It's hard to explain.”
She often subs in the middle of the night and will find four or five people in the chapel.
“People are just drawn to it,” Woell said. “I think people go there for the great happiness it brings about.”
Barb Ernster writes from Fridley, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Barb Ernster ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: U.S. Bishops Go to Rome in Election Year DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — With foreign policy in the spotlight and moral issues assuming a higher profile, the U.S. political campaign is drawing special Vatican attention this year.
Pope John Paul II, meanwhile, is busy preparing his own “Campaign 2004.” Starting next month, he'll begin addressing groups of U.S. bishops during a round of ad limina visits, which offer him a frequent platform for commentary on a range of topics, including war and peace, abortion and family values.
A presidential campaign, held every four years, and the U.S. ad limina visits, made by heads of dioceses every five years, have overlapped only once before under John Paul, in 1988.
“I'm not sure whether the coincidence this year is good or bad,” one senior Vatican official said in late January.
On the plus side, the official said, the Pope's words probably will have a bigger echo in the United States, especially when he speaks on the many issues that involve moral teachings and civil legislation, such as genetic manipulation, homosexual marriage and the death penalty.
But the election-year background also might crimp John Paul's style.
“He'll certainly have to speak more prudently, because he can't be seen as supporting one candidate over another,” the official said. “A great principle of the Holy See is that the Pope cannot enter into the battle of partisan politics.”
Catholic Politicians
The confluence of campaign politics and pastoral strategizing comes at a time when religion once again has appeared on the U.S. electoral radar.
For Catholics, attention has focused on Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis, who before leaving his Wisconsin diocese of La Crosse told priests there to refuse Communion to local Catholic politicians not in line with Church teaching against abortion or euthanasia.
That has led some to ask, for example, whether presidential candidates who identify themselves as Catholic but support legal abortion — such as Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio — should be pressed in a similar manner.
Several Vatican officials declined on-the-record comments about Archbishop Burke's action. Privately, some voiced support and others said it raised unanswered questions about Church law and pastoral effectiveness.
But most see the more aggressive approach in the political arena as a welcome sign of the times. In a document issued a year ago, the Vatican said Catholic politicians have a “grave and clear obligation” to oppose any law that violates Church teaching on the right to life. Another document in July made a similar point about opposing homosexual marriage.
“I think the Vatican has obviously given a psychological empowerment to certain bishops to take a stand that they would have been more hesitant to take prior to those documents,” said U.S. Father Thomas Williams, a member of the Legionaries of Christ in Rome.
One reason the Vatican issued those documents is that the political reality has changed in recent decades, in some ways for the worse, said one Vatican official who asked not to be identified.
“Thirty years ago, the Church would not have seen herself entering into these areas because the assumption was that governments and political leaders would do the right thing,” the official said.
“Today, that assumption is gone — just look at the nightmare menu of genetic-manipulation proposals,” he said. “So the Church has turned to Catholic politicians and others to advance positions that are not only ‘Catholic’ but that are essential to the common good.”
Same-Sex ‘Marriage’
U.S. Father Robert Gahl, an Opus Dei priest who teaches on morality and ethics in Rome, said he thought the question of same-sex marriage could turn into the big election-year issue because, even more than abortion, it is a legislative question in the United States.
What John Paul says on that topic in his talks to U.S. bishops will have an impact, Father Gahl predicted. For one thing, he said, even when the Holy Father makes a general pronouncement people tend to think he's talking about hot-button local issues.
“I think that throughout the year, there's going to be an interweaving between the United States and the Vatican, reasserting in a more expressive way those truths that are fundamental for humanity and fundamental to the faith, and looking at their implications for politics,” he said.
The challenge, Father Gahl said, will be to make it clear that the Pope is promoting moral principles and not a particular political strategy.
Father Williams, a 41-year-old native of Michigan who teaches moral theology and Catholic social doctrine at Rome's Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University, said it's good that Church leaders are pushing moral issues into the public forum.
But he said the Church has to be careful when it appears to make single issues a “litmus test” for political candidates or parties. That can perhaps be done on the clearest-cut issues that weigh gravely on the common good, such as abortion, but not others, he said.
“There's a Catholic teaching on contraception, but you're never going to want to make that a litmus test for Catholic politicians,” Father Williams said.
“I think there has to be a real distinction made between issues. It's not like the Church is going to start presenting a checklist,” he said.
Most Vatican officials follow U.S. electoral contests in the later stages, so few of them were poring over Democratic Party primary and caucus results in January. Once the winnowing process begins, though, interest picks up.
Throughout the election year, the Pope generally avoids encounters that could be given a partisan spin. Because of that sensitivity, his meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney on Jan. 27 probably would not have happened a few months down the road.
One U.S. diplomatic source laughed off any suggestion of political gain in Cheney's papal audience.
“I don't think there are any votes in the Vatican,” he said.
In case there were, the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, seemed to go out of its way to make sure no political hay could be made: Its one-sentence story on the meeting was buried at the bottom of Page 5, with no photo.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: John Thavis ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:Evangelicals Agree With Vatican but Reject Papacy
REUTERS, Feb. 9 — The recent furor over the ordination of an openly homosexual Episcopal bishop in the United States highlighted deep divisions in the Anglican communion.
Now, debate over an ecumenical document proposed by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission will expose a split that cuts in a different direction, Reuters reported.
The 1999 document, “The Gift of Authority,” had been drafted by the commission to draw closer together the Anglican and Catholic views of the papacy's role in the Church.
The General Synod of the Church of England opened Feb. 9, scheduled to debate the document.
While the argument over sexual ethics has placed evangelical “low-church” Anglicans in line with Catholic teaching, the new issue finds many of the same groups firmly opposed to any agreement that would import papal authority to the Anglican communion.
Reuters reported that the Church of England's Council for Christian Unity wishes to take the commission's document back to the drawing board rather than begin to implement it.
Ironically, Reuters noted, such authority would have resolved the battle over homosexual bishops in the very direction sought by evangelical Anglicans.
Catholic and Coptic Orthodox Churches Meet
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE, Feb. 5 — The first meeting of the International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Churches took place Jan. 27-30 in Cairo, Egypt, the Vatican Information Service reported.
The meeting was hosted by Shenouda III, Coptic Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria. Jointly presiding were Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Metropolitan Amba Bishoy, general secretary of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
In opening remarks, Cardinal Kasper and Metropolitan Bishoy underscored the importance of the meeting, saying that it marks the beginning of new official theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the family of Oriental Orthodox Churches.
The next meeting, “Church as Communion,” is scheduled to take place Jan. 25-30, 2005. Cardinal Kasper invited the Orthodox bishops to hold the meeting in Rome.
Pope Backs Cardinal in Fight Against Relativism
CATHNEWS.COM, Feb. 9 — Pope John Paul II is encouraging Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to proclaim boldly the truth of Christ in a world “marked by both a widespread relativism and the tendency to a facile pragmatism,” the Australian news site CathNews.com has reported.
The Pope's remarks came as he received Cardinal Ratzinger and other participants in the biannual assembly of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Holy Father explained that the congregation has the “delicate duty to promote and defend the truth of the Catholic faith in service to the magisterium of the Successor of Peter.”
John Paul particularly urged the congregation to promote the teaching of natural law — those ethical truths that can be deduced from human reason and shared with other religions that do not accept the full revelation of Christ.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Press Often Misrepresents Church Documents, Pope Says DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — “Horrendous” was how Dominican Father Augustine DiNoia described the media criticism of the encyclical Dominus Iesus, a controversial declaration issued in 2000 that reasserted the lordship of Christ in the salvation of souls.
But as undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican body that produced the document, Father DiNoia believes it doesn't have to be that way.
Speaking just after the Feb. 3-6 biannual plenary meeting of the congregation, during which the role of the media and the magisterium was one of the major points discussed, Father DiNoia said although a certain “anti-Catholicism in the mass media” was taken into account and some opposition to Vatican documents was unavoidable, there was a “general recognition that documents have to made more understandable.”
There was an acknowledgement, he added, of “the need to communicate the fundamental elements of Christianity,” in particular Christology and soteriology (the branches of theology relating to Christ and salvation) and “their practical import.”
“There has been a surfeit of documents,” said Father DiNoia, a Dominican theologian, who served for eight years as the executive director of the Secretariat for Doctrine and Pastoral Practices for the U.S. bishops’ conference. “We need to bring their meaning to a more practical level.”
Pope John Paul II addressed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's meeting Feb. 6, giving his instructions on how the issuance of documents from the Holy See should be treated.
Focusing on the relation between the Holy See and the Catholic world, he noted that the Catholic faithful are often “disorientated more than informed by immediate reactions to, and interpretations by, the media.”
He urged that the reception of Church documents “must be seen above all as an ecclesial event of welcoming the magisterium” and emphasized that their publication represents “a propitious occasion of formation, catechesis and evangelization.”
“It is a question in fact of an authoritative word that shines light on a truth of faith or on several aspects of Catholic doctrine that are contested or distorted by particular currents of thought or action,” he said.
In this regard, John Paul asked the congregation to plan “opportune methods of transmission and diffusion of the document itself, which allows for full awareness, above all, by the bishops of the Church.”
This was a point welcomed by Father DiNoia and others at the meeting, many of whom are aware that most bishops “don't have a chance to assimilate documents” before they are discussed in the press.
But also considered was the Church's relationship with the media beyond the “Catholic world,” where there is clearly plenty of room for improvement.
A long-standing difficulty among journalists is the inability of the Vatican to be forthcoming in providing comments not so much concerning matters of a speculative nature than in merely clarifying matters of concrete importance.
“It would certainly be helpful if there were one person in every congregation or council who could deal with the press and talk on the record,” said Greg Burke, Rome correspondent for Fox News.
“Since there isn't anyone like that, and most of the people in the Vatican are scared to death of reporters, you end up with all these blind quotes from a ‘a Vatican source’ or ‘a senior Vatican official,’” Burke said. “A Vatican source could be just about anybody. Or it might be nobody — totally invented.”
Father DiNoia is one Vatican official who is well aware of the situation and is supportive of closer cooperation with the media.
“I'm a firm believer that a more positive relation with the press is essential,” he said. “There has to be an effective mediator between the institutional authority and the public.”
And he offered hope that a sea change might be on the way.
“I don't mean this to be patronizing, but I was surprised at the sophistication of some of the cardinals with regard to the media,” he said after the plenary meeting. “They don't want to respond with a knee-jerk reaction but rather approach the issues by asking themselves how they could help the press instead of treating it as an adversary.”
Also discussed at the biannual meeting was the natural moral law. The Holy Father asked the congregation “to promote opportune initiatives with the aim of contributing to a constructive renewal of the doctrine on the natural moral law, seeking convergence with representatives of different denominations, religions and cultures.”
John Paul also drew the congregation's attention to the “notable increase” in the number of disciplinarian cases referred to the congregation regarding sexual abuse by clerics.
He said that although there is a need for the just application of the canonical penal law, there must also be a “greater guarantee in the just and balanced formation of future priests.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: Media vs. Magisterium ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: The Basic Requirements for Communion With God DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:Register Summary
During his general audience Feb. 11 in Rome, Pope John Paul II made a special appeal to the Church and to the world “to rediscover the important presence in the Christian community of those who suffer and to appreciate even more their valuable contribution.” The Holy Father's remarks coincided with the World Day of the Sick, which was being observed in Lourdes by more than 30,000 people.
“From a simply human point of view,” the Pope noted, “sickness and pain might appear as an absurd reality. However, when we allow ourselves to be enlightened by the light of the Gospel, we can appreciate the deep significance they have in the plan of salvation.” He emphasized that human suffering, when it is united to the suffering of Christ, becomes a means of salvation.
John Paul reminded those who are sick that he has a deep regard for them and a spiritual closeness to them. “At the same time,” he said, “I would like to remind you that human life is always a gift from God, even when it is marked by physical suffering of all kinds — a ‘gift’ the Church and the world are to value.”
The Holy Father included a special word of appreciation for all those who work in the area of health care. “Those who suffer must never be left alone,” he said. “It is a great act of love to care for those who are suffering!” He concluded his remarks with a prayer addressed to Our Lady of Lourdes, entrusting to her care all who are suffering and all who work to alleviate suffering.
Today our thoughts turn to the famous Marian shrine at Lourdes, which is located in the Pyrenees Mountains and which continues to attract crowds of pilgrims from all over the world, including many sick people. The main events of this year's World Day of the Sick — which is now a well-established custom — are taking place there and actually coincide with the liturgical feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.
This shrine was chosen not only because it is closely associated with those who are suffering from sickness and with those whose pastoral ministry is in the area of health care. Lourdes came to mind, first of all, because the year 2004 marks the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which took place on Dec. 8, 1854. Fours years later, in 1858, the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous at the Grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes, where she presented herself as the “Immaculate Conception.”
The Value of Suffering
We now go on a spiritual pilgrimage to the feet of the Immaculate Conception of Lourdes in order to join in prayer with the clergy and faithful who are gathered there, especially those who are sick. The World Day of the Sick is a powerful call to rediscover the important presence in the Christian community of those who suffer and to appreciate even more their valuable contribution. From a simply human point of view, sickness and pain might appear as an absurd reality. However, when we allow ourselves to be enlightened by the light of the Gospel, we can appreciate the deep significance they have in the plan of salvation.
“From the paradox of the cross,” I emphasized in my message for today's World Day of the Sick, “springs the answer to our most-worrying questions. Christ suffers for us. He takes upon himself the sufferings of everyone and redeems them. Christ suffers with us, enabling us to share our pain with him. United to the suffering of Christ, human suffering becomes a means of salvation” (No. 4).
Life: A Gift From God
I now turn to all those who are feeling the burden of suffering both in body and in spirit. I express once again to each one of them my love for them and my spiritual closeness to them. At the same time, I would like to remind you that human life is always a gift from God, even when it is marked by physical suffering of all kinds — a “gift” that the Church and the world are to value.
Of course, those who suffer must never be left alone. In this regard, I would especially like to address a word of deep appreciation to those who, in all simplicity and with a spirit of service, are at the side of the sick, seeking to relieve their suffering and, insofar as possible, to free them of their infirmities thanks to the progress of medical science. I am thinking especially of health care workers, doctors, nurses, scientists and researchers, as well as hospital chaplains and volunteers. It is a great act of love to care for those who are suffering!
“Sub tuum praesidium,” we prayed at the beginning of our meeting. “We seek refuge under your protection,” Immaculate Virgin of Lourdes, who are for us the perfect model of creation according to God's original plan. We entrust the sick, the elderly and those who are alone to you. Relieve their pain, wipe away their tears and obtain for them the strength they need to accomplish God's will. Be a support for all those who work every day to ease the pain of our brothers and sisters. Help us all to grow in the knowledge of Christ, who, with his death and resurrection, has defeated the power of evil and death.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:Israeli Minister Wants Christians to Convert Muslims
Minister Benny Elon, who maintains close ties to American-based fundamentalist Christians, said such conversions would help combat terrorism and bolster Israel's security.
“It would be better that these people are converted to Christianity,” he said.
He said these groups should “spread the good word” in Israel so long as they did not evangelize Jews (which can earn missionaries expulsion from the country).
“In the past,” said Elon, who is a rabbi, “I believed that Islam was much closer to Judaism than Christianity, but I have changed my opinion.”
Burundians Capture Alleged Killer of Papal Nuncio
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Feb. 3 — The Burundian army announced Feb. 3 that it had captured 20-year-old Dieudonne Hakizimana, whom it said participated in a Dec. 29 ambush that killed Archbishop Michael Courtney, papal nuncio to Burundi, according to Agence France-Presse.
Army spokesman Major Adolphe Manirakiza said Hakizimana had admitted “he took part in this ambush.”
The suspect is said to be a member of the National Liberation Forces, the last remaining rebel group active in Burundi. He is currently being treated at a hospital for injuries.
Archbishop Decries ‘Anti-Catholic’ Bias at BBC
INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC NEWS, Feb. 4 — Writing to The Glasgow Herald on Feb. 4, Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow criticized the British Broadcasting Corp. for fostering a “tabloid culture” in its reporting of news and showing “gross insensitivity” to British Catholics in its reporting on the Church.
The archbishop called the behavior unworthy of “the world's most distinguished broadcasting organization,” according to Independent Catholic News.
Archbishop Conti cited the BBC's decision to mark the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's pontificate and Mother Teresa's beatification in October with a show called Sex and the Holy City, a documentary that focused on the Church's resistance to using condoms in combating AIDS.
“Such scheduling showed gross insensitivity to the spiritual and historical significance of these moments,” the archbishop wrote.
The archbishop also criticized BBC's plans for “Popetown,” a cartoon that mocks the Pope, and “the hounding of the archbishop of Westminster last year … by the ‘Today’ program and ‘Newsnight,’ a process that seemed to owe more to the desire to claim an eminent scalp than to objective reporting of fact.“
Archbishop Conti pointed to an episode of “Newsnight Scotland,” which carried “a sneering and aggressive interview on the Church's position on shared campus schools, failing to distinguish tabloid fictions from fact. “We do not object to probing questions,” he wrote. “We do object to rudeness and prejudice.”
“We are always keen to ensure that all faiths are reflected across our output and are reported accurately,” a BBC spokesman responded. “If Archbishop Conti wishes to raise any concerns about our output with us, we will be happy to respond to him directly rather than through the press.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: The Foolishness of The Passion DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:The Passion of the Christ has become the most talked about and anticipated movie in the country — while breaking all the rules. It is a movie filmed entirely in dead languages, with a cast made up largely of unknowns. It's a long movie, and it's filled almost throughout with a level of violence too great for most audiences. It has no romantic interest and no racy scenes. It is opening on a Wednesday, not a weekend. It hasn't been advertised on television.
In short, it lacks all of the elements movies rely on to generate “buzz.” So much so that its makers were called fools for doing what they did.
But it turns out they weren't so foolish after all. Their movie has grabbed featured spots in print and television media and, as our Page One story points out, busloads of people plan to descend on theaters to see it as soon as they possibly can. What happened?
Controversy helped. The noisy charge that the movie is antiSemitic drew a level of sustained attention to the film other filmmakers long for. The sheer quality of the filmmaking — several writers in our pages have called it “a work of art” — has a lot to do with its success, too. And the fact that superstar Mel Gibson created it doesn't hurt.
But the bottom-line reason for the excitement about The Passion of the Christ is its subject matter. It's about Christ. If Gibson created an artistic, subtitled movie about say, Pliny the Younger, it's doubtful he would generate much excitement. And it's also doubtful Gibson would have been criticized for anti-Semitism for Pliny: The Movie. The charges seem aimed at the Gospel story itself more than against Gibson personally.
Even the movie's controversy is about Christ.
This should remind Catholics of a fact they sometimes forget: Jesus Christ attracts people.
There are many things the Church has used to attract people: liturgy, hip preaching, moral precepts, issues seminars, high culture, folk culture, great architecture, “homey” architecture. None of them can, by itself, fill thousands of movie theaters — or churches, for that matter — around the world. And none of them has eternal value apart from Christ.
If you want to attract a crowd to your church, offer them Christ. Barb Ernster's Page 3 story shows that's true even in the Eucharist — where he looks like a piece of bread, Christ attracts a crowd.
A second lesson from the movie: The Church should put the Passion at the center of its message. Catholics know this, deep down — after all, a crucifix and Stations of the Cross are required in every church. But we all too often forget it, offering “wiser” messages about social reform instead.
Nothing moves people like the Passion. When the Second Person of the Trinity subjects himself to brutal violence and forgives the very people who kill him, he teaches us that God's love is a love to the end. This is the only basis for real social reform.
The brutality of the cross isn't the selling point we naturally settle on. But it's the supernatural choice.
As St. Paul said: “We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1 Corinthians 22-25).
If enough Catholics were as foolish as the makers of The Passion of the Christ more often, we would transform the world.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:Bad Rap on the Rapper
Regarding “Singer Criticizes Church at Vatican Concert” (Media Watch, Jan. 4-10):
I hate to say that I am disappointed in you. While Miss [Lauryn] Hill's remarks were inappropriate and inaccurate, the response by the Catholic League was just childish. It is not the business of Catholics to air the personal problems of others.
If such people wish to do so on their own, then that is their business. But to bring such a thing up as a defense against Miss Hill's remarks is stooping not only to the same level but below it.
This is little better than calumny and by presenting it in the manner done in the article in question, you participated in it.
Eric Postma
Holland, Michigan
Don't Just Tell — Show
I am writing you today to implore you to utilize graphic abortion images in your newspaper to further the pro-life movement, as well as in the country and the world.
Although the use of such photos is considered a controversial move on the part of pro-life organizations, I insist that these images are perhaps the most effective means of conveying the message that abortion is no less than the murder of the innocent unborn. Being a small human being does not make a person less of one, nor does it diminish their value and right to life. The fact that the images are so awful to look at is undeniable because the viewer is witnessing evidence of a murder, and it makes them feel responsible to do something about it.
I am a woman who has always believed abortion is wrong. I did not, however, do anything personally to forward the cause of the pro-life movement. I never forced myself to look at graphic abortion images because my thought was, “I already believe abortion is wrong. Why would I want to put myself through the emotional pain of seeing it firsthand? After all, I would never personally have an abortion. It's enough to just have correct beliefs.” I could not have been more wrong.
Recently, I forced myself to look at these images and I was horrified by what I saw. My heart is broken over the fact that where you can clearly see a human body, our country — our world — allows murder of babies to be legal. Abortion is always wrong and always grievous, but the photos of the late-term abortions are so blatantly obvious that even if someone was unsure of the early-term abortions, I don't see how they could possibly conceive that these are not murder. As even the most tame image will show, one can clearly see human body parts and organs developing even in the earlier terms of pregnancy. But what about the images of babies being beheaded and dismembered or those who were burned? The majority of the public has no idea of the barbarism that takes place in this country.
As Catholics, we are responsible by God's command to protect life. We must set the example for the world in this regard by being the most prominent defenders of the unborn and all life. It is not enough to believe abortion is wrong. It is our calling as the Church of Jesus Christ to promote and support pro-life work and to lay down our lives if necessary for these innocents. I urge you to publish graphic abortion images — without apology — in your newspaper to encourage all Catholics to be socially and spiritually responsible in this regard.
DEBBIE THURMAN
Lawrenceville, Georgia
Standing Against the Storm
Regarding “Taking an Oath” (Mandatum series, Part 7, Feb. 1-7):
I worked for two years for the Fraternity of Priests, an associate ministry of Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, and have a deep respect for the work of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis community and their oneness with the Holy Father on the mandatum.
However, with all due respect for the great unsung heroes, those standing against the storm across the nation are the campus ministries at state universities. The fact is, more than 90% of our Catholic students go to state universities and many attend campus ministries like the one of which I am director.
Like ours, far too many campus ministries are understaffed. Staffs work long hours with little or no backing from their diocese. Nonetheless, these campus ministries year after year turn out many good solid vocations to the priesthood, religious life, single life and the married state. I think the Register can do a great service by highlighting the tremendous stories of our Catholic campus ministries at state universities.
God bless you. I thank the staff of the Register, which has blessed and enriched my vocation to the priesthood.
FATHER DAN COOK
Natchitoches, Louisiana
The writer is director of Catholic campus ministry at Northwestern State University and pastor of Holy Cross Church.
Killing Christianity?
Regarding “Jewish Group Calls Gibson's Passion Film ‘Painful’” (Feb. 1-7):
The first paragraph states: “The Anti-Defamation League said Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ, has the ‘potential to promote anti-Semitism’ through its ‘painful’ portrayal of Jews as being responsible for the death of Jesus.”
I know that this kind of “blame” has often been manifest in past history between Christians and Jews; however, good theology indicates that the truth is otherwise.
In Acts 2, verses 23 and 36, St. Peter would have us know that not just the Jews but all people, being sinners, have culpability in Christ's death. Yes, this fact is “sad and painful,” as the article also states.
But as truth would have it, the good news is that no one really can be legally convicted for killing Jesus quite simply because he is not dead!
DANIEL MALEY
Pittsburgh
Military Medicine
Re: “Was Catholic Navy Doctor Ordered to Practice ‘Bad Medicine’?” (Feb. 8-14):
Lt. Cmdr. Messé is to be commended for his courage in standing up for life. He has placed himself on the front lines. Hopefully, he will receive the fullest support from our Catholic chaplains and other Catholic military health care providers.
As a Navy physician assistant, I was in a similar situation, but fortunately I was supported by my non-Catholic superiors. When one non-Catholic physician (who opposed abortion) asked for my reasoning, I gave him my explanation. I also provided him with a copy of Dr. Janet Smith's presentation Contraception: Why Not. The next day he stated, “I think you Catholics are on the right track.”
Others have not been so fortunate. One individual was verbally reprimanded by his supervising physician, who overheard him explaining the abortive aspect of birth-control pills to a “Catholic” sailor who was requesting a refill.
It would be interesting to know how other Catholic military health care providers are interacting with patients seeking contraceptive services. It might make for an interesting study.
ROBERT C. MORASH
Bremerton, Washington
More Women, Please
I'm a new subscriber and look forward to receiving your fine paper. It's informative and encouraging in the news it gives about the Church. I appreciate the Canadian content, too.
May I offer some feedback? Personally, I'd like to read more about women in the Church — both lay and religious — but perhaps I've missed articles in previous issues. There have been some women featured in the issues I've read recently. I think I remember lovely, bright, young women's faces in the article about the Theology of the Body International Alliance.
You had a brief item about a young woman joining the community of Our Lady of the Trinity in the last issue — a “teaser.” A longer article would be great. What about a series featuring various communities? Maybe you've already done that. Also, what resources are there for pro-life moms with many little ones? What is the role of women in parishes? I loved the articles focusing on individual priests — what about sisters?
These are just suggestions. Thanks for a fine paper.
BETH ABRAHAM
Toronto
Catholic Kerry
Regarding “A New Kennedy? A Catholic Candidate from Massachusetts Who Puts Politics Before Faith” (Feb. 15-21):
Sen. John Kerry, who is one of the major candidates for president of the Untied States, claims to be a Catholic — but says he has “some differences with the Church.”
The senator has also revealed that his first act as president will be to issue an executive order allowing U.S. taxpayer funding of population-control centers abroad that advocate abortion.
Human life is one of the areas where Kerry departs from Church teachings. The issue for voters is whether it is moral to cast a ballot for a candidate who says he is Catholic and pro-abortion or an incumbent president who is Protestant and pro-life.
These Jan. 24 comments by John Kerry were televised on C-Span from New Hampshire.
FRANCIS MAHONEY
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Of Might and Right
Regarding “Still More on the War” (Letters, Feb. 1-7):
I question the philosophy from Mary Lou Peterson. In her letter, she justifies the war with the “we're bigger and stronger and they are the bad guys” philosophy. Whom does she put in our military cross hairs next: North Korea?
STAN GOULD
Virginia Beach, Virginia
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Super Suggestion DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:I didn't watch the lewd and lurid goings-on during the recent Super Bowl, thankfully (“FCC Commissioner Speaks Out on Super Bowl Scandal,” Inperson, Feb. 15-21).
Still, I've been praying about what could be done, especially in light of the recent Sunday Gospel in which, through the power of Jesus’ command to “put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch,” St. Peter and his co-workers “caught a great number of fish” — despite their having caught nothing at all up to that point. This caused St. Peter to beg Jesus: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” Jesus told them not to be afraid; from then on they'd be catching men.
What snags me most in this reading at this time is the simple statement that follows: “When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him” (Luke 5:11).
This sporting event, the Super Bowl, has for years been washing out into the sea of paganism. Each “Super Bowl Sunday,” can't we put out into deep water, cast our nets and have a Super-Adoration Sunday instead? From 6 p.m. until 10 p.m., Catholic churches and chapels across America could offer adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and pray the holy rosary each hour on the hour — all in thanksgiving for the fact that we do have options as Catholics, that we can make reparation for what others choose to watch. And we could ask forgiveness for the times we have allowed ourselves to be washed out by the waves of society's waxing seduction.
Even if others don't take up the idea formally, there is nothing stopping individuals from leaving the television off on that very night and following his presence into a nearby Catholic Church to adore and pray.
JOAN MCCLURE
Huntington, Indiana
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: You Still Can't Be a 'Little Bit Pregnant' DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:You can't be a little bit pregnat.
That is as true today as it ever was, but people are just a little bit less honest about what that means.
It used to be that “pregnancy” began when human life began. That is, when a human egg was fertilized by a human sperm somewhere in the vicinity of the ovary, before the tiny growing embryo began the weeklong journey through the fallopian tube and into the uterus to burrow into the endometrium, a nourishing temporary home.
But the IUD changed all that. Not the process, of course, but the definition. Promoters of intrauterine devices in the 1960s lobbied successfully to push the start of pregnancy forward 10 days to the point of implantation so that the IUD, which works post-fertilization, could still be labeled a “contraceptive.” (Embryology textbooks still mark the start of human life at fertilization — they have skirted the shakedown, so far.)
Thus, while new human life begins when it always began, “pregnancy” can sometimes begin a week and a half later, depending on what you're reading.
The “morning-after” pill pushers are taking this confusion to the bank. Literally.
One morning-after pill known as Plan B is being marketed and advertised as a contraceptive even though it works before and after conception. It works before conception to delay ovulation or interfere with sperm capacitation, and it works after conception by impeding the movement of the new embryo through the fallopian tube and by interfering with the process of implantation. In fact, an extensive review of the literature on Plan B suggests up to 11 possible modes of action for the drug, seven of which work after conception. (See H. Croxatto, et al., Mechanism of action of hormonal preparations used for emergency contraception: a review of the literature, 63 Contraception 111-21, 2001).
Recently the distributor of Plan B, a for-profit drug company, petitioned the FDA to allow its drug to be sold over the counter without a prescription. Two FDA advisory committees (Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and the Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs) voted 24-3 in favor of the switch. The final decision, expected this month, rests with the commissioner of the FDA, Mark McClellan.
Putting Plan B on the shelves of drug stores is a very bad idea.
First, there is the enormous problem that women are being misled about what this drug does. It's marketed, advertised and promoted as a contraceptive, so it is surely reasonable to assume that many women who take Plan B think they are simply using a new kind of contraception. Indeed, Plan B's appearance on the shelf next to the condoms will only exacerbate this problem.
Women deserve to know the truth about drugs that are marketed to them. Plan B's distributor might argue that it's all the same (remember, they want to sell more drugs to women), but preventing human life from its beginning is not the same thing as destroying life that has already begun. And to many, many women it is a distinction that makes all the difference.
Second, this powerful drug has been associated with a heightened risk of ectopic pregnancy, a potentially fatal condition. (Note to pregnancy deconstructionists: Ectopic pregnancy occurs before implantation. Must change this definition, too!) There is no mystery why this should be so. Remember, one of the ways Plan B works after conception is to slow the transport of the new embryo through the fallopian tube.
While initial clinical trials did not show a risk, experience with the drug in the United Kingdom and New Zealand has revealed the danger and prompted medical authorities to issue warnings. The U.K.'s Committee on Safety of Medicines recently found 12 ectopic pregnancies out of 201 pregnancies following use of the drug.
What's more, the common side effects of the morning-after pill — nausea and abdominal pain — are also the symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy! A switch to over-the-counter Plan B would leave countless women vulnerable to a potentially “hidden,” potentially fatal medical complication with no clinical supervision. This is bad policy and bad medicine.
Plan B's distributor has been joined by pro-abortion groups who claim that switching the status of the drug will reduce abortion numbers by as many as half. Putting aside for a moment the obvious rejoinder that an abortion drug won't reduce abortions, there simply is no evidence to support this claim.
In fact, abortion numbers have not been significantly affected in areas of the country where the drugs have already been made more widely available. Washington state, for example, removed the need for a prescription in 1998 but its abortion numbers kept pace with prior state and national rates (all of which were falling marginally year by year).
The Food and Drug Administration is about to make a big mistake. If it follows the recommendation of its advisory committees and approves Plan B for over-the-counter use, it will begin a reckless experiment on the lives of women and children. This drug, with its serious risk of life-threatening consequences — for the woman taking it and for her developing child — does not belong on the shelf of a drug store. Or at the reach of a frightened teen-ager.
Cathy Cleaver Ruse, Esq., is director of the Planning and Information Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Cathleen A. Cleaver ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: The Cardinal And The Code DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:Don't count Cardinal Francis George among the many fans of The Da Vinci Code.
In his Dec. 7 column for Catholic New World, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Cardinal George addressed the popularity of the novel, which has been a publishing phenomenon since appearing in April 2003.
He wrote, “The Church through the ages bumps into a lot of words about Jesus that are untrue at best and demonic nonsense at worst … [The Da Vinci Code is] evidence of what happens when stories about Jesus stem from imaginative reinterpretation of some document, historical or fictitious, rather than from the authentic witness to Christ given by the Church that Christ himself founded to speak the truth about him until he returns in glory.”
If Dan Brown's novel is just an entertaining work of fiction, as many fans insist, why is the cardinal so concerned? His response, given in an interview in the Chicago Sun-Times (Jan. 9), is blunt: “I resent the book, because it does undermine people's faith.”
He explains that he read the book not for entertainment but out of pastoral concern. What he found was a clever work that attacks central teachings of the Catholic Church.
“The Da Vinci Code has the advantage of explaining Jesus in terms that seem sensible to many,” he wrote in his December column, “by playing on ever-popular biases against the Catholic Church and advancing an esoteric form of feminism. For the price of one book, you get two theories that pander to prejudices today.”
Although those theories and others in the novel have been around for years, they have benefited tremendously from The Da Vinci Code's success.
Published in April 2003 by Doubleday, Brown's fourth novel debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list. Today, more than 40 weeks after its publication, it still tops that best-seller list, there are more than
5.5 million copies in print, and it is being translated into 40 languages.
Described by the Times as a “riddle-filled, code-breaking, exhilaratingly brainy thriller,” the novel garnered effusive reviews. The Library Journal raved, “This masterpiece should be mandatory reading” and the Chicago Tribune marveled that it supposedly contained “several doctorates’ worth of fascinating history and learned speculation.”
Critics noted how “smart,” “intelligent” and well-researched the novel appeared to be, a point that surely pleased the author, who insists his thriller is thoroughly researched and factual in all respects. In addition, the novel features an opening page titled “Fact,” stating: “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.”
The immense success of The Da Vinci Code and its bombastic claims about Jesus, Mary Magdalene and the Catholic Church have resulted in substantial controversy, even among Catholics. One agitated reader recently wrote to me, saying:
“I own a Catholic bookstore. We are getting bombarded daily by people who are buying into the garbage in this book. You cannot believe how many people have been exposed to this book. … We even had an elderly aunt talking about Opus Dei tonight and yelling at us that the book is true or it couldn't be printed.”
Another Catholic openly admitted that The Da Vinci Code has raised doubts in his mind:
“Honestly, [reading the book] shook my whole faith. I realize that the book is fiction, but much of what he wrote about seemed like it was based on historical facts aside from the characters. … If Christianity is nothing more than a big accommodation, it becomes relegated to a lifestyle choice and not a religion, which I do not want to believe.”
Sadly, this sort of confusion highlights the generally poor state of catechesis and religious education among Catholics. A doctorate should not be required to know that the New Testament and the early Church did believe that Jesus was divine, that Jesus was not divinized by the Emperor Constantine and that the so-called “gnostic gospels” were written much later than the canonical Gospels, are full of spurious nonsense and are about as historical as a Looney Tunes episode. In fact, it is difficult to find much in the novel that is accurate, it is so filled with misinformation and baseless claims.
Although readers might not know much about early Christological controversies, medieval history or Renaissance art, the novel's glaring internal flaws should stand out.
The book is a mess of contradictions. It contains lectures about the silliness of religion but advocates goddess worship and depicts the main character entering an ecstatic state at the alleged grave of Mary Magdalene. Jesus is said to be a “mortal prophet” but is still important enough to marry the goddess Mary Magdalene, apparently because she needed a male to elevate her to a position of leadership. Readers are told that nobody believed Jesus was divine until the Emperor Constantine “made” him God in 325 A.D., even though Constantine is presented as a lifelong pagan with no interest in the Christian God.
Leonardo da Vinci is described as a modern man of reason and science who is oddly devoted to “the darker arts,” hidden messages and goddess worship. Brown also claims da Vinci lived in constant fear of being persecuted and killed by the Church but also states this didn't stop the artist from living the lavish life of a “flamboyant homosexual,” hardly a good way to avoid negative attention.
The Facts
The facts — or lack of them — are important and should be addressed, but the greatest danger of The Da Vinci Code is that it reinforces relativistic, irrational attitudes by pretending to satisfy the mind while manipulating emotions.
In his Touchstone article “Fantasy Faith,” (November 2003), Dr. James Hitchcock notes, “Millions of people read The Da Vinci Code not because they necessarily believe its absurd story but because it creates a myth that serves certain emotional needs and allows them to be ‘religious’ without submitting to any of the demands of faith.”
This is evident in remarks made by the main character, Robert Langdon, who talks about “faith” as being built upon “fabrication” and beliefs for which no proof exists. Such notions have an obvious appeal and they free people from any sense of obligation or discipline, allowing them to perceive reality as they wish, according to their self-absorbed desires.
Equally appealing is the novel's implicit promise of secret knowledge. Readers’ comments bear out how thrilled they are to “discover” an abundance of hidden truth in The Da Vinci Code. The novel offers secret insights and an alternative view of history open to those daring enough to believe and to risk going against oppressive institutions and faceless authority figures. Having read the book, readers feel they have been initiated into a forbidden, dangerous world where the truth behind the façade called Catholicism is revealed in all of its shocking ugliness.
The main reason for the book's popularity, states Philip Jenkins, professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University, is “a fundamental suspicion of traditional claims to authority, where they conflict with contemporary ideas and standards, especially over sex and gender. It mainly illustrates a broader suspicion about orthodoxy generally and the idea that the truth is out there” (Gary Stern, “Unraveling the Myth,” Gannett News Service, Dec. 27, 2003).
Catholics enamored with The Da Vinci Code or who think it is harmless entertainment should reconsider the impact of the novel and re-examine its claims that Christianity has been a long, bloody lie based on the dark aspirations of a murderous, male-dominated Church. And then they should seriously ponder the question put forth by Cardinal George: “If Jesus is only what is presented in The Da Vinci Code, why should we even care?”
Carl E. Olson is editor of Envoy magazine and author of Will Catholics Be ‘Left Behind’?
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carl E. Olson ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: To Dust You Shall Return (and Other Wishful Thinking) DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:My Uncle Mack is a cheerful, decent middle-class fellow who thinks religion is a fraud perpetrated by charlatans for gullible weaklings.
He doesn't say so up front because he knows we're Catholic and he's polite, but that's what he really thinks. A recent death in the family found me and Uncle Mack discussing life after death.
He said he thought religion, heaven and hell and the whole package was a matter of make-believe on a colossal scale. “Some fellows thought up pie in the sky because it would be easier for them to keep control of the peasants.”
“So you think heaven is just a load of wishful thinking?” I asked.
“That's about right.” “Do you believe in life after death or do you think death is the final curtain — the last gasp and then nothing?”
“That's right,” Uncle Mack said. “Death, then nada. Nothing. Zilch. The end. That's it.”
“But,” I replied, “that really sounds like wishful thinking to me.”
“Why's that?” “Because most people who believe in heaven also believe in hell, and if I have to give account of myself and if I might go to hell, then it's hardly wishful thinking, is it? On the other hand, imagining that there is no heaven or hell is the most amazing piece of wishful thinking.”
“How so?”
“Well, if you wish there is no heaven or hell, then you're hoping that you'll get away with it after all.”
“Get away with what?” Uncle Mack said. “I'm not a criminal!”
I wanted to point out that in my opinion God doesn't send anyone to hell. They choose to go there by turning away from him. If someone regularly turns away from God (even in a nice, polite way) then in the end, they would turn away from him just as they'd always done. To deny such a conclusion is the wildest kind of wishful thinking.
Which reminds me of another relative — my Uncle George. George is an evangelical Christian of a Calvinist slant. He believes in eternal security. George therefore believes that because he accepted Jesus into his heart he has a reserved seat on the train to heaven. Unlike Uncle Mack, Uncle George professes a belief in both heaven and hell. But George's Calvinism effectively puts him in the same camp as Mack because, although he believes in hell, he doesn't believe it is a possibility for himself.
What really interests me is that both Mack and George are cheerful, decent fellows who (for different reasons) don't believe hell is a possibility for them. In that way they're also like the liberal Christian who doesn't believe God will send anyone to hell. What the liberal Christian (more accurately called a universalist) really means is that they don't believe in a God who would send them to hell.
All three are indulging in a dangerous form of wishful thinking. Uncle Mack gets rid of heaven in order to get rid of hell. Uncle George believes in hell but not for himself, and the universalist Christian doesn't believe in hell for anybody — especially himself. The bottom line is that none of them consider hell to be a real possibility, and this leads to a most alarming form of complacent self-righteousness, for who is more likely to end up in hell than the one who doesn't believe in it? St. Padre Pio was once asked what he thought of modern people who did not believe in hell. He said, “They will believe in hell when they get there.”
The only other option is the Catholic one.
Later in the evening I tried to explain to Uncle Mack why Catholicism was anything but “wishful thinking.” First of all, none of us really know what will happen to us after we die. Any belief that tells us just what will happen to us has to be either a lie or wishful thinking because we just don't know what will happen.
In that sense Mack and George are both far too dogmatic. One firmly believes he will go to nothing and the other firmly believes he will go to heaven. In this respect they need a bit of saintly uncertainty. In contrast to their wishful thinking, the Catholic belief is sober and realistic — as sober and realistic as an insurance salesman.
Catholics admit that we will all die. We admit that no one can know for sure where he will go when he dies. We therefore remind ourselves, like Boy Scouts, to be prepared. The essential Catholic sermon on hell consists of two words: “Fear hell.” There could be nothing further from wishful thinking than that.
To be fair, Mack, George and the universalist might not believe in hell because they know deep down that few of us are good enough to go straight to heaven and few of us are wicked enough to go straight to hell. Once again, the Catholic belief comes across as admirably realistic and fair.
The vast majority of mediocre folks like you and me will go to purgatory first. Purgatory is where we have the chance to finish the training course, learn from our mistakes, get our act together and scrub up for dinner.
The recent death in my family has made me face facts. Death comes to us all, and after death the judgment. My Lent this year will be grimmer and leaner than it's been for some time. I want it to be because it is one of the ways I can get ready for that summons I cannot avoid.
Dwight Longenecker is the author of Adventures in Orthodoxy.
Visit his Web site at www.dwightlongenecker.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dwight Longenecker ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Sincerely Yours DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:I was working in the kitchen a few days ago when I heard a ruckus coming from the family room. I peered around the corner to see my 2-year-old daughter bopping the little neighbor boy on the head. It seemed he was in possession of a toy she wanted under her control. (She thinks every toy in the house is hers).
I came to Luke's rescue, removed him from the line of fire and offered him comfort. I then looked to my child and said, “You may not hit Luke. He can play with this toy. Please tell him you're sorry.” She glared at him and snapped, “sorry” — but her admission of guilt did not appear at all sincere.
Each time I demand an apology from one of my children, I realize their response is most likely not coming from their heart. My hope is that practice and example will one day lead them to practice true sincerity.
The virtue of sincerity is hard won if it's won at all. Why? Because it can be very difficult to admit how you truly feel about something, even to yourself.
I know a woman who became pregnant with her seventh child late in life. It had been six years since the birth of her last child, even though she and her husband had always been open to life in their marriage. The woman had, by this point, resigned herself to the probability that she was not likely to have anymore children and had become content with her life as it was. She was very active in her church, her children's schools and their many activities. She was working a part-time job. Life was full.
When she found out she was pregnant, her expression of joy was not sincere. She spoke and acted as though she felt happy even though, in truth, her anxiety was suffocating her excitement. Her reticence made no sense to her. She began to worry that her lack of inner integrity would show. She confided her feelings to her priest, explaining that she did not understand how she could not feel joy if she was accepting God's will in her life by being open to the gift of life in her marriage. “If you do not feel joy,” the priest told her, “you are not truly accepting the will of God.”
This unexpected counsel threw her for a loop. She asked herself: “Am I really open to God's will?” With prayer she realized that, although she had been living her faith in practice, her heart was in a different place. She had not really been honest with herself in accepting God's will for her life. But, by the grace of God and the admission of her insincerity, she was able to embrace God's gift to her and accept it with joy.
‘Am I really open to God's will?’
It is often very difficult to look at our fallen human nature working in our own hearts and minds. It is so contrary to the ways of God. Yet look we must, for learning to be sincere with God and ourselves is the first step toward true holiness — which is the only thing that can give us the deep peace and joy that the world can neither give us nor take away from us.
If we are to grow spiritually, it is imperative that we examine how sincere we are with ourselves, others and God. Like a child defending a toy, we might have to say “sorry” before we truly feel that way deep down inside. The important thing is that we willingly give up the “toy” that is causing us to stumble.
It might take some time to embrace the truth. But with daily practice and a desire to have God help us see into our own heart, fostering a sincere heart will do nothing less than set us on a path to growing up in Christ.
Jackie Oberhausen writes from Fort Wayne, Indiana.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jackie Oberhausen ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Deutschland Deluxe DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:Less than an hour's drive outside Germany's Franconian city of Coburg is a 500-year-old Franciscan church and monastery that was once the scene of bitter feuding.
It's hard to imagine such tensions at the Basilica of the Fourteen Saints in Vierzehnheiligen, Germany, today. The magnificent edifice sits high on a hill overlooking the meandering River Main, facing the venerable Banz Monastery rising from its equally beautiful hilltop setting. Between the two stretch fertile meadows intersected by the shining ribbon of river.
There are few more peaceful vistas in all of Europe. Yet, as I found out on a recent visit, struggles over money and prestige once seriously threatened the work of the Church here.
The basilica, completed in 1772 after 29 years of continuous work, was erected to house the site of an earlier series of miraculous visions. In September 1445, a young shepherd boy was tending his sheep when he saw a child weeping in the field. When the shepherd moved toward the child to offer comfort, the child disappeared. During the next year he saw the child twice more. On the last occasion, the child bore a red cross over his heart and was surrounded by 14 smaller figures later identified as “auxiliary saints.”
“We wish to have a chapel and we want to repose here,” the mysterious child stated to the young shepherd.
After miraculous healings took place, the bishop was convinced. He agreed to build a chapel to accommodate the streams of pilgrims, among them Emperor Frederick I. In the 1525 Peasants’ Revolt and the Thirty Years’ War, the shrine was destroyed. For more than 300 years, the site was marked by feuds between the local Cistercian abbey (owner of the land) and the bishop of Bamberg, both having been deeded an interest by an independent arbitration court.
What followed were shenanigans unsurpassed in Church architectural history. In 1742, the abbot of Langheim had the world-renowned architect Balthasar Neumann draw up plans for a large abbey church and engaged a Protestant master mason for a separate pilgrimage church. The prince-bishop preferred a local Catholic master mason. As the dispute raged, Neumann's plan was first shelved, then resurrected and redesigned by him.
Arriving on an inspection tour, Neumann discovered that the Protestant mason's plan had been implemented. The walls already rose to a height of three meters and in the form of a triple conch. The enraged prince-bishop ordered every stone removed, terming the edifice “a Lutheran sideshow.” Eventually the great architectural authority of the day, Maximillian von Welsch of Mainz, was consulted.
Those struggles bore great fruit. Working with Welsch's suggestion as to where to place the shrine within the building and with the triple-conch effect, Neumann redesigned a basilica of such fabulous design that it created a break with all previous tradition. All was well until 1835, when a fire sparked by lightning destroyed two towers and the roof. The Franciscans, who by then had taken over jurisdiction of the basilica, asked Bavarian King Ludwig I to revive the pilgrimages.
By 1900 the towers had been rebuilt. From 1982 to 1990, the frescoes and other decorative features of the basilica were restored to their original colors. It is this building today that sits on the site of the apparitions.
Franciscan Hospitality
The stern Latin-cross exterior gives no hint of what's inside. The visitor is swept off his feet by the sprawling, luminous space — such a contrast to the darkness of early 17th-century Baroque churches. The interior is splashed with light and color. The combination of late Baroque with rococo architecture blends festivity with solemnity, playfulness with stature and joy with majesty.
The effect is particularly glorious if you have just arrived from neighboring towns in what was formerly East Germany. There, of course, Protestant reformers once seized Catholic churches, whitewashed their frescoes and destroyed statues and liturgical symbols. (In short, they reduced holy houses to mere meeting spaces.)
The exquisite shrine altar, with its canvas of the apparition, occupies the center of the basilica. On it are mounted white marble-stucco figures of the 14 “auxiliary” saints — including Catherine, Margaret, Barbara, Christopher, Blasé, Vitus and George. All except one were martyrs. The background of the walls is white. Stuccoed marble patterns in pink and gray on 14 marvelous “corkscrew” pillars lift the eye aloft; shell-shaped ornaments and ceiling frescoes stretch a “rococo heaven” over the space.
Cherubs cavort around the high altar's tabernacle. The basilica's patron, Our Lady of the Assumption, is represented both in a painting over the altar and at a shrine of her own. Flanking each side of the high altar are two Franciscan saints — Francis himself and Anthony.
The pulpit is extraordinary, with busts of the Four Evangelists carrying their message to the four corners of the earth. Above them glows a dazzling composition of lights, representing the seven gifts of the of the Holy Spirit — wisdom, understanding, right judgment, courage, knowledge, reverence, and wonder and awe over God's presence (see Isaiah 11:1-3). An angel holds up a Book of Psalms, on which is written: “Listen to this Law, my people. Pay attention to what I say.”
People are listening. The shrine is open every day of the year, free of charge. A steady stream of pilgrims — individuals, families and groups — never ceases flowing through the doors. When I visited, a motorcycle club came to pray.
There are formation houses where one may stay for retreats and study. Confessionals are in constant use. Franciscan fathers are ever on the grounds, answering questions or giving counsel.
The Vierzehnheiligen basilica has been deemed Neumann's masterpiece of curved architecture. Pilgrims whose eyes and souls are lifted upward to heavenly heights by its beauty have no trouble understanding why.
Lorraine M. Williams is based in Markham, Ontario.
----- EXCERPT: Basilica of the Fourteen Saints, Vierzehnheiligen, Germany ----- EXTENDED BODY: Lorraine M. Williams ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: 'By This Vision We Are Challenged' DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:As I contemplate Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, the sequence I keep coming back to, again and again, is the scourging at the pillar.
One reason, certainly, is that it is the most horrifying sequence in the film, more agonizing even than the Crucifixion itself or the carrying of the cross. But there are other reasons as well.
The sequence is also an outstanding example of Gibson's original vision of telling the story in the languages of the day, without subtitles. As the Roman centurions flog Jesus, their brutal, laughing mockery and derisive taunts go on for long minutes — and the Latin is left untranslated. We don't know what they're saying, and we don't need to know. Subtitles would be an unnecessary distraction.
At other points throughout the film, Gibson ultimately found it necessary to use subtitles; still, some of the most effective scenes remain the ones for which he was able to avoid them. As necessary as they might be in some scenes, especially on a first viewing, when the film becomes available on DVD everyone who buys it should watch it at least once with the subtitles turned off.
That the story was filmed in Latin and Aramaic at all is worthy of note. Put aside linguistic quibbles about what first-century Latin actually sounded like or whether Jews and Romans wouldn't have used Greek rather than Latin to converse with one another. The larger point is that, for the first time since the silent era, a cinematic Jesus is unencumbered by British-accented (or worse, American-accented) English or by a European romance language.
The scourging at the pillar also stands out for the way it cuts through the smoke of confusion and misinformation coming from both sides of the controversy surrounding the film. Watching this scene, two things become transparently clear.
First, notwithstanding at times exaggerated claims of historical accuracy and fidelity to the Gospels from some of the film's defenders, The Passion of the Christ is not an attempt to depict the sufferings of Christ exactly as described in the New Testament. Rather, while following the basic outline of the Passion narratives, the film is an imaginative, at times poetic reflection on the meaning of the Gospel story in light of sacred tradition and Catholic theology.
Consider the following incident. As Jesus is being flogged, Claudia, the wife of Pilate, approaches the Blessed Virgin and Mary Magdalene bearing folded linens, which she gives to them. After Jesus is taken away, the two Marys go down on the flagstones and begin mopping up the blood around the pillar.
This incident, found nowhere in the Gospels, comes from the visionary writings of Venerable Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich, the 19th-century stigmatic and mystic whose Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ significantly influenced the screenplay for The Passion of the Christ. The scenario is strikingly evocative of Catholic piety regarding Jesus’ precious blood but doesn't reflect a historio-graphical concern with sticking to the Gospel accounts.
Not all of the film's glosses on the Gospel accounts come from Sister Emmerich. The scourging at the pillar is also the occasion of one of Gibson's own most singular, unnerving imaginative flourishes. A satanic figure haunts the film, watchful and inscrutable. We first see it in the Garden of Gethsemane, where its attempts to dissuade Jesus from his mission with a nihilistic litany of negation: “No man can bear this burden. No one. Ever. No. Never.”
At certain points this androgynous figure is depicted in opposition to the Virgin Mary — but never more arrestingly so than before the pillar, where there is a kind of anti-Marian vision that I will not describe except to say that it is so bizarre, grotesque and ultimately meaningless that it seems to come straight from hell.
The other thing the scourging scene makes clear is the hollowness of activist complaints about the film's supposed anti-Semitism. The depiction of the Jewish mob might be unflattering, but it pales to insignificance beside the unmitigated barbarism of the Roman brute squad. We also see the high priest Caiaphas watching the scourging — not enjoying the spectacle but clearly uncomfortable, finding it painful to watch.
Significantly, this humanizing touch in Caiaphas’ characterization comes neither from the Gospels nor from sources such as Sister Emmerich but is original to the film. In fact, Sister Emmerich's account includes a strikingly different account of the Jewish onlookers during the scourging. She depicts Jewish leaders paying the Roman soldiers and plying them with drink to induce them to even more brutality. Gibson's film not only omits this unsavory flourish but goes in the opposite direction, giving a humanizing detail not found in the Gospels.
For all this, though, the single-most overwhelming aspect of the scourging at the pillar remains its sheer savagery. No previous Jesus film has ever approached this level of brutal violence — in part because no previous film has ever focused so closely on the Passion particularly.
Certainly, Jesus’ passion and death were horrific and violent. There is a long tradition, especially in the West, of devout meditation on the specifics of Jesus’ sufferings (the sorrowful mysteries, the Stations of the Cross and so on).
Yet when the film shows the soldiers stretching Jesus prone to nail him to the cross, then flipping the cross over and crushing him under it before raising it upright, some viewers, especially those less used to cinematic violence, might wonder whether this goes too far. Some, indeed, might not wish to see the film at all — and might even feel guilty for feeling that way, as if reservations about this film were somehow unchristian.
That would be a mistake. Movies, like everything human, are a matter of Christian liberty. No one is obligated to see, or like, any film in the world. The Passion of the Christ is an artistic expression of the faith, not the faith itself.
Yet it is also a pre-eminently important cinematic expression of the faith — probably one of the most important religious films of all time. It tells only a part of the Gospel story, as the Passion narratives themselves are only a part of the Gospels. But that part is the very crux: Christ died for us.
Content advisory: Much strong and bloody Passion narrative violence; some disturbing demonic imagery.
Steven D. Greydanus, editor and chief critic of DecentFilms.com, writes from Bloomfield, New Jersey.
----- EXCERPT: The Passion of the Christ is a Gospel masterpiece ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video/DVD Picks DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:It's a moment of breathtaking irony and suspense. In the audience at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., a proud East Indian father bows his head while onstage his son, who's been tutored in French, German and Latin, hesitates and asks for the derivation of “Darjeeling.”
Spellbound, Jeffrey Blitz's endearing, heartbreaking, deeply rewarding documentary about eight brainy middle-school kids competing with nearly 250 other spellers in front of the ESPN-watching world, is full of such unforgettable moments and insights. Not just a documentary of a contest, Spellbound is a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of contestants of various regional and socioeconomic backgrounds whose only common bond is a facility for putting words together.
From Angela of Texas, the daughter of an illegal Mexican immigrant who doesn't speak English, to Harry of Glen Ridge, N.J., with his gawky sense of humor and socially maladroit volubility, Spellbound brims with humanity and insight.
Many of these kids are loners or outcasts, yet their shared passion brings them together despite their rivalry.
The film is a tribute to old-fashioned virtues of hard work, education, competition — and good spelling in a spellchecker age (note misspelled signs congratulating local kids!).
Home schoolers, watch for the late appearance of Georgie, a home-schooled prodigy from an evangelical-Protestant background who encourages his peers to “twust in Jesus” and “hono’ yoah pawents.”
Content advisory: Nothing objectionable.
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
Not your typical movie about a man and a woman stranded on a deserted island, Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison is an engaging character study about a novice nun-to-be (Deborah Kerr) and a rough-hewn Marine corporal (Robert Mitchum) on a South Pacific island during World War II. Like director John Huston's similarly themed The African Queen, the film finds conflict mixed with romantic tension in a tale of a demure religious woman thrown together with a rugged male loner. Here, though, the complicating factor is not the religious woman's fastidiousness but her vocation.
The film parallels the two contrasting sets of commitments, hers to her order, his to the Marine Corps. Like Allison himself, the film is respectfully curious about the exotic phenomenon of religious commitment but has less insight into why a woman would join a religious order than why a man would join the Marines. The film is honest about the questions bound to come up, especially if they wind up stranded there indefinitely.
Though essentially a character study, the film also provides some suspense and thrills, notably a squirm-inducing sequence in which Allison makes a daring foray into a Japanese camp and winds up pinned in a tight hiding place with a large rat.
Content advisory: Brief wartime violence; mild inebriation; challenges to an incipient religious vocation.
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
In contrast to the familiar Western device of the hero obliged to take the law into his own hands, The Ox-Bow Incident is a grim, messy cautionary tale, almost an anti-Western, about the dangers of vigilante justice and mob rule.
The brief story is as simple as it is tragic.
Recent incidents of cattle rustling have a small Nevada town jumpy, and news that a popular local rancher has been murdered has the townsfolk up in arms. In the absence of the sheriff, a self-appointed posse forms under the leadership of an ambiguously dis-reputable ex-Confederate officer — despite the ineffectual protests of some, including the town judge.
Illegally deputized by the deputy sheriff, the mob rides in pursuit of the perpetrators and soon finds the rancher's cattle being driven by a trio of strangers who claim the herd was legitimately purchased but can produce no bill of sale.
Henry Fonda stars as a ragged cowboy who, like his later character in 12 Angry Men, is uncomfortable with the angry rush to judgment of those around him.
Leigh Whipper plays an unassuming black preacher brought along for a veneer of religiosity; he provides a voice of conscience that is tragically ignored. The climax, a letter from a dead man, is devastating.
Content advisory: Brief frontier violence; vigilante justice; off-screen suicide.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:All times Eastern
SUNDAY, FEB. 22
Historic African-American Towns
Home & Garden TV, 5 p.m.
In the days of segregation, black entrepreneurs and settlers founded towns where they and their families could dwell in relative peace. This one-hour special tells us the history of six such towns, including Eatonville, Fla., and Idlewild, Mich.
SUNDAY, FEB. 22
The Making of
Pax, 9 p.m.
How many Hollywood film shoots ever include daily Mass and a confessional at the ready? This hour-long special takes us to Italy to show us how director Mel Gibson, actor Jim Caviezel and the rest of the cast and crew operated in a deeply spiritual atmosphere to create their film, which opens Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25. Re-airs Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 9 p.m.
MONDAY, FEB. 23
Sarge!
History Channel, 10 a.m., 4 p.m.
Anyone who's ever served in the Army or the Marine Corps knows who really runs the show: sergeants. This two-hour special tells the history of the rank, profiles great people who've held it and examines how today's “sarges” do their job.
TUESDAY, FEB. 24
Mardi Gras Menu
Food Network, 6: 30 p.m.
On Fat Tuesday, watch From Martha's Kitchen (6:30 p.m.), Food 911 (7:30 p.m.) and Emeril Live (8 p.m.) to see how they fix up Creole crawfish, fried catfish po’ boy and many more delicacies in New Orleans. And don't forget the beignets and coffee!
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25
Faberge: Imperial Jeweler
A & E, 7 a.m.
You can tape this early morning “Classroom” episode and tune in later to learn all about the life and work of the master jeweler Peter Carl Faberge.
THURSDAY, FEB. 26
Frontline
PBS, 9 p.m.
For the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, this special reviews the war, the continued fighting and the current situation. The show will offer much information, but not everyone will necessarily agree with its conclusions or its selection of what to report.
FRIDAY, FEB. 27
EWTN Town Hall Meeting
EWTN, 8 p.m.
Evaluate the findings of our bishops’ National Review Board on the scandals.
SATURDAY, FEB. 28
Extreme History With Roger Daltrey
History Channel, 7 p.m.
God gave North America's Plains Indians a virtual “general store” in the bison. In this show, host Daltrey (lead singer of raucous classic-rock group The Who) makes his own arrows, brings down a buffalo and then demonstrates how Native Americans butchered and skinned them and made use of almost every part. Advisory: This show is rated PG for language.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dan Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Cause, Effect and the Council DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:TURMOIL & TRUTH:
THE HISTORICAL ROOTS
OF THE MODERN CRISIS IN THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH
by Philip Trower
Ignatius, 2003 207 pages, $14.95
To order: (800) 651-1531 www.ignatius.com
Forty years ago, the Second Vatican Council was at its midpoint. After two years, two sessions were completed. The council's first major document, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, was only a few months old. Two more sessions and several more historic documents would follow over the next two years.
Turmoil & Truth, a new book by Catholic journalist Philip Trower, is a primer on the events and ideas that led up to that council as well as those that flowed from it. It is a quick tour of two centuries in Church history and thinking. Included in the tour are thoughtful looks at some wonderful moments of ambitious reform as well as at some sad instances of sinful rebellion.
Trower's argument is that neither the reform nor the rebellion came out of nowhere. Rather, they were the fruit of a long process, which began with new social and cultural realities in Europe at the beginning of the 19th century, following the French Revolution and the reign of Napoleon.
“The most significant of the ‘new realities’ for the Church was her loss of intellectual and cultural leadership,” Trower writes. “A high percentage of the most gifted thinkers, writers, artists and scientists abandoned her. So too did large numbers of the actively enterprising middle classes. The departure marked the beginnings of the Church's long struggle with different forms of organized unbelief (liberal, Masonic, socialist, communist). … It was the beginning of the end of Christendom as history had hitherto known it.”
Much of the Church's history over the ensuing century and a half was formed by the various reactions to this situation from popes, theologians and others.
In reviewing this history, we see that Catholic teaching and theology do not exist in a vacuum. The interconnectedness of history, politics, culture and faith is, for better or for worse, very real and consequential.
Turmoil & Truth also offers excellent insights into the human element of the story. The names of the main characters will not be surprising to many readers: Yves Congar, Karl Rahner, Joseph Ratzinger, Paul VI. But we also see how a more diverse crowd, such as Albert Schweitzer, Friedrich Schleiermacher and John Henry Newman, fit into the picture.
To his credit, Trower does not easily categorize many of these people as outright heroes and villains. Each is a real person, with individual gifts, weaknesses and motivations. These more nuanced descriptions truly help us understand the arc that brought us to where we are now.
In some places, I felt like Trower was attempting to do too much in too short a space. Part III, for example, tries to present so many ideas, movements and people in just 50 pages of text that it comes off bland and unsatisfying. Better if it had been either expanded — or removed.
All in all, Trower judges that we are better off for where we have been. We understand better what we have absorbed from our culture, what is compatible with our faith and what conflicts with it. And we are better prepared to live in and address the modern world.
“If the Church, which is chiefly concerned with the eternal man, has adjusted her tone of voice or mode of expression from time to time throughout history,” he writes, “it is only so that her message can more easily penetrate the carapace of modernity in which the eternal man is forever encased and resonate in those depths of his being which never alter. This is the sole reason why ‘modernity’ as such has to be taken into account.”
And better understanding the Church's unchanging message is just one of many good reasons to take Turmoil & Truth into account.
Barry Michaels writes from Blairsville, Pennsylvania.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Barry Michaels ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:A Bishop's Rebuttal
Bishop Jenky served as a priest at Notre Dame and in the Diocese of South Bend, Ind., for 25 years before becoming bishop of Peoria.
The newspaper, the Observer, ran a viewpoint piece the previous week by an alumnus that said Bishop Jenky and Notre Dame professor Father Richard McBrien covered up a priest's sexual misconduct years ago.
“Even for a publication as notoriously without standards as the Notre Dame Obser ver,” Bishop Jenky wrote, “printing unsubstantiated and libelous charges against someone's good name is simply unconscionable.”
Discrimination?
WORLDNETDAILY.COM, Feb. 5 — Philosophy professor James Tuttle was removed from his classes at Ohio's Lakeland Community College after complaints by a student that he expressed his Catholic religion too much in class.
Tuttle was threatened with dismissal in addition to being offered the last pick of classes for the upcoming semester and being subjected to teaching with a fellow professor as a monitor.
In March 2003 a student complained Tuttle mentioned his religious beliefs too often in class. Tuttle responded by adding “disclaimers” to his syllabi letting students know their professor was a “committed, Catholic Christian philosopher and theologian.”
Protest Succeeds
A demonstration against changes in the school's commencement ceremony succeeded Feb. 5 after administrators agreed to discuss the matter with students, the newspaper reported.
Students were upset the commencement exercises were being moved off campus and that the par t of the ceremony where undergrads receive academic hoods, a longtime school tradition, was cancelled.
Bibles in Schools?
JEWISH WORLD REVIEW, Feb. 9 — A campaign is under way in California to get Bibles into schools for the purpose of academic study.
The initiative, sponsored by 34-year-old Orange County lawyer Matt McLaughlin, aims to provide a Bible to ever y elementar y-school student in the state and will suggest to each school the books be used for the study of literature.
McLaughlin said he intentionally left out specific curricula in his proposal, leaving it to the schools to decide how the texts could be used.
The drive, the news site reported, could very well meet constitutional standards that allow the use of the Bible for instruction in such subjects as literature, history and archeology.
Generous Gifts
Last summer the college received $100,000 toward its $4 million endowment from the owners of an energy company, one of whose members said it strongly believes in Catholic education and wanted to promote it. Inspired by that gift, in December another $100,000 was donated to the school.
The college plans to increase its endowment $3 million to $5 million in the next few years.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:Zoe's Cause
Zoe Koz weighed only 10.8 ounces at birth and was about the size of a small can of tomato paste. As the Chicago daily reported, the baby's birth and first month of life are a testament to the advances in neonatal medicine and the expansion of highly specialized medicine.
But Zoe's survival is also is due to the will of a young couple from Plainfield, Ill., who conceived despite the odds stacked against them (her mother suffers from lupus, an autoimmune disease).
Hospital officials said Zoe is one of the smallest babies in the world to survive so long and is the third-smallest live baby on record in the country.
Life Trek
Miro Kovachevich and Colleen Clobes, both members of the Minneapolis-based Suspend Abortion Compact organization, began their journey Dec. 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. They walked south along the Mississippi River en route to their final destination, Tallahassee, Fla. They plan to be in the Florida capital on May 13, feast of Our Lady of Fatima.
While in Florida, the pair hopes to visit Gov. Jeb Bush to support him in his fight for brain-damaged Terri Schiavo's life. The walkers had a five-minute session Feb. 2 with Davenport, Iowa, Bishop William Franklin, who gave them a blessing.
Praising Arizona KMSB-TV (Arizona), Feb. 6 — An Arizona House committee voted Feb. 6 in favor of a 24-hour waiting period for abortions.
The bill also requires that information on the risks and alternatives to abortion be provided to women considering abortion.
“You're pregnant for nine months,” Kelly Copeland of the Southern Arizona Life Team told the TV station. “Twenty-four hours in a pregnant woman's life is not a long time.”
The station noted that a similar bill is currently moving through the state Senate.
Up With Utah
The House is working on a measure to halt state funding to groups that promote abortion as well as a resolution condemning the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision.
Add to that two Senate-approved bills banning partial-birth abortion, the public funding of abortions and a bill to create Choose Life license plates (with proceeds going to pregnancy-support centers), and one busy legislative session is on the way.
Rep. Morgan Philpot, R-Midvale, mentioned Planned Parenthood as a “prime suspect” for his bill, which strips public funds from groups that promote abortion, according to the paper. He said he fears the group is promoting abortion in public schools through a sex-education program it sponsors.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Travel, Don't Trouble DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:Facts of Life
Nearly two-thirds of passengers polled by Travelocity.com say rudeness is a serious problem in travel these days, while more than half of travel employees surveyed say passenger rudeness is a top cause of their on-the-job stress. That's the bad news. The good news is: Six in 10 transportation employees say rude and disrespectful behavior is “mostly limited to a few people,” and 45% say they are often treated with courtesy and respect.
Source: Public Agenda Register illustration by Tim Rauch
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Cohabitation Conundrum DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:Family Matters
My daughter recently broke the news to us that she is living with her boyfriend but that they do plan to get married. I know I need to have a serious talk with her. What can I say to convince her that this is not good for their relationship and future marriage?
Good for you for tackling this head on! Aside from the obvious moral concerns, we urge you to talk frankly about the devastating effects this could have on her marriage. She might not be at a point in her life where she is concerned with the spiritual ramifications, but all young people in love do want their marriages to work out.
First thought: Presumably, your daughter and her fiancé are sexually active. (The couple that lives together and is chaste is rare, if not nonexistent.) This combined with the fact that they live together can call into question the level of true freedom either one of them has to enter into the permanent commitment of marriage. Consider all the likely ways their lives are bound up to each other right now: joint bank accounts, shared rent, a shared bed, a daily routine — all ways in which they have come to depend on one another.
If either of them has any hesitations about making their bond permanent in marriage, their present circumstances discourage them from making that break. They have already become so invested in each other's lifestyle that they might balk rather than make a free choice to leave the relationship. Couples who stall in this state often wind up shrugging themselves into a marriage they weren't really sure they even wanted.
Ironically, while the above de facto commitment might keep them together before marriage when it shouldn't, the stage is set for a greater chance of divorce after they are married. Why? Because of the lack of a firm sense of commitment after the wedding.
Prior to getting married, each operated under the (often-unstated) principle that, if the situation ever stopped being enjoyable, he or she had the right to get out. No promises, no demands. After exchanging vows, nothing else about their lifestyle has changed, aside from the fact that they do now have a permanent commitment. How likely is it that their subconscious mind-sets are going to magically change overnight?
Once established and reinforced over time, the inner dialogue saying, “I can walk away any time I want to” is hard to silence.
Finally, the one thing your daughter truly knows about her fiancé is that he is willing to have sexual relations with a woman to whom he is not married. That is also the one thing he knows about her. If they are unwilling or incapable of practicing chastity now, what makes them think either one of them will be capable of fidelity later — especially when the novelty of being in an exciting new relationship is just a distant memory?
Be sure to mention, too, that the divorce rate for couples who cohabitate before marriage is a startling 75%. That alone might get those second thoughts going.
Tom and Caroline McDonald are family-life directors for the Archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama.
Reach Family Matters at familymatters@ncregister.com
----- EXCERPT: MARRIED LIFE TOM AND CAROLINE MCDONALD ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Countering the Contraceptive Culture DATE: 02/22/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 22-28, 2004 ----- BODY:Prolife Profile
For Mary Turner, work was satisfying enough at the Chicago crisis-pregnancy center she worked for in the mid-’90s. Yet, rewarding as she found her days providing one-onone counseling to individual women, she felt frustrated by the endlessness of the procession. Day after day, week after week, the women just kept coming.
“Crisis-pregnancy centers do wonderful work,” Turner says today, “but they won't bring an end to abortion. As soon as one woman is helped, another walks in. The stream is unending as long as we don't address the root.”
Turner had that thought in mind when, three years after moving to La Crosse, Wis., in 1997, she launched LifeVoice. Focused on digging up and exposing what she believes that root to be — the “contraceptive mentality” — the ministry educates people about the Church's teaching on contraception and the many positive effects of natural family planning.
“Salvation of souls is our goal as Catholics, and this is our part in it,” Turner says. “The bulk of the information is on the danger of contraception. We live in a world steeped in a contraceptive mentality. Contraception seems to be an easier route, but chastity fulfills the promises.”
Advocates for contraception claim it stabilizes marriages, prevents unplanned pregnancies, decreases abortions, prevents sexually transmitted diseases and decreases poverty through population control. Instead, as Turner demonstrates, contraception fails on every promise.
Since the birth-control pill was introduced in the 1960s — and with it widespread social acceptance of contraception — the country has seen a dramatic rise in the divorce rate, a skyrocketing increase in babies born out of wedlock, more than a million abortions a year (since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in 1973), an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases and an increase of fatherless homes resigned to chronic poverty.
“Many people are against abortion and think it's awful, but they don't see the connection between abortion and contraception,” says Father Samuel Martin, a friend of Turner's who has invited her to speak to his class at Aquinas High School in La Crosse. “Mary gets that across.”
While not a diocesan program, LifeVoice has been endorsed by Bishop Raymond Burke (now archbishop of St. Louis) and has been introduced to deanery groups of parishes. Because of the latter, Turner notes, more pastors seem to have opened themselves to preaching on the topic.
“I grew up in a devout Catholic family, but the subject of contraception never came up,” Turner says. “Nor did I ever hear an explanation in a church background, even as an undergraduate in a Catholic college.”
Turner has managed to preside over LifeVoice while also pursuing a master's degree in pastoral theology from Ave Maria University in Ypsilanti, Mich. — and raising a family. One of the biggest challenges, she says, is staying current with the fast-breaking news about contraception. “I update each talk based on the latest information about new forms of contraception,” she says.
Audiences have been impressed not only by her expertise but also by her warmth. “She approaches people in a congenial way,” Father Martin says. “She's very positive, not judgmental.” He believes her personal style makes her hearers more accepting of what she has to say.
Nor does it hurt that Turner is both energetic and motivated. In just three years of existence, LifeVoice has made 63 presentations to parishes, Knights of Columbus members and women's, youth and high-school groups. Its outreach also has included 3,000 door-to-door visitations and twice-weekly prayer vigils in front of a center that dispenses contraception and makes abortion referrals.
LifeVoice volunteers also hand out pamphlets in offices, stores and on the streets. Turner says college students have been “incredibly open and desirous of this information.”
Approximately 30 volunteers involve themselves in one or more of these projects, and Turner publishes a newsletter to keep them, other supporters and financial contributors up-to-date.
Of course, things don't always come up roses. Although Turner says 95% of the people offered information accept and say they will read it, many who come to her presentations do so with a built-in resistance.
“One lady admitted she only came because her pastor asked her to,” Turner relates. “‘I didn't want to come,’ she told me, ‘but you said everything that's going on inside of me since I got my tubal ligation. Thank you.’”
Truth With Love
Barbara Harmon, former director of religious education at St. Peter the Apostle Parish in East Troy, Wis., agrees that people who have been using contraceptives would not be eager to hear the presentation.
“As a DRE, I had looked for ways to bring the Church's message about contraceptives and sterilization to the people,” she explains. She used tapes by a renowned Catholic priest that clearly condemned contraceptive use, but they were met “with much resistance and argument from parents of children in the parish's program. Mary's approach seemed much better. The motto of LifeVoice is ‘Telling the Truth with Love.’”
Harmon asked her successor, Suzanne Markiel, to invite Turner to address an in-service program for religious-education teachers.
“It was as I hoped it would be,” Harmon says. “All reactions I heard were positive. Everyone seemed very interested; no one was visibly upset, despite how controversial a topic contraception use is. I think that most attending had used or were using contraception at some time and were not aware of either the dangers or specific Church teaching.”
“Turner held our attention and her message was faith-filled and conveyed with love,” Markiel adds. “She was not pushy and did not make people feel uncomfortable if they were using contraceptives or had in the past.”
The program lasts an hour, with questions and answers afterward. The audience is generally surprised to learn that a majority of women seeking abortion had been using contraception at the time they got pregnant — a pattern Turner saw firsthand while working at the Chicago crisis-pregnancy center. They are also surprised to hear about the physical dangers from the pill, Depo-Provera shots, Norplant implants, tubal ligations, vasectomies and other contraceptive means.
On the other hand, the loss of intimacy with their husbands and the dehumanizing effects of contraception are borne out by women who admit that it negatively impacts how they feel about their sexuality.
“The day I got my tubal ligation, I felt like an ‘it,’” one woman admitted. “Relations with my husband were distasteful.”
That woman's remark “captures so well the devastation after expecting good to come from it,” Turner says.
LifeVoice shows that the end to such devastation is a return to trust in God and his Church. It was not the Church that was “out of touch” throughout the last century, Turner explains, but a culture that tried to take matters into its own hands.
“We will not restore respect for life at all ages and stages, before or after conception,” she says, “without restoring our trust in God.”
Joanne C. Schmidt writes from Houston.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joanne C. Schmidt ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: CCD for Adults? Bishops Put Final Touches on U.S. Catechism DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — A national adult Catechism that has been in the works for three years could go before the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for final approval as soon as November.
Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh, who serves as chairman of the editorial oversight board for development of the national catechism, said the third and final draft of the text is to be evaluated at a three-day meeting in March, after which each bishop will be given a copy for review in preparation for the November assembly. Once approved by the bishops, the text would still have to receive a recognitio from the Vatican before it could be printed and distributed.
Based on and intended as a companion to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the national Catechism will adapt the larger text's teachings to the needs of American culture.
In the apostolic constitution issued with publication of the Catechism in 1992, Fidei Depositum, Pope John Paul II said, “[The Catechism] is meant to encourage and assist in the writing of new local catechisms, which take into account various situations and cultures while carefully preserving the unity of faith and fidelity to Catholic doctrine.”
Bishop Wuerl said in encouraging such local adaptations, the Holy Father was saying, “Take the faith and present it in a way that people in your area of pastoral concern will be invited into the mystery of faith.”
The U.S. national Catechism does that in part by engaging readers with a series of stories featuring American Catholics of note as well as biblical characters. It goes on to present major Catholic teachings and then elaborates on them by showing how some are being challenged by America's technologically advanced secular culture. The national Catechism also includes doctrinal summaries, questions that challenge readers to apply Catholic teachings to their lives and prayers.
Work on the U.S. national Catechism started in January 2001 with a consultation on its structure and outline. Writing began the following June; every bishop received the first draft in May 2002.
‘Modern Men’
Bishop Wuerl said response from the bishops so far has indicated overwhelming support for the text's structure and approach. Bishops also have praised the text as one that invites an exploration of the faith while serving as a source of information.
“That was the goal: to produce a book that was inviting, especially to young adults who were not all that familiar with their Catholic faith,” Bishop Wuerl said.
After the first consultation, some bishops said they wanted more doctrinal content, a concern that was addressed by adding doctrinal summaries in specific areas, Bishop Wuerl said. The second consultation resulted in a tightening of the text for consistency and the addition of more definitions.
Since then, the latest draft has received some criticism from outside the bishops’ conference, namely from Msgr. Michael Wrenn and Kenneth Whitehead, authors of the 1996 book, Flawed Expectations: The Reception of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Ignatius). Whitehead said in an interview that he and Msgr. Wrenn obtained a copy of the latest draft from a bishop who was concerned about some aspects of it.
Although the co-authors are generally upbeat about the most recent version, in a recent article in Catholic World Report they expressed concern about such elements as the use of several contemporary figures in the stories opening each section.
They question, for example, the appropriateness of using Thomas Merton, Cesar Chavez and Cardinal Joseph Bernardin as central figures for several of the stories.
“The Catechism is a permanent document of the Church and these men are very modern,” Whitehead said. “They may be important, but you have to give history time to judge that. We think it's very unwise to put very modern people who were controversial into a Catechism.”
Whitehead said a better choice for a contemporary cardinal to feature in one of the stories would have been Cardinal Terence Cooke, former archbishop of New York, whose cause for sainthood has already been introduced.
Bishop Wuerl said the bishops still are assessing questions that have come up in reference to specific people mentioned in the text.
He said the bishops did decide after the consultation on the first draft not to include any living authors except for Pope John Paul II. “There was sentiment that if they were alive, they shouldn't be quoted,” he said.
Answering Objections
As for the concerns Whitehead and Msgr. Wrenn raised about Father Merton, Chavez and Cardinal Bernardin, Bishop Wuerl said, “Ultimately that will be the bishops’ decision. We have to go through the text and see that there is continuity and that it is faithful to the teaching of the Church and that whoever and whatever we cite supports it.”
Whitehead and Msgr. Wrenn also thought the latest draft failed to address the question of homosexuality strongly enough, given that it has been a problem in the priest-hood and is thought to be related to the recent sexual-abuse scandal.
Whitehead said the draft states the doctrine of homosexuality correctly, “but it's not in any way emphasized and there is no way you could gather from the draft that this is a major problem in the United States.”
Furthermore, he said the national Catechism should have dealt with the questions of cloning, in vitro fertilization and sterilization. And, he said, the use of inclusive language in the draft is overbearing.
Bishop Wuerl said the bishops have decided not to address the sex-abuse scandal directly in the national Catechism. “That is very time-conditioned,” he said. ”I don't think 10 years from now people are going to be defining the Church in terms of the scandal.”
He said the board intends to present the moral doctrine of the Church clearly, unambiguously and in a way that responds to contemporary issues.
“I think the text addresses all of the major areas of moral concern today: dignity and respect for life, the value of human life,” he said. “And it also gets into the questions of all the issues that follow the Fifth Commandment and the Sixth. It gets into and does a very good job when it talks about adultery, fornication, pornography and homosexuality. It's very clear and it is certainly faithful to the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.”
Bishop Wuerl said the national Catechism likely will be presented attractively with text that is broken up by headings and pullouts. It is being written by members of the editorial oversight board that, in addition to Bishop Wuerl, includes Archbishop William Levada of San Francisco; Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Conn.; Auxiliary Bishop Richard Malone of Boston; and Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala of Los Angeles. Indianapolis Archbishop Daniel Buechlein, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Catechesis, is a consultant.
The group also has asked theologians and catechists to evaluate the text.
Bishop Wuerl said once the national Catechism is published, it will be up to bishops to promote it and make it a part of each diocese's catechetical programs.
Judy Roberts writes from Millbury, Ohio.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Judy Roberts ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: More Than White House At Stake DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — With the Super Tuesday primaries coming up March 2, all eyes are on the presidential race. But in the struggle for the recognition of the rights of the unborn, other races this year could also prove pivotal.
Political observers think the Republican-controlled House of Representatives will maintain or even intensify its pro-life makeup.
If the presidency stays in pro-life hands, anticipated gains in the U.S. Senate could strengthen the pro-life caucus in Washington considerably. Political experts consider a net increase of four or five pro-life votes in the 100-member Senate attainable, and such an increase — assuming President Bush wins re-election and the House remains majority pro-life — should lead to a series of pro-life legislative victories while increasing the chances of anti-Roe v. Wade nominees making it onto the U.S. Supreme Court.
Even a net increase of two could yield significant fruit. This opportunity has arisen primarily because five incumbent Democratic senators from the South are retiring this year.
The same pro-life candidates who are within striking distance of beefing up the pro-life Senate caucus generally favor other positions that are hot-button issues with Catholics such as opposition to human cloning and same-sex “marriage” and support of religious freedom.
But a single race in Pennsylvania could have a big impact on the key judicial-nomination process.
Senate rules will force pro-life Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, to step down as chairman of the Judiciary Committee next year, leaving pro-abortion Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., in line to take control of the already-troubled Senate judicial nominee confirmation process. His victory or defeat for re-election to the Senate could be crucial for right-to-life causes.
Specter opposed the nomination of Robert Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court. His stance infuriated constitutionalist, anti-Roe conservatives during the Reagan years. More recently, Specter has criticized two of Bush's current pro-life Catholic nominees as being too conservative.
Pro-lifers have high hopes that U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who is seeking to win Specter's seat in the Senate, will score an upset victory by defeating Specter in the April 27 primary and winning the Republican nomination.
“In 1998, Specter had two primary opponents who together raised $15,000 between them,” Toomey said. “They got 34% of the vote anyway.” Toomey, a pro-life Catholic, said he has raised more than $3 million so far.
Toomey also favors allowing government-funded tuition vouchers to be used for religious or parochial schools. Specter told this reporter he is opposed because “that violates the separation of church and state.”
The Senate
Senate rules, which grant much greater power to the minority than do House rules, make it hard for controversial legislation to pass.
“In the Senate, we have a 60-vote margin we have to reach because of procedural issues,” said Lori Waters, director of Eagle Forum PAC, a pro-family group. “That's a much higher bar to reach.”
The Senate is currently divided between 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats and one Independent who generally sides with Democrats. Procedural rules require 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, thereby granting 41 senators the power to block votes on questions of their choosing. Some of Bush's conservative, pro-life judicial nominees, most of whom have the backing of a majority of senators, have been stymied in this fashion.
Key U.S. Senate races include the one in California, where strongly pro-life Republican candidate Howard Kaloogian, a former state assemblyman, has already attracted the endorsement of Eagle Forum PAC against his main primary rival, moderately pro-life former California secretary of state Bill Jones.
“I was in the state Assembly and I have a record, and everybody who ever looked at it says I was completely pro-life,” Kaloogian said. Pro-abortion Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is considered vulnerable but not in danger yet.
In Florida, a plethora of pro-life Republicans are running to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Bob Graham. With the recent strong reelection showing of pro-life Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, a pro-life candidate has an excellent shot at winning this seat.
Just to the north, Democratic Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia just converted to the pro-life cause but is retiring. Republicans Rep. Mac Collins and former pizza executive Herman Cain are pro-life, but Rep. Johnny Isakson, also a Republican, is pro-abortion and has a lot of establishment support.
If Collins and Cain can keep Isakson's primary vote under 50%, the pro-abortion congressman would be forced into a runoff likely to be won by one of the more conservative pro-lifers, who are even “against rape and incest exceptions,” said Colleen Parro, executive director of RNC-Life. Republicans are favored to win the seat in November.
In Illinois, pro-life Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald is retiring, leaving open the possibility that a pro-abortion candidate could succeed him. But charismatic pro-life candidate Jack Ryan, a former investment banker turned school-teacher, could win the Republican primary and the election.
Sen. John Breaux, the Louisiana Democrat who has walked a thin line between being pro-life and pro-abortion, is leaving and could be replaced by pro-life Democratic Rep. Chris John or pro-life Republican Rep. David Vitter.
But as with many Democrats, “we don't know where [Chris] John would be on judicial nominations,” said Carol Tobias, political director of National Right to Life.
Moderately pro-life Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada is the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, making it likely he will eke out another narrow victory for himself in November as he did last time.
In North Carolina, pro-abortion Democratic Sen. John Edwards is running for president and not reelection, and pro-life Rep. Richard Burr, a Republican, will probably take his place.
In strongly Republican Oklahoma, observers think Democratic pro-abortion Rep. Brad Carson could defeat the struggling leading Republican, Oklahoma City Mayor Kirk Humphries, to replace retiring pro-life Sen. Don Nickles, a Republican.
Some other races that bear watching include:
South Carolina: Strong Republican possibilities including pro-life Rep. Jim DeMint should win the seat of retiring pro-abortion Democratic Sen. Fritz Hollings.
South Dakota: Pro-abortion Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, a Democrat, faces a tough race against pro-life former Rep. John Thune, a Republican, who almost won a Senate seat two years ago. South Dakota has a strong pro-life constituency.
Washington: Pro-abortion Democratic Sen. Patty Murray could face an upset by pro-life Rep. George Nethercutt, a Republican, who faced similarly long odds before.
Wisconsin: Conservative, pro-life State Senate President Robert Welch has an uphill battle against pro-abortion Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold.
The Presidency
Few would disagree that the national Democratic Party has become stridently pro-abortion — not to mention pro-homosexual rights and often anti-religious freedom — making President Bush the only viable choice for a pro-life vote Nov. 2.
“Since taking office, President Bush has, among other things, reinstated the Mexico City policy, blocked federal funding of research that kills human embryos and signed both the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act,” reported the National Right to Life PAC in announcing its endorsement of Bush for re-election. The Mexico City policy forbids American taxpayer dollars to groups that lobby for pro-abortion laws overseas.
All nine of the original Democratic presidential candidates are pro-abortion.
Remaining candidates Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina even oppose a ban on partial-birth abortion.
When he began his presidential campaign, Kerry promised, “As president, I will only appoint Supreme Court justices who will uphold a woman's right to choose.”
Most Washington experts believe the presidential race could be very close, though Bush is still favored to win.
A Democratic president would be required by internal party politics to veto any pro-life legislation passed by Congress, and to nominate pro-Roe justices to the Supreme Court.
Joseph A. D'Agostino writes from Washington, D.C.
----- EXCERPT: CAMPAIGN 2004 ANALYSIS ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph A. D'Agostino ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Abuse Studies Quantify Problem DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — The studies being issued by the U.S. bishops’ National Review Board promise to give Catholics the most complete picture yet of the clergy sex-abuse crisis in the Church.
The most anticipated study, conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and using dioceses’ self-reported figures, gives the total number of children and teens abused, priests accused and costs incurred in U.S. dioceses since 1950.
A second, more qualitative study based on more than 70 individual interviews conducted by the review board during the past year delves into root causes — why the scandal happened and how.
Two weeks before the scheduled Feb. 27 release, 80 dioceses had already reported their figures, as they were encouraged to do by the review board once the study was released. The preliminary numbers showed that from those dioceses — less than half of the 195 in the country — 1,341 clergy were accused of sexually abusing minors. A handful of dioceses did not participate in the study.
A sampling of diocesan reports in the news confirms that the scandal has touched dioceses small and large, coast to coast.
The Archdiocese of San Francisco recorded 148 child-molestation cases involving more than 50 priests and a cost of $10.3 million in settlements. In Albany, N.Y., the number of accused molesters was 18 and the related costs slightly more than $3 million.
Indianapolis reported 20 priests and 12 lay people were credibly accused, and the cost to the archdiocese was $355,000 for attorney fees and counseling for victims.
Crookston, Minn., reported 37 allegations made against five priests, with more than half of those involving a single former priest; the cost to the diocese has been more than $2.3 million in legal fees.
In January the Diocese of Galveston-Houston announced that 50 credible accusations were made against 22 priests and four deacons; the cases cost the diocese $3 million in legal fees and settlements.
“Bishop [Joseph] Fiorenza felt strongly that he wanted the faithful in the diocese to hear these numbers, this information from him, first,” said diocesan communications director Annette Gonzales Taylor. “He did not want them to learn about this when the John Jay study came out through the media.”
The John Jay study does not include names of clergy, victims or of dioceses.
So far the reaction from the lay community in Houston has been minimal, Taylor said.
“I think our people knew we didn't have an inordinate amount of cases,” she said. “There has been a lot of publicity that Bishop Fiorenza had been one of the forerunners to implement guidelines and policies that would ensure the safest environment we could provide for children and young people. He was doing background checks before it was required, and he introduced things at the seminary level — entrance testing, psychological testing — many years ago.”
Questioning Its Value
Other dioceses waited for the Feb. 27 release before issuing their own reports.
“Our intention for some time has been to observe the original late-February release time frame for the John Jay study,” said Francis Maier, chancellor for the Archdiocese of Denver. “Frankly, we're surprised that others have not done so.”
Archbishop Charles Chaput has communicated “often and directly” with Catholics in Denver on the abuse crisis since it broke two years ago and will continue to do so, Maier said.
Archbishop Chaput wrote by e-mail that he was reluctant to speculate on the report or the possible response of the faithful.
“Each bishop will have to discover his own way to prepare his people, if they can really be prepared, since the situation in each diocese is different,” he said.
Each of the two studies is about 200 pages long. The statistical report, though done in aggregate form, also shows the data broken up by decade, age group and other categories.
Some groups representing victim survivors of abuse have criticized the bishops for managing the crisis much as a fox guards a hen-house — appointing the board that oversees them, self-reporting their compliance with the 2002 charter to protect young people and now self-reporting numbers of past cases.
“My understanding of the report is that it's even more of a self-report [than the compliance audit released in January],” said David Clohessy of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “Essentially the university people mailed the questionnaire to the bishops and the bishops mailed it back.”
Clohessy said the bishops should have looked to outside experts for monitoring and discipline.
“If the IRS catches me cheating on my taxes, I don't get to say to them, ‘Here is how I'm going to remedy this,’” he said. “But that's exactly what the bishops did. They said, ‘We're going to do what we've always done and self-diagnose and self-medicate. What they did is what they've always done — maintain their power: ‘We will define the problem, we'll hire the people.’”
Other victims groups, however, are hopeful that progress has been and will continue to be made.
Sue Archibald of the Linkup for Survivors of Clergy Abuse said even though self-reporting means there will be a certain amount of underre-porting of cases, there is value in the study. The report is the first time the Catholic Church — or any organization — has voluntarily gathered and released statistics on sexual abuse within its ranks, she said.
“It shows a positive move for openness,” Archibald said. “It seems as though having the exact figure isn't what's important here. What comes next is the most important part — the ultimate solution will come with cooperation between survivors and the Church [leadership] and the laity. It takes a willingness to let go of some of your fears and move forward. We have seen some signs that the bishops are willing to take some steps.”
‘Moment of Panic’
The problem with the bishops’ report is not underreporting but that it goes too far, said William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.
The League published its own survey in February showing that sexual abuse by Catholic clergy is no greater than any other denomination and far less than some groups, including Protestant denominations and public school-teachers.
Additionally, the report cites the statistic that nearly all the priests who abuse children are homosexuals, and 80% to 90% who abuse minors have molested adolescent boys, not young children.
“I think this was a major blunder to ever open up the door to investigations going back to 1950. I would say this is true of any profession,” Donohue said. “Look what's in the soup here: No. 1, we have priests who are dead, we have priests who have accusations made against them but [were] never verified, priests who have been exonerated. In some cases, we have the religious orders being reported twice, once by themselves and once by the diocesan reports.”
“Beyond that,” Donohue continued, “what are we supposed to do with numbers unless we have some comparative data? What happened [was that] it was a moment of panic in June of ‘02 and just to demonstrate that we're going to come clean totally I think they [the bishops] overextended themselves.”
The second study, spearheaded by board member and Washington attorney Robert Bennett, attempts to put the crisis into context. Interviews were conducted with cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, perpetrators, families, psychologists, lawyers, defense attorneys, commentators — anybody who had some insight into the causes of molestation of minors by clergy, said National Review Board member William Burleigh, a retired newspaper executive.
“I don't think there are any real surprises,” Burleigh said. “I hope it is received in the spirit in which it is offered, and it is being offered not as a polemic but as a very serious professional effort by a dozen people who deeply love the Church. We hope it will be a curative and offer some recommendations for the bishops to consider to restore the credibility of the Church and its leadership. It's not a whitewash.”
Then, after the reports are released, further action is up to the bishops, Burleigh said. “We've whacked the ball into the other court.”
Ellen Rossini writes from Richardson, Texas.
----- EXCERPT: Examination Of Conscience ----- EXTENDED BODY: Ellen Rossini ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Big Business Threatens Altar Bread Bakers DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:ALHAMBRA, Calif. — Making Communion hosts has kept convents of nuns around the country financially solvent for nearly a century, but in the face of increasing competition, some are beginning to discover they cannot survive on bread alone.
For years, convents around the country have supplied parishes with the altar bread used at Mass: the bread that becomes the Bread of Life. These nuns see this ministry as part of their contemplative mission.
But a slower economy and increased competition from more organized corporate manufacturers mean some of the convents have seen their revenue decrease and their way of life threatened.
“People don't think of the nuns: We rely on this one source of income, and it's slipping away,” explained one of the Carmelite nuns at the Carmel of St. Teresa in Alhambra, Calif. She asked that her name not be used in the spirit of “monastic obscurity.”
These Carmelite nuns started making altar bread in Alhambra in 1913 but because of financial considerations had to switch to repackaging altar bread for local distribution 20 to 30 years ago. Now even that is a tenuous moneymaker.
Competition from religious-goods stores and direct marketing by larger, secular groups has cut into what was once a market almost totally held by nuns, the Carmelite sister explained.
The nuns don't always know how to compete. “Nuns live a very simple life and can't be bothered about business,” she said.
Despite the setback, the nuns remain patient.
“I understand it,” the sister said. “If the parishes don't have money they will look [at less-expensive outlets] first.”
While the nun explained that her convent puts its trust in God and “doesn't worry,” she admitted, “we only survived a couple of years ago because we received a couple of grants.”
The Alhambra Carmelites currently serve the needs of about 150 parishes. Sister said they would need to pick up another 75 to be financially secure, and if things worsen, she said the convent might have to relocate to a smaller area with few competitors.
Many of the convents that repackage altar breads get some or all of their hosts — as well as help with advice and expertise — from the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Clyde, Mo.
There, Sister Rita Dohn, the head of the convent's altar-bread division, sees the current decline in altar-bread requests as part of the larger struggles in the Catholic Church. With increased competition, fewer priests and parish consolidations, she said it is little wonder that orders for altar bread aren't as high as they could be.
Like the Carmelite sister at Alhambra, she said she wishes their ministry had more support from the Church at large.
“We don't ask for charity, we ask for the support of our ministry,” she said. Her message to pastors is simple: “If you value the prayer life of the community, support us.”
Msgr. Francis Weber — who runs historic San Fernando Mission in Mission Hills, Calif., 15 miles northwest of Los Angeles — is one priest who has heeded the call to support the contemplative nuns. He said he buys his altar bread from the Alhambra Carmelites.
“I think I should support their ministry,” he said. “You can imagine how difficult things would be for the Church without their prayers.” They are looking for other means to support themselves, he said, but it's “slim pickings.”
Despite the support of some of the clergy, the number of religious houses that bake altar bread has declined sharply. According to an article on the Benedictine sister's Web site, there are fewer than 30 monasteries in the United States that bake this bread. Forty years ago, there were more than 200.
Whatever the trend, not all convents are in trouble. At the Corpus Christi Dominican Convent in Menlo Park, Calif., near San Francisco, things have been a good deal better, explained Dominican Sister Mary Rose of the Sacred Heart.
There, too, the nuns repackage and sell the bread to local parishes. They recently stopped baking because of the heavy lifting involved, and some of the nuns are elderly.
“Some of larger parishes have gone to Church-goods stores, but many find they can get exactly what they need from us — they can pick it up or have overnight delivery,” she said.
Unlike the convent in Alhambra, Sister Mary Rose said her convent has had very few parishes cancel their orders and “have recently added some new ones.”
One thing that seems to have helped: The Dominican Friars of the Western Province added information about the sisters’ work on their Web site.
Prayerful Apostolate
Regardless of how they are doing financially, all of the nuns agreed on one thing: The contemplative life is important to the Church, and the sale of altar bread is one of the few moneymakers that coincide well with that lifestyle.
“It is very important to us to have an income-producing work that allows us to stay in the monastery,” Sister Rita said. “It is the balance of our life: work and prayer.”
Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart agreed.
“It is a beautiful contemplative work in the spirit of silence and prayer,” she said. “You can pray for all of those who will use it, the people, the priests who will consecrate it; your prayers go out to them with the hosts.”
The anonymous Carmelite sister also noted the positive benefits of contemplative life.
“Our charism and contribution to the Church is prayer,” she said, “and there is a true connection with this work because of our prayer life.”
For the nuns in Alhambra, that way of life is currently hanging by a thread.
“We have been looking for other things to do,” the Carmelite sister explained, “so if you think of anything, let us know.”
Andrew Walther writes from Los Angeles.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Andrew Walther ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: How Radio Star Talked Her Way Into the Church DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:Laura Ingraham is an attorney, political commentator and author who served as a speechwriter in the Reagan administration and a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
The host of her own show on the Talk Radio Network and author of Shut Up and Sing: How Elites from Hollywood, Politics and the U.N. Are Subverting America (Regnery), Ingraham also happens to be a recent convert to the Catholic faith.
She spoke with Register correspondent Judy Roberts about her work, her life and her Church.
Laura Ingraham is getting to be a household name for several reasons: your book, your television appearances and now your own radio show. Which came first?
I was a corporate criminal defense attorney at a large New York firm, and back in 1996, I was beginning to write various columns in newspapers as a free-lance columnist.
Before MSNBC started in July 1996, it was looking for new on-air contributors, and they had seen me on a few “Charlie Rose” shows or read my columns in the Washington Post and New York Times, so they just called me up and said, “Are you interested in doing this?” I enjoyed the law and had clerked for Justice Thomas on the Supreme Court before that, and the big, corporate-law-firm life wasn't for me. So I said, “Why not?”
About the same time, “CBS Evening News” called me to be a contributor on its weekend broadcast. I really didn't know what I was getting into. I had no grand plan.
From there, I did appearances on Don Imus’ show, and he started to have me on regularly. That's where I kind of got into the humor that I do on my radio show today, a kind of freewheeling humor combined with what I hope to be substantive analysis.
The book really represents what I have come to believe on a whole host of issues, not so much the dynamic of right versus left but the elites versus so-called regular America. It came out of years of thinking about all these things, from religion and how religion is treated, to Hollywood's increasing political activism, to the United Nations to education.
Tell me about your religious upbringing and your recent conversion to the Catholic faith.
I grew up kind of northern Baptist. We went to a great church, Pilgrim Church in Glastonbury, Conn., and we went to church pretty regularly till I was probably 12 or so. And I don't really know why we fell away from it. It was a great church.
My mother grew up Catholic. She went to Catholic schools and she kind of fell away from the Catholic Church. I never really talked about it with her.
Then when I went to Dartmouth College, a number of my friends on the Dartmouth Review, a conservative student newspaper, were Catholic. So that was the first time I became really familiar with the Church, and on occasion I would go to Mass with various friends. But I still didn't really take my faith very seriously. I was wandering.
How did you happen to come into the Church and how has it changed your life?
I don't think I have a wonderfully inspiring tale to tell about it, except that I think after my mom passed away in May 1999, it seemed to me a logical time to think about where I was and where I was going in my life. I had had all this professional success, but I was still looking for happiness in all the wrong places, as the song goes.
And so it took me a little time after that to sit down with some very close friends and to talk some of these issues of faith through. That's when my real journey began. There was a guy in Washington — his name is Pat Cipollone and he's a partner at Kirkland & Ellis. He's married and has seven kids. I knew him years ago when I was a lawyer because our offices were across the street from each other.
He and I just went to lunch one day to get caught up. He's such an easy person to talk to and we were talking about how I'm single and I really want to meet somebody. I had all this success and still didn't feel like I was right. Like I felt there's really something missing. And I started crying. And he's probably thinking, “Uh-oh.” But he was so great. And he said something like, “I think God's reaching out to you. That's why you're feeling this way. And he leaves the flock to find the lost sheep and maybe you're lost and he's trying to find you.”
So we started talking about it that day and he said, “You really should talk to Msgr. Peter Vaghi in Washington at St. Patrick's Church.” He became my spiritual mentor. We went through sort of private RCIA over the course of the next year. That was in spring 2002. Every week we met, read Scripture and the Catechism. Then at this past Easter Vigil, I was baptized, confirmed and got my first Communion, because no one could tell me for sure if I'd ever been baptized. It was awesome.
Was there ever any question that you would talk publicly about your conversion?
It's such a part of who I am. I'm really a very different person than I was five years ago and so I never thought about talking about it or not talking about it. And I think I was on my show one night and it just came out. I ended up having a long conversation on my show.
Then all these people called in and said, “I'm a new Catholic” or “I'm thinking about joining the Catholic Church.” It became something so natural to talk about. I thought, “Of course — it's who I am.” … The next thing I know, Imus is asking me about it on his show. He said, “Why?” I said, “It came to me. It found me.” He said, “I knew there was something different about you.”
What is it like being openly Catholic in the milieu in which you operate?
You know, there's a lot of people who say very nice things and others who say, “How could you be so stupid?” Usually angry Protestants or angry Catholics who have fallen away from the Church [say those things].
One person, a very well-known Catholic Washingtonian, said, “Oh, you have great timing.” I said, “Actually my timing is usually pretty bad, but in this case it was perfect, because it happened to me and I could have still been wandering around in the dark, and it opened up my life and the real meaning of happiness.”
Trying to find happiness in something on this earth, you're always going to be disappointed. You can only find the way through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. That might have never come to me, but it came to me when it did.
What do you think about the claim that there is a strong anti-Catholic bias in the news and entertainment media today?
I think it's real. I don't think people — producers or bookers on cable shows — go about their daily lives thinking, “How am I going to be biased against Catholics today?” I don't think it's a conspiracy to be openly anti-Catholic. I think it just comes across when they don't even know that they're being unfair to a Church and institution that has done so much good for so many people, has been tested over 2,000 years and remains a strong, vibrant institution to this day.
What advice would you give a young Catholic who aspired to a career in law or the media but was concerned the environment would be hostile to his or her faith?
I think we need to go into hostile environments because that's the only way we're going to be able to bust the myths out there that continue to circulate unchallenged in different professions and different walks of life.
I think it's imperative that Catholics not shy away from the media, from universities, from teaching. It's critical. If we retreat and retreat among ourselves, I don't think that's what the Scriptures say we should do and it's not going to be helpful for the future of the Church. I think we need to evangelize and spread the good news.
Judy Roberts writes from Millbury, Ohio.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Judy Roberts ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Collection Supports Growing Church in East Europe DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — The changes for Christians in Central and Eastern Europe have been steady since the fall of communism, and a Lenten collection has played a major role in that.
Parishes take up a second collection for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office for Aid to the Churches of Central and Eastern Europe on Ash Wednesday or any Sunday in Lent.
The needs are many and varied. Churches turned into warehouses under the old regimes have to be rebuilt and destroyed ones replaced. Seminarians need support. People must be catechized, communication programs renewed, and elderly and orphans helped.
Msgr. R. George Sarauskas, who until last July headed the Office for Aid to the Churches of Central and Eastern Europe for 13 years, pointed out how dire the situation is in many places.
“When we first went into Albania, there were only 11 priests alive in the country, and they were all over 70,” he said. “You can't have a [local] Church without leadership.”
Latvia's seminary in Riga, for example, lacked a proper faculty. With the office's help, Father Paul Klavins was able to study at Catholic University of America in Washington under theologian Cardinal Avery Dulles and returned as vice rector of the seminary.
And priest-physician Father Andrius Narbekovas could study bioethics and family issues at the John Paul II Institute for Studies in Marriage and the Family. Today he's teaching and speaking on Lithuanian TV.
Currently, Father Benone Farkas is studying for his doctorate in canon law at Catholic University. From Romania, he spent four years in Moldova, where he will return to be vicar general after receiving his degree this summer.
“It's the poorest country in Europe right now,” Father Farkas said.
His diocese of Chisinau, established in 2001, covers the entire country. It serves about 20,000 Catholics among a mostly Orthodox population of 4.5 million.
Father Farkas listed several vital projects in need of the aid office's help.
“First, to build churches, which for a Western mind might seem kind of useless,” he said. “But we could-n't build any church for more than 50 years. The old ones are badly in need of repairs. And after the economy collapsed, the possibility of people building their own churches decreased dramatically. They could hardly support their own families. The Greek Catholics were celebrating Mass in the squares.”
“Also, there is a very ugly face with the new freedom in Moldova — a lot of human trafficking,” he said. An organization is bringing back and helping women, now prostitutes in Italy.
“It's very difficult and dangerous work” made possible by the funding, he said.
Need for Buildings
Some critics have complained the funds should be spent on social programs rather than church structures.
“We did try to avoid putting all the money into bricks and mortar,” Msgr. Sarauskas said. “But in Russia, the churches were turned into warehouses. Literally there was no place to gather. That was one place we started to make an exception for church buildings. In Romania we celebrated the Byzantine Liturgy outdoors even in winter next to a church the Orthodox took over and the government didn't return [to us].”
In Moscow, the aid office helped to restore the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, one of only two Catholic church buildings there. Today, 11 parishes meet in that one building.
Seminaries are in the same straits. Jesuit Father James McCann, the new head of the Office for Aid to the Churches of Central and Eastern Europe, describes a Latin-rite seminary in Lviv, Ukraine, converted from an old Soviet resort. The library is in the swimming pool.
“The students and staff have to lower themselves on ladders to get to the books,” he said. “Clearly, there's a great need.”
Father McCann experienced the needs firsthand. Before heading the office, he worked at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Astana, Kazakhstan, a parish Pope John Paul II visited. He said even in the usual 40-below-zero weather people came to church on Sunday.
“They walk a considerable distance,” he said. “It's something to see. It's very moving to celebrate Mass where there was great danger before.”
Realizing the dire needs of the Eastern European countries after the fall of communism, the U.S. bishops instituted the collection in 1991 to help tackle the massive task of rebuilding the Church and the faith there. To date, more than $75 million has been collected to help thousands of Church projects in 27 poor Central and Eastern European countries.
But the needs far outweigh that amount. In 2002, for example, the office received requests for aid totaling nearly $13.5 million, or about double what was collected.
“The decisions where the money is to be spent are made almost entirely by the bishops in those countries,” Msgr. Sarauskas noted. “The choice of projects has always been theirs.”
The funds stretch over vast expanses, literally and figuratively.
Because the Catholic population is so widespread, radio and TV communications are urgent.
“In those early days it was to get the message out — ‘We're back, we can worship again,’” Msgr. Sarauskas said. Now it catechizes and evangelizes.
In 1993, the collection launched Latvia's TV Studio Emmanuel. Today, its weekly show is the only Catholic program other than the weekly Mass that's aired. It broadcasts programs about the sacraments, the rosary and other aspects of the faith.
“We also put on people strong in the Catholic faith who are strong, prayerful witnesses and who got answers from God in dark situations,” explained Inta Zegenere, one of the show's producers. “We say the Church is alive and God's presence is here; prayers are answered here.”
The program is broadcast throughout Latvia on a prime time Sunday afternoon spot on free air-time on one of Latvia's two national channels.
After each program, some viewers call asking for a copy to show their children, Zegenere said. About half the population of Latvia is Catholic.
“Without aid from the office's collection the show wouldn't be possible at all,” she said.
The office funds training for lay catechists and things as simple as providing large print prayer books for elderly people or supporting nuns.
“One of the most striking things about the collection is that American Catholics are giving a witness to the support of the larger Church,” Father McCann said. It gives the recipients “a sense of the universal Church.”
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:Fox News Reporter Bashes ‘Passion of the Christ’
CATHOLIC LEAGUE, Feb. 13 — Fox News reporter Roger Friedman has joined the media forces that have gathered to attack Mel Gibson's new film The Passion of the Christ, according to one of the film's most public defenders, the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights.
The league cited an article by Friedman suggesting that Gibson has consciously avoided releasing the film to theaters in “neighborhoods that are considered Jewish, upscale or liberal.” Friedman cited this to argue that Gibson had “consciously created a divisive atmosphere for the presentation of his film.”
“Roger Friedman says the movie will be shown in two Chicago theaters; in fact it will be shown in seven,” said Catholic League president William Donohue. “He says it will not be shown in the L.A. neighborhood of Century City; in fact it will be shown at the AMC in Century City. He says it will not be shown in the ‘wealthier and trendier parts’ of Los Angeles; in fact it will be shown in Marina del Rey, Burbank and Santa Monica. He says it will not be shown in New York's Upper West Side; in fact it will be shown at 86th and Broadway. … And so on.
“Taking a course in Geography 101 might cure some of Friedman's problems,” Donahue said, “but it would not be enough. That's because his forced conclusion suggests something else is at work: To say that Gibson is intentionally keeping the film away from Jews and the rich is not only flatly wrong, it smacks of malice. We look for Fox to correct itself.”
Passion Could Lead to More Films in Dead Languages
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Feb. 14 — The actor who plays Jesus in The Passion of the Christ joked that the film might set a trend in Hollywood toward more films in ancient languages. The movie is shot in Aramaic and Latin.
“Next year, you may see comedies, thrillers, even musicals in Aramaic,” Caviezel quipped.
On a more serious note, Caviezel said he would never have been involved in the project if he had detected any signs of anti-Semitism.
“Anytime something would happen that could appear anti-Semitic, Mel [Gibson] was like, ‘Take it out,’” Caviezel told the Associated Press. “It was never about playing a blame game.”
Most Americans Believe in Moses and Noah
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Feb. 15 — A solid majority of Americans believe in the literal interpretation of many important Bible narratives, Agence France-Presse reported, including a six-day creation, the story of Noah, and Moses’ miraculous parting of the Red Sea.
Some 64% hold to a literal reading of Moses’ story, 61% of the creation narratives and 60% of Noah's tale. Only three in 10 said these stories were meant to be read largely allegorically.
Citing a survey by ABC News, Agence France-Presse also noted that a large majority of Americans rejected any suggestion that Jews bear collective guilt for the death of Jesus, a question rarely raised in Christian circles, which pollsters included because of the controversy generated over Mel Gibson's latest opus.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: You Say You Want A Revolution? The Beatles Legacy 40 Years Later DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:NEW YORK — February 1964 was the month of America's foreign occupation. The invasion began as the aggressors’ plane touched down at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Feb. 7.
It wasn't a military occupation. It was the Beatles — and the first skirmish of the British Invasion. As they appeared, screaming girls pressed forward to catch a glimpse.
The Beatles’ hair was unkempt and out of control — just as teenagers’ lifestyles were tending. No. 1 in America even before setting foot here, the Beatles were giving the nation something new to talk about — something lighter than Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington and the heartbreaking assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Register correspondent Marjorie Dannenfelser spoke to former ’60s activist and Catholic convert Peter Collier, publisher of Encounter Books, about the Fab Four's impact on American culture.
The same kids that were singing the innocent lyrics to “Love Me Do” in 1962 were later singing “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” in 1967, a song suggestive of the drug LSD. What part did music play in changing the teen-age experience during that short period of time?
I think the role of music might be a bit over-dramatized. It is true that the music emphasized the tribal nature of the teen-agers’ role in society and functioned as both a sort of anthem that expressed the allegiances of the young and encouraged them to enter the “generation gap” and stand against “the system.”
However, this is a movement that began in the ’50s. It was then that rock and roll was seen as subversive enough to be burned. In the ’60s, the Beatles and other groups provided the elevator music for a social revolution that had more profound causes and commitments: drugs and the chemical gospel of Timothy Leary and friends; anti-war and anti-authoritarian activism that, virtually unopposed by a parental generation that had ceded control, amounted to a no-fault acting out. And, of course, there was a commitment to sexual liberation that profoundly altered the roles and expectations that had traditionally organized our social lives.
John Lennon once said in jest that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.” Yet the Beatles’ position of authority in young people's lives was real. To what extent did the Beatles and the musicians that followed help form the culture, as opposed to the idea that they simply followed where the culture was already heading in a predetermined course?
There was a cultic aspect to the Beatles’ popularity. But perhaps it was the increasing power of the mass media that made this happen as much as the band itself. The idea of squealing teens swooning over pop idols was not exactly unknown. Consider Frank Sinatra and the bobby soxers in a previous generation and, more to the point, the cult of Elvis a decade before the Beatles arrived.
As to whether the Beatles caused change or merely expressed it, this is one of those chicken-andegg conundrums. I think they certainly expressed the yearnings — for love and autonomy, for experience and “authenticity” — that drove the ‘60s generation.
They were explicitly into drugs as drugs became de rigueur. They were into spiritual New Ageism as that movement came to the fore. But because of John Lennon's strong, if sometimes inchoate, intellectual commitments, I think the case could be made that they were a somewhat conservative group — more about love than sex, more about peace than revolution, more about contemplation than violence.
In this regard, it is useful to think of the Rolling Stones as their opposite number. The Rolling Stones were a group that always accepted the position of the Dionysian force in the culture, while the Beatles were walking on the sunny side.
So you'd say the Beatles were just riding the cultural tide?
The radical politics of the ’60s preceded the Beatles in its origins — Port Huron [the manifesto issued by the radical Students for a Democratic Society] took place a year or so before the Beatles appeared on the cultural radar screen. There was a flowering of a lot of oppositional, subversive developments in the late ’50s.
Consider the beat generation, the civil-rights movement, etc. It was these developments — rather than the Beatles’ music — that created, shall we say, a predisposition to be rebellious.
There were all sorts of semi-visible political and cultural movements and semi-movements that would eventually be organized into a massive collection of activists against the war in Vietnam. Rock groups provided the marching music. But it must be said that to the degree that they had a “position,” the Beatles were more about narcissistic selfhood rather than revolutionary solidarity.
What was your own initial response to the political activism that followed?
Virginia Woolf and others pointed out that World War I was the divide we were forced to cross over and, once on the other side, never had the option of coming back. The same is true of the 1960s.
This decade changed things forever. It was a “great party, the time of our lives.” But it also created a generation that stood by and watched a big hangover for 20 years after the fact. The drug-driven Merry Pranksterism of [Ken] Kesey and Leary and the others was all very charming, but what came after was a nightmare of hard drug abuse that is still with us.
It was all well and good for our generation to scorn “lawn order” but the epidemic of crime that followed the ’60s transformed urban life. The sexual liberation of the ’60s was a great thing in terms of undoing some stereotyping, but after the ’60s became a nostalgic memory, we got a look into what was inside Pandora's Box — sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS. Then we had to live with an epidemic of out-of-wedlock births and family dysfunction because of the perception in the ’60s that marriage and monogamy were anti-liberationist and inauthentic.
What long-term effects has all of this had on our society?
The culture wars of the ’90s, which have done so much to weaken our institutions, particularly the university, actually began in the ’60s. It was then that a generation stood apart from all the generations that had gone before it and decided that since it had failed to implement its ideals through revolution, it would implement them by a “long march through the institutions.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser writes from Arlington, Virginia.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Marjorie Dannenfelser ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: How 1964 Led to 2004 DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:The Register's “Times They Are a-Changin’” series looks back 40 years to cultural milestones in the 1960s and assess their impact.
In February 1964, the Beatles were dominating the airwaves and teen-agers’ obsessions in America.
On the big and little screen, entertainment options were still fairly innocent. Television hits “Top of the Pops,” “Candid Camera,” “The I Love Lucy Show” and “The Avengers” complemented hit movies Mary Poppins and My Fair Lady for wholesome viewing.
Later in the month, Cassius Clay beat Sonny Liston to become the heavyweight boxing champion.
These were pre-inflation days. The median salary was $5,500, and a loaf of bread cost 24 cents. Later to become cultural icons, the Ford Mustang, Kellogg's Pop-Tarts and Diet Pepsi were new on the market.
— Marjorie Dannenfelser
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: John Paul: A Religious Among Religious Celebrates a Life of Consecration DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — On Feb. 2, all was dark inside St. Peter's Basilica. Only the reddish light of the sunset dimly filtered in through high windows.
Then, thousands of sparkling candle flames gleamed in the dark. They shed light to thousands of black cassocks and brown habits as well as to white, blue, black and gray veils.
The liturgy of the light at the Presentation of the Lord Mass had begun — the yearly Eucharistic celebration for the Church's religious and consecrated people.
Cardinal Martínez Somalo, president of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, celebrated the Eucharist, while Pope John Paul II presided over it with glittering yellow vestments, sitting to the right and below the main altar.
“Today's liturgy,” the Holy Father said in his homily, “opens with the blessing of the candles and the procession to the altar in order to encounter Christ and acknowledge him ‘at the breaking of the bread,’ waiting for his glorious return.”
I was in front of the Pope and saw him earlier smiling. He was looking at his own candle. The assembly was singing an Italian version of Cardinal John Newman's poem: “Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling glooms. Lead Thou me on! The night is dark and I am far from home — Lead Thou me on!”
I believe the Pope was looking into his own life — a life marked by dark suffering but led joyfully by Christ's light. The light of his candle symbolized Christ; the candle wax represented his life consumed by toils and sorrows.
It was the worn-out life of a consecrated man.
I think John Paul sees himself as a religious. He never emitted the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in a congregation, order or institute. Yet he always faithfully followed the Gospel counsels.
As a clandestine seminarian in Krakow, Poland, Karol Wojtyla seriously considered joining the Carmelites. As a priest, he chose an austere lifestyle. As a Pope, he was very close and a devotee to some of the large number of religious he has beatified and canonized — think of Maximilian Kolbe, Faustina Kowaslka, Padre Pio and Mother Teresa.
Throughout his pontificate, John Paul has paid a lot of attention to the Church's consecrated people. He has given hundreds of addresses at the general chapters of different religious orders, written letters to many orders and institutes, organized encounters with the consecrated people in many of the nations he has visited and developed a series of teachings on religious life.
The Holy Father inaugurated the tradition of celebrating or presiding at the Mass for the members of the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life every Feb. 2. During the celebration all present renew their vows or promises before the Vicar of Christ and together with him.
In 1984 the Pope wrote the apostolic exhortation Redemptionis Donum (The Gift of Redemption) to all religious men and women about their consecration in the light of the mystery of salvation. Four years later, he addressed them with another letter on the occasion of the Marian year.
In 1994 he dedicated the Synod of Bishops to “the consecrated life and its mission in the Church and in the world.” Two years later, he published the postsynodal apostolic exhortation Vita Consecrata (The Consecrated Life).
“In effect,” he said in No. 3 of the exhortation, “the consecrated life is at the very heart of the Church as a decisive element for her mission, since it ‘manifests the inner nature of the Christian calling’ and the striving of the whole Church as Bride toward union with her one Spouse.”
On Jan. 6, 1997, he established the World Day for Consecrated Life celebration. Three reasons moved him to take this initiative, as he states in his January message.
The first reason was “the intimate need to praise the Lord more solemnly and to thank him for the great gift of consecrated life, which enriches and gladdens the Christian community by the multiplicity of its charisms and by the edifying fruits of so many lives totally given to the cause of the Kingdom.”
The second reason was “to promote a knowledge of and esteem for the consecrated life by the entire People of God.” The third was to invite the consecrated persons themselves “to celebrate together solemnly the marvels the Lord has accomplished in them, to discover by a more illumined faith the rays of divine beauty spread by the Spirit in their way of life and to acquire a more vivid consciousness of their irreplaceable mission in the Church and in the world.”
Within the first month of his pontificate, on Nov. 16, 1978, John Paul addressed the general superiors of women's religious orders and called consecrated men and women “the light for the Church and for mankind.”
Light
No doubt, the Pope himself is a “light for the Church and for mankind” — first as a Vicar of Christ but also as a consecrated man.
When he held his candle at the beginning of the Feb. 2 Mass, he was renewing his consecration to God and presenting his life as a light for the Church and for mankind.
His flame burns on while the candle of his body is being consumed.
In fact, his flame lighted the first candles that would light the rest of the assembly's candles. On my left and right there was an Irish family with five children, ages 1 to 9. The four oldest kids — Lucy, Phillipe, Mary and Leo — were thrilled to be among the first to kindle their own candles and pass the light on to others.
Wasn't it what the Holy Father has done throughout his consecrated life — to pass the light of Christ on to others?
If I am ever asked to sum up John Paul's consecrated life, I would use the simple words of the 7-year-old Irish girl who sat on my left in front of the Pope.
After the liturgy of the light, before the readings, we all blew out our candles. The girl didn't.
“Why don't you blow out your candle, Mary?” I asked her.
“Because,” she replied, “I want to keep it on for Jesus.”
Legionary of Christ Father Alfonso Aguilar teaches at Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome. aaguilar@legionaries.org
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Alfonso Aguilar ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:Palestinian Leader Meets Pope
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE, Feb. 13 — The prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority, Ahmed Qurei, met Pope John Paul II on Feb. 12 in Qurei's first visit to the Vatican.
The Pope said Qurei's “presence brings back vivid memories of my pilgrimage to the Holy Land, during which I prayed fervently for peace and justice in the region.”
John Paul noted “while signs of hope have not been altogether absent, unfortunately the sad situation in the Holy Land is a cause of suffering for all. … It is reconciliation that the Holy Land needs: forgiveness not revenge, bridges not walls.”
Vatican Compares Cloning to Nazi Experiments
“You can't kill human life in the hopes of finding medicines to save other lives,” Bishop Sgreccia said. “The scientists are saying, ‘First I'll clone you, then I'll kill you.’ This is not a victory but is stepping on human life twice.”
The bishop also disputed the alleged medical benefits researchers said would derive from the stem cells to be “extracted” from the destroyed embryos, noting, “There is no proof that stem cells taken from embryos are better for cures than those taken from adults.”
Pope and Bush Among Peace Prize Nominees
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Feb. 14 — The Nobel Prize committee has announced the people nominated for the 2004 Peace Prize, which includes 129 people and 44 organizations, according to the Associated Press.
Among the people nominated are Pope John Paul II, President George Bush, one-time U.N. weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed El Baradei, and Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli technician who is still in an Israeli jail for exposing that country's nuclear-weapons program.
Committee secretary Geir Lundestad said he expected more nominations from committee members at their first meeting March 2.
Organizations likely to be nominated include the Catholic lay movement Sant'Egidio, which tries to negotiate an end to civil wars in the developing world.
On Valentine's Day, Pope Calls for Chaste Love
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Feb. 14 — In a message directed at French youth, Pope John Paul II encouraged young lovers to practice chastity, or pure love, before and after marriage, Agence France-Presse reported.
“Marriage between a man and a woman and the creation of a family is built on strong ties between two persons and a definitive commitment, not merely on the emotional aspect, which cannot by itself constitute a basis for marriage,” the Pope told a delegation of French bishops.
In his Valentine's Day comments, he warned that mass media have constructed “a culture of the immediate and the fleeting that is not always conducive to the search for meaning, inner maturity or moral judgment.”
John Paul urged the French bishops to train good priests to minister to and inspire young people.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Pope's Lenten March DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:March 2004 will be a noteworthy month in many respects for the Holy Father, but by far the most remarkable day will be the 17th, for that is when Pope John Paul II's pontificate becomes the third longest in history at 25 years, five months and one day, surpassing Pope Leo XIII, whose reign was 25 years and five months.
Only two of the Church's 264 popes will have reigned longer: St. Peter (more than 30 years but precise dates are unknown) and Blessed Pius IX, whose pontificate lasted 31 years, seven months and 17 days.
The month will start on a quiet note as the Pope and ranking members of the Roman Curia will be on their annual retreat in the Vatican's Redemptoris Mater Chapel.
The preacher for this year's spiritual exercises on the theme “Following You, Light of Life,” is Msgr. Bruno Forte, who is a member of both the International Theological Commission and the Pontifical Theological Academy. All papal audiences, including the Wednesday general audience, are suspended during the weeklong retreat, which was set to begin Feb. 29.
The final meditation will take place the morning of March 6, following which John Paul will immediately resume a full schedule of activities. At 11 a.m. he will welcome Germany's president Johannes Rau to the Vatican.
At 6 p.m. that same day in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father will welcome the pastors and faithful of three Roman parishes: Sts. Bridget, Hilary and Maximus, a momentous occasion for Romans as the Pope's customary parish visits had not been on the papal calendar for two years.
Ad Limina Visits
The ad limina apostolorum visits that bishops are obliged to make every five years to the Apostolic See will bring prelates from Holland, Australia and the United States to Rome in March.
Such visits are meticulously planned well in advance of the prelates’ arrival in Rome, where they have individual and group meetings with the Holy Father and also meet with officials from the Roman Curia's nine congregations, 11 pontifical councils and any other curial offices that needs dictate.
An important moment for the bishops is their group meeting with the Pope, who, in his speech to them in their own language, addresses issues of great, even critical importance, to them and the Church in their country — and often matters of urgency for the universal Church.
Ad limina apostolorum means “to the threshold of the apostles.” As prescribed in Canons 399 and 400 of the Code of Canon Law, the world's bishops come to Rome every five years to show their communion with the Apostolic See and to strengthen both their responsibility as successors of the apostles and the hierarchical communion with the Successor of Peter, the Pope, the Bishop of Rome.
On March 12 there will be the first of several scheduled Friday Lenten sermons by the preacher of the papal household, Father Raniero Cantalamessa, at 9.a.m. in the Redemptoris Mater Chapel in the presence of the Holy Father and members of the Roman Curia.
Members of both the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and the Pontifical Council for Culture are scheduled to hold their plenary assemblies in March. The former will meet from March 8-12 and will reflect on the conciliar decree Inter Mirifica (On the Instruments of Social Communications) 40 years after its promulgation.
The council for culture will meet March 11-13 to discuss the challenges presented in society today by non-belief and religious indifference. Each assembly is scheduled to have a private audience with the Pope during its meeting.
On March 11, John Paul will welcome Argentina's foreign minister, Rafael Antonio Bielsa.
Two days later, at 6:30 p.m. in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father will pray the rosary with a group of European university students as the culminating moment of their daylong meeting in Rome on the theme “Christ, Hope for Europe.”
This European Day of University Students is being held to mark the May 1 entry of 10 new countries into the European Union. The evening meeting in the Vatican will include television linkup with university students in Prague, Nicosia, Gniezno, Vilnius, Bratislava, Budapest, Valletta and Ljubljana.
March 19, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, is a Vatican holiday.
At 9:30 a.m. on March 21 in St. Peter's Basilica, John Paul will beatify Servants of God Luigi Talamoni, Matilde del Sagrado Corazon Tellez Robles, Piedad de la Cruz Ortiz Real and Maria Candida dell'Eucaristia.
On March 24 the Vatican will host a significant event as a special edition of the International Charlemagne Prize, a prestigious award given annually by the city of Aachen for distinguished service on behalf of European unity, is bestowed on the Pope.
This award, named for the first holy Roman emperor, Charlemagne, who is viewed as a symbol of European unity — given the vast expanse of his realm that included several modern-day European countries — has been given every year since 1950. The committee that announced the award Jan. 22 cited the Pope's “extraordinary contribution to the process of European integration” and his role in bringing down the Iron Curtain that once divided the continent.
Joan Lewis works for Vatican Information Service.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: John Paul Resumes Parish Visits DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:Pope John Paul II as Bishop of Rome had made visits to the diocese's 336 parishes a priority of his pontificate and, up to Feb. 24, 2002, when a terribly painful arthritic knee impeded him from fulfilling a visit to the Church of St. Pudentiana, he had visited 301 of these churches, including a number built in recent years.
Over time, a certain format developed for these parish visits, including lunch in the Vatican with the pastors and their assistants on the Wednesday preceding the papal visit. Sunday mornings, following his arrival at the church, the Pope spent quality time with very young children and with teen-agers, celebrated the Eucharist and then met with the pastors and members of the parish council.
When physical mobility and trips outside the Vatican became a challenge for the Holy Father, parish visits were suspended — much to the Pope's dismay, as he had always cherished these moments with the faithful of his diocese.
On Feb. 28, John Paul resumed his beloved parish visits — except that now the pastors and faithful come to him. At 6 p.m. that day, in the Paul VI Hall, he welcomed the faithful from the parishes of St. Anselm, Mary Star of Evangelization, St. Charles Borromeo and St. John the Baptist de la Salle, celebrating Mass and greeting parishioners, especially children and young people, the sick and elderly and members of the parish council.
Two more appointments with the faithful from Rome's parishes are on the papal agenda for this month. On March 20 he will welcome parishioners from St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Patrick, St. Mary Mediatrix and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.
One week later — and just a week before Palm Sunday and his rendezvous with young people in St. Peter's Square for World Youth Day celebrations — the faithful from St. John of the Cross, St. Felicity and Sts. Chrysanthus and Daria will go to the Vatican for Mass and a meeting with their bishop.
Some Vatican observers have remarked that, with the advent of warm spring weather, John Paul might even return to Roman churches, selecting parishes that have easily accessible entrances in order to fulfill his ardent desire to personally visit all 336 Roman parish churches.
— Joan Lewis
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joan Lewis ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Christ Suffered for Our Salvation DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:Register Summary
Pope John Paul II met with 9,000 pilgrims in the Paul VI Hall on Feb. 18 for his last general audience before Lent begins. He offered a meditation on Ephesians 1:3-10, which highlights the price that God paid for the salvation of men. The passage forms the basis for a canticle that is recited every Friday during evening prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours.
According to the Holy Father, the canticle is a hymn to the saving power of God revealed in Jesus Christ. In his infinite goodness, God planned, before the creation of the world, to bring all things into one through his beloved Son.
“Christ carries out a function of ‘fullness,’” the Pope noted, “so that in him the ‘mystery,’ which has been hidden throughout the ages, is revealed and so that all of reality fulfills — according to its specific order and degree — the plan the Father has conceived since eternity.”
Quoting St. John Chrysostom, the Holy Father pointed out that we have received redemption and the forgiveness of our sins through Christ's blood, which was shed on the cross, and by grace we were pre-destined in love to become children of God and to share in the fullness of God's own life.
This magnificent hymn of “blessing,” which is found at the beginning of the Letter to the Ephesians and which is proclaimed every Monday evening in the Liturgy of the Hours, will be the subject of a series of meditations during our journey. For the moment, we will be satisfied with an overview of this solemn and well-designed text, which is much like a majestic building, whose purpose is to exalt God's marvelous work that has been accomplished for us in Christ.
Its point of departure is a “before” that precedes time and creation. It is the divine eternity in which a plan, a “predestination,” that is beyond our understanding is already taking form — a loving and gratuitous plan for a destiny of salvation and glory.
In this transcendent plan, which encompasses creation and redemption as well as the universe and man's unfolding history, God had preordained, “in accord with the favor of his will,” to “sum up all things in Christ” — to re-establish the order and profound sense of every reality, both in heaven and on earth (see 1:10). Of course, he is “head over all things to the Church, which is his body” (see 1:22-23), but he is also the life-giving reference point for the universe.
The lordship of Christ extends, therefore, both to the universe and, more specifically, to the Church. Christ carries out a function of “fullness” so that in him the “mystery,” which has been hidden throughout the ages, is revealed (see 1:9) and so that all of reality fulfills — according to its specific order and degree — the plan the Father has conceived since eternity.
As we will have the opportunity to see later, this canticle, which is a sort of New Testament psalm, focuses our attention above all on the history of salvation, which is an expression and a living sign of God's “favor” (see 1:6 and 1:9) and of his love.
Thus, “redemption by his blood” on the cross, the “forgiveness of transgressions” and the abundant outpouring of “the riches of his grace” (see verse 7) are exalted as well as our adoption as Christians by God (see 1:5) and our knowledge of “the mystery of his will” (see 1:9), through which we enter into the intimacy of the very life of the Trinity.
Having considered this overview of the hymn that introduces the Letter to the Ephesians, we will now hear what St. John Chrysostom had to say about it. This extraordinary teacher and preacher, as well as a keen interpreter of sacred Scripture, lived in the fourth century. He became bishop of Constantinople amid all kinds of difficulties and was even subjected to exile on two different occasions.
When commenting on this canticle in his First Homily on the Letter to the Ephesians, he reflected with gratitude on the “blessing” that we have received “in Christ”: “What, then, are you lacking? You have been made immortal, you have been made free, you have been made a son, you have been made righteous, you have been made a brother, you have been made a coheir, you reign with him, and you are glorified with him. All things have been freely given to you and, as it is written, ‘How will he not also give us everything else along with him?’ (Romans 8:32). Your first fruits (see 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23) are adored by the angels, the cherubim, the seraphim. Therefore, what now do you lack?” (PG 62, 11).
Chrysostom goes on to say that God has done all this for us “according to the favor of his will.” What does this mean? It means that God passionately desires and ardently yearns for our salvation. “And why does he love us so? Why does he desire so much good for us? It is of his goodness alone. For grace itself is the fruit of goodness” (Ibid., 13).
It is for this reason, this ancient Father of the Church concludes, that St. Paul affirms that everything was accomplished “for the praise and glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.” In fact, God “has not only released us from our sins but has made us objects of his love … he has adorned our soul and clothed it with beauty, and has rendered it an object of his delight and his love.” When Paul declares that God has done this through the blood of his Son, St. John Chrysostom exclaims: “For nothing is as great as that the blood of God should be shed for us. The fact that he spared not even the Son (see Romans 8:32) is even greater than our adoption as sons and all the other gifts. For great indeed is the forgiveness of sins, yet this is the far greater thing: that it should be done by the Lord's blood” (Ibid., 14).
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Caritas Network Shifts Its Focus to Advocacy DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:MUMBAI, India — The highly visible presence of Catholic social workers with hundreds of nuns mixing freely with social activists of all hues at the fourth World Social Forum in Mumbai, India, in January was no accident.
In fact, dozens of key Church officials associated with the Caritas network — including Caritas Internationalis secretary-general Duncan MacLaren — were among several thousand Catholic delegates at the Jan. 16-21 forum, which drew nearly 200,000 social activists to the commercial capital of India.
“During our general assembly last July, all our members decided we should take a much more active and official part in [the World Social Forum]. This is the first time we have done that,” MacLaren told the Register on Jan. 19.
Standing outside a hall where Caritas Internationalis was organizing a World Social Forum seminar on “The War on Terror and Its Threats to Democracy,” MacLaren said, “Initially, our members wanted to know what kind of body the [World Social Forum] was, and then last year we decided we should take a more active part.”
“With our presence in 160 countries, we are one of the largest humanitarian networks. But we are not like other [nongovernmental organizations],” said MacLaren, a Scot who is now in his second term as secretary-general of the Vatican-based organization. “We have a clear mandate from the Church and we have our own ideas in the areas of social service.”
New Direction
Ten years ago, MacLaren pointed out, “We were not doing any advocacy work at all. But we are now getting more involved in advocacy work, focusing on integral human development work, which includes peace-building.”
“The Church has always been for the poor,” he said. “The question is how you would deal with the problems of the poor. New circumstances in the world situation call for new initiatives to deal with such problems.”
Until recently, MacLaren said, “most of the problems we dealt with were helping victims of natural disasters.” But in the contemporary context, where there are ”more and more manmade disasters” in which governments have a hand, he said, “We are not only called upon to serve these people but also to speak up in our own way so the suffering of the people ends.”
As an example of this approach, MacLaren cited the pioneering role the Caritas network has played in caring for HIV/AIDS victims.
“Though we started our HIV/AIDS work 15 years ago, it took time to persuade a lot of Church officials to take it seriously. Now, 40% of the AIDS-affected people are cared for under the Church,” MacLaren said.
As the challenges mount, good will alone will not take one forward, MacLaren insisted.
“Many Church organizations have been in the past amateurish,” he said. “They have lot of good will, a lot of enthusiasm but lack professional training to deal with problems.”
To overcome this defect in Church social action, Caritas Internationalis’ network is now coordinating countries to help weaker national Caritas units with training in management and advocacy work.
MacLaren admitted that Caritas has faced problems in some countries, especially in states where there are conflicts between the state and “people's movements” or rebel groups.
“In general, we have a clear mandate from the Church. We try to persuade the government to do that,” MacLaren said of how Caritas carries on its advocacy work in conflict situations.
Vatican-Based
Asked about whether the focus on its advocacy role might shift Caritas away from Christian charity and reduce it to just another group in a plethora of nongovernmental organizations that pursue a leftist social agenda, MacLaren told the Register via an e-mail in early February, “Our orthodoxy is scarcely in question.”
“Caritas remains the main relief, development and social-service agency of the Catholic Church, with its HQ in the Vatican,” MacLaren said. “We have a special status with the Holy See and all our members are agencies of their bishops’ conferences. All our new strategies come through a painstaking procedure of reflection and consultation. They do not follow any ‘model’ but are the result of what God tells us through discerning the signs of the times.”
While reiterating that Caritas is not “a social-activist lobby,” MacLaren stressed that “advocacy is important because it is a way of making policies of governments and international organizations more pro-poor.”
Church spokesmen in south Asia have endorsed the Caritas approach.
“As long as the civil society does not create a forum and come up with action, the voice of the society remains silent,” said Father Yvon Ambroise, former executive director of Caritas India, the social-action wing of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. “So we have to make the civil society strong in Asia. These societies are very much in need as the attempt of the governments [in the region] is to suppress the voice of the civil society.”
Father Damian Fernando, director of Caritas Sri Lanka, the social-action wing of the Sri Lankan Catholic Church, also has no doubt about the “new challenges” facing Caritas. In fact, apart from providing relief to more than 1 million displaced people in Sri Lanka due to the virtual civil war in the island nation, Father Fernando told the Register that Caritas Sri Lanka is now involved “in a big way in building support for the peace process.”
Caritas Sri Lanka has won lot of praise, even from the national government in the predominantly Buddhist country, for its “peace education program” at the school level. The program seeks to bring the nation's ethnically divided Tamils and Sinhala people closer through exchange programs on the island, where the bloody ethnic conflict has claimed more than 65,000 lives in two decades and displaced 2.5 million people.
“By distributing relief alone, we cannot make an impact in the life of the people,” Father Fernando said. “Without being radical, we need to be proactive and help the people get out of the suffering. That is our mandate.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Anto Akkara ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:Small Earthquake Hits Holy Land
INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC NEWS, Feb. 16 — A minor earthquake struck the Holy Land on Feb. 11, causing damage to several pilgrimage sites, Independent Catholic News reported.
Small fractures appeared in the ceiling of St. Catherine's Church, where midnight Mass is celebrated each Christmas Eve.
“Engineers from the local council came and said the cracks are not severe,” said Father Ibrahim Faltas, one of the Franciscan custodians of the Holy Land.
Independent Catholic News said seismologists predict a major, devastating earthquake will hit the geologically unstable region within the next 50 years, causing the worst damage in Jerusalem, which houses the Temple Mount, the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa mosque.
“The layer below is not made of solid rock but rather a kind of rubble,” said a leading Israeli seismologist, Amos Bein. “Those weak foundations could magnify an earthquake's seismic wave.”
Ugandans Stand by Peacemaking Priest
CATHOLIC INFORMATION SERVICE FOR AFRICA, Feb. 16 — Father Carlos Rodriguez, a Comboni Missionary, faces deportation back to Spain from Uganda because of his activities on behalf of peace in that country's war-torn north, according to the Catholic Information Service for Africa.
After reporting that a refugee camp appeared to have been attacked by government forces Feb. 1, Father Rodriguez was accused of spreading “false information prejudicial to national security” and was scheduled for expulsion.
In response, two members of Uganda's Parliament have criticized the Ugandan army and President Yoweri Museveni. Ugandan members of parliament Ogenga Latigo and Odonga Otto told journalists Feb. 12 the deportation of Father Rodriguez would prove the government has a vendetta against Catholics.
“We should ensure the Church gets the immunity it deserves,” Otto said. “Catholics want peaceful means to end the war.“
Anonymous Abortion Alternatives in Germany
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Feb. 15 — Women in Germany now have a number of surprising alternatives to abortion, according to Agence France-Presse.
For example, women can now sign in to a hospital anonymously to give birth to a child — or to leave the child safely in a “baby hatch,” sliding him through a side door of a hospital into a safe compartment where caregivers can find him.
These hatches began in April 2000 in Hamburg after a dead infant was found in a garbage bin, the fifth such abandoned child that year. Some 50 babies appear on the streets of Germany each year.
At each hatch, the mother will find a letter in several languages telling her how her child will be cared for and offering her a chance to confirm the child's identity through a foot or handprint in case she wishes to inquire about him later. (If she does not claim the child within eight weeks, he is placed in an adoptive home.)
“These women are in a crisis situation — they often have no one, no help, no understanding of their rights,” said Franziska Klotz of Sternipark, which sponsors the hatches. “We are there to give them time to think and a chance to reorient themselves.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Ignoring the Epidemic DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:We were wrong. In editorials and articles during the past two years, the Register pointed out insistently and repeatedly that the numbers of priests accused of sexual abuse of minors was less than half of 1% (a number The Associated Press reported) of all priests. We later changed the number to 1.8% after the New York Times’ more complete study was printed.
Now, it seems the Ash Wednesday study commissioned by the U.S. bishops — using the most complete data possible — will report a higher number. We go to press before it's released.
Once we get it, we'll look at it closely and try to see what lessons we should learn from it about the serious mistakes the Catholic Church in America has made.
But even before its release, there are serious mistakes being made in news reports about it. We thought we'd catalog a few common errors Catholics should watch out for.
It's not a “pedophile priest” crisis.
The Associated Press, USA Today and others have repeatedly referred to the crisis in the Church as a “pedophile priest” crisis.
That's simply not true. The large majority of the accusations involve homosexual seduction of teen-agers. Don't get us wrong: Homosexual seduction of teen-agers is a tragic crime that should be prosecuted severely, both inside and outside the Church. But it's on a different plane from pedophile attacks on children, which are extremely rare in the Catholic priesthood.
To
By focusing almost exclusively on the Catholic Church, news reports have left the impression that sex abuse of minors is a Catholic problem. But the Catholic Church incidents are the tip of a cultural iceberg that is deep and broad.
In 1992, the National Victim Center estimated that 29% of all forcible rapes in America were against children under age 11. More than a decade later, an estimated 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 7 boys are victims of unwanted sexual acts.
Apartment complexes, medical offices and relatives’ homes are the most likely places abuse occurs — not to mention schools. Search crime reports for the key words “teacher” and “child molester” and you'll find thousands of instances.
The difference between the Church and other institutions is that the Church has been willing to investigate the problem.
The Church's teachings don't lead to sex abuse.
There is a tendency in the media to suggest that Catholic beliefs and customs make sex abuse inevitable. But Church teaching is clear: Sexual abuse of minors is always wrong. Isn't it more likely that the media's own ambivalence on the subject has contributed to the sex-abuse epidemic?
For example, the April 17, 2002, issue of USA Toda y featured an article titled “Sex Between Adults and Children” — a euphemism for child molestation. Under the headline was a ballot-like box suggesting possible opinions one might hold on the subject: “always harmful, usually harmful, sometimes harmful, rarely harmful.” The newspaper's answer: “Child's age and maturity make for gray areas.”
And what about the popular culture? In two Weekly Standard magazine articles, Mary Eberstadt exposed several examples of what she called “Pedophilia Chic” — from Calvin Klein underwear ads to mainstream defenses of the North American Man-Boy Love Association.
Then there's the entertainment media. The People v. Larry Flynt movie portrayed the accused child molester and creator of simulated child pornography as a principled hero of the First Amendment. This year, Liam Neeson stars in a film by Francis Ford Coppola about “genius” sex researcher Alfred Kinsey. The film's hero once wrote, “It is difficult to understand why a child, except for its cultural conditioning, should be disturbed at having its genitalia touched, or disturbed at seeing the genitalia of other persons, or disturbed at even more specific sexual contacts.”
It's good that this ugly problem in the Church is being investigated, exposed and dealt with. Now it's the rest of society's turn. In the face of the evidence of a widespread epidemic of abuse fed by a new morality that winks at child molestation, why is the Church the only institution under the microscope?
Sex abuse of children should be fought strenuously everywhere it's found — not denounced in the Church, and winked at elsewhere.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:One Man's Hero
Thank you to Steven Greydanus and the Register for the thoughtful, balanced coverage of our campaign to rerelease the movie One Man's Hero in American theaters and release it for the first time in Irish theaters. While MGM ultimately did not heed our petition, a great number of Catholics have become acquainted with the movie through our campaign.
I also appreciated Greydanus’ affirming words about the movie, but I respectfully give the film higher marks. Taken as a whole, I think One Man's Hero illustrates well the primary, faith-related motivations that led the San Patricios first to leave the U.S. Army and then defend Catholic Mexico from U.S. invasion.
Most endearing in this regard is the chaste love relationship between Tom Berenger's Sgt. John Riley and Daniela Romo's Marta, a “made-for-the-big-screen” romance that epitomizes the galvanization of Irish and Mexican cultures the movie celebrates. The pair are united in Christ in his Church while appreciating and being drawn further together by their diversity. Both their enduring love and the San Patricios’ indomitable spirit illustrate that Catholic Mexico will live on despite the devastating losses of the war.
There are many other fine performances in the film, including that of the Irish lads who portray the San Patricios as well as James Gammon's Gen. Zachary Taylor and Mark Moses’ Col. Benton Lacey, the latter a “composite” character to teach an important truth. Both of these U.S. leaders are portrayed in a sympathetic fashion.
Finally, Lance Hool is masterful in melding a stirring, haunting soundtrack with great natural sound, appealing visuals and poignant acting. He is truly outstanding in choreographing the movie's three climactic scenes, which I won't spoil but will say are all riveting and edifyingly memorable.
To purchase the movie on DVD, contact Ignatius Press at (800) 651-1531 or online at www.ignatius.com. To learn more about the San Patricios, I recommend Dr. Michael Hogan's The Irish Soldiers of Mexico (available via amazon.com). For an essay defending the San Patricios as heroes, not traitors, visit our Web site: www.geocities.com/onemanshero2004.
THOMAS J. NASH
Steubenville, Ohio
Up With Down People
Thank God for the beautiful article by Danielle Bean, “Lifted Up: The Joys of Raising ‘Down’ Children” (Feb. 1-7). It immediately put me in touch with the joy who is my deceased younger brother, Gerard.
Although limited by the different condition of hydro-cephalous, “Jardi” was certainly the hearth of love in our family. Never judgmental of himself (“I'm a handsome boy”) or others, with great faith in God's goodness (“Jesus loves me this I know …”) and a born peacemaker (“Now you two talk!”), he brought many new, truly loving friends into our family. Why? From my experience of Jardi and so many other special people such as those mentioned in Danielle Bean's article, not only does one experience love in their presence but also holiness. Jardi could be ornery, but he never deliberately hurt anyone.
I almost certainly would not be a Carmelite and a priest today if my “spiritual life” did not begin with the birth of Jardi when I was 5.
Special people are never angels. They are too human for that. Overall, while the surprise and adaptation of their early lives might strain a family, their teen-age years are a comparative breeze, I think, because they do not lose their innocence as long as the home environment remains warm, supportive and caring.
I have often wished the Holy Father would canonize someone with special limitations and gifts. Maybe even some recognition of their collective holiness in the heart of the Church, where the “Little Way” of St. Thérése is a gift from God, natural to them. What a countercultural example this would be, and what a catechesis for the members of the Church and other Christians that we truly do value the life, dignity and instruction of these “special people of God.”
FATHER BRADLEY L. PETERSON, O. CARM.
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Priory
Tucson, Arizona
Mel's Gospel
Regarding “Box Office Passion” (Feb. 22-28):
Mel Gibson has always been entertaining, starting with Mad Max. After his initial success he seemed to play around with his roles but never did comedy well. Then he got behind the camera. It seemed [ridiculous] to have Scotsmen in war paint in Braveheart, but the power of the film overshadowed the aberration. So here we are at The Passion of the Christ. Once again Mel breathes new life into an old story.
The fact is, “persecution” is an even older story. Christ's persecution and death would not have been news without [the Gospel's] roots in Judaism. It is Moses and subsequent writers of the Bible who have given universal lessons beyond the usual gossip and small talk of daily living and let us see the bigger picture. Christ is a product of this culture.
In the spectrum of emotion, we are aware of things of this world that so defy logic that we cry out in anger to see a fool try. That fool will fall if he defies our sense of purpose. He will be hunted down and pay with his life. Many have. Many will. We all must come to Christ on the road to Calvary. Go there. Spit on him and stone him. Scream at him. Eventually drink his blood and eat his flesh. He has given everyone that right.
The Jews killed Christ? The Jews made the darkest part of the human heart visible by providing a vehicle in Scripture for Christ to ascend. You cannot be a Christian unless you acknowledge that you killed Christ. You then live in him.
Not having seen the movie, I hope Mel makes that point and thanks God for Judaism.
FRED STEWART
Grand Junction, Colorado
Mark of the Mandatum
I love your articles on colleges that have publicly accepted the mandatum.
May I suggest that you have a small box on the last page each week listing all the colleges that have informed you that they accept the mandatum? For example: the college, address and phone number with a short statement such as, “Looking for a good Catholic college? Try one of these.”
I don't know the cost to you; maybe someone would pay for the ad. This would certainly put some pressure on those “Catholic” colleges that are afraid to take a stand.
ELMER FANGMAN
Correction
Regarding “Catholic Groups Make Headway in Bible-Study Programs” (Feb. 15-21):
The correct phone number for MACH1 Ministries is (218) 236-5396.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Marital Maelstrom in Massachusetts DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:Regarding “Former Boston Mayor: If Legislators Don't Let People Vote, Vote Them Out” (Feb. 22-28):
The citizens of Massachusetts have been let down by their representatives in the Legislature. They would not give them the right to vote on the future of the very foundation of our society, marriage between one man and one woman. The fact they chose to side with powerful special interests over the voice of the people is a disgrace and the epitome of arrogance.
However, throughout this debate, an amazing thing has happened. Catholics have reawaked and have become more involved than in recent memory. Thousands attended educational meetings around the state, contacted their legislators and joined us at a rally on the Boston Common. They stood for two hours in the snow and in freezing temperatures to make their voices heard. Thousands more joined them from across the country with prayers and encouragement. And as both Archbishop Sean O'malley and I said at the Common, this effort was not against anyone but is for the stability and dignity of marriage.
Today Catholics are outraged but not discouraged. They have been energized and are proud and confident of what we have accomplished working together in just a few short weeks. They are determined their voices be heard through a new, united, lay-led Catholic action. We are going to stand up and continue to raise our voices on issues to protect the family as well as fight for the dignity of every human life, defend unalienable human rights and advocate for the poor and vulnerable.
This has also united Catholics and other people of good will around the country and has elevated this to a top presidential-campaign issue. There is now a clear message that nothing short of the Federal Marriage Amendment is essential to protect marriage and the family in our land.
So while there is disappointment in our governmental process, there is hope and unity among the Catholic laity. This is a new beginning.
RAYMOND L. FLYNN
Boston
The writer, a former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and mayor of Boston, is national president of Your Catholic Voice.
Regarding “Massachusetts Court Ruling Energizes Marriage-Amendment Advocates” (Feb. 15-21):
If a lesbian couple marry and somehow arrange to “have children,” the children will be deprived of a father's love. Similarly, if a homosexual male couple marry and somehow arrange to “have children,” the children will be deprived of a mother's love.
This discrimination against children, individually and as a class, is already occurring when states allow homosexual couples to adopt. Homosexual marriage and adoption are the most aggressive way to oppose gender diversity; the effect of this upon society will be horrific and will give those who oppose American democracy a new weapon in their propaganda arsenal.
Please contact your state and national legislators. A constitutional amendment might be what is necessary to save children from this form of child abuse. There can be little doubt that, when hearings begin, some children raised by homosexual couples will testify about how “normal” their childhoods were. Pro-homosexual psychologists can be counted on as well.
GEORGE A. MORTON
Hopewell Junction, New York
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Don't Confuse Tradition With Its Evil Twin DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:I interact with a wide variety of Catholics in my line of work, and, sad to say, not all of them are cheering representatives of the faith.
Recently, I ran across (not for the first time, sadly) a fellow who was pining for the “good old days” of casual anti-Semitism. He was a hard-bitten, reactionary fellow of the type that in fact despises where the tradition has developed to, despises the teaching of Vatican II and despises every pope since Pius XII (especially John Paul II).
He wants whatever is old merely because it is old. And so, for this guy, it is axiomatic that, since a lot of Catholics were in days gone by hostile to Jews, why then that must be part of “tradition.”
John Paul's beautiful gestures of love to the Jewish people (such as, for instance, his visit to the synagogue at Rome and to Israel and Yad Vashem) were, for this guy, a “betrayal of the tradition.”
Now what interested me about this fellow was that he voiced an idea many people share: The notion that anything old in the Church must, ipso facto, be part of the tradition.
But is this really so? After all, one of the oldest things in the Church is sin. We all do it and we all go to confession for it. Does it therefore follow that sin is “part of the tradition” and something to be treasured and preserved? Obviously not. So there are old things in the Church that are not necessarily a part of the Church. In short, we can speak of a sort of “shadow tradition” that is always present alongside authentic tradition.
Does this sound mysterious? It should. But it is a mystery already spoken of in the New Testament. St. Paul, for example, tells us the mystery of evil was already present and at work even in his day (2 Thessalonians 2:7). It remains a constant fact throughout the history of the Church and, because it is constant and very old, guys like my reactionary acquaintance can often think it is the same thing as the tradition.
The difficulty with the shadow tradition, like all evil, is that it is, as Lady Macbeth says of hell, murky. Evil doesn't show itself clearly. It prefers darkness, obscurity, ambiguity, fuzz, blur. Now and then we can catch a glimpse of it, briefly. Now and then, as in a lightning flash, we see evil in almost chemical purity: in an airliner smashing into the World Trade Center, in a heap of bodies stacked like cordwood at Dachau, in a child dismembered on an abortionist's table.
But typically, evil knows how to duck behind the legitimate moral ambiguities of life. And so the abortionist appeals to the tradition's respect for choice, the jihadist to the need for “tolerance” of his viewpoint and the Jew-hater the need to honor some “tradition.” Attempts to oppose the evil can then quickly be cast as attempts to oppose the good thing the evil hides behind.
Things can get muddled very quickly.
That, among other things, is why a magisterium is necessary, from time to time, to distinguish that shadow tradition from the tradition. For every now and then, someone gets the bright idea of asserting that the shadow tradition is the same thing as the tradition.
It happened in the fourth century when Arius said that Jesus, being the Son (and therefore not the Father, which is a legitimate part of the tradition) was therefore not God (which is not part of the tradition). Similarly, the Church's teaching that the covenant is no longer limited merely to Israel is a part of the tradition, but rejection of and malice toward Jews is a longstanding manifestation of the shadow tradition.
Why does all this stuff matter?
It matters because Catholics should take my reactionary friend's fond nostalgia for the “good old days” as a cautionary tale lest, in claiming to defend tradition, we find ourselves merely engaging in the worship of old sin and error and opposing Holy Church. The mere fact that something has been present in the life of the Church a long time does not necessarily make it apostolic tradition.
Anti-Semitism, though it has long been practiced by Christians of many stripes, including Catholics, is not intrinsic to the tradition, as the Second Vatican Council makes clear in Nostra Aetate. Now my more-Catholic-than-the-Pope acquaintance is left in the last place he ever thought he'd be: dissenting from Holy Church simply because he confused his reactionary ideology with orthodoxy and mistook the shadow tradition for the tradition.
Orthodoxy is coterminous with neither conservatism nor liberalism. These ideologies are the work of fallen man and share in his fallen-ness. Only the revelation of Christ through the teaching office of Holy Church is a sure guide.
Mark Shea writes from Seattle. Visit his Web log at www.markshea.blogspot.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mark P. Shea ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Listen, My Children, and You Shall Hear DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:So began Henry Wadsworth Long-fellow's famous poem “Paul Revere's Ride.”
What shall our children attending public schools hear about God and his relationship to America? Six dissenting judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals’ Pledge of Allegiance case stated that silence sends a powerful and wrong message to children. I concur.
The central tenet of our American Revolution was phrased by the late President John F. Kennedy in his January 1961 inaugural address: “[T]he rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.”
If students in a public school read this text and inquire of their teachers whether it is true, our teachers must not dismiss the question and say they can neither affirm nor deny it; nor must they limit themselves to saying it was a personal belief of Kennedy's. The teachers must say it is true.
On Feb. 18 came news that “the nation's oldest atheist civil rights group” was filing an amicus brief against God with the Supreme Court.
Or, at any rate, an amicus brief in favor of removing the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance in the case currently before the high court.
During a public religious procession, in communist Krakow, Poland, then Archbishop Karol Wojtyla, now Pope John Paul II, boldly declared: “[A] nation … has a right to the truth about itself.” Similarly, our children have the right to know the truth about the American Revolution.
The rights we today call “human rights” — encompassing free press, free speech, free assembly, free association and freedom of religion — are not asserted by us independently of God but come from God. They would be better called “divine rights for human beings” or “divinely endowed human rights.” Our revolution was not like the French Revolution or the Bolshevik Revolution. Ours was bloody but not a bloodbath.
And it was not godless.
We know this now and the Revolutionary War generation knew it then. Every public schoolteacher should affirm as true statements made in our Declaration of Independence: It is God's law that entitled us to a “separate and equal station” with other countries; we Americans place “a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence”; our “unalienable rights” to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” come from our “Creator.”
We are not our own creation. America is not our own creation. We do not will ourselves and we do not will this nation into existence. Humbly and respectfully, we and our nation are God's, whether we act like it all the time or not. We are “under God.” It is in God we trust, not in ourselves alone.
The minority, including the adults and children who are atheists or who are otherwise not adherents to one of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), certainly have rights we must accommodate in some fashion, but their rights should not be allowed to silence us and our children's teachers on the question of the truths we hold as a body politic to be “self-evident.”
Any Supreme Court decision that would ban the teaching of self-evident truths enshrined in our Declaration of Independence to our young as a violation of the U.S. Constitution would obviously be an unconstitutional amendment to the Constitution rather than an interpretation of it. No member of the Revolutionary War generation could possibly think the First Amendment would prevent tax-supported teachers from affirming as true each and every statement in the declaration. If that is the result desired, then the people should themselves amend the Constitution.
As a nation, we must reject every attempt either to prohibit as unconstitutional official mention of — and prayer to — God or approve such as constitutional only if they are deemed ceremonial, patriotic, historical or serve to solemnize an event. Let us be honest: The latter characterizations are often hypocritical subterfuges to avoid the former ban. The problem is the ban, the great prohibition.
When the bailiff opens a session of the U.S. Supreme Court with “God save the United States and this honorable court,” it is a prayer; it is an abbreviation of “O God, save the United States and this honorable court” or “May you, God, save the United States and this honorable court” from every evil, error and injustice.
If it is merely ceremonial or serves merely to solemnize the event, if the bailiff and the court do not mean the words, then they are using the name of God like President Mikhail Gorbachev used the word “god” when he was head of the communist Soviet Union; the prayer should be eliminated from use because it takes the name of God in vain in violation of the Second Commandment. God ain't quaint. His holy Name is not window-dressing for our window, a prop on our stage or veneer on our table. The world is his; it is his stage on which we act; it is his table of life to which he has welcomed us.
The Thanksgiving Days proclaimed by Presidents Washington and Lincoln, the two presidents our nation most reveres, were religious holidays, days set aside for prayer and fasting. Thanksgiving Day is not constitutional because it is historical — a day commemorating the first such day of the pilgrims. Rather, it is constitutional in the deepest sense.
Although Thanksgiving Day has been contorted in our time into Turkey Day and a day on which we are thankful for what we have obtained for ourselves, the day is intended to thank unabashedly the one, holy and immortal God for the blessings he has bestowed on our nation.
We would be wise to allow — indeed encourage — our students and their teachers to imitate President Lincoln.
In his second inaugural address, he explored the relationship between the nearly concluded Civil War and the purposes of God. Every nation is called, like ours, by God and has a unique vocation in human history. Our nation is tethered to God. In the past century, our courts have sought to break this tether. If the courts continue on their path, we will, in Shakespeare's terminology, be “undone.” The problem is not whether believers are becoming marginalized, the problem is that the American Revolution, the American experiment, is being separated from its Source.
God is our creator, our provider, the source of our life and our liberties. A judicial command requiring the nation as such to forsake him by forbidding us from acknowledging this publicly and in our children's classrooms is as intolerable as any Intolerable Act passed by the British Parliament affecting the American colonies.
From the mouths of babes comes wisdom.
A Feb. 18 news report says that a fifth grader has collected 7,500 signatures on a petition that reads: “Dear Supreme Court of the United States of America: I understand that someone wants to take ‘under God’ out of our Pledge of Allegiance. I feel that you should not take that out of our Pledge. Also, I think that it is important that you know how we, the kids of America, feel about this decision. Shouldn't it matter how we feel about this? After all, we are the ones that stand up every morning and say the Pledge. Please consider all of the signatures from kids that feel the same way that I do. Thank you.”
Listen, my students, and you shall hear … of the story of the American Revolution and of American history — uncensored by federal judges.
As just one example, in 1787, 81-year-old Ben Franklin, not a minister, stood up and implored his fellow delegates to pray daily for the help of God in designing the U.S. Constitution. He reminded them that the Continental Congress had met in the same room, the statehouse in Philadelphia, and had prayed daily for divine help.
“Our prayers were heard … and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed the frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor … Have we forgotten that powerful Friend? … [T]he longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?”
Franklin then quoted Psalm 127: “Unless God builds the house, the work of the laborers is in vain.” He declared, “I firmly believe this.”
Without God's assistance, “Our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages.”
James M. Thunder, former general counsel of Americans United for Life, writes from McLean, Virginia.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: James M. Thunder ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: The New Evangelization Will Not Be Televised DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:Here in Connecticut we did not take our robed masters’ diktat lying down.
On Feb. 4, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court declared that nothing less than the imposition of same-sex marriage on an unwilling public would satisfy its whims. The court's decision was released four days before a long-planned rally for marriage at the state capitol in Hartford.
The rally, organized by the Family Institute of Connecticut, was intended as a follow-up to last year's Defense of Marriage petition drive, which had gathered 70,000 signatures and stalled the state's same-sex marriage movement.
Feeling the wind at our backs following last year's success, we believed this could be the year to pass a Defense of Marriage Act in liberal Connecticut. What would the Massachusetts decision mean for our rally?
The answer, according to the capitol police, was a turnout of 6,000, the second-largest rally in Connecticut history. Viewed from my spot on the dais, it was beautiful: 6,000 people shivering together in the freezing cold, determined to defend their culture against an aggressive assault.
It was a historic moment. But it's a historic moment that was carefully kept secret.
Our hopes that state legislators would pass a Defense of Marriage Act after seeing the widespread opposition to same-sex marriage in Connecticut were cast into doubt by the biased media coverage of the rally.
First, there was the numbers game. Though the capitol police — a neutral third party — counted 6,000 at our rally, the Associated Press cut that number in half, reporting that we had “about 3,000.” Most of the state's media followed the wire service's lead, often putting the number at “nearly” 3,000. The Hartford Courant, in the caption for its above-the-fold front-page photo, put our number in “the hundreds,” while the below-the-fold article reported vaguely that it was “thousands.”
By contrast, the Courant noted rather specifically that “more than 800” attended a homosexual-marriage counter-rally at a local church, a number that grew to “about 900” in a New Haven Register article. Only The New London Day reported that the number was actually 600, 70 of whom were speakers.
“A few dozen” activists, according to the Courant, staged some guerrilla theater across the street from our rally, but that number grew to 40 in most media accounts and to 75 in the New Haven Register. Though the New Haven Register did note the lopsided numbers of the dueling rallies, it added that the pro-homosexual marriage side “will get their chance” at another rally the following week (that later rally drew “more than 300,” according to the New Haven Register).
Everywhere it was the same: Media reports deflated our numbers, inflated the numbers of the other side and left the false impression of a rough parity between the rally and the counter-rallies.
Then there was the portrayal of our speakers. Bishop LeRoy Bailey, the black pastor of the largest Protestant church in New England, spoke eloquently of how “civil rights,” a term coined to describe the goal of black people, had been illegitimately usurped to support a cause Martin Luther King Jr. would have opposed.
No media outlet reported his words. Instead, of all the wonderful things said by our speakers, the Associated Press ran only a single quote: Bailey's “Are we a nation under God or under gays?” By itself, that quote did not reflect the tenor of any speech, including Bailey's.
Bishop Peter Rosazza, auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Hartford, emphasized our compassion for our adversaries. But the Courant claimed that Bishop Rosazza “mocked” the homosexual lobby Love Makes a Family when he made a reasoned argument that love alone does not make a family. No speaker for any pro-homosexual marriage rally was portrayed in a similar light.
Instead, the media seemed determined to prove that, indeed, the devil is in the details.
While 600 pro-homosexual-marriage activists rallied inside a church, the 6,000 who attended our rally endured freezing temperatures. Some of us on the dais, where it was slightly warmer, noticed early on that we could no longer feel our feet. The Courant made no mention of the weather that day, but when a second pro-homosexual-marriage rally was held a week later in 40-degree temperatures — a balmy day for this winter — the paper noted that the crowd “of about 400” were “dressed for the mid-February chill.”
Pictures of the size of our crowd were hard to come by, with the Courant's photo of our rally instead showing a woman holding a painting of the Divine Mercy.
But the caption under the photo of the pro-homosexual marriage rally that was published a week later sounded like a press release: “She has two moms, and 6-year-old Rachel Howard of Stamford loves them both, as the sign she helped make attests. Rachel took part in a rally at the state capitol Saturday supporting the rights of gays to marry.”
What I saw in person that day and what I saw reported in the media were two different events. What I saw was 6,000 concerned Americans defending morality and asking their representatives to consider their opinions before changing their laws.
But what was reported was a small group of fanatics lashing out in anger at reasonable churchgoing homosexuals.
What I saw was the New Evangelization: a diverse crowd of enthusiastic men and women promoting enduring moral principles. The New Evangelization will continue as planned, but don't expect to see it on TV.
Peter Wolfgang is a district deputy for the Connecticut State Council of the Knights of Columbus.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Peter Wolfgang ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Teacher's Fret DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:I suppose there are worse things our parish's religious-education director could have asked me to do.
The day he asked me to substitute-teach a CCD class of eighth graders, though, it didn't feel that way. He probably felt comfortable asking me for such an enormous favor because he happens to be my husband.
Dan was forgetting, it seemed, that the class he was hoping I would cover was the same one whose teacher had just quit. It was also the same one Dan had taught the previous week. Discouraged, he had come home and announced, “They're all boys and every one of them has a behavior problem.”
As a mother of six, I can weather a fair amount of abuse. But eighth-grade boys? I didn't even like eighth-grade boys when I was an eighth-grade girl. In particular, I remember the boys in my eighth-grade CCD class years ago. Miss Goddard, a soft-spoken college student with aspirations for the convent, was their hapless victim. I am sure that quiet girls like me who sat in the front row were her sole consolation.
If my husband, who makes his living teaching adolescent boys, had difficulty controlling this particular class, what exactly did he expect me to accomplish with this rowdy bunch?
Despite my protests, Dan assured me that these particular hooligans might respond positively to a female teacher. He took the baby from my arms, handed me my coat and ushered me to the door.
I drove to the church with fear and trembling, then stood in the doorway of the classroom feeling even smaller than my 5-foot, 1-inch frame. I said a quick prayer, took a deep breath and stepped inside. As soon as I walked in, Joshua, a freckle-faced boy wearing a baseball cap backward, leaped from his seat and let out a whoop.
“Yes!” he shouted, pumping his fist in the air. “It's not Mr. Bean — I hated Mr. Bean!”
“Dude,” one of his friends interjected. “That's Mrs. Bean.”
Joshua's fist froze in midair. Color filled his face and he slunk into his chair as his classmates exploded with laughter. We were off to a roaring start.
I'd like to report that there were no problems as we took turns reading from the text and answering questions that evening. But, of course, that wouldn't be true. I endured some obnoxious noises, ignored some pencil-poking antics and confiscated two packs of gum, a motor-bike magazine and a Gameboy. We managed to complete the chapter, though, and I think a couple of those kids actually listened when I described the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
My moderate successes started me thinking. Doesn't Our Lord's message speak to these boys in their droopy jeans and oversized sneakers? In spite of their bad attitudes and disruptive behavior, doesn't our faith belong to them, too? When Christ told us, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), he did not offer the option of skipping over those who are uncooperative or reluctant to hear what we have to say. He never said to spread the good news only among polite, pleasant people who make us feel comfortable and welcome.
At the end of class, the boys joked and jostled as they shuffled from the room. They were still foreign creatures to me, but they seemed somehow less intimidating than before.
Joshua lingered by my desk for a moment. “Who's gonna teach us next week?” he asked. I shrugged my shoulders and told him I didn't know who his new teacher would be. After he left, though, I had to admit that I did know. It would be me.
Danielle Bean writes from Center Harbor, New Hampshire.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Danielle Bean ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Manitoba's Missionary Marvel DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:One of the first Catholic missionaries to venture into the wilds of central Canada, Father Jean-Edouard Darveau, met his martyrdom here.
The young diocesan priest had paddled 2,000 miles from Quebec in a birch-bark canoe only to be murdered by the natives he had come to help. They mistook him for a practitioner of black magic.
That was in 1844. Thankfully, the aboriginal people around Duck Bay, on Manitoba's majestic Lake Winnipegosis, would be kinder to succeeding Catholic missionaries.
Father Joseph Charles Camper, an Oblate of Mary Immaculate, arrived in the 1860s. He gathered together some natives and began a small parish in what was then called Pine Creek. In 1894, the Oblates began construction of a residential school for the native children. Built with the aid of Scottish stonema-sons, the school opened in 1897. The town, now called Camperville in the first Oblate's honor, soon became a hub of worship and education. The school was staffed first by Franciscan sisters, then by Oblate sisters.
When Quebec Archbishop Adelard Langevin visited in 1906, he remarked that a larger church ought to be built to serve the population, now some 500 strong. So it was that this strapping edifice rose stone by stone from 1906 to 1910. The Oblates designed it and the parishioners helped them build it. Together they formally dedicated their new church to Our Lady of Seven Sorrows in 1912.
Thanks to its patron, souls hardy enough to brave the Canadian winter will find it a perfect place to visit the first week of Lent.
Cathedral of the North
The church, known to many as the Cathedral of the North, was built with classical lines and in cruciform shape. And, fortunately, it was built to last. In 1930, a troubled child set fire underneath the steps. The ensuing conflagration consumed the interior. The stone exterior stood up to the heat and survived intact, except for the steeple atop the 130-foot bell tower. Originally two-tiered, the steeple was rebuilt with a single tier.
The original bell was destroyed by the fire. Its maker, a foundry in France, was commissioned to cast its replacement. This was blessed on Dec. 15, 1935, by Archbishop Alfred Sinnott of the Archdiocese of Winnipeg.
Because the fire struck during the Depression, refurbishment of the interior was modest — at least, compared with the original design. For example, the vaulted ceiling in the nave, which featured original paintings of biblical scenes, was replaced by a lower, flat ceiling.
But that doesn't mean the refurbishers sacrificed anything on reverence.
A glassed alcove on the wall behind the altar displays a replica of Michelangelo's Pieta — Our Lady of Seven Sorrows. She cradles her deceased son at the foot of a commanding, dark cross.
The tabernacle is front and center behind the altar. Above it, a statue of Jesus, arms upraised and Sacred Heart radiating love, rises to welcome pilgrims and parishioners alike. When I visited, the altarpiece bearing the tabernacle and Sacred Heart statue was adorned with beautiful floral arrangements.
The altar itself is something of a work of art. Supported by faux Doric columns of rich wood grain, it presents a brilliant reproduction of Da Vinci's Last Supper — a helpful reminder to communicants of what happens on the altar surface at each Mass.
To the left of the altar is a 30-foot wall painting of the Ascension of Christ. The apostles surround the Lord. The painting, I learned, was crafted by Msgr. Charles Maillard of Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan, who painted many such works in churches throughout the area.
To the far left of the main altar is a side altar to St. Joseph. To the far right is a statue of the Blessed Mother. There are also two statues of the Blessed Mother in the sanctuary area. Also to the right of the sanctuary is a baptismal font of hand-carved maple. The small Stations of the Cross along the walls, plaster statuettes mounted on wood crosses, are simple and evocative.
Nice Pipes
Looking overhead, I noted that the choir loft is mounted above the main doors; it rests below the rose window in the tower. All of the wood, I learned, was carved by a Belgian carpenter. He fashioned the loft in a scalloped design and suspended it with a staircase each on the north and south sides.
The historic pipe organ was handmade by a Brother Sylvestre of the Oblates of the Immaculate Heart and donated by Sacred Heart Parish in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1957. Now it's just a lavish adornment — no one locally is able to play it. A smaller, electric organ is played during Mass.
Our Lady of Seven Sorrows is one of only a few remaining early Catholic mission churches built for the native populations of Manitoba. It is also the largest of all the Catholic churches built during that missionary era. It was designated a provincial heritage-building site in 1991.
Today's parish roll includes natives, Metis (people of mixed blood, native and non-native) and a good number of Ukrainians who have immigrated to the area.
Stepping back outside to admire the exterior, which was refurbished between 1988 and 1991, visitors can pause by a small Lady of Lourdes grotto on the grounds. Many a wedding picture has been taken with this as a backdrop.
From there it would be good to finish the pilgrimage with a reflection at the memorial to Father Darveau, now known simply as the Martyr of Manitoba.
How marvelously God has used that selfless priest's dangerous trek into the unknown. How fitting that the Lord turned his servant's evangelical sacrifice into something lasting, beautiful and, for many, life-changing. Surely our Sorrowful Mother is consoled.
Joseph Albino writes from Syracuse, New York.
----- EXCERPT: Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Church, Camperville, Manitoba ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Albino ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:All times Eastern
SUNDAY, FEB. 29
Log Home Living
Home & Garden TV, 9 p.m.
This new special is about contemporary log dwellings. Despite modern innovations in construction materials, we still hark back to the good old trees God has given us.
MARCH, VARIOUS DATES
Musical Specials
PBS, check local listings
Two shows stand out among PBS’ pledge specials this month. Daniel O'donnell: Songs of Faith presents the singer and others in a performance taped in Dublin. Irish Tenors: Live in Belfast, first aired in 2000, features Anthony Kearns, Ronan Tynan and Finbar Wright in solos and teaming up on “Ireland, Mother Ireland” and more.
MONDAY, MARCH 1
The Journey Home
EWTN, 8 p.m.
Host Marcus Grodi interviews ex-Lutheran minister Noah Lett. Re-airs Tuesday at 1 a.m. and 10 a.m., and Saturday at 11 p.m.
MONDAY, MARCH 1
Hitler's Search for the Holy Grail
PBS, 10 p.m.
Adolf Hitler and his Nazi henchmen presaged the New Age in their descent into neo-paganism and the occult. The SSAhnenerbe (“ancestral heritage”) unit made up a genocidal ideology based on fantasies about Atlantis, an ancient German “master race” and the Holy Grail (sought not from reverence, of course, but with evil intent).
TUESDAY, MARCH 2
Nova: Life and Death in the War Zone
PBS, 8 p.m.
A Nova camera crew spent weeks last year with the 21st Combat Support Hospital as it treated U.S. and Iraqi casualties. Among the wounded were many civilians, including children maimed by “dud” bombs. Advisory: Casualty scenes, so not for children.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3
Secrets of the Dead: Killer Flu
PBS, 8 p.m.
Hoping to head off a similar massive outbreak today, U.S. and British scientists and medical experts are searching for clues about the influenza pandemic of 1918 that killed perhaps 40 million and why it spread so rapidly around the globe.
THURSDAY, MARCH 4
The True Story of Hidalgo
History Channel, 8 p.m.
The so-far-unreleased Disney film Hidalgo notwithstanding, the Long Riders Guild and historians say Frank T. Hopkins fabricated his claims of friendship with Wild West heroes and of winning long-distance races with Hidalgo, an American paint horse.
FRIDAY, MARCH 5
Loading Docks
History Channel, 10 p.m.
The products we purchase and the food we buy come to us via truck, ship, plane and train, but they don't reach store shelves by themselves. This is the story of the efficient and hardworking crews who keep commerce flowing at our loading docks.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dan Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Will Mel Evangelize Evangelicals? DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:Fundamentalist Christians and evangelical
Protestants have attracted much attention in recent weeks by trumpeting their hopes that Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ will prove a great evangelistic tool.
What relatively few have noticed is the extent to which these groups are themselves being evangelized.
Not that The Passion of the Christ is an anti-Protestant tract — far from it. The film focuses to a great extent on what unites us, not what divides us. Its central theme — the belief that, for our salvation, the Son of God suffered, died and was buried, and rose from the dead — is shared by Catholic and non-Catholic Christians. Protestant believers witnessing The Passion of the Christ will in large measure see their own faith reflected in it and will rightly regard the film as an affirmation of their own beliefs.
That in itself is a triumph of sorts. While many Protestants recognize Catholics as fellow Christians and the Catholic Church as a Christian church, many others, particularly toward the fundamentalist end of the spectrum, continue to take a dim view of the Catholic faith. Phrases such as “an apostate church,” “a blend of Christianity and paganism” and “Babylon mystery religion” are common in these circles. One can almost hear them asking, “Can anything good come out of Catholicism?”
Yet Gibson's Catholic beliefs are so well known that, in embracing The Passion of the Christ as a profoundly Christian film, non-Catholics will have a hard time not embracing Gibson, and other Catholics with him, as brothers and sisters in Christ. Gibson might have traditionalist tendencies, but that only sharpens the conflict since it underscores that the Gospel isn't something recently discovered by progressive Catholics since Vatican II but is precisely traditional Catholic belief.
But the Catholic significance of The Passion of the Christ for the evangelical-Protestant community goes beyond mere identification of the Gospel with the Catholic tradition. As non-Catholics watch the film, they will begin to sense, alongside the gospel of grace they know and love, a sensibility at work that might at first seem strange to them.
The film's structure, following the Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Venerable Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich, one of the screenplay's sources, combines two popular traditional Catholic devotions: the 14 Stations of the Cross and the five sorrowful mysteries of the rosary. Every mystery and every station is there, in order — including one event drawn entirely from tradition, St. Veronica wiping the Lord's face.
The film highlights Catholic Eucharistic sensibilities by presenting the Last Supper not chronologically before the Garden of Gethsemane but in flashbacks intercut with the Crucifixion itself. This juxtaposition of the Crucifixion and the Last Supper reflects the Catholic dogma that the Mass, along with the cross, is a true sacrifice, and the sacrifice of the altar and of the cross are one.
Another key scene with Eucharistic overtones occurs after the scourging at the pillar, as the two Marys, Jesus’ mother and the Magdalene, get down on their knees and begin mopping his spilled blood off the flagstones. This image is bound to leave more than a few Protestants scratching their heads. Only in light of the Catholic sensibility regarding the precious blood of Christ in the Eucharist does it begin to make sense.
Then there's the film's Marian sensibility. For many non-Catholics, Mary is such a contentious subject that the very mention of her name elicits knee-jerk defensiveness: “Mary was just an ordinary sinful woman like anyone else; God used her in a special way, but she's no different from you or me.”
The Passion of the Christ reaches beyond this defensiveness, inviting the viewer to a positive, sympathetic contemplation of Mary's unique relationship with Jesus and with his disciples. When a scene of Mary's anguish at her son staggering under the cross gives way to a flashback of Jesus falling as a toddler and Mary rushing to his side, many will grasp on an emotional level something they might resist putting into words: While Jesus alone made atonement for our sins, of all his followers Mary was in a unique way united with him in his sufferings, as her mother's heart was pierced by a sword.
Still more challenging is the way the film casts Mary as a kind of visual counterpoint to its Satan figure. In the opening scene, when Satan tempts Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane to abandon his mission, the devil appears both as an androgynous robed figure and also as a literal serpent, echoing an earlier temptation scene in another garden. When Jesus smashes the heel of his foot down on the serpent's head, Protestants will recognize a symbolic allusion to Genesis 3:15: “He will crush your head, and you shall strike at his heel.”
But Gibson's film also plays with the Marian interpretation of the earlier part of the verse: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed.” In traditional Catholic exegesis, “the woman” is ultimately Mary, and her “seed” is Christ himself. The “enmity” between Satan and “the woman” signifies nothing less than a total opposition of wills untainted by the slightest fault or sin on Mary's part, and thus points to her Immaculate Conception.
The Passion of the Christ evokes in an imaginative and poetic way this complete opposition between Mary and Satan in a number of scenes. One occurs as Jesus carries his cross through the midst of the crowd, with Mary anxiously following him on one side and the Satan figure on the other side, mirroring and thus opposing her. Another takes place during the scourging at the pillar, as the satanic figure manifests itself in a vision that seems a deliberate parody of images of the Madonna.
There's also the way the film presents Jesus’ last words to his mother and the beloved disciple from the cross — ”Woman, behold your son … Son, behold … your mother” — with that meaningful pause before the last two words. Add to this the way Peter early on refers to Mary as “Mother,” and it's clear The Passion of the Christ holds up Mary as a mother figure to all of Jesus’ disciples.
All across the Bible Belt, Protestant churches are challenging their members to take their “unchurched” friends to see The Passion of the Christ. Perhaps Catholics should make a point of going with their Protestant friends — and then pointing out what their friends aren't hearing about the film in their own churches.
Steven D. Greydanus, editor and chief critic of Decentfilms.com, writes from Bloomfield, New Jersey.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video/DVD Picks DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:The Gospel of John (2003)
This presentation defies ordinary film criticism and indeed ordinary movie viewing.
Dialogue and narration have been taken verbatim from the Good News translation of the fourth Gospel. Dramatically, this approach comes with certain trade-offs.
As an artistic meditation on Scripture, it represents a unique opportunity to experience God's word in a new way.
Strengths include production values, acting and Christopher Plummer's engaging narration. With an advisory committee of scholars representing Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths — and bringing expertise in Scripture studies, theology and archaeology — the filmmakers strove for accuracy in every detail.
Ian Cusick's Jesus is both warmly human and also authoritative, surprising, even polemical. Cusick has the presence and confidence of a popular teacher, easily transitioning from addressing a large crowd to focusing on a single individual.
The film's most pervasive weakness is the translation that provides the basis for the screenplay, the Good News Bible, which is neither precise nor graceful. Still, the gist of John's narrative and presentation of Jesus’ teaching remain intact.
Well mounted and honorably executed, The Gospel of John is one of the most religiously significant films in years.
Now back in theaters in many areas, The Gospel of John is also available on DVD and VHS at www.gospelofjohnthefilm.com as well as at Amazon.com and eBay.
Content advisory: Passion narrative violence.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Anything But Dead: Latin Is Making a comeback DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:WILMINGTON, Del. — For a supposedly dead language, Latin is alive and well at some Catholic schools in the Wilmington, Del., Diocese.
Although it was abandoned by most public schools in the past 40 years or so, many students and teachers say studying Latin has many benefits.
“I like that it's an ancient language that has a lot to do with the culture,” said Thomas Bounds, a sophomore at Salesianum School in Wilmington.
Bounds, who takes Latin II, said his Latin class, with 13 students, is smaller than most of his classes, which gives it a more personal atmosphere. He also said the language has helped him with vocabulary, English grammar and his SAT scores.
At Ursuline Academy, also in Wilmington, Latin is mandatory for sixth-graders. In the seventh and eighth grades, students can choose Latin, French or Spanish.
“This year Latin was the most highly sought-after choice,” said Robin Chambers, Ursuline's curriculum director. Ursuline has added a year of Latin study each fall since introducing the course three years ago.
She thinks the renewed interest stems from the students’ desires to do well on standardized tests, noting that “there is a pretty established correlation between Latin studies and success with English vocabulary.”
Ursuline sophomore Colleen Hayes has found another advantage to knowing Latin. Hayes, who wants to be a physical therapist, volunteers at a local hospital and not only sees a lot of medical terms with Latin roots, but she also understands them.
Studying Latin can have particular benefits for Catholics.
“What Hebrew is to the Jews, Latin is to the Church,” said Tracy Lee Simmons, author of Climbing Parnassus: A New Apologia for Greek and Latin (ISI Books, 2002).
Latin is the language used when passing along Catholic doctrine. Encyclicals are always released in Latin first, Simmons noted.
“Anyone who knows Latin holds one of the many the keys to understanding the thinking of the Church,” he said. “Latin is also a repository of beauty. No language, however expressive, can quite replace it.”
Simmons said he's noticed more and more schools teaching Latin and “saving it from extinction at the last minute.”
Studying Latin in Catholic schools all but disappeared after the Second Vatican Council for a variety of reasons — it was considered a “dead language” not only because it wasn't commonly spoken anymore but also because with council changes it was seen by many as no longer needed.
“People associated it with the ‘old Church,’ and they wanted to be up-to-date, so the sooner it was gone, the better,” Simmons said.
Another reason was that it was difficult to learn and didn't have the immediate payoff that mathematics or reading had.
“Intelligent people forgot the formative and cultural purposes of Latin,” Simmons said. “It gives us first-class intellectual citizenship in Western civilization, and that's no small thing.”
Middle-School Latin
How young is too young to start students in the study of Latin? Ideally, Simmons said, students should start early on — before age 10 if possible.
“Latin helps train the mind in the ways of clear and accurate expression and encourages a taste for etymology, without which one cannot master any language,” he said. Whenever one can find a good teacher, in or out of school, would be when to start learning Latin, he added.
When the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales opened Nativity Preparatory School in Wilmington last fall, they decided to offer Latin to the middle-school students.
The school, which enrolls boys from low-income families, is tuition-free and committed to having small classes. Nativity has a total enrollment of 15 students, divided between a fifth and a sixth grade.
The school's nine sixth-graders, taught by volunteer Joe Andrews, take three Latin classes a week and also put out a weekly one-page Latin newspaper.
“I let them write whatever they want,” Andrews told The Dialog, newspaper of the Wilmington Diocese.
Andrews has been a Latin devotee since taking the language at Salesianum School. His class is comprised of eight black students and one Hispanic student.
“When they started, they were speaking inner-city slang,” he said, but now they find the Latin derivative of a word each day and also give him what they call a “ghetto word” of the day.
He said the students also “love tormenting the fifth-graders in Latin.”
That good-natured tormenting carried over with Father John Fisher, Salesianum's principal and an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales, who teaches first-year Latin at his school and tutors the Nativity Prep students one night a week.
He said the Nativity Prep students “insult me in Latin” but added with a smile, “At least they're using it.”
They also ask him questions and introduce themselves in Latin, something his high-school students don't even do.
The priest admits he was a bit skeptical when the Nativity program began, wondering how well the students would take to Latin.
“But they're doing a phenomenal job,” he said. “The kids have a tremendous facility for Latin.”
He also thinks Latin still has its place in modern-day life not only for the tremendous discipline involved in studying it but also for the way the root words tie into so many other subjects.
“I'm at the point where I hear things and I just keep thinking of the Latin roots of everything. My ideal world would be just to teach five Latin classes and not be principal,” he said.
He described his own 48-minute class for first-year Latin students as “tremendous fun.”
“The way we do it,” he added, “it's anything but dead.”
(Register staff contributed to this story.)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Ray Finocchiaro ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: A Passionate Encounter With The Passion DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:A GUIDE TO THE PASSION: 100
QUESTIONS ABOUT MEL GIBSON'S
by the editors of CatholicExchange.com
Ascension Press, 2004 70 pages, $5.95 (bulk rates available)
To order: (800) 376-0520 ascensionpress.org
A picture may well be worth 1,000 words, but even before its commercial release, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ was the subject of enough newspaper and magazine articles to fill a small library. Some have heralded its arrival; others have fretted over its possible effects on the social order. Everyone seems to have a strong opinion on it.
Now there is an informative Catholic guidebook to cut through the fog of confusion and provide some much-needed guidance on how to respond to this film.
A Guide to the Passion is the principal element in a collaborative effort of a Catholic Internet portal and a Catholic publisher to seize the opportunity for evangelization and catechesis that is presented by this earth-shaking cinematic event.
The Catholic Passion Outreach is the brainchild of Tom Allen, a former actor now writer-editor who heads CatholicExchange.com, and Matt Pinto, co-founder of the popular apologetics magazine Envoy and president of Ascension Press, which produces and markets catechetical and adult-education materials.
Together with their respective staffs, they have written a concise, enthusiastic booklet that examines Gibson's film in a question-and-answer format. Initial questions address concerns about fidelity to the Bible and historical authenticity. For those who might be unfamiliar with the Gospel message, many of the answers explain in contemporary language the theological significance of the actions that are depicted on the screen.
“As horrific as Jesus’ death was, we need to appreciate a fundamental truth of human existence: Authentic love involves sacrifice,” they write. “Love involves the total giving of self. Love means ‘[laying] down one's life for one's friends’ (John 15:13). So there is transcendent meaning in sacrifice and suffering.”
The Guide makes perfectly clear that arguments over whether to blame the Romans or the Jewish leaders of first-century Palestine miss the point: “To understand who is really responsible for Jesus’ death, the Church says the best place for each of us to look is in the mirror.” Answer No. 80 goes on to quote perennial Church teaching verbatim, as found in No. 598 of the Catechism.
The writers do a good job of highlighting and explaining relevant Catholic doctrines such as the mystery of the Eucharist, the reason why it was instituted during a Passover meal and the Blessed Virgin Mary's role on Calvary.
Because The Passion of the Christ is an extremely graphic motion picture about the sufferings of the Word-made-flesh, there are also Q&A. As with a more artistic emphasis; these discuss images in the film that might be disturbing or enigmatic. Besides the scene-by-scene analysis, the booklet includes three chapters of solidly Catholic apologetics (for example, “The Case for Christ”) and appendices describing the Stations of the Cross and the sorrowful mysteries.
The Guide to the Passion came off the press a few days before Ash Wednesday, when the film hit theaters. The booklet is meant to be not only read but also given away. Big discounts are offered to those who purchase large quantities. The low cost will enable lay Catholic associations to distribute it at movie theaters. All profits from the booklet will go toward promoting the film and other evangelization projects.
Catholic Passion Outreach has also designed a publicity program for dioceses and parishes and has made available free downloadable manuals for small groups that want to discuss the film and the Guide. (Visit www.Evangelization.com.)
A Guide to the Passion is an impressive and useful resource that can help Catholics come to grips with the moving experience of viewing the film. It can also help those who want to understand what the movie has to say about the Catholic faith — and what the Catholic faith has to say about it.
Michael J. Miller writes from Glenside, Pennsylvania.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Michael J. Miller ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:‘Institutional Confusion’?
Homosexual groups are not recognized on campus, so to present the festival homosexual students teamed up with the film, television and theater department.
“The fact that Notre Dame would allow it to take place on campus points to an institutional confusion,” law student Sean Vinck said. “The university claims to adhere to the teachings of the Church about a homosexual lifestyle, but at the same time it bends to modern culture's acceptance of it.”
No New Heights
CHRONICLE.COM, Feb. 11 — After three months of negotiations, Boston College newspaper editors have reached a compromise with the administration regarding editorial control of the paper.
School officials requested last November that The Heights ban all alcohol and tobacco advertising and be subject to a faculty advisor y board that would oversee all editorial content.
In exchange for paying more rent, the editors agreed to monitor the paper's adver tising more closely but avoided being subject to any faculty board regarding editorial content.
Feminist — and Pro-Life
In her talk, she praised Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton as original leaders of the women's and pro-life movements.
“The suffragists worked to change society to accept women. Second-wave feminists sold out,” Winn said. “They worked to change women so that they would be accepted by society.”
Winn also discussed ways to tackle the “root causes of abortion,” the paper reported, calling for better campus-housing options, affordable day-care programs and maternity insurance coverage on college plans for pregnant women.
Pondering the Passion
SETON HALL UNIVERSITY, Feb. 12 — “The Passion of Jesus: From Gospel to Gibson” is the title of a March 14 symposium to be held at the South Orange, N.J., university.
Rabbi Asher Finkl, a professor of Jewish-Christian studies at Seton Hall, and Father Lawrence Frizzell, director of the Institute of Judeo-Christian Studies at the school, are scheduled to present the lecture.
The symposium “will explore the New Testament message and Catholic devotion to the passion of Jesus,” a school press release said, “with attention to anti-Jewish motifs, which may mar the Christian's understanding of the myster y of redemption.”
Day of Purity
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Feb. 13 — Thousands of high-school students around the country wore white T-shirts to school the day before Valentine's Day to publicly show their commitment to not have sex outside of marriage.
As part of the initiative, called the Day of Purity, students were scheduled to hand out pro-abstinence pamphlets to their peers.
The effort is supported by Christian groups nationwide and organized by Liberty Counsel, a religious-rights group based in Orlando, Fla.
The Associated Press noted the day came as President Bush was preparing a budget proposal to double federal funding for sexual-abstinence programs.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Red Corvette Discipline DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:Family Matters
What do you think about a parent saying, “I can't wait until he can drive. Then I'll have something to hang over his head to make him behave”?
I'd think, “Well, buy him a red corvette when he turns 16, and then you'll really have something to hang over his head.” Alas, no car — not even a red corvette — can make a parent a good disciplinarian. Nevertheless, out of frustration and feelings of helplessness with their teen, some parents hope for future leverage to finally be able to force a little cooperation. But such hope is not founded upon reality.
First, if a parent believes future privileges will foster discipline that “works,” what does that say about his authority now? Has he lost it, and if so, how much? The more authority a parent has let slip away, the less likely removing upcoming privileges, however valued by a child, will bring about much positive change. In fact, such discipline is likely to be a new source of conflict, as Mario may get really mad if Mom messes with something as precious as car keys. If, in his eyes, she had no past right to take away his stuff, why would she have any present right, especially now that he's older?
Second, even if A.J. does become more pleasant, what is his motive? Is it solely to get and keep driving status? If holding on to one big privilege is the driving force behind treating his parents better, what happens if and when he loses that privilege? What big stick is left to mom or dad? Healthy authority is never founded upon one or two consequences, no matter how powerful they might be.
Third, discipline teaches better when it removes more than just excess. Nowadays, many teens’ existence is a mini-Disney world. So, if Mickey gets mouthy and loses his Play Station, no big deal. That still leaves the computer, TV, stereo, four-wheeler, semi-annual cruise and beach home in Florida untouched. When a child is “disciplined” by cutting back 8% of a 97% excess, he will learn slowly. True, a car might be the newest big-ticket item. Nonetheless, it is still part of a long-standing pattern: taking away only part of way too much anyway.
Fourth, a vehicle is a privilege to be earned, not an entitlement of age — contrary to what most kids, even many parents, seem to believe. The foremost question to ask is: Has Ford shown himself mature enough to deserve wheels under him? If a parent is counting on a car to provide the ultimate discipline leverage, the question has been answered: Here is a youngster who is not ready to drive. There is no reason even to consider “having something to hang over his head” because he doesn't deserve having the something in the first place.
A closing thought: When a child is responsible with current privileges, then new ones can be contemplated. It is seldom wise to give new goodies and perks when the old ones haven't yet taught the lessons.
Dr. Ray Guarendi is a father of 10, psychologist and author.
He can be reached at www.DrRay.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dr. Ray Guarendi ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Out of the Broadcast Booth and Into the Confessional DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:Priest Profile
Young Patrick Wattigny went off to the University of New Orleans intent on becoming “the next Harry Caray,” the famed Chicago Cubs’ broadcaster. He wound up, at 26, becoming the youngest priest in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
In college, he undertook studies that would lead to a communications degree and a career in sports journalism. Soon enough, however, he realized that such a path, while worthwhile and exciting, would not fit into what he knew to be the secret to true happiness.
“I learned that, if you want joy, you will serve Jesus first, others second and yourself third,” says Father Wattigny (pronounced Watt-nee). “The deciding factor for the priesthood was the fact that it seemed much more important than being a baseball announcer.”
Now in his 10th year as a priest, he says his decision is daily confirmed through a whirlwind of work as pastor of St. Benilde in Matairie, La., and as chaplain at all-boys Archbishop Rummel High School, where he has helped encourage five of the six graduates now studying for the priesthood.
Add to that pre-cana marriage-preparation classes, one-on-one instruction for confirmation, regular availability to the parish school and youth groups, and an active membership in Priests for Life — and you get an idea of what his schedule is like.
“I have been blessed to be God's instrument,” says the busy priest, who claims that his apostolic success has come in direct proportion to the attention and importance he gives to prayer and meditation, and to the reverence with which he celebrates Mass.
“In marriage preparation, for example, I have seen genuine conversions, including on the part of couples who were living together or who had planned on using contraceptives,” Father Wattigny says. “People will accept what the Church teaches if they know why the Church teaches what it does and if the one who teaches is relying on God.” The experience has also prompted him to require natural family planning classes for all participants.
Father Wattigny's road to the priest-hood was not especially dramatic and did not require him to turn his life around. The three priorities mentioned above, starting with Jesus, were at work since his earliest days in a household that was serious about the faith.
“I have a father who is generous with his time, his money and his talents,” Father Wattigny says. “He began to take his faith seriously while a student at Loyola University in New Orleans and has made an annual retreat in each of the 40 years since graduating.”
The parish priests he knew growing up also played a major role in his vocation. “They seemed to be happy, well-adjusted, even holy men,” Father Wattigny recalls.
After graduating from college and a year of philosophical studies, Father Wattigny entered Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans and was ordained in 1994. Additional formation came from his first pastor. He found in Irish-born Father William McGough a kindred spirit who makes a daily holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament.
“Since I was a kid, I never doubted the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and have always been drawn to this mysterious presence,” Father Wattigny says. “With each passing day I see more clearly the importance of the Mass and the Eucharist.”
According to one parishioner, it was through devotion to the Eucharist that the people of St. Benilde first came to realize what a special pastor they had in Father Wattigny.
“Before Father Pat came, we had a Monday night holy hour attended by about 20 people,” recalls Diane McCann, the parish coordinator of religious education. “The other priests before him simply opened the doors of the tabernacle and returned to the rectory, but Father Pat exposed the Eucharist in the monstrance.”
While the parishioners immediately took to the more solemn form of adoration, it was something else that won their hearts.
“They liked him right away because he stayed in the church in prayer for the whole hour before concluding with Benediction,” McCann says. “It told us that he shared our devotion, that he took it seriously and supported us.”
The weekly adoration now draws upward of 75 parishioners; a monthly holy hour for families is typically attended by some 200, including many children.
“We're building toward perpetual adoration,” says Father Wattigny, who believes it is essential that he show support for the devotions the people practice — and who regularly leads the rosary, an annual Corpus Christi procession and the uniquely New Orleans custom of visiting nine churches on Good Friday.
“When the priest plugs into the devotional life of the parish, his spirituality grows and it draws the people to follow their pastor,” he adds.
McCann sees this attitude as a key to success with the rock-ribbed Catholics of southern Louisiana.
“If the pastor signals that he doesn't take adoration of the Blessed Sacrament seriously, or that he doesn't take Humanae Vitae seriously,” she says, “the people feel diminished, that they can't speak up for the faith.”
Raymond Arroyo, EWTN's popular news director, grew up in St. Benilde's and stays in touch with his roots. “With credit to Father Pat,” he says, “the faith of the people there has been revived in a way that has not been seen in at least 30 years.”
The journalist recalls that Father Wattigny “was like a dog with a bone after I promised to speak to his RCIA group about covering the Church and John Paul II. He kept after me out of zeal — a desire that these converts get to know the Pope.”
According to parishioner McCann, Father Wattigny's prayerfulness and seriousness about all things Catholic is balanced by an attractive personality that includes an enduring love for baseball, kids and “kittens that crawl all over the place.”
It's the kind of enthusiasm that keeps the priest's golf handicap at 25 and allows him to continue to collect baseball cards and do such things as sing “Mack the Knife” along with the third-graders in a school show.
“And he's quick to laugh,” McCann says, “especially at himself.”
Joe Cullen writes from New York City.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joe Cullen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Boob-Tube Busters DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:Facts of Life
Parents who want to thwart the TV from turning their children into couch potatoes don't have to trash the set. In a recent research project, preschool children who read, did projects and ate dinner together with their family watched substantially less television than their peers who did not participate in the project. Results were published in the Februar y issue of The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. There's more on the study, along with some helpful TV-busting tips, at www.bassett.org/pediatricsresearch.cfm.
Register illustration by Tim Rauch
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: 'What I'm Giving Up for Lent' DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:With the first Sunday of Lent upon us — and many of us still unsure about how best to spend our “40 days in the desert” this year — we thought we'd send our intrepid reporter to rustle up some ideas.
He asked a few influential Catholics: What are
Here's what he came back with.
Mary Beth Bonacci, author, speaker and founder of Real Love Productions, says, “I always give up something and I add something extra. Sugar! I'm giving up sugar. In every form — even no ketchup. That means reading labels. It's for me to regulate and discipline myself. And, for a positive thing, I'm going to make a real effort to spend more time in front of the Blessed Sacrament each day.”
Russell Shaw, Washington, D.C.-based author and journalist, is giving up “frequent and unnecessary access to the Internet and checking my e-mail. It has become more and more self-indulgent, like going to the water cooler too much. I'll just go on the Internet and check e-mail only three times a day.” With the time saved, he adds, “I can say hello to my wife and say a decade of the rosary. That will do a lot of good.”
Camille de Blasi, formerly with the Center for Life Principles and now founder of a new ministry called Healing the Culture, says, “I'm not giving up anything for Lent this year. Instead, I'm going to do an extra devotion. I'm going to get up every morning one hour earlier for daily prayer and the rosary. I think I'll get a lot more out of an extra devotion because when you start a new organization, your spiritual life suffers. So I'm giving up work time for more God time.”
Father Mitch Pacwa, Jesuit author and host of “EWTN Live,” says: “As old as I am, I absolutely love ice cream and sweets. In the great time of Lent it's important to stop all those things, all the little luxuries. You really become accustomed to them but don't really need them. It helps toward greater detachment.
“And it may be helpful, for all of us, to acquire that sense of abnegation that should be part of our Christian life, where you realize you can take or leave something. I'm better able to identify with those who are poor, and that's a very important element. I will see the movie The Passion of the Christ, but I'll also refrain from movies during Lent.”
Marie Bellet, singer, song-writer and mother of eight, is going to give up TV. “And I'm keeping my surfaces clean,” she adds. “That means my desk, which is always messy, and the counters and all surfaces that get piles of paper. I'm sorting through all this stuff and not leaving it about.”
Although she watches little television, she'll disconnect the satellite, even forgoing EWTN. “When you've got the TV hooked up, there are so many other things that are tempting,” she explains. Instead, she's going to join a group of women for an Ignatian Bible-study series on the Gospel of John.
Deal Hudson, editor and publisher of Crisis magazine, says he “gave up cigars one Lent. But I can't this time because I already gave up cigars [earlier] this year.” Instead, “I'm going to do bread-and-water fasts on Wednesday for Lent. I think a weekly fast is a real powerful reminder of the meaning of Lent, of Christ's suffering.”
Dr. Helen Alvare, professor at the Catholic University of America School of Law, is giving up two things. “One is ranting at God during prayer time instead of listening,” she says. “I'm actually going to try to listen to God during prayer. I'm also going to give up candy during Lent with my children. For me it's still hard. It's something we all do together, and it makes it easier for them. I like those traditional things. It reminds me of when I was younger. And I like to get the kids started on those particular disciplines.”
Dr. Janet Smith, chairwoman of life issues at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit and consultant on the Pontifical Council for the Family, tries to “give up one new thing each week, so by the end of Lent I give up six things,” she says. “To start, I'm trying to be less haphazard by writing a list of tasks I have to do the next day. I generally will give up reading the newspaper in the mornings because I like to do that. It's the little things, the little indulgences I like to do.”
Another penance? “A delicious mortification for females is to look in their closet and wear something they don't like to wear,” she says. “It's excruciating for females to wear what we don't look good in.”
Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, says everyone in his family gives something up — and, every year, they get together to add something as a family. “Years ago a nun said you should do something positive,” he explains. “I worried my boys were not immersed in the Gospel as they should be. Every night after dinner I read one of the parables and the family discusses what it means. It gives us something quite focused and we give it time to resonate. We usually read it three or four times. We found it a very great addition to our family life.”
Father Frank Pavone, founder of Priests for Life, will focus on things “more of a spiritual than a physical nature — giving more time and better listening. It's not so much give up as give to other people, the people around us every day. In terms of giving up something, it's the time we have for ourselves” given to family and co-workers.
Then comes listening. “There's a lot of hasty judgment about people and what they're doing, “ he says. “What we have to give up is the easy comfort of quick conclusions about people. We have to make the effort to contact them directly and get an undiluted version of what they do. I'm going to focus on this as a Lenten penance everyone can benefit from.”
Raymond Arroyo, host of EWTN's “The World Over,” says, “On the one hand I'm giving up sweets as I have since I was 2. And I'm resolved to do something positive because of Mother Angelica's influence. As an Italian American, she was loathe to deprive herself at the table. But she always stressed trying to do something more and go the extra mile. I'll spend more time with my family and more time in prayer.”
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: Bonacci, Shaw, Pacwa, Bellet, Hudson, Alvare, Arroyo … ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Is It Okay to Diet for Lent? DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:If you diet for Lent, you're obviously giving up something. You can fast and at the same time pare those excess pounds to get into last year's clothes.
But not so fast.
“To fast just in order to lose weight may be good physiologically, but it's not beneficial spiritually,” says Father Roger Landry of St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis, Mass.
“The most important element in fasting is one's interior disposition,” the priest points out. “Fasting is meant to be a ‘prayer of the body’ in which our sacrifices are presented to the Lord. In Lent, it's also meant to take on the notion of a penance, because oftentimes we, like the crowds after the multiplication of the loaves and fish, follow our stomachs rather than hunger for Jesus, the Bread of Life.”
In his apostolic constitution on penance, Pope Paul VI noted: “Penance therefore — already in the Old Testament — is a religious, personal act that has as its aim love and surrender to God: fasting for the sake of God, not for one's own self.”
Weight-watching is more for self, notes Father Mitch Pacwa, who adds that dieting might not be so bad if it's a responsible way to take care of the body we have in accord with our duties as a Christian.
“But not to make it part of your spirituality,” he says. “To identify that as fasting is adding a type of practicality to fasting it wasn't meant to bear. It misses out on how suffering voluntarily has a benefit for the other members of the body of Christ. The goal of our fasting is abnegation and union with Christ's suffering. But dieting makes fasting into a subset of vanity.”
The verdict? Diet as a Lenten fast, and you'll only burn empty spiritual calories.
— Joseph Pronechen
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 02/29/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: February 29-March 6, 2004 ----- BODY:Life on the Road
LIFENEWS.COM, Feb. 10 — If you drive in Iowa or Kentucky, you might be encouraged to “Choose Life” the next time you're stuck in traffic. Legislation is pending that would clear the way for those states to offer license plates bearing that slogan.
The Iowa bill is currently in the House Transportation Committee. Sales from the license plates would fund groups that help pregnant women seek alternatives to abortion.
The Kentucky bill, which passed in the Senate in early February, would give $20 from each plate's fee to the Kentucky Foster/Adoptive Care Association. The group would distribute the money to organizations that counsel women about adoption as an alternative to abortion.
U.K. Nonconfidential
The mother only learned about her daughter's abortion after reading the girl's diary. She was furious at doctors who performed the abortion without her knowledge.
“When she had her tonsils out I had to be there — but not for this,” the mother said. “The clinic just told me it was confidential.”
Currently, Department of Health guidelines say a girl under age 16 can give consent for treatment without telling her parents only if the doctor is convinced she is mature enough to make the decision and fully understands the procedure.
West Palm Beachers Push Back
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Feb. 11 — Pro-life protestors are suing the city of West Palm Beach, Fla., and a local abortion site.
The lawsuit accuses police of roughing up demonstrators and challenges several trespassing arrests and a municipal noise ordinance, the wire service reported. Protestors say they have been illegally arrested for trying to distribute leaflets and are banned from using megaphones when the site's stereo speakers are used to drown out the demonstrators.
A district court judge said he would schedule a hearing on the injunction request sometime after mid-March.
Healthily Hippocratic Hospital
NEWS24.COM (South Africa), Feb. 13 — Staff at a major hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, are refusing to perform abortions at the hospital.
In order to protect employees against intimidation, however, the local pro-life lobby did not disclose the name of the hospital, the news site reported.
Last year, abortions were halted in Cape Town's Victoria Hospital after interns refused to perform the procedure.
Philip Rosenthal, coordinator of the Health Professionals Conscientious Objection Campaign, said the latest suspension of abortions is the pro-life lobby's “greatest victory yet.”
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