America's Future Depends on Catholics
Why dedicate a special issue to the future of America? Because the promise of the Declaration of Independence has never quite been fulfilled. But it can be, if religious people — and especially Catholics — do their job.
In its earliest years, America celebrated the right to liberty every Fourth of July even though slavery made those celebrations a lie. But then Christian abolitionists and the deeply religious Abraham Lincoln would end slavery by calling the country back to its founding principles.
After that, we celebrated the right to the pursuit of happiness even while we denied women the right to vote and refused to give blacks equal dignity with whites. But Christian suffragettes like Susan B. Anthony and a civil-rights movement led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. changed that, again by appealing to our founding principles.
Today we celebrate the right to life on the Fourth of July despite being a nation in which abortion is the most common surgery performed on mothers under age 40. And today, as always, it is religious people who are insisting America follow its founding vision.
Religion is the key to America's future for three reasons.
Religion is key because America's founding principles are religious principles. Our Founding Fathers declared that we are “endowed by Our Creator” with certain rights. Their foundation was the “laws of nature and of nature's God.”
Religion is key because America is a system of self-government. People who live by a high standard of conduct can be trusted to govern themselves. People who don't, can't. If moral commitment doesn't control the people, government must.
And third, religion is the key to America's future because there really is a God who really is our creator. He really is the basis of the authority of government, the animator of our freedom and the source of our morality. He really does bless those who recognize him. And those who fall out of grace with him always do so to their ruin.
In his 1996 trip to Baltimore, Pope John Paul II pointed out that “the democratic system itself” is “shaken in its foundations” when it is twisted against human rights.
But America, he said, “possesses a safeguard, a great bulwark, against this happening. I speak of your founding documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. These documents are grounded in and embody unchanging principles of the natural law whose permanent truth and validity can be known by reason, for it is the law written by God in human hearts.”
If religion is the key to America, then the biggest crisis in our country right now is its crisis of faith.
It is a crisis in which the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are invoked against the religious consciences of the people. Government too often impedes religion by denying Americans their right to pray at civic gatherings, stripping religious symbols from the public square and banishing God to private life. We are in a crisis when government won't allow families to protect their children from pornography, couples to protect marriage from being redefined or society to protect women and their children from the predatory clutches of the big business of abortion.
The Holy Father told the National Prayer Breakfast in 2000 that it is up to religious people to end this crisis. “I would go so far as to say that their task is to save democracy from self-destruction,” he said. “Democracy is our best opportunity to promote the values that will make the world a better place for everyone, but a society that exalts individual choice as the ultimate source of truth undermines the very foundations of democracy.“
We would argue this task falls to Catholics most of all.
After all, Catholic theology uniquely understands the interrelationship between natural law and divine revelation. Just as Thomas Aquinas was the great defender of both theology and common sense, Catholics today uniquely understand aspects of natural law the world has forgotten: Our teachings on abortion, marriage and even contraception are defenses of what man can know without revelation.
Second, Catholics are most responsible for the future of America because of sheer numbers. Immigration from Mexico and family sizes mean the old Protestant America is falling off a demographic cliff. Tomorrow's America will no longer be white and Protestant but browner and Catholic.
And last, Catholics are most responsible for the future of America because we are the Church founded by Christ on the rock of Peter, the one Church that Christ promised would prevail against the gates of hell. Certainly, other Christian denominations rightly worship God, as the Second Vatican Council said. But Christ founded one Church, not many denominations, and that one Church is the one that carries God's guarantee.
Catholics already have a clear plan to follow to begin the task of re-Christianizing America. It's “The Plan” unveiled by Pope John Paul II in his 2001 apostolic letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the Beginning of the New Millennium) we mentioned in the June 20-26 editorial.
He called for a creative, vigorous and wide-scale promotion of the fundamentals of Catholic life: Sunday Mass, confession, prayer and community service. These basic practices are simple to explain, they are an easy sell for most people and, when followed, they transform lives. If we promote them successfully, we will spark a major religious renewal.
Alongside this “New Evangelization,” Catholics need to take a direct involvement in the political questions of our day. As the candidacy of Sen. John Kerry shows, too often Catholics reject the tenets of their faith for political expediency. Our first task is to reject such candidates. And we are rejecting them. As the many examples on our front page show, Catholics who refuse to dissent from the key tenets of their faith are already making a difference in the political arena.
Can we succeed? The Pope thinks so. We should accept and imitate the optimism he showed at the 2000 National Prayer Breakfast. There, he said:
“Today America's optimism is being tested, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ remains the sturdy foundation of hope for the future.”
----- EXCERPT: A REGISTER EDITORIAL ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Priest Changes Politician's Mind DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:PARKS, La. — Louisiana state Sen. Craig Romero, R-New Iberia, says he is pro-life and uses the teachings of the Catholic Church to guide how he votes.
“Anything I ever vote on, I never lose sight of my religion,” Romero said.
But several recent votes puzzled some of those who knew about his devotion to the Church.
Louisiana lawmakers have been debating several cloning proposals. Romero thought his views on cloning were pro-life because some medical research promised big dividends from cloning.
“I thought, ‘If I can help save a child's life, then my heart goes out to them,'” the father of seven children said.
The story of how Romero changed his mind and his vote is an example of how a small parish in a small town can make a difference in the lives of citizens.
Father Bryce Sibley is the pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Parks, La., a town of about 500 people in the senator's district. In May, a friend alerted Father Sibley to several bills up for consideration on cloning. The pastor contacted his senator and urged him to vote for a total ban on cloning and to vote against therapeutic cloning.
Romero didn't return the message — he said he hadn't gotten it because his staff was in transition in preparation for his run for the U.S. Congress. He voted against a total ban on cloning, leaving the door open for so-called therapeutic cloning.
This kind of cloning destroys an embryo in order to harvest stem cells — which some believe might one day be useful in medical treatments.
The Holy See's delegation to the United Nations has called for a total ban on human cloning worldwide. Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations, said last September that allowing therapeutic cloning would require “the production of millions of human embryos with the intention of destroying them as part of the process of using them for scientific research.”
He referred to the early human embryo as “a human individual, with a human life, and evolving as an autonomous organism toward its full development. Destroying this embryo results in a deliberate suppression of an innocent human life.”
‘God's Business’
After the vote, Father Sibley left Romero another message, saying he would tell his parishioners from the pulpit and in the bulletin of the senator's cloning votes and urge them to contact him.
During one of his sermons, Father Sibley told his parishioners: “We can't sit staring into heaven waiting for Jesus to come back. We need to be active.”
One parishioner, Delores Boudreaux, sent an e-mail to Romero.
“We have to be a civilization that protects all life, no matter how small it is,” said Boudreaux, 53, who added that she was grateful for Father Sibley alerting and educating the faithful on such important issues. “We shouldn't be messing around with creating. That's not our business. That's God's business. God is the only one who can create.”
In all, several dozen of Father Sibley's parishioners left the senator phone messages or e-mails, the priest said, adding that the majority of them are very pro-life. He also sent his bulletin announcement to other churches in the surrounding area in the Diocese of Lafayette; some of them printed the note.
In an interview, Romero said he first heard about Father Sibley's bulletin note when his aunt called on a Sunday to let him know that two friends of hers had stopped by, holding church bulletins.
They were upset, he said, and didn't know how the senator could go against the teachings of the Church.
In talking with Father Sibley, first over the phone and then during a 90-minute face-to-face conversation, Romero learned that therapeutic cloning creates a life and then destroys it.
Father Sibley said he was impressed with the senator's humility in listening to him explain the Church's position. Romero, meanwhile, said he respected what the medical experts had told him, but he trusted a priest “more than anything.”
After his talk with the priest, Romero had another chance to vote, and this time voted for a total ban on all cloning and a ban on therapeutic cloning. The latter measure passed by a margin of only two votes.
The pro-life victory did not last, though. Near the end of June, the 2004 legislative session ended with the House and Senate unable to reconcile several different bills on human cloning — which means the state was left without a ban.
Little Person
But Father Sibley was happy with the senator's change of heart and vote and happy that his some of his parishioners also got involved, once they understood what was at stake.
“Here you have the little person from the little town from the little parish — because they got involved, they made a big change,” Father Sibley said. “It made them realize how important it is to have your faith in action. You can make a change.”
Father Frank Pavone, executive director of Priests for Life, praised Father Sibley for privately speaking with the senator and for also publicly talking about the cloning issue to his parishioners. In his travels, Father Pavone said he meets many priests who are reaching out to their local Catholic legislators and informing them of Church teachings on various issues.
“But there could be a lot more of this activity done,” Father Pavone said. He's grateful for Romero changing his vote on the cloning issue, but he noted that the senator was protecting life, which is what he's supposed to do as a public servant.
Not everyone thought Romero's vote change was a good thing. Mac DeVaughn, executive director of Louisiana's Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, said he had spoken to “many” priests who said therapeutic cloning was not taking a life, but they couldn't say that publicly.
DeVaughn, who is Catholic, believes therapeutic cloning could help prevent needless suffering and has lobbied in favor of it. He said Jesus lived by Jewish traditions and laws, and he pointed out that, according to Jewish theology, life begins when the child is actually born.
“That kind of gives me pause to think I don't think any of us would be presumptuous enough to say that we would know what Jesus would do if he were here,” he said. “There seems to be so much good for life that can come out of what is promising research.”
But Rabbi Yehuda Levin, who has long been a leader in the pro-life movement, called DeVaughn's interpretation “superficial and factually wrong.”
“Jewish tradition demands absolute respect for a pregnancy from the earliest stages,” Rabbi Levin said.
Carlos Briceño writes from Seminole, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceņo ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Ray Flynn's Bay State Challenge DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:BOSTON — If you are Catholic and live in Massachusetts, the former mayor of Boston has a message for you: You need to be involved in civic life.
That's what Raymond Flynn is saying in his new job assisting the Massachusetts Catholic Conference.
“If you don't vote, you have no voice,” said Flynn, who recently stepped down as president of Your Catholic Voice, an outreach of Catholic activists. “And if you have no voice, you will be ignored. … Our votes have been ineffectual, and, as a result, Catholics are being ignored and taken for granted by both political parties.”
The Massachusetts Catholic Conference asked Flynn, the former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican during the Clinton administration, to assist it in spearheading a statewide, nonpartisan, public-policy education campaign called Catholic Citizenship.
“The great challenge exists in society today for Americans to become more informed about the many important public issues of the day,” said Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley in a statement. “This is especially the case with the Catholic faithful.”
The 2000 presidential election voting results showed that about four out of every 10 Catholics did not vote — even though they made up almost 48% of the population. And only 1 out of 6 Catholics was registered to vote.
Daniel Avila, associate director for policy and research for the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, said the recent same-sex “marriage” debate in the state showed the efficiency of those who advocate for issues that go against the Church's teachings.
“They have done a very effective job of mobilizing their supporters and getting them to continually be active in the public-policy arena to the extent that legislators have certainly felt their presence,” Avila said.
Massachusetts legislators voted in March to amend the state constitution to ban homosexual “marriages” while also legalizing civil unions — a defeat of the Church's position.
“We began to achieve a similar level of presence and effectiveness toward the end of the marriage debate,” Avila said.
Church's Cooperation
Archbishop O'Malley called Flynn an “effective and compassionate political voice in America for social and economic justice” and said he would have “the Church's complete cooperation.”
Flynn said he will be speaking at parishes across the state and holding voter-registration drives before the primary elections Sept. 14 and the general election Nov. 2.
He said one of the keys to the success of the voter-registration effort will be the cooperation of the pastors in the 717 parishes across Massachusetts. He plans to speak to various churches in the different regions.
“We can't go to places I'm not invited,” he said, adding that he will also continue to speak at churches and rallies across the country whenever he's invited.
He said there are other “committed” Catholic speakers whom he can call upon to speak, including Robert Quinn, the state's former attorney general, and Mary Ann Glendon, the prominent pro-life Harvard law professor who was recently appointed by Pope John Paul II to lead the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
At one recent parish meeting, Flynn spoke to about 100 people at St. John the Evangelist Church in Canton, about 30 miles from Boston.
The church's pastor, Father Michael Doyle, announced the meeting in the bulletin, reminded parishioners about it during Masses and put an ad in the local paper, Flynn said.
Flynn predicted that, if he got that kind of cooperation from other pastors, Catholics would become “energized and involved and engaged” in their community and their church.
Father Doyle, however, noted that many of the people in attendance were from different pro-life and pro-family organizations who were not members of his church.
“I would've hoped for a better response from my parishioners,” he said. “That shows there's still work to do.”
Meanwhile, Flynn's group, which is not officially part of the Church, has faxed pastors, asking for volunteers to help with the drives. A booklet from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, titled “Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility” (at www. usccb.org/faithfulcitizenship), and a poster that says, “In the Catholic tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue; participation in the political process is a moral obligation” have also been distributed to the churches.
Turned Off
Flynn acknowledged that his mission is not an easy one. Many American voters are turned off because politics are dominated by money, the media and special interests, and he said people feel that “no one cares.” Many Catholics, in particular, are “dispirited” by the sexual-abuse scandal, he said.
He said some of the key issues Catholics need to better understand during the upcoming elections include abortion, same-sex “marriage,” education and health care.
“The average Catholic has never been talked to about what the difference is between a brain cell and a stem cell,” said Larry Cirignano, executive director of Catholic Citizenship.
The group will produce voter guides to help Catholics understand the issues better, but Catholic activist Laurie Letourneau, founder of Massachusetts Voices for Traditional Marriage and president of the Life Action League, said she hoped the guides will conform to the teachings of the Church and that the pro-life issues are highlighted. Flynn worked for the Clinton administration, which was pro-abortion, and managed his campaign in Massachusetts, she pointed out.
Flynn said the guides will “be consistent with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the values and the principles of the Catholic Church.” He also added that he's a registered Democrat and pointed out that during the 2000 election he supported George W. Bush, who is more pro-life than Clinton.
Letourneau added that educating Catholics with voter-registration guides and voter guides is a step that is overdue. She said most Catholics are “woefully and inadequately educated” and form their opinions from poorly formed consciences. She said many priests don't speak out about the major issues.
Avila said he hopes Flynn's group, in conjunction with the conference, will make Catholics and the average citizen appreciate the Church's “special insights into the common good and that people will be inspired to be involved and to allow the gifts God has given them to be employed to the purpose of making this a better world.”
Michael Galloway, the founder and chairman of Your Catholic Voice, said Flynn was supposed to be on board for his organization only during its first year, which just ended. So he fully supported Flynn's mission with Catholic Citizenship.
Galloway said he “prays they're very successful.”
Carlos Briceño writes from Seminole, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceņo ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Bishops Will Approach Abortion's Lawmakers Individually DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:PHOENIX — Upon his return from the bishops' June 14-19 retreat in suburban Denver, Bishop Thomas Olmsted, like hundreds of his fellow Church leaders, found reporters knocking down the doors.
He held a press conference, and they demanded to know if he would deny Communion to the politicians who enact abortion laws.
“I would like to be in conversation with them ahead of time to explain why they should not receive Communion, and I would hope that they would not present themselves for Communion on the basis of my explanation,” Bishop Olmsted said.
Bishop Olmstead won't be alone in privately confronting Catholic politicians who receive Communion while they work to keep abortion legal.
An interim statement about Catholics in public life — approved by a 183-6 vote of the bishops June 18 — made two things perfectly clear: Abortion is evil and local bishops should make that known to pro-abortion Catholics in public life.
Other bishops have added that they will also refuse communion to Catholic politicians who present themselves.
No final decision on that point will be announced by the bishops until after their November meeting.
The bishops' document reflects some Vatican input. All members of a bishops-appointed task force on communion and politicians met with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at different times this year during their ad limina visits to the Vatican.
The task force has never met with Cardinal Ratzinger as a group and may never.
Most communication takes place through private letters and telephone calls between Cardinals Ratzinger and Washington, D.C., Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, according to the cardinals press spokeswoman.
The Report
“We commit ourselves to maintain communication with public officials who make decisions every day that touch issues of human life and dignity,” said one of five points the bishops chose to highlight in their statement.
The other four points said bishops should:
• continue to teach clearly and help other Catholic leaders to teach about the need for legal protection of human life from conception,
• persuade all people that human life is precious,
• encourage Catholics to act in support of pro-life principles and
• forbid Catholic institutions from honoring those who defy fundamental moral principles of Catholicism.
The statement about honoraria should help put an end to the growing phenomenon of celebrities with pro-abortion views giving commencement speeches at Catholic colleges and universities, said Susan Gibbs, communications director for the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.
“We're still trying to live down the Larry Flynt speech at Georgetown,” Gibbs said, explaining that bishops don't wield full control over Catholic colleges and universities.
In 1999, Georgetown, a Jesuit university, hosted pro-abortion pornographer Flynt — publisher of the hard-core porn magazine Hustler — as graduation speaker.
That year, at least 14 other major Catholic colleges and universities invited pro-abortion commencement speakers, and a few were given honorary degrees.
Gibbs said with the interim statement, bishops have agreed to preclude Catholic institutions from awarding or honoring people in public life who espouse views contrary to Catholic teachings. Inviting a person to speak for graduation, she said, clearly equals honoring that person.
Pre-Election Statement
The bishops released the interim statement during a spring retreat they take every five years, even though in weeks leading to the retreat they had no plans for a statement about Catholics in public life until after the November elections.
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., heads the U.S. bishops' Task Force on Catholic Bishops and Catholic Politicians, a seven-member committee appointed in October to examine relations of Catholic politicians and bishops in light of the Holy See's “Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Public Life.”
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, published the doctrinal note in November 2002 and directed it to bishops and politicians serving in democratic societies.
“This is a broad-reaching, international document, and the task force is trying to determine which elements of it most need to be addressed in the United States,” Gibbs said. “Abortion is one of the concerns in the note that is clearly an issue in the United States.”
Gibbs said the task force will continue working and will release a permanent statement or statements sometime after November.
She said bishops decided to issue an interim statement partly because several bishops were already speaking out publicly about pro-abortion politicians who receive Communion.
In months leading up to the retreat, several bishops spoke out about Catholic politicians receiving Communion and defending abortion.
Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput cautioned pro-abortion politicians about taking Communion, as did St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke; Colorado Springs, Colo., Bishop Michael Sheridan; Fargo, N.D., Bishop Samuel Aquila; Portland, Ore., Archbishop John Vlazny; and New Orleans Archbishop Alfred Hughes.
Confrontation
Pro-abortion politicians and some pro-life activists reacted negatively to the document.
House Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, a Democratic legislator in Kentucky, told the Kansas City Star that it's “dangerous” for religious leaders to tell politicians how to vote, and it's wrong for them to withhold the sacraments. “I go to Communion when I want to go, and no bishop, no Pope, they're not going to keep me from my religion,” she said.
But the American Life League thought the bishops didn't go far enough, and issued a press release that said, “The American bishops have failed.”
The group argued that bishops should have and could have issued a statement saying pro-abortion Catholic politicians should be denied Communion until they repent publicly.
Susan Gibbs said that neither pro-abortion legislators nor pro-lifers should be afraid of the new document.
“Cardinal McCarrick's position on this issue has been very clear,” Gibbs said. “When you have Christ in your hand, do you have a confrontation then and there, or do you talk to the person in question beforehand? I can tell you that a number of pro-choice politicians in Washington crossed the aisle and voted to ban partial-birth abortion because of what took place through conversation, persuasion and dialogue.”
All of this naturally leads to a question about Democratic presumptive presidential candidate John Kerry, a Catholic.
He voted to legalize even partial-birth abortion, in which a doctor induces labor for a child before it can be born naturally, and kills the child with scissors as he or she emerges from the mother. Wouldn't a lawmaker who allows such a thing be barred from communion by Canon 915?
Canon 915 of the Catholic Church's Code of Canon Law states: “Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or the declaration of a penalty as well as others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to communion” (emphasis added).
Kerry's own bishop, Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley, told Lifesite news that, “These politicians should know that if they're not voting correctly on these life issues that they shouldn't dare come to Communion.”
St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke also says Kerry should not receive communion.
“I would have to admonish him not to present himself for Communion,” Archbishop Burke told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. If he did appear in the line, would he confront him? “I might give him a blessing or something,” he said.
Wayne Laugesen writes from Boulder, Colorado.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Catholics Are Key, Protestant Activist Says DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:DENVER — The Communion-for-politicians issue is so momentous even non-Catholics see its importance.
And they're pressuring the bishops, too.
Much of the noise during the bishops' mid-June meeting in a Denver suburb was from non-Church members such as world-famous pro-life crusader Randall Terry — an evangelical Christian who claims allegiance to the Church.
Terry submitted a letter to bishops during their retreat week of prayer and meditation June 14-19, urging them to “please end the [Sen. John] Kerry scandal.” It was signed by hundreds of Protestant evangelicals, including Phil Sheldon of ConservativePetitions.com, whose father, the Rev. Lou Sheldon, is chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition.
Not only did Phil Sheldon sign Terry's petition, but he himself also has lobbied bishops to crack down on pro-abortion politicians and has raised money regarding the issue.
Outside the perimeter of the hotel where the bishops were meeting, Terry and dozens of followers staged protests, vigils and press conferences, leading passers-by and media types to ask: Is Terry Catholic?
“I was of the impression that this was a Catholic organization trying to pressure its own leaders,” said John Robbins, a Methodist who drove past the protesters on his way to work for five days of the bishops' six-day retreat. “They're not Catholic? They're not part of that system?”
When one asks Terry that question, it gets confusing. Terry admits he's not Roman Catholic — at least not yet — but insists he's Catholic in an expansive sense, that he respects the Pope and loves the Church. He says there's no question that at Roman Catholic Mass the Eucharist is the true presence of Jesus Christ.
“I'm probably more Catholic in my beliefs, when it gets down to it, than the vast majority of Roman Catholics,” said Terry, noting that an alarming number of Catholics believe the Eucharist is only symbolic.
Those words come as no surprise to Austin Ruse, a Catholic and president of the Culture of Life Foundation, a pro-life organization. Ruse said non-Catholic Christians often argue they're really just Catholics who have a few issues with the papacy or the bishops or what they believe is a tendency of Catholics to worship Mary.
What the bishops do regarding pro-abortion Catholics, Ruse said, is an “in-house” issue. Non-Catholic activism toward bishops, he said, merely confuses the public about an issue that's already steeped in confusion and misinformation.
“Randall Terry expects John Kerry to be denied Communion because he doesn't agree with life issues, and that's certainly a commendable stand. But Terry himself doesn't believe in purgatory, which is doctrinal to the Catholic faith,” Ruse said. “It puzzles me where he thinks he has any standing for this type of campaign aimed at an institution he's not part of. I'm flummoxed.”
Outside activism aimed at the bishops began to annoy Ruse when Terry conducted an e-mail fund-raising campaign for his Denver vigil.
Terry has plans to raise more funds for more activism aimed at bishops in cities throughout the United States.
But Terry demurred, saying he has raised only between $3,000 and $4,000 regarding the Communion-for-pro-abortion-politicians issue.
“And that didn't even pay the cost of staging the event,” he said, arguing that the cost of travel, supplies and lodging exceeded what was donated.
Converting?
“I spent a lot of time in jail hanging out with Catholics” who were also arrested at abortion businesses, Terry said. “I often go to Catholic priests for confession. I'm a Catholic; I'm just not a Roman Catholic. But it is out of respect and understanding and in the spirit of Vatican II collegiality and ecumenism that I'm rising to the occasion to call on bishops to be heroic and courageous defenders of truth.”
Terry belongs to the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, which claims to receive its apostolic succession through the Catholic Apostolic Church of Brazil.
It's nice that he cares, Ruse said. But unless and until he becomes Roman Catholic, he should stop taking center stage regarding in-house issues such as policies of Roman Catholic bishops.
“We welcome him with open arms if he decides to join the Church, but it's a bad start to picket the bishops as someone who stands outside the organization,” Ruse said.
Terry won't rule out becoming Roman Catholic. He's just waiting for God to lead him there. He claims to be a voracious reader of Catholic literature, enjoying the works of George Weigel and Catholic convert Scott Hahn.
The Other Child Abuse
The biggest issue Terry has with U.S. bishops is what he sees as the lackadaisical approach many of them take regarding defense of the unborn. The interim statement issued during the retreat, he argues, says it all.
“They say in this statement that they do not endorse nor oppose candidates but seek to form the consciences of people so they can examine the positions of candidates,” Terry said. “What they could say is that a Catholic cannot in good conscience vote for a candidate who supports the slaughter of innocent human beings.”
Professor G. Daniel Harden, a religious scholar at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan., said Terry and Ruse both have legitimate points.
Harden calls Terry a “freelance Catholic” who should use caution and sensitivity in his efforts to sway Catholic bishops. Likewise for Sheldon and any other Protestant leaders who lobby bishops and their followers.
“Terry and Ruse both have good points,” said Harden, a member of the board of directors of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists, an organization of Catholic scholars based at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio.
“Obviously, who bishops decide to give Communion to is up to the bishops within the context of Catholic traditions and beliefs,” he said. “Yet while that's an in-house issue, virtually anything that happens in the Catholic Church has culturally universal effects. Therefore, Christians outside of the Church have legitimate concerns when bishops are not vigorously defending the teachings of the Church, because everyone else is affected. What the Catholic Church does often sets the standard for all conservative Christians.”
Wayne Laugesen writes from Boulder, Colorado.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: An American Journey - to the Church DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:Paul Schenck, 45, born Jewish in New Jersey, was an ordained Episcopalian minister before becoming Catholic.
He spent a lifetime in Christian ministry and pro-life activism, even defending the right to public pro-life speech in a case that reached the Supreme Court. He is married with eight children and earlier this year entered the Catholic Church.
Schenck is executive director of Gospel of Life Ministries, which has its offices on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. He spoke to Register correspondent Joseph A. D'Agostino.
Did you consider yourself Jewish when you were a child?
Oh yes, absolutely. We went to Hebrew school. It was a Reform Hebrew school, so Judaism was a social identification slightly more than a religious identification. But nevertheless, we understood ourselves to be religiously Jewish, though we were not observant.
Your family fled to America, right?
My family fled the pogroms to come to the United States. My uncle was captured by Cossacks and held for ransom, threatened with being killed as a 4-year-old child, and the whole shtetl [Jewish community] had to raise a ransom to get his life back. The family that stayed behind in Minsk perished entirely, evaporated in the Holocaust. My family history was like Edith Stein, like St. Teresa Benedicta.
How did you come to be baptized?
My twin brother, Rob, and I at two different times met a group of wonderful Christians from many different church traditions, including Catholic, who were a vital witness of faith in our high school. My wife was among them. They so wonderfully witnessed to Christ living in their lives in this public high school, I was first drawn to that vital, living Christian faith.
At a New Life mission at a little country Methodist church the editor of Guideposts magazine gave a public invitation to those who would believe in Christ and embrace him in faith as their savior. I went forward. It was 1974, so I was 15 years old.
I was baptized in the Niagara River that following fall on the verge of my 16th birthday.
How did you make your way to the Catholic Church?
I think seven years ago I became Catholic in my mind — intellectually Catholic.
Four years ago, I became Catholic in my heart, and that tied directly to my being in the Holy Land with the Holy Father for the papal pilgrimage through my friendship with the bishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.
When I arrived in Cairo, my host, who was a former student of mine met me at the airport and said, “You have an appointment at 10 in the morning. You're never going to imagine with whom.”
I said, “No, I can't. Who?” He said, “With Pope John Paul II. There is an ecumenical encounter at the basilica and you're invited.”
So the next morning we went but the police wouldn't let us in. We didn't have the proper cards. I e-mailed Melkite Bishop John Elya and he said, “Go over to the Greek patriarchate in Cairo and the Holy Father will be there this evening and you will meet him there.”
So I went over there and stayed the whole day, but that was the day the Greek archbishop stood up the Holy Father. They were supposed to pray together. He never came. The Holy Father was there the whole day, so he was off schedule and had to go back to Rome. So I missed him again.
I came back to the States. I get a call from Bishop Elya. He says, “You have an appointment to see the Holy Father on Tuesday in Bethlehem. You will accompany the archbishop of Jerusalem.”
So back on the plane, I shot over to Jerusalem again. When I arrived, I went in simply to announce I was in the country at the patriarchate. They said, “Oh, His Grace wants to see you.” So I saw the archbishop and he said, “You did bring your Eastern vestments and you'll con-celebrate with the Holy Father in Bethlehem tomorrow?” And I joke now that if I was ever tempted to lie … He thought I was a Catholic priest.
So I said, “Your Grace, I'm not Catholic …” By the way, he is now patriarch of Antioch, Gregorios III. He said, “Nevertheless, you'll have an honored seat among the priests tomorrow. You'll see. I'll be there, you'll be there, the Holy Father will be there, and you'll be absorbed. You'll see …”
The sacrament was being consecrated around me. It was the most spiritual moment in my entire life, in anything I have ever done. And then we went to St. Catherine's Convent with only maybe 25 people. We're walking maybe three or four or five abreast with the Holy Father. I came home convinced in my heart that I had to be in the Catholic Church.
I took my time. I was a pastor. I lived in a house owned by the Reformed Episcopal diocese. How was I going to support my family?
I did something I had never done in my Christian life. I asked a saint for help. I asked Teresa Benedicta to make it possible for me to become Catholic. That would have been about 2001. I just began reading, attending Mass here and there when possible.
Then last summer, I learned about Father Frank Pavone's vision of establishing an ecumenical initiative that would bring Catholics, evangelicals and all conscientious Christians together around the life issues.
He wanted to call it the Gospel of Life Ministries, and I was already serving as chairman of the National Clergy Council. I have many strongly pro-life friends in Protestant ministry.
I went to Father Pavone and asked him about my taking a lead role in building that organization and it took him about two-and-a-half minutes to answer in the affirmative. I became the executive director of Gospel of Life Ministries, and that's what my job description is now, which I call an ecumenical initiative of Priests for Life.
On the first Sunday in Lent this year, I was received into the Catholic Church at St. Roch's Church in Staten Island by Father Pavone and Father Leo Prince, the pastor. My wife and I had our marriage convalidated and I received confirmation.
Father C.J. McCloskey was the first priest I spoke to asking to be prepared to become a Catholic. We met three or four times before he went to the United Kingdom to write his book. His guidance was enormously helpful.
What about
When I was a pastor in western New York, I helped organize the Western New York Clergy Council, which eventually had 75 members from 20 different churches. We provided counseling, referral and prayer for women outside of abortion sites.
Five abortion businesses banded together and sued me and anyone working with me and asked a federal judge to sign a cease-and-desist restraining order to keep me and anyone acting with me from approaching anybody who wanted an abortion offering literature, praying for them, singing, even wearing clerical vestments in their presence — anything that would be construed by an ordinary person as being opposed to abortion within 17 counties in western New York.
So that did not mean just outside of abortion businesses. That meant on a public park bench, it meant on a bus, anywhere within 15 feet of anybody who wanted an abortion, had an abortion, worked in an abortion business, volunteered at an abortion site. It was so bizarre that I honestly didn't take it seriously.
I didn't even get a lawyer. I went into court myself and I said, “Your Honor, I'm not a lawyer, I don't have a law degree, but I've read the Constitution and this is so blatantly opposed to the First Amendment.” Ten months later he signed the order against me, granting them almost everything.
That Christmas my brother and I and three others went out in front of a post office behind which was an abortion business. On the public sidewalk we passed out New Testaments and tracts by Billy Graham called “Peace with God.” … We were cited; I was convicted for violating the order on five counts. We appealed. It went on for seven years and $778,000 in defense expenses.
How did it turn out?
Before I went to prison I appealed to the court of appeals, and while I was in prison, the case was heard and decided. A three-judge panel decided 2 to 1 that the order was an unconstitutional violation of my First Amendment rights. So I was let out of jail the next morning, but I was told not to go home but to go directly to the federal courthouse in Buffalo. I said okay. A month in federal prison makes you more docile.
I went to the federal courthouse only to be told that the chief federal judge in New York City had rescinded the finding of the three-judge panel and had granted that the case be reargued en banc review, which meant in front of the whole panel of federal judges.
Seventeen judges in Manhattan heard the case in January 1995. Two abstained, seven for me and eight against me, which turned out to be providential because otherwise I never would have gotten to the Supreme Court. We'd run out of money. I'd raised $325,000 by that time to pay for my defense.
By that time, Pat Robertson was involved and he said, “Money is no object. Take it to the Supreme Court.” So he would raise almost another half-million dollars. With the American Center for Law and Justice, we took it to the Supreme Court.
We argued it in October 1996, and the decision came down Feb. 17, 1997, and it was 8 to 1 in my favor: fundamental violation of my constitutional rights under the First Amendment. They allowed the restrictions to stay around the clinic entrances but struck down everything else. Justice Steven Breyer was the one against me.
I had Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on my side, Justice David Souter on my side.
Later I met Souter at the court at a reception, and I went up to him. I said, “Mr. Justice, I just wanted to thank you for voting in my case.” He turned to me and I reached out my hand, but he wouldn't give me his hand. I very awkwardly stood there in front of people with my hand out and he looked at me and said, “I'm not inclined to give you my hand, for what you and your brother stand for. I'm not interested.”
I said, “Mr. Justice, just a handshake.” He said, “Not interested,” and he turned his back on me.
Justice Clarence Thomas saw and he came over to rescue me and he put his arm around me and said, “Tell me about your church. I want to hear about your work with your brother.” But Souter was petty.
Joseph A. D'Agostino writes from Washington, D.C.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph A. D'Agostino ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: A New Shrine Rises in the North DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:LA CROSSE, Wis. — A shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe seems reasonable in Mexico where Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego in 1531. But why build one in La Crosse, Wis.?
For one thing, there is the fact that in 1531, there were no boundaries in the Americas at all, and Our Lady of Guadalupe is also called Our Lady of the Americas. And there is the fact that she appeared where there was human sacrifice to the Aztecs' pagan gods, and today Our Lady of Guadalupe is patroness of the pro-life movement.
As a result of Mary's apparitions, millions of Indians converted to the Catholic faith.
“We pray that with the building of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe here in La Crosse, and the building of the church in particular, that a transformation will take place also in our own society,” Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis, the shrine founder and former bishop of La Crosse, said in his address at the shrine's ground-breaking May 13.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is “not well known outside of Mexico and the Southwest,” Archbishop Burke said. “And Wisconsin seems a good place to make it more known since it's in the northern part of the country and close to Canada.”
“It's also a question of God's providence at work,” he added, “the inspiration God gave me.”
But perhaps a part of the answer can also be found by looking through the eyes of a pilgrim.
Last year, Franciscan Sister of the Martyr St. George Christa Marie, director of the La Crosse shrine, was part of a group working on the project. She and others in the group, including Archbishop Burke, were on their way to the Mexico City basilica. During the flight, she sat next to Marina, a Panamanian who asked her to remember her grandson, Orlandito. The boy was less than 2 pounds when he was born and weighed only 5 pounds eight months later.
Archbishop Burke gave Marina and her family members his blessing and promised to pray. Marina told the archbishop she had “promised My Lady to work for the unborn, and I am involved with some friends in pro-life projects” in Panama.
Once back in La Crosse, Sister Christa Marie received e-mails from Marina filled with gratitude and hope. Orlandito's mother, Sara, was “deeply moved when I told her about the bishop's blessing,” she wrote. She said it gave them the support they needed “to feel God was with us.”
It also indicated her belief that Our Lady of Guadalupe and the new shrine in La Crosse would be part of Orlandito's life.
First Cure?
During the next few months, Marina said she experienced many “divine coincidences” between her and the shrine personnel. They resulted in Orlandito being brought to Minneapolis for surgery, arriving there in early December. Marina and other family members accompanied him. On Dec. 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Marina made a pilgrimage to the La Crosse shrine, three hours away, for her grandson.
The surgery two days later was successful and Orlandito has since returned to Panama and made rapid progress. While he remains blind from oxygen given after his birth, Marina believes “God will make a miracle [and Orlandito will one day see] because la Virgen de Guadalupe will ask him for it.”
While this is not miraculous on the level of a Lourdes-type of occurrence, it is a sign God is already working at a place where the church is not yet even in place. On May 13, in a pouring rain, Archbishop Burke returned to his old see to lead the groundbreaking for the new church. The rain, however, did not dampen his spirits.
“There's an Irish saying that the soul that is rained on is blessed by the rain,” the La Crosse diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Times, quoted him as saying.
That blessing will be needed. The shrine has faced many difficulties since it was first announced in 2000. Many people opposed it because, they said, the money raised could go to the poor or to parishes or schools. Others claimed Archbishop Burke was building a monument to himself.
But many detractors — and visitors from around the United States and Canada — have come to visit and gone away with feelings of peace and joy, like many other pilgrims who have been there as well, the archbishop said.
In his first pastoral letter to the diocese, he made it clear he wanted to build a shrine to Mary in the diocese, dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima. It was the publication of the 1999 apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in America (The Church in America), in which Pope John Paul II emphasized the role of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the New World, that convinced the bishop to dedicate it to Mary under that title.
The church, which is expected to cost $16 million out of a projected $26 million for the entire project, is one that will evoke Old World Europe. Local architect Michael Swinghamer of River Architects is being joined by Duncan Stroik of South Bend, Ind., who has charge of designing the interior of the church.
Being built on bluff-side land donated by the Swing family, the family of diocesan priest Father John Swing, the shrine features a pilgrim center and votive shrine to Our Lady of Good Counsel. Eventually it will have a convent for an order of contemplative nuns, a rec-tory and a site for the Marian Catechist movement started by Jesuit Father John Hardon and taken over by Archbishop Burke after Father Hardon's death.
It is difficult, the archbishop admitted, to be away from La Crosse with construction going on.
“But we have to have a detachment from these things,” he said.
Thomas A. Szyszkiewicz writes from Altura, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: Wisconsin's Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine ----- EXTENDED BODY: Thomas A. Szyszkiewicz ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:Salesian Leaders Deny
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, June 22 — Leaders for the Salesians of Don Bosco have denied reports they moved priests accused of sexual abuse from country to country to avoid legal repercussions.
In a statement posted on its website June 22, the order said it “categorically denies such behavior and condemns every kind of abuse of minors,” the Associated Press reported.
The Dallas Morning News reported June 20 it had conducted a yearlong investigation into the movement of priests even after the 2002 sex-abuse scandal broke in the Church. The newspaper said hundreds of priests were moved around and allowed to continue to minister in other countries.
Kerry Advisers Tell Him Not to Discuss Religion
The advice comes after Kerry received warnings by several bishops not to partake in Communion if he was still going to support policies contrary to Church teaching, the Washington Times reported. His campaign's new director of religious outreach also was criticized in mid-June for espousing left-wing causes.
“The mood now is to shut up about it,” said Jesuit Father Robert Drinan, who teaches at Georgetown University Law Center and serves as an adviser to the campaign on religious matters.
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights found that the religious outreach director, Mara Vanderslice, spoke at a rally co-sponsored by the homosexual group AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power.
Not All Reagans Are for Embryonic Research
CAGLE.COM, June 21 — Not all of late president Ronald Reagan's family support embryonic stem-cell research.
Writing in a column on Cagle, a cartoonists’ news website, Reagan's son Michael noted that “the truth is that two members of the family have been longtime foes of this process of manufacturing human beings — my dad, Ronald Reagan, during his lifetime, and I.”
“The media should keep in mind that we are also members of the Reagan ‘family,’” Michael Reagan wrote June 21, the same day Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry vowed to lift federal restrictions on funding stem-cell research if he becomes president, “and my father, as I do, opposed the creation of human embryos for the sole purpose of using their stem cells as possible medical cures.”
Reagan went on to note that no embryonic research as of yet has led to a cure for Alzheimer's disease, from which his father suffered, yet progress had been made on adult and other, ethical stem-cell research.
Most Powerful Mel
“Start with money. Add fame. Mix. We rank the relative star power of actors, athletes, singers and talking heads — how much they earn and how many people are paying attention,” the magazine said of its methodology for the list.
The magazine said Gibson made the top 10 in every category it measured: money ($210 million), press clippings (21,935), Web presence (2.09 million hits) and TV/radio presence (814 appearances).
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Massachusetts: Removing Pro-Homosexual Judges? DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:BOSTON — As the U.S. Senate prepares to debate a federal marriage amendment, a Massachusetts legislator's efforts to remove the judges who ordered homosexual “marriage” legalized in Massachusetts is turning out to be an uphill battle.
State Rep. Emile Goguen, D-Fitchburg, introduced a bill of address — which allows lawmakers to remove judges who fail to fulfill their duties — to remove Chief Justice Margaret Marshall and the three justices of the state Supreme Judicial Court who made up the majority in the 2003 Goodridge v. Department of Public Health decision.
The Massachusetts House Rules Committee was expected to vote a second time on the bill during the week of June 28. If the bill is voted down, it moves to the House floor with the recommendation “ought not to pass.” But the House and Senate can still vote for it.
An earlier vote in the rules committee June 16 ended in a 7-7 tie with one abstention. The committee, whose meetings by state law are open to the public, had asked Goguen to leave prior to debating his bill.
“In my 40 years of public life, I've never seen anything like this,” said Goguen, who vowed to take the issue to the House Ethics Committee.
The last time a Massachusetts judge was removed was in 1973, but Goguen says most judges resign before the process is completed.
Goguen contends that the judges violated the Massachusetts Code of Judicial Conduct. Instead of interpreting the state Constitution, he said they created a new law.
Separately from his bill of address, Goguen joined forces with the Orlando, Fla.-based Liberty Counsel asking the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston to immediately halt same-sex “marriages” in Massachusetts. In May, the court of appeals agreed to expedite the hearing on the case.
The plaintiffs in the case are Robert Largess, vice president of Catholic Action League, and 11 Massachusetts legislators. Oral arguments were presented June 8. The plaintiffs contend that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court exceeded its power when it redefined marriage from the “union of one man and one woman” to the “union of two persons.”
“Judges are supposed to interpret the law, not make laws,” Gougen said. By misinterpreting the Constitution and ruling in favor of homosexual “marriage,” he contends the justices “changed the law.”
‘Plan for Society’
Joan Kenney, a spokesperson for Marshall, declined comment. But attorney Vickie Henry, co-chairwoman of the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association, says Goguen's assertions are false.
“The job of courts is to interpret our Constitution, and that's what Marshall and the other three justices in the majority did in this case,” she said. The Goodridge decision “was a victory for love, and as people see gay and lesbian couples get married, they will see that it doesn't have any negative impact on heterosexual relationships. It just means that more families are secure in their legal status.”
Marshall spoke to the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association at its 1999 annual dinner, an act the Article 8 Alliance says isn't allowed by law. The alliance was founded specifically to remove the judges and is rallying grass-roots support to overturn the Goodridge decision.
Goguen says he's backed by more than 90% of his constituents and thousands more throughout the state and beyond.
“There's a lot of support out there to remove the justices,” he said. “A lot of people won't admit it, particularly in the Legislature. There's a lot of pressure put on them. I'll bet there are more than 30,000-40,000 people sending messages to legislators and particularly the governor.”
Maria Parker, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, said the state's bishops “take no formal position on the ousting of the four justices.”
“We did a great deal of work on the issue of gay marriage,” she said. “So many people said, ‘Enough is enough!' The decision was so radical and so off base that they had to do something. People got involved who had never been politically involved before.”
R. T. Neary, former president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, contends that Marshall is not fit for the bench.
“We were the organization that came to the fore to contest her nomination in 1996 and reveal the agenda, which she had carried onto the court and was now taking to the highest opposition as chief justice,” he said. Marshall was elevated to chief justice in 1999.
When Marshall addresses homosexual organizations, “she gives an open invitation to bring cases on these issues,” Neary said. “She makes no bones about it. She has a plan for society, not only Massachusetts society.”
Earlier this year, some legislators unsuccessfully attempted to implement a compromise constitutional amendment that defined marriage as being between one man and one woman while allowing civil unions for homosexual couples.
But Brian Camenker, director of the Article 8 Alliance, calls that move ridiculous.
“The Constitution written by John Adams in 1780 was fine; it didn't need amending,” he explained. “The problem was the judiciary that was out of control. Amending the Constitution is only a stopgap measure because if the court decides a man can marry his daughter to get around the inheritance laws, you'd need another constitutional amendment.”
But Nora O'Callaghan, a professor at Ave Maria School of Law in Ann Arbor, Mich., says getting the decision reversed will be difficult.
The majority opinion in the case, she said, “starts with premises that I think are faulty. From those faulty premises, they use the proper forms of logic. It's the premises that are wrong.”
Many pro-family advocates and legislators such as Goguen fear that opening marriage to homosexuals will lead to laws condoning polygamy and inter-family marriage.
“This could mushroom so out of proportion,” Goguen said.
O'Callaghan agrees that there is potential for activist judges to use Goodridge to extend marriage rights.
“The way court decisions get extended is by taking the principles from one case and applying them to different cases,” she explained. “It wouldn't be hard to see how that could happen, but there's no guarantee it will happen.”
Patrick Novecosky writes from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Patrick Novecosky ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:Pope to Spain: Respect Catholic Traditions
The Pope made his wishes known in a visit with Spain's new socialist prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, according to The Telegraph. The new government has promised to legalize same-sex “marriages,” relax the country's abortion laws and institute a fast-track divorce procedure.
The Holy Father told Zapatero to “conserve moral and cultural values as well as its Christian roots” and said he hoped the government would “give due attention to ethical values that are so rooted in the religious and cultural tradition of the population.”
Zapatero traveled to Rome specifically to see the Pope, the newspaper reported. However, his government gave no sign it was going to change its policies.
“We are going there with the will to listen but the Vatican must realize there is a new government and that this new government has positions,” said Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos. “Of course we respect the Catholic Church, but we are also very firm on questions that the majority of Spaniards want to see changed.”
BBC to Air Entertainment Channel in Vatican City
BBC, June 21 — If he wanted to, Pope John Paul II will soon be able to watch such British shows as “The Vicar of Dibley” and “East Enders,” to be made available at the Vatican beginning Aug. 1.
The British Broadcasting Corp. announced plans recently to begin broadcasting BBC Prime, its entertainment channel — which already claims 15 million subscribers across Europe, Africa and the Middle East — throughout Italy. Other shows available will include the homosexual drama “Tipping the Velvet,” the makeover show “What Not to Wear” and “Teletubbies.”
“We will be broadcasting in the Vatican for the first time and we hope all of our shows provide excellent entertainment,” a BBC spokesman said.
According to the BBC, the channel will reach 2.6 million households in Italy.
John Paul Will Be a Pilgrim Among Pilgrims in France
REUTERS, June 18 — When Pope John Paul II travels to Lourdes, France, Aug. 14-15, he'll do so as any ailing pilgrim who visits the grotto in Lourdes known for its healing waters where the Virgin Mary appeared in 1858.
The Holy Father also plans to stay overnight at a special residence for ailing pilgrims, Reuters reported. John Paul is making the visit in part to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.
“The Pope will come as an ailing person making a pilgrimage to Lourdes … an ill man among the ill,” said Bishop Jacques Perrier, head of the Diocese of Tarbes and Lourdes in southwestern France.
The trip will be the seventh one to France for the Pope and, according to Reuters, will include an open-air Mass as well as a private visit to the grotto at Lourdes “for as long as he wants to pray there.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Memories of Two 'Great Communicators' DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Marjorie Weeke, a retired official with the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications, was honored recently with the Daniel J. Kane Religious Communication Award from the University of Dayton, Ohio.
Weeke, a native of Whittier, Calif., who retired in 2001, reminisced recently with Register correspondent Edward Pentin about Pope John Paul II's meetings with Ronald Reagan as well as other highlights of her days working at the Vatican.
Through your work you've gotten to know Pope John Paul II quite well.
It's very hard for anyone who works for him to say you know him quite well, as it sounds arrogant and people say, “Oh yes, he's my friend.” I was always there — like the wallpaper. I didn't go on the plane; that wasn't my job — that was the press office.
But anytime there was a special audience, I would have to organize the pool for the press, pick them out, take them and get them back. It wasn't always just the Vatican press people; you'd have the people from the country, and to do that you had to bring them in ahead of time and tell them what was going to happen because some of them were scared to death — they'd never been to the Vatican before, especially the Muslim who wondered what would happen to him. So we would manage meetings and plan how it would go.
When you have a big meeting like a presidential one, then it's a question of an advance visit, the day before, and those are very complicated and usually they're live on television.
Once when I was in with President Ronald Reagan, he was very jovial and relaxed and we had all the big guns, the White House press — a certain number of them are allowed in; we keep the numbers down as much as possible. The Vatican press office would pick the journalist and at that time pick the photographers — they usually have one American TV network pooling for the others.
How did you find the chemistry between the Pope and Reagan?
Very nice, very nice. Of course, the Pope was younger then. But it was great with Nancy Reagan. All of the entourage were in veils and looking very elegant. And I still remember thinking that everything was going just fine, the photographers aren't trying to move into the wrong place.
The Pope and Reagan, when he was alive, have been great communicators, haven't they?
Oh yes, they both had this instinct to be very relaxed. Reagan was very afraid of still cameras because he said they can make you look awful, but TV cameras didn't matter because he'd been in movies all the time.
Reagan didn't mind who shot the cameras; he was just himself, he never really posed for the camera unless he had to, shaking hands — grips and grins as it's called. So there was great chemistry between them.
Then afterward there was always a meeting with the American community in Rome and the seminarians who would be waiting for the president, saying, “God bless America.” The Pope would always go with the president into that, too, and have a high old time. He did the same with President Bill Clinton; it was part of the protocol. So it was quite exciting in those days.
The Pope has a very great affection for the United States, doesn't he?
I think he does. He has two American secretaries, he's always tried to have someone around him who's known about the United States. [Former papal secretary] Father John Magee was Irish but very pro-American, and the Pope could speak English at lunch and he could work on it, but now he doesn't have anyone to do that.
Before he always made sure he had someone. Because he visited America as a cardinal, you know, and went all over the states — Detroit, lots of places where there are Poles. Somebody wrote about it saying, “Oh yes, there's some unimportant Polish cardinal coming, and I guess I've got to help him” — had he only known!
He seems to still be very warm to America despite recent differences.
Oh yes, he likes America, because he always goes up to people and says, “Oh American!” and looks at them, and they say, “Yes, we're American.” And he says, “Good, God bless America.”
Part of the reason for his affection for America is that it cherishes freedom, isn't it?
Yes, and America took care of a lot of Poles — look at the number of Poles in Chicago and Michigan.
You've called John Paul “very kind and very simple.”
Yes, he is, and very easy — I've never seen him flustered. He doesn't worry about somebody being late.
Everyone else is going mad, like the King of Morocco who came late, which is very bad protocol. But he says, you know, it's okay.
You'd think he'd be nervous — I've never seen him nervous. He might have something on his mind and be preoccupied but it doesn't show. And he's very observant, sees everything in the news.
Do you think refraining from giving interviews maintains a kind of mystique about the papacy?
I think so, or it becomes commonplace. The Pope said once, “I'm not a media star.” They think he is, but he said, “That's not what I do.” He said if he does something in public, then “they're all welcome to come, but not my private life.” He just drew the line over it. In fact, in his private chapel you'd never get a television camera.
He's a very private person?
Very much. He can be dramatic when he wants, but no, this part of himself is so private. Sometimes at a ceremony in St Peter's he'd come down and change in the crypt and suddenly turn around, go to the altar and begin praying. And we all just stood and waited, maybe 10 or 20 minutes. But it didn't matter; we weren't there.
But I like that — it's “first of all I'm Pope, that's what I do.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: God Stems the Tide of Evil DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:Register Summary
Pope John Paul II met with 8,000 pilgrims in the Paul VI Hall for his general audience June 23. His teaching focused on a short canticle from the Liturgy of the Hours' evening prayer that is found in Chapter 15 of the Book of Revelation.
The canticle, comprised of verses 3 and 4, is a hymn of adoration and praise of the Lord God Almighty, whose deeds are “mighty and wonderful” and whose ways are “just and true.” The hymn is being sung by those who are saved, now standing before the risen Lamb of God.
“Just like the Israelites in Exodus sang the Song of Moses after crossing the sea,” the Pope noted, “the elect raise their voices in ‘the song of Moses' and ‘the song of the Lamb' after having won the victory over the beast, who is God's enemy.”
Instead of lauding their constancy and sacrifices, they exalt the marvelous deeds the Lord has done for them. “Besides petition, authentic prayer is also praise, thanksgiving, blessing, celebration and a profession of faith in the Lord who saves,” the Holy Father pointed out.
John Paul emphasized the canticle's universal dimension: All nations will come and worship before the Lord.
“The expectation for justice, which is present in all cultures,” he said, “and the need for truth and love, which can be perceived in all spiritualities, contain a certain element of reaching out to the Lord that is only satisfied when we draw near to him.”
Besides the psalms, the Liturgy of the Hours' evening prayer includes a series of canticles that are taken from the New Testament. Some, like the one we just heard, are woven together from passages in Revelation, the book that serves as a seal for the whole Bible and that often includes songs and choruses by soloists and hymns by the assembly of the elect as well as the music of trumpets, harps and string instruments.
This canticle, which is very brief, comes from Chapter 15 of this work. It begins with a scene that is both rather original and grandiose: The seven trumpets that heralded an equal number of divine plagues are followed by seven bowls that are filled with plagues, pleghÉ in Greek, an expression that in itself is used to indicate a violent blow that causes a serious wound and, at times, even death. In this case, it is an obvious reference to the plagues of Egypt (see Exodus 7:14-11:10).
In Revelation, the plague is a symbol of judgment on the evil, oppression and violence in the world. For this reason, it is also a sign of hope for the just. As it is well known, the number seven is a sign of fullness in the Bible and the seven plagues are described as the “last” ones (see Revelation 15:1) because through them the intervention of God in order to stem the tide of evil reaches its culmination.
Song of the Just
The hymn is being sung by those who have been saved — the just of this earth — who are “standing” in the same posture as the risen Lamb
(see verse 2). Just like the Israelites in Exodus sang the Song of Moses after crossing the sea (see Exodus 15:1-8), the elect raise their voices in “the song of Moses” and “the song of the Lamb” (Revelation 15:3) after having won the victory over the beast, who is God's enemy (see verse 2).
This hymn is reflective of the liturgy of the churches founded by St. John and comprises an anthology of quotations from the Old Testament, especially the psalms. The early Christian community considered the Bible not only as the soul of its faith and life but also of its prayer and liturgy, which is precisely what occurs in evening prayer, upon which we are reflecting.
It is also significant that the canticle is accompanied by musical instruments: The just are holding harps in their hands (see verse 2), testifying to a liturgy that is enveloped in the splendor of sacred music.
Instead of celebrating their constancy and sacrifice with their hymns, those who have been saved exalt the “great and marvelous works” of the “Lord God Almighty”; that is, his work of salvation in ruling over the world and throughout history. Indeed, besides petition, authentic prayer is also praise, thanksgiving, blessing, celebration and a profession of faith in the Lord who saves.
A Universal Hymn
The universal dimension of this canticle is also significant, expressed in some words from Psalm 86: “All the nations you have made shall come to bow before you, Lord” (Psalm 86:9). Thus its gaze extends beyond our horizon and we can catch a glimpse of the streams of nations that are converging toward the Lord, recognizing his “righteous acts” (Revelation 15:4) — that is, his interventions throughout history in order to stem the tide of evil and to praise what is good. The expectation for justice, which is present in all cultures, and the need for truth and love, which can be perceived in all spiritualities, contain a certain element of reaching out to the Lord that is only satisfied when we draw near to him.
It is a beautiful thing to think of this universal yearning for the dimension of religion and hope, which the prophets raised and to which they gave voice through their words: “For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, my name is great among the nations; and everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name and a pure offering; for great is my name among the nations, says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 1:11).
Let us conclude by uniting our voice to this universal voice. We will do so through the words of a poem of that great Father of the Church from the fourth century, St. Gregory Nazianzen: “Glory to the Father and to the Son, the king of the universe, and glory to the Most Holy Spirit, to whom be all praise. One God is the Trinity: He created and has filled all things, the heavens with celestial beings and the earth with earthly beings. He has filled seas, rivers and springs with aquatic life, giving life to all things with his own Spirit so that all creation would sing hymns to its wise Creator, for he alone is the cause of their life and of their permanence in living. Above all, may rational creatures sing praise to him always as their powerful king and kind father! O Father, in my spirit and with my soul, tongue and thoughts, make me also glorify you in purity!” (Poesie, 1, Collana di testi patristici 115, Rome, 1994, p. 66-67).
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Sudanese Government Targets Fellow Muslims DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — Though the world has paid little attention while a civil war has ravaged Sudan for the last 21 years — killing more than 2 million people, most of them Christians and animists — Sudan is finally getting unprecedented media attention because of the impending possible slaughter of 1.2 million of its people in the western province of Darfur.
In what experts say is a primarily racial drive, Sudanese President Umar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir's Islamic government has launched attacks against mainly African Muslims using a group of Arabs called jingaweit or Janjaweed. These militia use the brutal methods of a scorched-earth policy, burning villages, destroying water sources and crops, killing, raping and plundering wherever they go.
Julie Flint of Human Rights Watch, who visited Darfur in March and April, described what she saw at a June 15 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Sudan.
“The terrible humanitarian emergency we are seeing today,” she said, “… is the direct result of human-rights abuses: scorched earth, denial of relief, denial of access — the same tactics the government of Sudan used most recently in its war to depopulate oil-producing areas of southern Sudan; the same tactics it used in the Nuba Mountains; the same tactics it has always used.”
The new crisis comes at the same time Khartoum has nearly reached a deal with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement and Army in southern Sudan to try to resolve the 21-year conflict there. If observed, the deal could prove a boon to the South. However, the government has consistently broken its promises, according to Eric Reeves, an English professor at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., who writes frequently on Sudan.
For instance, Reeves said, in October 2002 a cease-fire was declared. But Khartoum violated it so many times that in February 2003, an addendum had to be signed, which in turn was plainly violated by the government.
The peace initiative is awaiting final negotiations on how to implement individual peace protocols covering various areas of the country. A final document is expected to be completed within two months.
Bishop Gassis
Much depends on Darfur, however. The region falls within the Diocese of El Obeid, which is headed by Bishop Macram Max Gassis.
“If their rights continue to be violated and they do not receive justice,” he wrote in a February letter to Abdel Aziz Adam El Hilu, governor of the Nuba Mountains region, “their unrest and civil conflict will not only continue to bring further instability and suffering to their areas but also can be sources of instability and suffering to the just and lasting peace” sought for in the South.
“A process of Arabization is under way in Darfur,” Bishop Gassis told Zenit news service in May. “They want to force the people to accept that type of Islam they are propagating in Sudan: Muslim fundamentalism.”
Italian-born Sudanese Bishop Cesare Mazzolari of Rumbeck concurs. He recently told the Milan-based newspaper Il Giornale: “It is stated in the English version of the Sudanese Constitution that Islam is the state religion and that other faiths are tolerated. However, in the Arab version, there is not a trace of such a guarantee.”
Bishop Mazzolari said it is not rogue groups that are applying harsh Islamic law in Sudan.
“It is the state that applies Koranic law most often,” he said. “It cuts the hands and feet off of even non-Muslims and arrests them without evidence.”
So far reports state that 10,000 to 30,000 people have died in Darfur, and 1 million have been displaced. But this is only the tip of the iceberg, according to Reeves. The Janjaweeds' scorched-earth methods have not allowed this year's crops to be planted in time for the rainy season, which is now beginning, he said.
While the United States plans to send approximately $100 million in aid to Darfur, Reeves said the problem is getting it there. Right now, the government is not allowing anyone into Darfur, including international aid workers. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., is heading there along with Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., to evaluate the situation and try to force the government to admit aid workers, a spokesman for Brownback said June 22.
Even if the government does allow aid in, roads become impassable once the rainy season begins. The only railway runs from the Red Sea all across Sudan, Africa's largest country, making aid deliveries vulnerable to attack from government forces or militias, Reeves observed.
Usually, food aid in Africa is given as a stopgap between crop plantings and harvests, Reeves added. So even if food arrives now, more will be needed later to tide people through to the next harvest season because of the failure to plant this year's crops.
This situation sets up more than 1 million people to die within a year, Reeves warned.
Genocide?
Despite the dire reports, U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan said he did not want to be too hasty in proclaiming a genocide in Sudan.
“Based on reports that I have received,” he said June 17, “I cannot at this stage call it genocide. There are massive violations of international humanitarian law, but I am not ready to describe it as genocide or ethnic cleansing yet.”
Nina Shea, director of the Washington-based Center for Religious Freedom and a member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said Europe is also underplaying the crisis.
The 25 countries of the European Union have committed only $12 million to Darfur, Shea noted, and Europe has allowed oil companies “to partner with the Bashir regime and funded the regime's ‘human rights' commissions — as if the slave raids and forcible mass starvation were problems of underdevelopment,” she wrote in the June 21 issue of The Weekly Standard.
The Bush administration's response has been more forceful. Secretary of State Colin Powell told The New York Times on June 11 that his department is investigating whether to designate what is happening in Darfur as genocide.
If it is, that would trigger a 1948 treaty on genocide that obligates signatories to intercede. That could include a military response, though Shea said she had been told there would not be an occupation of Sudan.
In fact, a clear warning was issued at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing by Charles Snyder, an official with the State Department's Bureau of African Affairs.
“Our message to the government of Sudan is clear: Do what is necessary now, and we will work with you,” Snyder said. “If you do not, there will be consequences. Time is of the essence. Do not doubt our determination.”
Thomas Szyszkiewicz writes from Altura, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Thomas Szyszkiewicz ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:Morning-After Pill Ignites Controversy in Peru
REUTERS, June 15 — Church leaders and other pro-lifers are outraged at Peruvian health minister Pilar Mazzetti's decision to allow free distribution of the morning-after pill. The pills would be available in three months.
Opponents of the decision called the move one step closer to the legalization of abortion in that country, where it is prohibited and where contraception has been available to unmarried women only for the past 20 years, Reuters reported.
Hector Chavez Chuchon, head of the Health Commission in Congress and a surgeon, called the health minister's move part of an anti-life policy and said he hoped the country would never be in the “shameful position of wanting or having to legalize abortion.”
“As a doctor, as a minister and as a woman, there's no way I'd accept anything that was an attack on life,” Mazzetti said. However, the morning-after pill is known to prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in a women's uterus, thus causing an abortion.
Philippines Vicariate Begins Jubilee Year
ASIANEWS, June 22 — With the motto “to make the lay aware of the Jubilee's significance,” the apostolic vicariate of Palawan, Philippines, approximately 364 miles southwest of Manila, is beginning its yearlong celebration of its elevation to apostolic vicariate July 3.
The vicariate, established by Pope St. Pius X in 1910 as an apostolic prefecture, was elevated to an apostolic vicariate on July 3, 1955. Because of its size — approximately 93,000 square miles — and increasing population — 800,000, 70% of which is Catholic — two years ago it was divided in two, AsiaNews reported.
All of the vicariate's clergy will attend an upcoming National Congress on the Clergy in Manila, which will coincide with the theme of the Jubilee, “Thanksgiving and the Renewal of the Clergy and Laity.”
Priests often walk for hours just to visit all of the chapels in their vicariate, just as the 17th-century Spanish missionaries did. The first missionaries, from the Spanish Order of Augustinian Recollects, arrived in Palawan in 1623.
Colombian Priests Regularly Risk Their Lives
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, June 22 — Being a priest in Colombia means more than baptizing babies, hearing confessions and celebrating the Eucharist. Priests also mediate for freedom for hostages, escort civilians through combat zones and work out temporary truces between warring factions.
In isolated regions of the country, the Associated Press noted, priests often fill a void left by the absence of government authority.
“The Church is the only institution that all sides respect,” one priest said. The government and a right-wing militia, United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, have been sparring for 40 years, as have the government and the leftist National Liberation Army.
Pope John Paul II offered encouragement to Colombian priests June 17 at a Vatican meeting on peacemaking.
“In the particular case of your country,” the Holy Father said, “where for years an internal conflict has claimed so many innocent victims … you must give priority to peace and reconciliation, and so contribute to building a society on the Christian principles of truth, justice, love and freedom.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: John Paul II's Challenge to America DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:It is a custom at the Register to publish remarks by Pope John Paul II about America every Fourth of July. These important documents show how much the Pope loves America — and they repeat his challenge to Americans to serve their country's founding vision faithfully.
Address Delivered by Pope John Paul II as he received the Diplomatic Credentials of U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Lindy Boggs
Here follows the Pope's December 16, 1997, remarks, omitting the introductory paragraphs:
The Founding Fathers of the United States asserted their claim to freedom and independence on the basis of certain “self-evident” truths about the human person: truths which could be discerned in human nature, built into it by “nature's God.”
Thus they meant to bring into being, not just an independent territory, but a great experiment in what George Washington called “ordered liberty:” an experiment in which men and women would enjoy equality of rights and opportunities in the pursuit of happiness and in service to the common good.
Reading the founding documents of the United States, one has to be impressed by the concept of freedom they enshrine: a freedom designed to enable people to fulfill their duties and responsibilities towards the family and towards the common good of the community.
Their authors clearly understood that there could be no true freedom without moral responsibility and accountability, and no happiness without respect and support for the natural units or groupings through which people exist, develop and seek the higher purposes of life in concert with others.
The American democratic experiment has been successful in many ways. Millions of people around the world look to the United States as a model, in their search for freedom, dignity, and prosperity.
But the continuing success of American democracy depends on the degree to which each new generation, native-born and immigrant, make its own the moral truths on which the Founding Fathers staked the future of your Republic. Their commitment to build a free society with liberty and justice for all must be constantly renewed if the United States is to fulfill the destiny to which the Founders pledged their “lives … fortunes … and sacred honor.”
I am happy to take note of your words confirming the importance that your Government attaches, in its relations with countries around the world, to the promotion of human rights and particularly to the fundamental human right of religious freedom, which is the guarantee of every other human right. Respect for religious conviction played no small part in the birth and early development of the United States.
Thus John Dickinson said in 1766: “Our liberties do not come from charters; for these are only the declaration of pre-existing rights. They do not depend on parchments or seals; but come from the King of Kings and the Lord of all the earth” (Cf. C. Herman Pritchett, The American Constitution, McGraw-Hill, 1977, p. 2).
Indeed, it may be asked whether the American democratic experiment would have been possible, or how well it will succeed in the future, without a deeply rooted vision of divine providence over the individual and over the fate of nations.
As the Year 2000 draws near and Christians prepare to celebrate the bi-millennium of the birth of Christ, I have appealed for a serious examination of conscience regarding the shadows which darken our times (cf. Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 36). Nations and States too can make this a time of reflection on the spiritual and moral conditions of their success in promoting the integral good of their people.
It would truly be a sad thing if the religious and moral convictions upon which the American experiment was founded could now somehow be considered a danger to free society, such that those who would bring these convictions to bear upon your nation's public life would be denied a voice in debating and resolving issues of public policy.
The original separation of Church and State in the United States was certainly not an effort to ban all religious conviction from the public sphere, a kind of banishment of God from civil society. Indeed, the vast majority of Americans, regardless of their religious persuasion, are convinced that religious conviction and religiously informed moral argument have a vital role in public life.
No expression of society's commitment to liberty and justice for all can be more basic than the protection afforded to those in society who are most vulnerable. The United States of America was founded on the conviction that an inalienable right to life was a self-evident moral truth, fidelity to which was a primary criterion of social justice.
The moral history of your country is the story of your people's efforts to widen the circle of inclusion in society, so that all Americans might enjoy the protection of law, participate in the responsibilities of citizenship, and have the opportunity to make a contribution to the common good.
Whenever a certain category of people — the unborn or the sick and old — are excluded from that protection, a deadly anarchy subverts the original understanding of justice. The credibility of the United States will depend more and more on its promotion of a genuine culture of life, and on a renewed commitment to building a world in which the weakest and most vulnerable are welcomed and protected.
As they have done throughout your country's history, the Catholic people of the United States will continue to make an important contribution to the development of American culture and society.
Thus John Dickinson said in 1766: “Our liberties do not come from charters; for these are only the declaration of pre-existing rights. They do not depend on parchments or seals; but come from the King of Kings and the Lord of all the earth”
'John Paul II
The recently completed Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for America has highlighted the range and variety of activity which Catholics, out of commitment to Christ, undertake for the betterment of society. May this transforming and elevating work continue to flourish for the good of individuals, the strengthening of families, and the benefit of the American people as a whole.
Your Excellency, these are some of the thoughts prompted by your presence here as your country's diplomatic representative. These reflections evoke a prayer: that your country will experience a new birth of freedom, a freedom grounded in truth and ordered to goodness.
Thus will the American people be able to harness their boundless spiritual energy in service of the genuine good of all humanity. Be assured that the various Offices of the Holy See will be ready to assist you in the fulfillment of your mission. Upon you and upon the people of the United States of America I cordially invoke abundant divine blessings.
Message of The Holy Father To U.S. National Prayer Breakfast
Here follow excerpts from the Pope's Jan. 29, 2000, remarks:
Your nation was built as an experiment in ordered freedom, an experiment in which the exercise of individual freedom would contribute to the common good. The American separation of Church and State as institutions was accompanied from the beginning of your Republic by the conviction that strong religious faith, and the public expression of religiously-informed judgments, contribute significantly to the moral health of the body politic. …
Looking back on my own lifetime, I am convinced that the epoch-making changes taking place and the challenges appearing at the dawn of this new millennium call for just such a “prophetic” function on the part of religious believers in public life.
And, may I say, this is particularly true of you who represent the American people, with their rich heritage of commitment to freedom and equality under the law, their spirit of independence and commitment to the common good, their self-reliance and generosity in sharing their God-given gifts. In the century just ended, this heritage became synonymous with freedom itself for people throughout the world, as they sought to cast off the shackles of totalitarianism and to live in freedom.
As one who is personally grateful for what America did for the world in the darkest days of the twentieth century, allow me to ask: Will America continue to inspire people to build a truly better world, a world in which freedom is ordered to truth and goodness?
Or will America offer the example of a pseudo-freedom which, detached from the moral norms that give life direction and fruitfulness, turns in practice into a narrow and ultimately inhuman self-enslavement, one which smothers people's spirits and dissolves the foundations of social life?
These questions pose themselves in a particularly sharp way when we confront the urgent issue of protecting every human being's inalienable right to life from conception until natural death.
This is the great civil rights issue of our time, and the world looks to the United States for leadership in cherishing every human life and in providing legal protection for all the members of the human community, but especially those who are weakest and most vulnerable.
For religious believers who bear political responsibility, our times offer a daunting yet exhilarating challenge. I would go so far as to say that their task is to save democracy from self-destruction. Democracy is our best opportunity to promote the values that will make the world a better place for everyone, but a society which exalts individual choice as the ultimate source of truth undermines the very foundations of democracy.
If there is no objective moral order which everyone must respect, and if each individual is expected to supply his or her own truth and ethic of life, there remains only the path of contractual mechanisms as the way of organizing our living together in society. In such a society the strong will prevail and the weak will be swept aside.
As I have written elsewhere, “if there is no ultimate truth to guide and direct political action, then ideas and convictions can easily be manipulated for reasons of power. As history demonstrates, a democracy without values easily turns into open or thinly disguised totalitarianism” (Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, No. 46).
Faith compels Christians in the public arena in your country to promote a new political culture of service, based on the vision of life and civilization that has sustained the American people in the positive character and outlook that has nourished their optimism, their hope, their willingness to be generous in the service of others, and will protect them from the cynicism which dissipates the very energies needed for building the future.
Today this optimism is being tested, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ remains the sturdy foundation of hope for the future.
I am convinced that, precisely at this crossroads in history, the Christian message of truth and justice, and of our universal brotherhood as God's beloved children, has the power to emerge once again as the “good news” for our times, a compelling invitation to real hope.
It will do so if “the power of God leading to salvation” (cf. Romans 1:16) is seen in the transformed lives of those who profess the Gospel as the pole-star of their lives and the deepest source of their commitment to others. To build a future of hope is, to use a favorite expression of the late Pope Paul VI, to build a “civilization of love”.
Love, as Scripture teaches, casts out fear: fear of the future, fear of the other, fear that there is not enough room at the banquet of life for the least of our brothers and sisters.
Love does not tear down but is rather the virtue that “builds up”. And this is my prayer for you: that as men and women involved in public life, you will truly be builders of a civilization of love, of a society which, precisely because it embodies the highest values of truth, justice and freedom for all, is also a sign of the presence of God's Kingdom and its peace.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:Kerry's Catholicity Quotient
I read with amusement “Democrat Kerry Is Most ‘Catholic’ in Senate” (June 13-19). Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., devised the test that tracked senators' voting records on issues described as U.S. bishops' legislative priorities. Sen. John Kerry's overall score was 60.9%, the best among Catholic senators. His score on pro-life issues, meanwhile, was only 11%.
Where I went to school, 70% was a passing grade. An 11% score in a core subject meant automatic summer school. A student with an overall average of 60% would have to repeat the grade. Allowing a student to advance with such a learning deficiency would be more harmful to him in the long run than the stigma of being held back. In those days, good teachers made hard and unpopular decisions for the long-term benefit of the student.
Kerry failed the very test designed to prop him up in the minds of Catholics, and he failed miserably in the core curriculum of Catholic morality. And while serious Catholics will dismiss the Durbin survey as election-year politics, the bishops can no longer dismiss Kerry's blatant support for abortion on demand. They must make the hard and unpopular decision to deny him — and other pro-abortion politicians — holy Communion for the long-term good of their souls.
The Durbin survey is not just electionyear politics. It distorts what it means to be Catholic. The nonmoral issues on which senators were surveyed are not defining issues for Catholics. As Catholics, we can disagree on the minimum wage, capital punishment, labor policy and immigration reform. However, we have a duty to oppose abortion and uphold Church teaching on moral and doctrinal matters.
KEN SKUBA Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania
Battling Bush
A letter to the editor titled “Don't Judge Politicians” (May 30-June 5) states in its concluding paragraph: “Particularly this year, it is important not to do anything that could be construed as an encouragement to vote for President Bush in November. His position against abortion is very weak in that he will do as little as possible in order to cater to a Catholic vote.”
Abortion promoters have a very different view of Bush. At the recent March for Women's Lives, NARAL Pro-Choice America, the National Organization for Women and other abortion-promoting organizations couldn't stop denigrating Bush as their No. 1 enemy because he has nominated candidates for federal judicial positions who might eventually get on the Supreme Court and overturn Roe v. Wade. Democratic senators are filibustering Bush's judicial candidates who have not expressed publicly their support of Roe v. Wade. This group of senators includes 12 Catholics, and Sen. John Kerry is one of them.
Bush is striking at the lifeblood of the abortion industry — and the industry and its backers are taking him seriously. Ask Ellie Smeal or Kate Michelman if Bush should be trying harder.
BARBARA DEREUIL
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Political Pharisees?
I respectfully disagree with Father James Conner's comments about judging politicians (“Don't Judge Politicians,” May 30-June 5). Holy Communion is a blessed privilege, not a right.
As Catholics, we have a right, duty and obligation to defend the Church and its teachings. That includes those politicians who call themselves Catholic. The good Father Conner must remember that those very politicians who vote for abortion in any form — or support homosexual rights, euthanasia or any other [agenda] contrary to Catholic teaching — are going against the Church and are subject to the Church for not following Church doctrine. It would appear that those very politicians forgot they were Catholic long before they became politicians.
Father Conner is failing to see the message of the Gospel he is quoting about Mary Magdalene. She came to Jesus as a sinner who was repenting for her sins and seeking Jesus' forgiveness for those sins. It's quite obvious what Mary Magdalene's role was after that. She followed Christ to the cross and spread his message up to the time of her death.
Father Conner cites the Pharisees in his letter, also. We know all too well what the Pharisees wanted done to Jesus and the hand they played in his death. Now it would appear that those politicians who call themselves Catholic are acting just like the Pharisees who helped crucify Jesus!
NEIL BALTAZOR Harrah, Oklahoma
Mocking the Eucharist
In his letter “Don't Judge Politicians” (May 30-June 5), Father James Conner mentions the example of how the Pharisees judged Christ for socializing with Mary Magdalene. Father Conner then draws a parallel to Catholics who advocate denying holy Communion to pro-abortion Catholic politicians.
In reviewing this passage from holy Scripture, I see two problems with Father's proposed parallel. First, nowhere does Christ excuse or condone Mary Magdalene's sin. In fact, as Father points out, Our Lord said: “Many sins have been forgiven her because she has loved much.” In short, Jesus judged her previous actions to be sinful. He did not excuse her; he forgave her. Thus the Church obviously has the power to judge certain actions as sinful.
Second, both the text and the context of this passage suggest Mary Magdalene acknowledged and recognized her sins for what they were. It was in a spirit of contrition that she approached Our Lord and sought his forgiveness. Have the pro-abortion Catholic politicians being refused holy Communion shown a similar spirit of contrition? On the contrary, when not passing judgment on President Bush's pro-life judicial nominees, we find many of these pro-abortion Catholic politicians publicly boasting about their perfect Planned Barrenhood rating.
Yet, in discussing this issue, let us never forget that what lay in a woman's womb is not just some anonymous blob of cancerous tissue. Rather, it is a human life. Abortion ends that human life. Thus when a Catholic politician campaigns on the slogan “this is my body” to promote the horror of abortion, he or she mocks the very words that make the holy Eucharist so sacred to Catholics.
PETE VERE, JCL Sudbury, Ontario
Counting on Godparents
I appreciated the article on the role of baptismal godparents (“Godparenting With Grace — and Goals,” May 23-29).
Godparenting is an area that is too often overlooked. To those of us who are trying to reclaim a true sense of spiritual service rather than a one-time stand-in by godparents, it was a welcome gift.
I was, however, disappointed in one element present in the photo. The picture and caption mentioned the child, his godmother and godfathers. Canon law does not permit three sponsors, nor does it permit two individuals of the same sex to serve in this capacity. Canon 873 states: “Only one male or one female sponsor or one of each sex is to be employed.”
While I'm sure it was simply an oversight on your part, it is unfortunate that a photo of a priest and a ceremony wherein the Church's instructions are not being followed appeared in the Register. Many people, myself included, trust the orthodoxy of the content of articles in Register, and some might be led by this error to believe that having three sponsors or two godfathers is an acceptable practice. A correction of this mistake would be most helpful.
May God continue to bless you and your fine newspaper!
REV. ANDREW P. CARROZZA, Sacred Heart Church, Suffern, New York
Creighton Confusion
Creighton University might be a mandatum school, according to “Creighton Doesn't Hide Professors' Status” (May 23-29), but it is also a pro-homosexual school. It hosts a chapter of the Gay-Straight Alliance that is sanctioned by the university administration and that favors homosexual “marriage.”
THOMAS SYSESKEY
Worcester, Massachusetts
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: In a Solar System of Issues, Abortion Is the Sun DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:Regarding “Meddling in Politics” (May 30-June 5): Some people just don't get it. I mean those who write to say that “abortion, although an important issue, is just one of many issues.”
Those with their heads on straight, notably Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, have tried to explain many times that abortion is not “just” one issue. Nothing can possibly be more fundamental than the right to life. Of course, other issues are important. The moon is very important, but without the sun it would be of no use. Without the right to life, all other rights are only theoretical.
The crucial thing about abortion is that it is intrinsically, black-and-white, 100% wrong. The same, of course, applies to related right-to-life matters such as euthanasia and embryonic experimentation. But with all other issues it is different, whether it be health care, war, environmental concerns, economics or any of the myriad other issues of our times. Every one of them is debatable at the very least. Good people can have different slants on them. And every one of them is a moon dependent upon the sun.
To be actively opposed to abortion is part of being a Catholic. To actively oppose the election of any candidate who favors legal abortion is therefore part of being a Catholic.
DOROTHY STATHIS
Victoria, Texas
Your editorial comparing media coverage of developments in Nazi Germany to what's happening in America is on the mark (“Meddling in Politics,” May 30-June 5).
Europe had told the Church and Vatican to be silent and stay out of public affairs. When the Church did speak, priests and others were arrested and lay people slain by the Nazi regime. And various Nazis had the effrontery to still call themselves Catholic, or be listed as such by historians, since they had not been excommunicated.
And now dissenting Catholic politicians in America are telling the Church to be silent on what essentially are human issues rather than religious doctrine. Some are even threatening retaliation. And these are people who call themselves “Democrats.”
Robert J. Bonsignore
Brooklyn, New York
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: New Age Under the Microscope DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:What is New Age? Is it a supplement to religion, a challenge, a corrective, or is it a replacement?
A document prepared by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, released in 2003, has outlined the appeal, inconsistencies and dangers of New Age. Called Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life, this lengthy report, replete with 107 footnotes and an extensive bibliography, is a dispassionate and insightful commentary and evaluation of that amorphous trend called New Age.
The primary target groups for the document are those engaged in pastoral work. Because New Age has broad appeal in ways that are often subtle and seemingly innocuous, the council wanted to assist pastoral workers in better explaining how the New Age movement differs from the Christian faith.
The document's title draws attention to whether we have paid sufficient attention to the thirst in the human heart for the “living water” only Christ can provide (John 4:7-13). The better we know our faith, the more resistant we will be to New Age's myriad alien and bogus attractions.
St. Paul's exhortation in 1 Timothy 1:3-4 “to instruct certain people not to teach false doctrine or to concern themselves with myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the plan of God that is to be received by faith,” provides the perspective in which the document is written.
What is New Age? New Age is not a single, uniform movement. Rather, it is “a loose network of practitioners whose approach is to think globally but act locally.” It is more a “milieu” or an “audience cult,” according to some observers, than a typical “movement.” Nonetheless, an identifiable current of thought runs through New Age so that even if it is not definable, it is certainly recognizable.
Although New Age is not exactly a religion, it is nevertheless interested in what it terms “divine.” Emphasizing “spirituality” to the exclusion and even discredit of religion, New Age encourages people to experience states of consciousness characterized “by a sense of harmony and fusion with the Whole.”
This variety of “mysticism” refers to a sense of being one with the universe, a sense, as Matthew Fox says in The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance, “a sense of letting one's individuality sink into the great ocean of Being.”
What is the appeal of New Age? The Christian religion is commonly criticized in the contemporary world for being patriarchal and authoritarian. New Age promises a freedom that is obtained at little cost. Paul Heelas, author of The New Age Movement: The Celebration of the Self and the Sacralization of Modernity (1996) makes the comment that New Age “does not demand any more faith or belief than going to the cinemas.”
Spirituality, in the sense of an inner experience of harmony with reality, is presumed sufficient to heal a person of his feelings of imperfection and finitude. New Age also proposes a facile cure for anxiety that results from worrying about economic instability, political uncertainty and institutional rigidity.
New Age, which represents a welcomed “paradigm shift,” favors right-brain intuitive thinking over left-brain rational thinking, feeling over reason and the feminine over the masculine. Because it dispenses with any distinction between good and evil, it offers no basis on which we could moralize or judge anyone. Thus there would be no need for forgiveness, since no one could ever sin.
Although New Age is Pelagian — conveying the message that we have no need for moral guidance and can be redeemed through our own efforts — it is nonetheless rigidly doctrinaire about our environmental responsibilities. It is not likely, however, that the morally irresponsible would also be the ecologically super-responsible.
New Age repudiates the anthropological vision of the Bible that human beings are created in the image of God, replacing it with a “bio-centric” view in which all life is of central importance. In this regard, New Age has many friends among the Gaia cult, Greenpeace and “animal rights” activists.
Several authors see New Age spiritualities as little more than forms of spiritual narcissism or pseudo-mysticism. Notions of the “self-creating self,” “the god-within,” “psychology as spirituality” and that each person is a hologram, “an image of the whole creation,” are essentially self-indulgent. Accordingly, New Age exploits pride and supplants humility.
Although New Age enthusiastically promotes “diversity,” it does not regard traditional Christianity as an acceptable option. In fact, as Elliot Miller notes in A Crash Course in the New Age (1989), “There is no tolerable place for true Christianity” within a New Age perspective.
The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue concludes that the most obvious and urgent measure to be taken in response to the wave of New Age that is washing over the contemporary world would be “to make the most of the riches of the Christian spiritual heritage.” It advises pastors, therefore, to help people in their spiritual search by offering them time-honored ways of achieving real prayer and showing them the practical wisdom that is the legacy of their Christian tradition.
Ignorance and pride will render people highly exploitable to every passing trend. Knowledge of one's faith and humility about one's capacities for self-reliance, on the other hand, are the more secure and serviceable grounds for developing a spirituality that is truly and uncompromisingly Christian.
Dr. Donald DeMarco is professor emeritus at St. Jerome's University and adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College and Seminary.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Kerry, Bush and the Empire of Liberty DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:Politicians and pundits have of late much abused the word empire.
In that sober Boston journal The Atlantic, Robert Kaplan offers practical suggestions for maintaining the “liberal empire” that, he says, already belongs to the United States. On the other hand, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., tells us his administration would never “blunder down the false road of empire.”
Kerry, of course, implies that President Bush's decision to bypass the United Nations and attack Iraq is nothing short of imperialism. Indeed, Bush's treatment of international law is a far cry from that suggested in Pope John Paul II's most recent World Day of Peace address. But does Kerry mean that a President Kerry would never send in the troops unless a clear casus belli existed, as international law requires — an immediate threat to the people of the United States?
Don't believe it. Since Woodrow Wilson, Democratic presidents (FDR, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Clinton) have rarely been able to resist a good war to “make the world safe for democracy.” Indeed, Kerry affirms that “adversaries will have no doubt of my resolve to use force if necessary — but I will always understand that even the only superpower on earth cannot succeed without cooperation and compromise with our friends and allies.”
In other words, a Kerry administration will be just as prompt to intervene overseas, as long as the United Nations gives the go-ahead. Rest assured, then, that under President Kerry, we will be waist-deep in efforts to remake local cultures and societies in our secularized, democratic, Western image.
The Pope said in his 1987 encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, (The Social Concern of the Church) that “an essential condition for global solidarity is autonomy and free self-determination” (No. 45). In this regard, Bush's foreign policy comes closer to papal social teaching than the Democrats'. Bush has been in no hurry, for example, to get rid of the Afghan warlords, who, for all their faults in our eyes, seem to hold the confidence of their people. Nor has he attempted to impose American puppets on the people of Iraq.
In any case, the United States has never had the sort of territorial, colonial empire possessed by Kaplan's model “liberal empire,” Great Britain. Yet even the Founding Fathers sometimes referred to America as an “empire.” Looking at what the founders meant by that term might help clarify the proper role of the United States in world politics today.
As an idealistic Harvard student, John Adams remarked that “soon after the Reformation a few people came over into the New World for conscience's sake. Perhaps this (apparently) trivial incident may transfer the great seat of empire into America.”
The second sentence is sometimes quoted without the former, giving the impression that Adams envisioned an American world empire. Adams' initial statement, however, makes it clear that he believed America's empire had its origin in respect for the rights of conscience.
Gov. Thomas Jefferson of Virginia spoke of an American empire in his 1780 instructions to George Rogers Clark, who was then attempting to hold the Ohio Valley for the United States. Jefferson hoped Clark's campaign in the Midwest, still largely populated by French settlers, would “add to the empire of liberty an extensive and fertile country thereby converting dangerous enemies into valuable friends.”
Jefferson, the forerunner of Manifest Destiny, favored territorial expansion within North America. He even wanted to incorporate Canada into the United States, though he thought American expansion should stop at Cuba.
But in dealing with the prior inhabitants of those lands, the third president favored cooperation and persuasion over conquest and power. With Canada, “we should have such an empire for liberty as she has never surveyed since the creation,” Jefferson told James Madison just after leaving office in 1809, “and I am persuaded no constitution was ever before so well calculated as ours for extensive empire and self-government.”
“Self-government” is the key to the American founding. The American Revolution was not fought for democracy per se but for the political principle of self-determination.
The French political theorist Baron de Montesquieu had insisted that peoples should be free to choose the form of government — monarchy, aristocracy or democracy — that best suited their diverse cultures. The people of the United States, to be sure, desired and created a democratic republic. Had its habits been different, the new nation might have devised a monarchy, a feudal aristocracy or a tribal system governed by elders as long as natural rights were respected and justice was upheld.
When the Founding Fathers spoke of “empire,” therefore, they did not mean that America should impose democracy on other members of the community of nations. Rather, they were concerned with how to govern what Alexander Hamilton called the “amazing extent” of land, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, which had fallen to them after the Revolution. Some also had in mind the “unsettled” lands of the West, since the Indian nations were not recognized as part of the civilized community. It was a commonplace of political theory that no republic could survive in such an extensive territory. Our federal system was designed to cope with this problem.
The founders did expect that the United States would influence other nations toward liberty but only through its example, not by “forcing them to be free” (in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's famous phrase). George Washington's 1796 farewell address pleaded to extend American commerce to other nations but “to have with them as little political connection as possible.”
Julian Boyd, a Jefferson scholar, argued in 1948 that the founders' empire of liberty was not “an imperialistic force for compulsory extension of ideals of liberty: Its domain and compulsions would be in the realm of the mind and spirit of man … holding imperial sway not by arms or political power but by the sheer majesty of ideas and ideals.”
The Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, also spoke of the American empire of liberty.
“Liberty will maintain her empire,” he predicted in 1765, “till a dissoluteness of morals, luxury and venality shall have prepared the degenerate sons of some future age to prefer their own mean lucre, the bribes and the smiles of corruption and arbitrary ministers, to patriotism, to glory and to the public weal.”
“A period [end] is already set to the reign of American freedom,” Carroll continued, “but that fatal time seems to be at a great distance.”
Let us hope and pray that by embracing the founders' principles of self-government and political self-determination, at home and abroad, the American people may delay that “fatal time” a bit longer.
Scott McDermott's biography, Charles Carroll of Carrollton: Faithful Revolutionary, is currently available at www.scepterpublishers.org.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Scott Mcdermott ----- KEYWORDS: Commentry -------- TITLE: What We Learned in Massachusetts on May 17 DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:On May 17 the state of Massachusetts began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
The very first day indicted two of the most prominent arguments in favor of homosexual marriage. The “conservative” case that homosexual “marriage” would strengthen the overall condition of marriage was completely discredited. And events proved that the federalism argument was almost certainly offered in bad faith by at least some advocates of homosexual marriage.
The “conservative” case for homosexual marriage is most commonly associated with Andrew Sullivan and Jonathan Rauch. They argue that bringing homosexual people into the institution of marriage would provide stability for relationships that desperately need it. The desire to maintain respectability would create an incentive for homosexual men to be less promiscuous and more faithful. Since heterosexual marriage is already plagued by divorce and infidelity, broadening the institution would gain new adherents to the standards of lifelong love.
Skeptics respond that even long-time homosexual couples do not define monogamy in the same way heterosexual couples do. Homosexual relationships tend to find ways to accommodate outside sexual activity. For instance, a Canadian study of self-described committed male homosexuals together for more than a year found that only 25% were completely monogamous. By contrast, more than 75% of married heterosexual men are monogamous. Another study found that most of the self-described committed homosexual couples had had three to five partners during the previous year.
A straight man who had that many partners in a single year would certainly throw his marriage into crisis.
The truth of this difference between homosexual and straight meanings of monogamy became clear on the very first day Massachusetts offered marriage licenses to homosexual couples. The first couple married in Provincetown, Mass., proclaimed the concept of forever to be “overrated” and that “it's possible to love more than one person and have more than one partner.”
This statement reflects an attitude that is different in kind from the occasional infidelity of married couples. It is inconceivable that a straight man would proclaim his right to have more than one partner on his wedding day with his wife beside him as they both smiled for the camera.
Let's hear no more of the “conservative” case for homosexual marriage.
You remember the federalism argument, of course, even though it is so five minutes ago. That was the claim that the definition of marriage should be handled by the states. If one state wants to experiment, fine. If for some strange, unforeseen reason the homosexual marriage experiment goes awry, the other states would learn from the experience.
The first day of homosexual marriage gave lie to this claim, too, when outof-state couples were featured prominently in news accounts of the new law. Provincetown has been a homosexual tourist destination for some time. Naturally, the town hall felt no compunction about giving out marriage licenses to homosexual couples, even to those who would certainly not be considered married in their home states.
It would be bad for business, you know, to discriminate against paying customers and tourists. Even after Gov. Mitt Romney specifically ordered the towns to enforce the law against performing marriages to out-of-state couples, Provincetown persisted.
During the second week of homosexual marriage, California activists let their cat out of the bag. The Williams Project on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy, an advocacy group disguised as an academic department at the University of California-Los Angeles, produced a study outlining the fiscal benefits to California from redefining marriage to include same-sex couples. An article in the May 27 issue of the San Diego Union Tribune highlights wedding tourism as one of the major benefits to the state.
Authors R. Bradley Sears and M.V. Lee Badgett argue that California ought to jump at the chance to be one of the first states to permit homosexual marriage, precisely to take advantage of the financial gains from attracting out-of-state same-sex couples.
In other words, the state of California should make a public policy of luring couples to take vows and receive licenses that will certainly not be recognized as valid in their home state. Perhaps the authors want these couples to return to their home states and demand that their California marriage license be recognized. Or perhaps the authors want California to make a public policy of assisting individuals to break the laws of their own state. Either way, this is certainly the end of the federalism argument. These authors at least evidently did not take the federalism argument seriously for a moment.
I have no doubt of the sincerity of commentators such as Andrew Sullivan and Jonathan Rauch, who once seemed to believe that homosexual marriage in one state could be confined there and provide a social laboratory. But I cannot for the life of me see how anyone can continue to believe that such an experiment is possible. The marriage-deconstruction activists, homosexual and straight alike, will not allow the experiment to run undisturbed for the 30 years or more that would be required to learn anything useful from it.
Let's hear no more about federalism as an argument for homosexual marriage.
The issue is whether we want a national policy of marriage as the sexually exclusive union of a man and a woman or a national policy of marriage as the union of any combination of consenting adults with no particular expectation of sexual fidelity. No serious person can believe any longer that a state-by-state policy is possible or that homosexual activists hold the same ideal of “marriage” as everyone else.
Jennifer Roback Morse is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jennifer Roback Morse ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: The Blessed Mother, Schoenstatt-Style DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:Whenever I walk down the tree-lined path leading to the Schoenstatt Marian Shrine on Milwaukee's Wisconsin Avenue, I get the sensation of coming home after being away for a while. And I know I'm not the only one to feel that way.
A replica of a 13th-century cemetery chapel, the shrine somehow feels familiar even to first-time visitors.
Burrowed into the grounds of St. Vincent Pallotti Parish and dedicated to the Mother Thrice Admirable, Queen and Victress of Schoenstatt, the sanctuary was built by a group of Pallottine Fathers in 1954. The small, white chapel with its steeply sloped roof welcomes all who pass to come in and be uplifted by the Mother of God.
The shrine was a gift from parishioners, the Pallottines and members of the Schoenstatt Marian Apostolic Movement to the Blessed Virgin as they all marked the Marian year proclaimed by Pope Pius XII.
Father Joseph Kentenich, founder of the Schoenstatt movement, said more than 3,000 Masses here between 1952 and 1965. The provincial headquarters of the Pallottine Fathers, a historic building dating back to 1879, is situated behind the shrine. Across Bluemound Road, on the first road constructed in the Wisconsin Territory, is Calvary Cemetery. This was established in 1858 and is the burial place of Solomon Juneau, Milwaukee's founder.
On my most recent visit, I felt as if the Blessed Mother herself were softly inviting me to enter as soon as I reached for the handle of the heavy oaken door. Once inside, I had no trouble letting the cares of the world vanish from my mind as I was enveloped by Our Lady's love. The holy Eucharist was exposed in a small but elegant monstrance, so I genuflected and slipped into one of the pews.
In Mother's Arms
The most striking feature of the shrine is a picture of the Blessed Virgin. Originally titled “Refuge of Sinners” and now referred to as the “Mother Thrice Admirable,” the picture of Mary holding her son is prominently positioned in a baroque-style altar handcrafted of blended woods and imported from Germany. It's speculated the artist positioned the child in his mother's arms so as to overlap their hearts, so united is Christ with his mother. Gazing at the picture, I always find it easy to imagine I'm the child in her arms.
Nestled in the center of the altar is a simple but detailed wooden crucifix. Lifelike wooden statues of Sts. Peter and Paul stand guard on either side. On special occasions, the wooden crucifix is replaced by an unusual one of mixed materials called a unity cross. On it, the Blessed Mother stands next to her dying son and holds the chalice into which his precious blood pours. I never fail to be moved by this depiction of Mary's suffering and determination as she holds the chalice beneath Jesus' wound.
The tabernacle is a work of art. The outer doors are carved with grapes and wheat. The golden inner doors bear delicate lilies and the inside of the doors depicts the Annunciation. This is a fitting combination, for, without the Virgin's “Yes” to the Incarnation, there would be no Eucharist — and, without the work of human hands, there would be no bread and wine to consecrate.
The Father Eye, a brilliant crystal embedded in a triangular swirl of gold, is a reminder of God's watchfulness over his children. It rests above the altar. Affixed to the ceiling of the sanctuary is a golden dove flying amid a circle of flames; it represents the Holy Spirit with all his gifts and fruits. To the left of the altar stands St. Michael the Archangel, thrusting his spear into the mouth of the demon.
To the right of the altar hangs the ver sacrum light, or holy springtime light, a red, globe-shaped vigil lamp that symbolizes the ancient legend of a decaying civilization's renewal. Statues of Sts. Joseph and Vincent Pallotti stand in evident contemplation on either side of the shrine just outside the sanctuary. Etched tile Stations of the Cross hang above the pews. There is seating for about 30 people.
Seeing Schoenstatt
Founded in 1914 in Schoenstatt, Germany, by Father Joseph Kentenich, the Schoenstatt Marian Apostolic Movement comprises more than 170 shrines worldwide. Training and retreat centers next to the shrines focus on lay formation in living daily life according to the example of Mary in her constant unity with her son and his body, the Church. Small groups meet regularly for study, prayer and dialogue. Lay members are apostolic in the service of their parishes, their professional spheres and within their families. For more information on the movement, go to www.schoenstatt.de.
German Roots
The Schoenstatt Marian Shrine in Milwaukee is one of 175 such replica shrines throughout the world. The original in Schoenstatt, Germany, near Vallendar, is the result of a daring step taken in 1914 by Father Joseph Kentenich, founder of the Schoenstatt Movement, and a group of seminarians from the Pallottine Fathers' seminary there.
Under the spiritual direction of Father Kentenich, the seminarians formed a Marian sodality and sought an abandoned cemetery chapel dedicated to St. Michael for their meeting place. Following divine inspiration, Father Kentenich challenged the boys to petition the Blessed Mother to take up her dwelling in the little chapel. During the next few years, the chapel was transformed into a beautiful wellspring of grace. From this grew the Schoenstatt Marian Apostolic Movement, a lay movement of moral and religious renewal.
I'm amazed at the depth of the silence in this place. After all, its locale is just minutes from the downtown of a bustling, modern city — one whose best-known claim to fame is its unofficial status as “beer capital of America.” What little noise exists outside is drowned by the serenity and quietude inside.
The image of the Mother Thrice Admirable is so inviting that it draws me in and I can almost hear her whispering to me, renewing my heart and making me glad I've come home.
Marge Fenelon writes from Cudahy, Wisconsin.
----- EXCERPT: Schoenstatt Marian Shrine, Milwaukee ----- EXTENDED BODY: Marge Fenelon ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Spirit and Life DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:At the Fourth of July parade two years ago, when my firstborn, Matthew, was 16 years old, a group of punky-looking teenagers came and sat behind us. They seemed to have come just to hang out and rabble-rouse.
Matt became so irked when they failed to stand as the flag passed by that he turned around and brusquely told them to stand up. Surprisingly, they did. Matt turned back to continue honoring the flag.
This Fourth of July, Matt will again honor the flag, but in an even more committed way. Since the beginning of May, he's been in training at Fort Benning, Ga., with the Army National Guard Reserves. We hope he'll return at the end of August, providing he recovers by then from the serious knee injury he recently sustained. We're told to expect that, soon, he'll be shipped out for a one-year tour of duty overseas — likely to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Before he left, Matt told me something I'll never forget. “The first thing they taught us,” he said, “is that we're soldiers for peace, not war.” His mission is to stop or prevent conflict, not to cause it. Unfortunately, weapons are sometimes necessary to secure that objective, he explained.
His letters home repeatedly request prayers for him and all the U.S. military men and women throughout the world. The responsibility of being soldiers for peace is a huge one in and of itself. Add to that the moral decay of our society that, as we know all too well from recent headlines, sometimes only intensifies in the military atmosphere.
“It is already a raging battle here, and most of us are months away from combat,” he wrote. “The military is in dire need of prayers and graces. Let people know of that need.”
Those were difficult words to read. I'm unabashedly proud of Matt and his decision to serve his country, but my heart grieves over his absence and my mind is preoccupied with his safety — body, mind and soul.
I find consolation in prayer. Every time I look at a picture or statue of the Blessed Mother, I ask her to imprint her image upon the mind and heart of my son, wrapping him tightly in her protective mantle. I know she'll mediate the graces Matt needs to fulfill his God-given mission. During every Mass — every spiritual or actual Communion, every rosary, every holy hour, every prayer or devotion of any kind — I hold Matt steady in my heart and place him in the presence of Our Lord.
“Because he cleaves to me in love, I will deliver him,” David says in Psalm 91. “I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will rescue him and honor him, and show him my salvation.”
I know Matt cleaves to his Lord in love. Even in the sometimes morally impoverished and chaotic military life God has called him to, he will continue to defend his faith and uphold his mission of peace. There's nothing I can do to physically help him carry out that mission. Perhaps there is nothing I should do. He is a young man capable of finding his own way. But I can support him by praying in a way that only a mother can.
During this Fourth of July parade, I'll honor the flag with a greater sense of personal investment in what it stands for than I ever did before. And, as the military color guards pass, I won't see a group of anonymous soldiers marching in formation. I'll see the face of my son carrying on his mission as a soldier for peace.
Marge Fenelon writes from Cudahy, Wisconsin.
----- EXCERPT: My Son the Soldier ----- EXTENDED BODY: Marge Fenelon ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Rejected DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — The Catholic University of America's April 22 rejection of a student's bid to launch a campus chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has sparked a heated controversy — one that figures to still be percolating when students return to campus in the fall.
The school's primary reason for its negative response seems both simple and sensible. According to university spokesman Victor Nakas, the request “did not demonstrate the creation of this chapter would fill a need that wasn't already being met by existing organizations on campus.” According to Nakas, the decision was made by the school's division of student life.
The student behind the proposal, William Jawando, a 21-year-old graduate of the university who plans to return to its law school this fall, submitted the bid in November.
Catholic University has two organizations that represent its black students, the Black Organization of Students at The Catholic University of America and Minority Voices, an umbrella group for minority organizations on campus. Yet another organization, highly specialized, is the National Society of Black Engineers.
While redundancy with these other groups in itself proved decisive for the student-life division, a secondary reason might also have been considered: the NAACP's pro-abortion position.
“We did explain that the pro-abortion advocacy by the NAACP was of concern to us after we denied his application,” Nakas told the Register.
Pro-life advocates have taken notice.
Dolores Grier, a black woman who formerly served as vice chancellor of the Archdiocese of New York, supports the initial denial.
“They should not accept that organization into the school,” she said, “because they are not in accord with the teachings of the Catholic Church on abortion.”
In the past, Grier was invited to be the woman of the year by a New York City branch of the NAACP, but she declined the offer because of the organization's stand on abortion.
Unintimidated
“We think this is wonderful,” said Cardinal Newman Society founder and president Patrick Reilly. “It's a clear sign that Catholic University is willing to take on a powerful organization in defense of its Catholic identity.”
Reilly, whose organization seeks to restore Catholic identity in Catholic colleges and universities, sees room for the university to renegotiate its current relationship with the NAACP.
“The proposal was rejected for two reasons that would be quite legitimate,” he said. “If the NAACP wants to renounce abortion, then at least one of those reasons would be eliminated.”
Kweisi Mfume, NAACP president and chief executive, held a press conference June 4 across the street from Catholic University's campus in Washington, D.C.
“This is outright discrimination, bigotry, prejudice and intolerance all rolled into one,” he said before threatening legal action.
Founded 95 years ago, the NAACP has chapters at 150 colleges, including such Catholic universities as Georgetown, Fordham and St. John's.
Vincentian Father David O'Connell, president of the Catholic University of America, met on the university's campus with Mfume on June 16 for a “frank and open” discussion. Also present at the meeting were Jawando, an NAACP counsel, Nakas and others.
A statement released by the university after the meeting explained that Father O'Connell praised the NAACP and said, “I don't believe our institution discriminates against people of color. My heart is broken that we are being perceived and presented in such a negative light.”
Last fall, blacks accounted for 386 of Catholic University's 5,740 students, undergrads and graduates combined.
Further, Father O'Connell indicated the NAACP's Feb. 24 press release stating that the NAACP had adopted a “historical pro-choice position” concerned him. Father O'Connell said that, if an NAACP chapter were to be formed on the campus, it could not promote abortion because that was against the university's “values and mission.”
Challenges Afoot
At the meeting, Mfume explained that the pro-abortion position was not held by the full membership of the NAACP. He would be willing to stipulate in writing, he added, that an NAACP chapter on Catholic University's campus would not adopt positions contrary to the school's mission — as long as the same was required of all student organizations on the university's campus.
Father O'Connell was pleased with the NAACP's “expressions of flexibility on the abortion issue and its readiness to approve a chapter that would not engage in or promote activities contrary to the university's mission.”
During the meeting, Mfume called on Father O'Connell to take immediate action to reverse the decision, vowing to challenge the university “in the court of law and the court of public opinion.”
Father O'Connell pledged to Jawando and the NAACP representatives that he would meet with students when they return in the fall to re-evaluate the original decision.
“We need to have all our students come together and have a full discussion,” Father O'Connell said. “That's how to resolve [the matter]. If the result of that is change, then we will change.”
In the meantime, Catholic University is keeping the door open to dialogue with Jawando.
“From our perspective,” Nakas said, “there is no reason why this unfortunate controversy cannot be resolved in a manner that respects the responsibilities of the university, the requirement of the Catholic Church that sponsors it and the needs of our minority students.”
Mary Ann Sullivan writes from New Durham, New Hampshire.
----- EXCERPT: Abortion support is why Catholic University denied the NAACP ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mary Ann Sullivan ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Saramental Scoffers Beware DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:SWEAR TO GOD: THE PROMISE AND POWER OF THE SACRAMENTS
by Scott Hahn
Doubleday, 2004
232 pages, $19.95
Available in bookstores
As a former evangelical Protestant, I can readily identify with Scott Hahn's admission that, prior to becoming Catholic, he had little use for sacraments and ritual.
“I can remember a time in my own life when I thought that sacraments were holdovers from an age that believed in magic,” the noted author and professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, writes in Swear to God: The Promise and Power of the Sacraments, his latest Doubleday offering. “I saw rituals as mechanical procedures people used to manipulate God.”
The problem with that perspective, Hahn explains, is that everyone relies on ritual, even if they aren't aware of it. “I came, however, to recognize,” he continues, “that those who try to do away with the Church's sacraments inevitably end up replacing them with rituals of their own making.”
Swear to God is specifically concerned with explaining the covenantal nature and meaning of t h e seven sacraments. The essence of this accessible and often enlightening excursion into sacramental theology is captured in a quote from St. Augustine, referenced by Hahn: “There can be no religious society, whether the religion be true or false, without some sacrament or visible symbol to serve as a bond of union. The importance of the sacraments cannot be overstated, and only scoffers will treat them lightly.”
The phrase “bond of union” is at the heart of the book, which takes up a theme readers familiar with Hahn's other books and tapes will immediately recognize: the centrality of covenant in Scripture and salvation history. Drawing from a mixture of Scripture, well-selected quotes from Church Fathers and the Catechism, historical references and personal anecdotes, Hahn reveals the covenantal, familial and juridical dimensions of the sacraments.
For those not familiar with the concept of covenant, Hahn provides ample explanation in both the main text and in the endnotes. (Although written for a popular audience, it's got more than 30 pages of detailed citations and references).
Many popular books about the sacraments provide a systematic explanation of each one. Hahn's interest, however, is in the reality of sacrament as a sacred oath and the key role it plays in God's plan of salvation, the work of Christ and the mission of the Church.
“Christianity is the only religion in all the world and in all of history in which God swears an oath on the part of mankind,” Hahn writes.
“Christ himself is the one, true dependable sacrament. His life thus becomes the source of all of our sacraments.” This vital truth is unpacked and connected to the need for
Catholics to more deeply comprehend and experience the incarnational dimension of the sacramental life.
The fourth Eucharistic prayer of the Mass states, “Again and again you offered a covenant to man.” The New Covenant is signified and ratified through the sacraments, which are life-giving and spirit-transforming gifts of the Incarnate Son. “Thus,” Hahn explains, “the salvation we know in Jesus Christ is nothing at all if it is not covenantal.” Swear to God explains this truth with clarity and passion, just one of the many valuable and inspiring points readers will find in this excellent book.
Carl E. Olson writes from Eugene, Oregon.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carl E. Olson ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:Artists More Spiritual?
Of the 3,680 college students polled by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute, 62% of fine-arts majors reported having a “high” level of spiritual commitment compared with 43% of biology majors and 37% of sociology majors, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Religious commitment, a co-director of the study said, is defined as those “searching for meaning and purpose” in their lives.
War Fort or Church?
Although historians say the fort — which was used to force Seminole Indians from the area — was abandoned after only a few months in the mid-1800s, they argue that at least a section of the land on which the university is planning to build holds significance.
Jesuit Father Joseph Fessio, the school's chancellor, said if the land does include a part of histor y, he would like to see it preser ved properly. However, he said, “I hope it's not where we're hoping to build our church.”
Bye to Benedictine
Carey became head of Benedictine, a liberal-arts college of about 1,000 students, in 1995, the Kansas City Star reported. Edgewood College, also a Catholic liberal-ar ts school, has about 2,500 students.
Benedictine's board has named John Murr y, who retired as head of Donnelly College in Kansas City, Kan., in 1977, as interim president.
Franciscan University is one of the mandatum schools at www.ncregister.com.
Shepherd's Award
FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY, June 16 — Father Rober t Bedard, founder of the Companions of the Cross in Ottawa, has received Franciscan University of Steubenville's 2004 Shepherd's Award for offering “care and concern for priests, seminarians and lay people,” according to a press release from the school.
Third Order Regular Franciscan Father Michael Scan-lan, the university's chancellor, said the Companions of the Cross is “a Eucharistic, Marian, charismatic community committed to the magisterium.”
He presented the award at the annual Priests, Deacons and Seminarians Conference on June 10.
Franciscan University is one of the mandatum schools at www.ncregister.com.
Financial Boost
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, June 17 — Catholic high schools in inner-city Boston received a financial boost June 17 when the Boston Foundation gave $100,000 to help fund recruitment drives.
Beginning in the fall, the schools won't be able to rely on the Archdiocese of Boston for subsidies, the Associated Press repor ted. The Catholic Schools Foundation, star ted by mutual fund guru Peter Lynch, wrote the grant request for the four schools and will match the award.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Let Freedom Ring DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:The pursuit of happiness. That's what Louis Schwartzberg, a stock cinematographer who took a break from shooting landscape and cityscape footage for Hollywood movies to roam the country collecting the two dozen portraits that make up America's Heart and Soul, has captured.
The point here is not to try to compile anything like a representative portrait or cross section of American life, if such a thing were even possible. Schwartzberg isn't interested in trends, demographics, pop culture, the job market, health insurance, the media or politics.
There are, of course, those who insist on reducing everything to politics, on finding political agendas everywhere. In this election year, with America's Heart and Soul opening one week after that other America-themed quasi-documentary (and being distributed by Disney, which refused to distribute Fahrenheit 9/11 through subsidiary Miramax), detractors will hurl terms like “jingoistic” and treat it as the equivalent of a re-election commercial for George W. Bush.
How sad. Sad that such acts as wrangling horses, delivering messages via bicycle, performing gymnastics on a cliff wall — or for that matter photographing people doing such things — should be claimed as a political act. The fact is, apart from a brief lament by an American steelworker, America's Heart and Soul is one of the least political documentary-type films (barring nature documentaries) I've ever seen. There's virtually nothing in this uplifting film to warrant such terms as liberal or conservative, isolationist or interventionist, jingoistic or America-bashing.
The term patriotic might apply, in the sense that the film celebrates American freedom and the unexpected myriad of ways Americans find to enjoy it — but not in any sense that need be felt to detract from other countries. The best adjective, though, would be simply “human.” America's Heart and Soul is a tribute to the endless diversity of ways in which human nature will engage in the pursuit of happiness as long as there is life and the liberty to do so.
In America, liberty includes the freedom to be a nut case if you want to. In the remote mountain town of Creede, Colo., a self-described “explosive artist” fends off monotony and cabin fever by entertaining his neighbors with such stunts as stacking old TV sets a dozen feet high and then rolling a flaming bowling ball into them, or loading a cannon with canned hams and then shooting them through a gauntlet of knives into waiting bread and condiments, with edible results. In California, aging hippies deck out their cars with mountains of the most hideous bric-a-brac imaginable until the cars become psychedelic floats in a parade of bad taste.
Liberty also includes the freedom for remarkable heroism. In Texas, septuagenarian Ace Barns continues his five-decade career as an oil-rig firefighter — a calling he's pursued ever since, working as an oil rigger himself, he was burned in an explosion that killed his partner. In Chicago, ex-con Michael Bennett turned his life around after a seven-year prison stint, becoming captain of the U.S. Olympic boxing team and mentoring youth at a local gym. “Stay in school, keep God first,” he writes when signing autographs.
For a film that isn't specifically about music, America's Heart and Soul finds a surprising number of its subjects involved in it. Whatever the reason, it's gratifying to see Americans making their own music, not just downloading iTunes or listening to Top 40.
The most entertaining of Schwartzberg's musical subjects are also the least professional. Brothers Dave and Frank Pino of small-town Waltham, Mass., play in a local rock band named after the town and self-deprecatingly mock their own would-be rock-star status while holding down blue-collar jobs. Though they play hard rock, they say, their dream is to do heavy metal, only “we're just not that tough.” In hilarious interviews, Dave gives a whirlwind tour of the carwash he works at but knows very little about, and Frank practices expressions in the rearview mirror of the truck he drives.
Other subjects are engaged in athletic pursuits, from a blind mountain climber who has climbed the world's highest mountains, to a troupe of athletes who rappel up cliff faces to perform choreographed gymnastic routines that look strangely like dancing in low gravity, to two brothers in Boston who compete in the Boston Marathon, one pushing his quadriplegic brother in a wheelchair. Still others are in a class by themselves, from Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's to an American Indian elder who nurses injured eagles back to health and releases them.
So many stories, so little time. With only a few minutes to devote to each subject, Schwartzberg creates a series of moving snapshots, not exploring any one individual or way of life in any real depth. There are no hard questions here, no probing for deeper answers or larger issues.
Curiously, while four or five segments deal with fraternal bonds, only one features a married couple (the Savoys) or a filial relationship (dairy farmer Woodard and his son). Also, only two subjects are expressly involved in religious organizations: an elderly black woman who sings in a gospel choir and a black pastor of a social-gospel-type church who proclaims, “We should stop trying to get folks to go to heaven or hell and get folks to live with each other here in the earth right now.” A couple of mentions of reincarnation are the film's only other signs of spirituality. It's a pretty flaky picture of faith in America (not that the reality isn't flaky, too, but still).
That said, America's Heart and Soul isn't about how people generally do live, or how they should live, but about the freedom to live as one chooses. Consistently engaging, at turns fascinating, touching and inspiring, it's a rare feel-good crowd-pleaser that isn't a contrived fantasy.
Given Schwartzberg's stock in trade, it's not surprising that the film is visually stunning. The purple mountain majesties and amber waves of grain are on display in their full magnificence along with the steel and concrete canyons of New York and other locations. America's Heart and Soul is well worth seeking out on the big screen, even for people who don't often go to the movies. It's a film you can take your parents to and that older kids should appreciate as well.
Content advisory: Fleeting references to heavy drinking; some provocative dance footage; a couple of references to reincarnation; a deficient presentation of Christian ideas.
Steven D. Greydanus, editor and chief critic of DecentFilms.com, writes from Bloomfield, New Jersey.
----- EXCERPT: America's Heart and Soul celebrates our national spirit ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:SUNDAY, JULY 4
Ice Cream Sunday
Food Network, 2:30 p.m.
Star ting with “The Best of …” at 2:30 p.m. and closing with “Good Eats” at 6:30 p.m., some of the Food Network's top shows devote entire flavor ful episodes to that summer time favorite, ice cream, in all its yummy varieties.
SUNDAY, JULY 4
Restore America: 2004
Home & Garden TV, 5 p.m.
This show tours this year's dozen “in need” sites selected by the National Trust for Historic Preser vation. Home & Garden TV has donated $1 million to help restore them.
SUNDAY, JULY 4
Stories of Martyrs
Familyland TV, 8:30 p.m.
The young Catholic troupe Radix per forms the life stories of two mar tyrs of the early Church, St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Polycarp, and of a modern mar tyr, St. Maria Goretti, a patroness of purity. Re-airs Tuesday, July 6, at 8 p.m.
MON.-FRI., JULY 5-9
Faith in the Heartland
EWTN, 4:30 a.m., 6 p.m.
In this five-par t, daily half-hour series, Franciscan Missionar y of the Eternal Word Father Joseph Mar y Wolfe shows us beautiful churches and fer vent parish life in the rural and small-town areas of his native Iowa.
TUESDAY, JULY 6
Robots
History Channel, noon, 6 p.m.
The idea of robots is at least two millennia old. This show profiles the progress of robotics inventors and laboratories in recent decades. It also argues that the genre of science fiction has spurred some research in this field.
THURSDAY, JULY 8
Wide Angle: The Russian Newspaper Murders
PBS, 9 p.m.
A dozen or more newsmen in Russia who repor ted on corruption have been slain in the last four years, and the crimes remain unsolved. This special highlights the courage of honest journalists ever ywhere by focusing on two murder cases in Togliatti, Russia.
FRIDAY, JULY 9
U.S. Olympic Trials
NBC, 8 p.m.
USA Network, 11 p.m.
With the Athens Olympic games only a month away, NBC tonight covers the U.S. swimming trials and the USA Network covers the track and field trials.
SATURDAY, JULY 10
The Heart Has Its Reasons
EWTN, 8 p.m.
Jean Vanier began the first L'Arche (The Ark) community in Trosly-Breuil, France, in 1964, and now there are more than 120 in 30 countries. This 30-minute documentar y shows us the happiness this way of life creates as volunteers and developmentally disabled people live and work together with the beatitudes as their model.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Daniel J. Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video Picks DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:Spider-Man (2002)
A wide-eyed comic-book movie that revels in its pulp origins, Spider-Man sticks to the basics that made the character one of the most popular superheroes of all time.
Compared with such heroes as Superman and Batman, Spider-Man is a far more down-to-earth fellow with mundane problems.
An orphan living with an elderly aunt and uncle, Peter Parker is sympathetic and admirable: smart, quiet, studious, respectful to adults but with a spirited streak that will serve him well. (Small touches establish that the Parkers are Catholic: Peter's aunt prays the Our Father for a departed loved one while gazing at his photograph, and a holy-water stoup can be glimpsed near the front door.) What ultimately defines Peter's character, though, is a fleeting lapse in judgment with irrevocable consequences, along with a moral lesson, learned the hard way, about power and responsibility.
Despite its strong appeal to children, Spider-Man features intense cartoon violence (and one steamy kiss) that are inappropriate for young viewers. For older viewers, though, Spider-Man offers a super-hero roller-coaster ride not quite like anything we've ever seen before.
Content advisory: Stylized violence; fleeting crude language and sensuality. Mature fare.
Gandhi (1982)
Overshadowing even Ben Kingsley's astonishing, transcendent performance in his first major screen role is an even more formidable presence: that of Mohandas K. Gandhi himself. Richard Attenborough's ambitious, Oscar-winning biographical epic is solid rather than inspired moviemaking, but the greatness of its subject and the revolutionary force of his principles are so palpably realized that Gandhi achieves real transcendence.
Gandhi argues, with devastating logic that has only become more inescapable over time, that terrorism not only further justifies oppressive measures but even if successful liberates a country only to terrorize it in turn.
Gandhi lived by the credo that moral authority, not superior force, invariably prevails in the court of public opinion. Literally turn the other cheek and, if your attacker himself isn't overcome with shame, eventually the conscience of others will become your ally. All that's required is the humility to be a true victim for one's cause. It seems naÏve — but it conquered the British Empire. An inspiring portrait of a remarkably Christlike spirit in a non-Christian.
Content advisory: Depictions of deadly violence including large-scale massacre.
City Lights (1931)
City Lights is the quintessential Chaplin film — not the laugh-out-loud funniest (that would be The Gold Rush) nor the most heart-felt (credit Modern Times, the Vatican film list's Chaplin pick) but the most perfectly crafted and the most representative of all the different tones Chaplin is remembered for: farce, pathos, irreverence, sentiment, slapstick, melodrama.
The Little Tramp is a perennial outsider, but in City Lights he forms a pair of relationships with two individuals — a blind flower girl and a much-inebriated, suicidal millionaire — whose respective incapacities allow them to accept the unacceptable Tramp.
The delicately subdued final scene is overwhelming; first-time viewers hold their breath in anticipation, wondering whether it will end in blissful reunion or cruel irony.
Content advisory: Recurring drunkenness and numerous thwarted suicide attempts; slapstick violence. Even so, fine for kids.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Our Eyes Still See the Glory DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:Most years, to most American families, the Fourth of July means only one thing: a chance to celebrate the U.S. of A.'s hard-won independence with enough fireworks, hot dogs and high-flying flags to fill a million Norman Rockwell paintings.
Things are a little different when the country is at war defending its people.
It's still proper and good to parade our freedom in such times. But it's more important than ever for families to also emphasize the duties and responsibilities that come along with our rights and liberties — be they religious, political or personal.
These are the lessons that can make our children better citizens of the United States of America. One day, we can hope, they'll make all of us better citizens of heaven.
“Our kids are very aware that they're very blessed to be in this country,” says Margie Willingham of Sandia, Texas. She and her husband, Eric, invite relatives to join them and their five young children for food, fun and fireworks. “We really do go out of our way. It's a special family day for us.”
The family decorates with lights of red, white and blue wrapped around the pillars of their front porch. They also display a special Stars and Stripes. “We bring the flag out specifically for this holiday,” Margie Willingham explains. “We bought the material at the store and sewed our flag ourselves.”
For last year's dinner-table centerpiece, the children sprayed empty cat-food tins red and the girls filled them with flower arrangements of bluebonnets, the Texas state flower. They topped the flowers with little flags.
“This year at a garage sale we found this unique mug in red, white and blue, and it even has a flag and stars on it,” Margie says. “When my 9-year-old daughter, Maria Guadalupe, saw it, she picked it out and said, ‘Look, Mom, this will be our Fourth of July centerpiece!'”
As young as the children are (3 to 9), Margie and Eric “always instilled in them that they can celebrate the Catholic faith in a country that will allow them to,” Margie says. To drive home the point, they lead their children in the Pledge of Allegiance and a special prayer for America.
“After Sept. 11 we had this fervent desire to honor our country and how God has blessed us to be here,” Margie says. “We can get up every day and pray, we can practice our faith and display our crucifixes. We try to teach the kids not to take any of that for granted.”
Freedom Rings
In Jerome, Idaho, Steve and Pam Di Lucca along with their seven sons and one daughter (ages 1 to 19) seem to be following the same Independence Day game plan as their Texas compatriots.
“We always have prayer as part of the day,” Pam Di Lucca says. “We'll say what we're thankful for, and my husband will do a more spontaneous prayer about the blessings we've received. We try to remember these things and be grateful for them so we'll work to preserve them in the future.”
In her words lie marching orders for ensuring many a happy Fourth of July to come. For, according to James Hitchcock, popular Catholic author and history professor at St. Louis University, many people don't realize the United States is rapidly becoming unique in the western world because it respects the traditional liberties such as freedom of speech and religion.
He points to recent litigation in Canada and Western Europe against people expressing “politically incorrect” concerns about immoral behavior. “The freedom of speech in this case becomes part of freedom of religion also,” Hitchcock says. “Our country was founded, in a certain sense, on religion. That has remained a powerful element in our culture all long.”
“The best way to be grateful for the gift of religious liberty is to use that freedom to worship God as he deserves and, by our good example, to encourage others to do the same,” says Father Roger Landry, associate pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis, Mass.
America is the land of the free, but “instilling a true sense of freedom in children is challenging today, because our culture has lost an appreciation for truth, especially the truth about the human person,” Father Landry notes. “As Pope John Paul II has taught us, the real meaning of freedom is the ability to do what we should do rather than merely what we want.”
Caesar and God
Father Landry also believes that training young people in freedom means assigning real responsibilities and, thus, helping them discover their own God-given capacity to do good.
A part of this is explaining that, when our allegiance is torn between God and country, God must always come first.
“Jesus himself said, ‘Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's,'” Father Landry says. “Every Catholic citizen is called to use his or her freedom to obey just laws. But if Caesar ever makes a law that contravenes God's law, our ‘giving to God' requires us not to follow such an unjust law.”
We love our country but we love God more, Hitchcock says.
“You can't commit a sin if a member of your family wants you to,” he says. “Similarly, you can't acquiesce to sin because of your country. Because abortion is legalized doesn't mean you can support it.”
Surely America's founders would have championed that statement.
And speaking of our greatest leaders, Pam Di Lucca has found a way to keep their brightest lights before her children.
“I looked up all these famous quotes from the Founding Fathers and more recent famous Americans, and after dinner we guess who said them,” she explains. She keeps things fun by peppering the history lesson with humorous facts and quotes.
Is it a little bit of fun with the learning — or a little bit of learning with the fun? Either way, this Fourth of July, celebrating our God-given freedom in similarly instructive ways is nothing less than every American's patriotic duty.
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: Families Mark Fourth of July ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life TITLE: Our Babies, Our Heroes DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:Prolife Profile
Jonathan, Matthew and Marian Hope all died minutes after they were born. Their brothers and sisters didn't live much longer. Many died or were abandoned in ignominious places such as dumpsters and public restrooms. But they didn't die in vain.
They were buried with a hero's honors, bringing hope and inspiring respect for life to many.
Tim Jaccard originally founded the Ambulance Medical Technicians' Children of Hope Foundation and Safe Haven program, based in Mineola, N.Y., to give unmourned deceased babies dignified burials. And burials don't get much more dignified than this.
During the ceremonial funerals, 23 Blue Knights on police motorcycles escort the baby hero to the church. Flags unfurl for the procession into the church, 275 police and firemen in full dress uniform become the baby's honor guard, six pallbearers accompany the tiny casket and bagpipers play “Amazing Grace.” A helicopter overhead drops down and dips in salute from the aviation bureau.
On average, Jaccard says, 700 mourners attend the Mass for the abandoned babies. Funerals held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan have drawn as many as 1,500.
As a member of the Ambulance Medical Technicians of Nassau County, Jaccard had many successes in delivering babies in the most unlikely places, including near a rock in Central Park. But after he buried 51 abandoned babies who died tragically, he established the foundation in 1998 to see that, in death, these babies were treated with the dignity they didn't receive in life. And given a name.
“We want the child to have an identity,” Jaccard explains. “By giving them the same last name they become part of the Hope family.” The person who finds the baby gives the first name to the child.
“It helps with the closure and helps them heal,” he says. “At the Mass we like to have that person do the first reading or carry the flowers in. This becomes part of the child's history and gives the child dignity.”
A caretaker, for example, discovered Baby Holly Hope abandoned in the park. He chose the name Holly because he found her wrapped in a tablecloth along with pieces of holly.
All the babies are buried in Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury, N.Y., in the “family plot” called the Island of Hope. But the name Hope implies life, and that's where these holy innocents become heroes. They're saving other babies on the brink of abandonment.
Regularly, after news coverage of a baby's funeral, like one last December at Our Lady Resurrection of Life Church in Brooklyn, the foundation gets calls from several birth mothers in distress.
Children of Hope's most important goal is “to prevent the death of newborn infants,” Jaccard says. “We try to get the mothers to call the crisis line so we can help them through the pregnancy, get them back on track after the birth and improve their life. We're looking to help the mother and child at the same time.”
Father Bill Koenig, pastor of St. William the Abbot Church in Sea-ford, N.Y., lauds Jaccard for bringing hope to both situations. In the sad times, “his great vision is how this baby was a creation of God,” says Father Koenig, who's presided over some of the burials. “And the reason for our hope is the baby being safe with God now.”
At the same time, by helping frightened mothers and finding good homes for the babies they give up, Father Koenig notes, “He gives so much hope to situations that looked pretty bleak.”
Emily's experience with Children of Hope is typical. She had decided to give her baby up for adoption but lived out of town. Since she wanted to be near the adoptive family for the delivery, Children of Hope got her a place to live and took care of her from her fifth month through delivery, including food and utility bills. Jac-card accompanied her to doctors' appointments and now, months later, continues to check on her.
“When I called to get a ride to the hospital for the delivery, I called Tim,” Emily says. “I'm not sure what I would have done if he and the Children of Hope had not been there. Now my life is going in a totally different direction. They were definitely a godsend.”
The foundation sets up some young women, such as those rejected by their families, in an apartment furnished from a St. Vincent de Paul Society and helps them get jobs. Some companies support Children of Hope by employing these women. “We teach them to get their life back together,” Jaccard says.
Mary Green, who volunteers with Children of Hope, says she will never forget the December night she accompanied Jaccard and his wife to deliver a newborn baby boy to his adoptive parents.
“To see the baby's new grandparents, aunts and uncles waiting — there was the greatest feeling I had in my life,” she says.
Jaccard opened another major avenue of hope to save infants before they're abandoned when he added the Safe Haven program. In 1998 he inspired and wrote, along with New York Sen. Lorraine Hoffmann, his state's Safe Haven law — the Infant Abandonment Protection Act — whereby a birth mother can relinquish her baby with no questions asked to places such as any hospital, police station or fire station up to five days after the baby's birth. (Specifics vary by state.) To date, he's been presenting and helping write Safe Haven laws in 45 states.
Many women are learning the message. Last year the crisis line took 2,905 phone calls. The line reached into states as far as Indiana and Florida. In the last three years, there were 46 adoptions and 29 safe newborns relinquished under the law.
One sight that sticks out in Father Koenig's mind speaks volumes about Children of Hope's purpose and message.
“When Tim was at Mass one Saturday, he and his wife had this newborn baby he helped rescue,” the priest says joyfully. “The image of him being in the front row was like that of a proud father.” And a witness to hope.
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: For Financial Security, Balance Providence and Prudence DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:Family Matters
I find it difficult to give up “control” of my finances and to trust God with my money matters. How can I better allow God to lead me in this area?
Married Life PHIL LENAHAN
A key to being a good steward is to achieve a balance between trusting in God's providence as our Father and being prudent in our planning. Here's a story that can help us learn better how to apply these principles.
St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan priest, is best known for his heroic death in the Auschwitz concentration camp. One of the works Father Kolbe is less known for is a family magazine he published. When he first came up with the idea for the magazine, he sought the approval of his superior. Recognizing the good the project would do, the superior gave his okay but also let Maximilian know that the order could not help him financially. Having planned the project, Maximilian knew he had raised half the funds necessary and he felt confident in starting this new venture.
Halfway through the project, Maximilian ran out of money and was bitterly disappointed that he had failed in this important endeavor. In prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, he expressed his disappointment and feelings of failure to Our Lady. As he got up to leave, he noticed an envelope on the altar. It was marked “For You Immaculata.” Inside was just enough money to complete his project.
Closer to home, I remember a year ago when we were planning to launch a daily radio show at Catholic Answers. Through planning and prayer, we concluded that a daily live call-in program could do much good in teaching and explaining the faith. The time came when we had to commit to building the studio — at a cost of $20,000. The bill would be due upon receipt of the materials (in about 10 days), and we didn't have that money set aside. With our staff and families praying, we moved ahead with the purchase and, within three days, received a check from a woman in the Midwest for $20,000. I remember the awe we all felt at God choosing to provide in this way.
A key point here is that trusting in God's providence doesn't mean that we fail to plan or that we go against the principles on finances he has provided in Scripture and Church teaching. While we were stretching ourselves financially to undertake the radio program, we had a solid plan in place and were not taking risks that would endanger the apostolate.
Achieving balance in this area is a challenge. It comes most effectively when we are rooted in prayer and truly place ourselves at God's disposal to do as he desires. Whether you are dealing with financial issues related to your family, business or apostolate, learning to balance prudence and trusting in God's providence is a key to being a good steward. God love you!
Phil Lenahan is founder and president of Financial Foundations for the Family in Temecula, California. To receive a free sample of its newsletter, Money Sense, write plenahan@ix.netcom.com or call (909) 699-7066.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Phil Lenahan ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:Personhood Prevails
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, June 18 — As long as it's viable (capable of surviving outside the womb) a fetus should be considered a person, according to the Kentucky Supreme Court.
The court ruled June 17 that the wrongful killing of such a fetus should also be considered a homicide, the Associated Press reported.
Justice William Cooper, writing for the majority, noted medical advancements have shown fetal viability is as provable as birth or stillbirth, thereby throwing out the “born alive” rule that previously existed.
The new law defines an unborn child as a member of the human species “from conception onward.”
Pryor Dismissal Halted
THE MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER (Alabama), June 12 — Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., tried to argue that pro-life Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor's recess appointment to the federal appeals court in Atlanta was unconstitutional. But Pryor's fellow judges have ruled against Kennedy.
Kennedy's argument “is untimely, and we decline to grant leave for a late filing,” Chief Judge J.L. Edmondson wrote June 10, noting the deadline had expired April 28, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
President Bush appointed Pryor to the bench Feb. 20, ducking a Democratic filibuster in the Senate.
Denied
THE VALLEY MORNING STAR (Texas), June 16 — A Harlingen, Texas, city commission has voted not to include Planned Parenthood for funding by a community-development block grant.
More than 20 people, including the president of Stand Up and Be Counted, a coalition of pro-life church members, doctors and citizens, voiced their support for current block grant funding that does not include Planned Parenthood, the Valley Morning Star reported.
The executive director of the local Planned Parenthood tried to argue that the $6,000 it applied for would be to help teen mothers, not for abortions. The commission denied her application anyway.
Bishop Leads Vigil
EPPING FOREST GUARDIAN (U.K.), June 17 — A bishop in the United Kingdom is speaking out against abortion.
Bishop Thomas McMahon of Brentwood, England, led a police-escorted prayer vigil outside a Marie Stopes abortion site in Buckhurst Hill on June 12.
More than 100 showed up to support the vigil, organized by the pro-life group Helpers of God's Precious Infants, the Epping Forest Guardian reported.
“The first victim of abortion is the unborn child whose life is ended deliberately,” Bishop McMahon said. “The mother, in a secondary sense, is also a victim, for she loses her child but is unable to grieve effectively.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: In God's Country DATE: 07/04/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 4-10, 2004 ----- BODY:An April Gallup poll showed that 91% of the public want the Pledge of Allegiance to remain as it is. Only 8% want to see the words ‘under God’ expunged.
Source: Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, June 15
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Mexican Martyrs DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:NEW HAVEN, Conn. — It was an ugly scene. Soldiers hung a rope on a mango tree in the town square and wrapped a noose around a neck that normally would have been encircled by a Roman collar.
Normally. But these were not normal times. Mexico, land of a Catholic people, had been infected by a virulent strain of anti-Christianity. Just a few years before, in 1917, a new constitution reinforced anticlerical laws and denied a series of civil rights to the Church and its clergy.
The soldiers gave the priest under the mango tree several chances to recant, asking each time they lowered him to the ground, “Who lives?”
“Christ the King and St. Mary of Guadalupe,” was the constant response. Father Rodrigo Aguilar Aleman, who had readily identified himself as a priest when he was apprehended hours before, died when the rope was pulled up the third time.
Father Aguilar was only one of many priests, religious and lay faithful killed during the early 20th-century persecution of the Church in Mexico. Many belonged to a small army of Catholic peasants who called themselves the Cristeros and who fought to regain religious freedom. “Viva Cristo Rey!” or “Long live Christ the King!” was their battle cry.
Several of those killed were members of the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic fraternal organization founded in New Haven, Conn., in 1881. Father Aguilar and five other priests — Fathers Miguel de la Mora, Luis Batis Sainz, Mateo Correa Magallanes, Pedro de Jesus Maldonado and Jose Maria Robles Hurtado — were Knights. And they were among 25 companions Pope John Paul II canonized on May 21, 2000.
“Most don't know the Knights have saints at this point,” said Ken Davison, executive director of Catholic World Mission, a relief and missionary agency based in Hamden, Conn. Catholic World Mission hopes to change that by telling the story of the martyrs in a new coloring book and companion CD/cassette called Viva Cristo Rey! The Courageous Saints of the Knights of Columbus.
Viva Cristo Rey! is part of Catholic World Mission's Glory Stories series “that teaches a particular truth of the faith in a way that captures imaginations with real stories of real people — the saints,” Davison explained.
Written by Register staff writer Tim Drake and illustrated by Connecticut portrait artist Sam Ryskind, the 32-page coloring book aims to provide 5- to 12-year-olds with new Catholic saints as models. The CD/cassette version is made for radio.
“The story teaches a priest is called to be another Christ, and that may include laying down his life for his flock,” Davison explained. “We tell these men continued to teach and to perform their function as priests despite knowing it would lead to their death.”
Dominican Father Gabriel O'Donnell, who has been promoting the cause for canonization of the Knights' founder, Father Michael McGivney, pointed out that in the story of the Mexican martyrs, “the promise of Christ that the Church would endure in every difficulty is borne out.”
He also noted that laymen canonized along with them showed “the responsibility for evangelization borne collaboratively by priest and laymen” — a collaboration Father McGivney had in mind.
“The fact they were Knights of Columbus is important in that they were living out the vision of Father McGivney,” Father O'Donnell said.
The similar values the Knights and Catholic World Mission share made for another natural tie-in. In the radio dramatization, Father Miguel de la Mora says he found Knights caring for the earthly needs of the poor and also concerned about spreading the Catholic faith so the poor can live forever in heaven.
The Knights, based in New Haven, had 6,000 members in Mexico by 1923 and tried to get other countries to protect the Church there. In response, Mexican president Plutarco ElÃ-as Calles had the organization declared illegal.
The effects of the persecution have been long lasting, with many Mexicans unable to learn the teachings of the faith.
“We have a lot of lay missionaries in Mexico, a country that people would say is Catholic,” Davison noted. “They have a devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe but little knowledge of their faith. … It's an area we have to re-evangelize and re-catechize.”
In fact, Viva Cristo Rey! might also put many Mexicans in touch with their own history. Last December, two Mexican missionaries supported by Catholic World Mission were visiting Connecticut and were thrilled to see the bilingual coloring book/CD.
“There is nothing in the history books in Mexico about the persecution,” Davison noted. The radio drama made the visiting missionaries aware of “the skeleton of the drama, and they have taken these coloring books back to Mexico to teach history to the kids.”
The new saints are at least known in those areas where they worked, according to William Olivera, a Knight in Mexico. St. Miguel de la Mora is venerated in several chapels in Puebla, and St. Pedro Maldonado, whose remains rest in Chihuahua's cathedral, is venerated in all the chapels in that archdiocese.
“His love for the Eucharist has been a motivator especially for this Eucharistic year,” Olivera said.
The Holy Father has called for a Year of the Eucharist and will kick off the year with an International Eucharistic Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, Oct. 10-17. John Paul will participate in the congress via a special satellite television connection.
Needed Role Models
In the United States, the inspiring stories of these Knight-saints are poised to spread rapidly.
“We have had some Knights councils distribute the coloring books because it explains what the Knights do in social support and evangelization,” Davison pointed out.
In Altoona, Wis., Our Lady of Guadalupe Council of St Mary's Church bought more than 40 coloring books to give as Christmas presents to the students in kindergarten through fourth-grade in the parish school. According to council member Brad Payson, the Knights chose the book because they knew the children would enjoy it and learn valuable lessons at the same time.
“The gift was to introduce them to different saints in a fun and educational way,” said fellow Knight Charlie Thurner in agreement. “And we were trying to tie in the Knights of Columbus, St. Mary's and our parish and bring them closer together. These books seemed appropriate for that.”
Thurner's son John, a first-grader, enjoyed coloring the book while his father and mother read the story to him.
“There isn't an awful lot of Church history being taught, or their exposure to it is fairly limited,” Thurner said. “So when you can get a book about martyrs and books on the different saints, over time they build the history of the Church up.”
Dominican Father Juan Diego Brunetta is chaplain of the Father Michael J. McGivney Council 10705 at St. Mary's Church in New Haven, Conn., where the Knights of Columbus was founded and where Father McGivney is buried. He said that even he “learned about the saints from the CD.” After he gave copies of the coloring book/CD to his nieces, nephews and godchildren, he got reports that “all the kids want to do is listen to the Glory Stories.”
“In an engaging way they teach about Catholic heroes,” Father Brunetta said, comparing it with society's heavy emphasis on sports and rock stars. “Here we have an opportunity to tout in an attractive way Catholic heroes who will inspire us to live out own lives of holiness.”
Davison projects the CD/cassette radio dramatization, available for home use, will also have a big impact once it hits the airwaves.
“We are excited that Mike Jones, the VP and general manager of Ave Maria Communications, approached us to put these stories on the air,” he said. “Any radio station nationwide will be able to pull the show off their satellite — and we have stations signing up already. EWTN is also talking to us about making the shows part of their lineup, which is distributed free worldwide.”
Davison expects things to get rolling this summer, and that would be timely in yet another way — on June 22 the Vatican announced the upcoming beatifications of 13 more martyrs from the early 20th-century persecution.
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: Catholic Heroes of The Americas ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Citing Demands that "Go Beyond Compensation," Portland Files for Bankruptcy DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:PORTLAND, Ore. — It will likely be more than two years before the assets and operation of the Archdiocese of Portland, Ore., are back in the hands of the archbishop. And parishes and schools might not long remain aloof from the upheaval.
Struggling under the burden of $53 million in legal settlements from sexual-abuse lawsuits with a potential for $155 million more, the archdiocese became the first diocese in U.S. history to seek protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code. It might not be the last.
The archdiocese announced the decision to file for reorganization in a July 6 announcement. In it, Archbishop John Vlazny said bankruptcy was the “just and prudent” choice under the circumstances.
“This action offers the best possibility for the archdiocese to resolve fairly all pending claims, to manage the difficult financial situation and to preserve the ability of the archdiocese to fulfill its mission,” he said.
Archbishop Vlazny rejected claims by plaintiffs' attorneys that bankruptcy offered a way out of embarrassing trials, set to begin the same day as the filing.
“We have worked diligently to settle claims of clergy misconduct,” he said. “In the last four years, we have settled more than 100 such claims. Last year alone, the archdiocese paid almost $21 million from its own funds.”
He said the size of the last two claims, seeking $130 million and $25 million, made it impossible to continue.
“I am committed to just compensation,” he said, “but these demands go beyond compensation, and with 60 other claims pending, I cannot in justice and prudence pay the demands of these two plaintiffs.”
The archbishop told reporters the archdiocese had been “abandoned” by insurers and said he hopes the bankruptcy filing will bring the companies back.
Commenting on the decision, archdiocese spokesman Bud Bunce admitted the bankruptcy filing puts them in uncharted territory, “but we fully expect that our parishes will continue their day-to-day function, just as they have been.”
However, in seeking protection from the federal bankruptcy court, Archbishop Vlazny has initiated a process where neither he nor the plaintiffs will be able to exert control over the outcome, said attorney Steven Cox, a licensed bankruptcy attorney who has been following the events in Portland and the parallel path of the Diocese of Tucson, Ariz., which might also be in receivership by the middle of September.
Like Asbestos Suits
Events will most likely resemble the reorganization of several major corporations as a result of asbestos litigation starting in the 1970s. A federal bankruptcy judge will direct the process, with broad discretionary power to do whatever he feels is prudent to serve the interests of the diocese and its creditors.
The first several months, Cox said, will be consumed by a process of assembling a complete list of claims against the diocese. Next will be a catalog of diocesan assets.
“The court will try to retain core assets, sometimes with an agreement for payment in the future,” Cox said. Then assets will be disbursed to satisfy all the outstanding claims.
He predicted the archdiocese will come out much as it is now, “although considerably pared down.”
As for the guarantee that parish assets will not be included in the bankruptcy settlement, Cox called that a “gray area.”
“Much will depend on whether the diocese has followed the technicalities of the separate organization rules,” he said.
The archdiocese would have to demonstrate that it exercised no financial or operational control over the parishes. Cox said the fact that pastors are appointed by the diocese, paid by the diocese and granted subsidiary right to manage their own parishes by the diocese “will certainly muddy the waters and will be something the lawyers will be debating.”
Ultimately, he said, it could come down to whether the bankruptcy judge wants to consider parishes a wholly owned subsidiary of the diocese.
“It's an all-or-nothing decision, and the consequences would be so severe that any judge would be hesitant to do it,” Cox said.
This is something the Tucson Diocese is depending on as it evaluates reorganization as an option prior to the beginning of its own civil court case Sept. 15. Bishop Gerald Kicanas, among others, is watching the Portland proceedings with interest.
However, in his July 6 “Monday Memo,” a weekly Web posting for the faithful in the diocese, Bishop Kicanas attempted to calm fears.
“There are many concerns about what Chapter 11 reorganization means,” he said. “Would it mean the liquidation of the diocese and the closing down of our parishes and schools? No. On the contrary, Chapter 11 reorganization is a way our government provides for an organization to continue its work while responding to its creditors.”
“I am confident,” he added, “that the work of our parishes and schools will continue under reorganization and that the assets of our parishes and schools are not the assets of the diocese. If this is challenged, it will need to be taken all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court for resolution.”
“Many of those who don't go to church don't understand that, for most of us, the parish is the Church,” diocese spokesman Fred Allison said. “For the most part, all of the sacraments we celebrate are at the parish. The parishioners pay to construct the parish church and their weekly contributions pay for the upkeep and staff. This is not the diocese's parish church. It's our church.”
“Talk to the average parishioner about the bankruptcy proceedings and they don't really understand,” Allison continued. “But say to them that the plaintiffs' attorneys believe that the tabernacle, altar stone, vestments and chalice belong to the diocese and should be considered assets to be incorporated into the bankruptcy settlement and they'll get the picture.”
Philip S. Moore writes from Vail, Arizona.
----- EXCERPT: A Register Editorial ----- EXTENDED BODY: Philip S. Moore ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Kerry Admits Life Begins at Conception DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's declaration that human life begins at conception acknowledges the truth, but the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate continues to advocate that abortion is good for women, according to a spokes-person for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“People who hold the view that abortion is good or necessary for women and that life begins at conception … are willing to overlook the death of the baby because they think they are serving a greater cause. They think they are serving the cause of women,” said Cathy Cleaver Ruse, director of the bishops' conference's Pro-Life Secretariat.
In an interview published July 3 in the Dubuque, Iowa, Telegraph Herald, Kerry said, “I oppose abortion, personally. I don't like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception.”
Ruse says the illogic of being personally opposed to something but supporting it legislatively is akin to a politician who declines to fight slavery because he does not wish to impose his personal belief on the rest of the country.
“There's a clear parallel how the laws are treating these two subjects and the question of personhood,” she said. “That parallel can't be ignored. Slaves were treated as less than a whole person under the law, and under the Roe-imposed legal system, with regard to abortion, unborn children are treated as zero.”
“It's not a Catholic view to have two sets of morals — one that you pick up when you go home and another set that you pick up when you go to the office,” she said.
Kerry is the first Catholic since John F. Kennedy to be major-party candidate for president.
Douglas Johnson, legislative director for National Right to Life, says Kerry's comments are just another example of the senator's waffling.
“With respect to the humanity of the unborn child, he has addressed it a number of times over the years,” Johnson said. “In 1985, a constituent wrote to him asking him to support the Unborn Children's Civil Rights Act. Kerry wrote, ‘I cannot support this bill because it's based on the premise that a fetus is a living human being.'”
“Fast forward to this Congress,” Johnson continued, “where a different facet of the issue was debated in the context of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act or Laci and Connor's Law.
“Abortion was specifically excluded from the bill. It dealt entirely with the status of the unborn child who is injured or killed during the commission of a violent federal crime. Despite a personal appeal from Laci Peterson's mother, Kerry voted against that. He voted for a competing bill that would have written it into the federal code that those crimes have only one victim.”
Heresy Charge
Kerry's comments to the Dubuque newspaper come on the heels of charges of heresy leveled by a Los Angeles canon lawyer. Marc Balestrieri filed the canon law charges with the Archdiocese of Boston, Kerry's domicile, on the basis that Kerry supports a “right-to-murder” doctrine. Balestrieri said Kerry's statement about life beginning at conception only strengthens the case against him.
“I can't take my Catholic belief, my article of faith, and legislate it on a Protestant or a Jew or an atheist,” Kerry told the newspaper. “We have separation of church and state in the United States of America.”
A spokesman at Kerry's campaign office who asked to remain anonymous said, “The statement in the article is pretty clear, and I don't know if there's anything more that we really need to add to that.”
Ruse, however, says abortion supporters are acknowledging that life begins at conception.
“Certainly, the majority of Americans believe that abortion ends the life of an unborn child, even if they're not willing to say when that life begins,” she said. “You have this strange paradox where you have people acknowledging the life of the child, acknowledging the reality of abortion, yet embracing legal abortion.”
Advances in medicine and science have shown beyond a doubt that life begins at conception, she said.
“In order not to be laughed at, you've got to acknowledge that life does not begin at birth,” she explained. “That's a philosophy, but that's not fact. The argument that it's not a human life is one leg the abortion-rights movement has been standing on.
“The assumption that abortion is good for women is a lie. Abortion in our country requires a double blindness — we have to be blind to the personhood of the child, which is what Roe demands, and we have to be blind to the reality of women's experiences and be blind to women.”
While Kerry's statement regarding conception implies his support for the Catholic position on life, his voting record is unambiguously pro-abortion.
“On the issues we've scored on the floor, he's voted against our position 92 out of 94 times,” National Right to Life's Johnson said. “The two times he voted in accord with our position, it was on issues that weren't of concern to the abortion lobby.
“Kerry has been absolutely compliant to the dictates of the most extreme pro-abortion advocacy groups. He has never voted against the position of the National Abortion Rights Action League on any issue. In 20 years, a remarkable number of issues have come up.”
Kerry has also been outspoken in his opposition to the Bush administration's overseas population-assistance programs. Two days after being sworn in as president, Bush issued an executive order ensuring that nongovernmental agencies wouldn't receive taxpayer funds if they perform or promote abortion as a method of family planning.
“Kerry has been savagely critical of that policy,” Johnson said. “He has abused the president for this and has said publicly that if elected, his first executive order would be to overturn that policy.
“That's hardly the posture of someone who feels his hands are tied by the Supreme Court. He wants to go out there and export this ideology. He's pledged not to consider appointing anybody who's not committed in advance to continue all of the court's pro-abortion precedents.
“If you just read the Iowa quote, you might figure this poor guy would like to do something, but the Supreme Court has hemmed us in. No. This is a guy who says, ‘You put me in the Oval Office and I'll make sure that nobody gets to the Supreme Court unless they support Roe.’”
Patrick Novecosky writes from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Patrick Novecosky ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Hostility Toward Catholic Doctrine Becomes Evident in Holmes Debate DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — Several U.S. senators condemned a number of beliefs based on long-standing Catholic doctrine during a July 6 debate on the confirmation of Leon Holmes, a convert to the faith nominated by President Bush to be a district judge in Arkansas.
Holmes was confirmed 51 to 46 after waiting 18 months for a vote, with five Republicans — all pro-Roe v. Wade — voting against him and six Democrats voting for him.
The opposition to Holmes' nomi-nation represented an expansion of liberals' war against constitutionalist and especially pro-life judicial nominees and was especially unusual given the support of his two Democratic home-state senators.
District court nominees are almost never targeted for ideological reasons since they are trial, not appellate, judges and thus set no legal precedents. In fact, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Holmes was the first district nominee she had ever voted against, even after three years of Bush judicial nominees.
This is part of a “Titanic battle between two differing judicial philosophies,” said Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way, in an interview. The group helped lead opposition to Holmes. “This is not about anybody's personal religious beliefs. It's about judicial temperaments.”
The opposition to Holmes occurred despite his pledges — acknowledged by senators during the floor debate — to apply the law fairly regardless of his religious beliefs, even on issues such as abortion. Holmes is the former president of Arkansas Right to Life.
“I think it's the duty of the district courts to follow what the Supreme Court says as honestly as they can,” Holmes told the Register the day after his confirmation. “I don't think it would be helpful if district judges started to evade those decisions. The system depends on obedience to authority.”
Opponents insisted it was not his personal views per se that caused them to oppose Holmes but their lack of confidence that he could set those views aside and make impartial judicial decisions.
Some said an argument against legalizing abortion for rape victims that Holmes wrote when he was 27 — “conceptions from rape occur with the same frequency as snowfalls in Miami” — showed insensitivity, though Holmes has apologized for making it.
Senators opposed to Holmes who were chosen by their fellow opponents to make the arguments against him on the Senate floor identified six beliefs they found disturbing in a judicial nominee: a strong commitment to the right to life for unborn children, wives' submission to their husbands and opposition to modern feminism, immorality of homosexual acts, immorality of ontraception, natural law theory and God's ability to bring good out of evil.
They frequently labeled Catholic teachings, including those shared by a large proportion of the non-Catholic American population, as “extreme” or “out of the mainstream.” Below is a sampling.
— On being pro-life: In building her case against Holmes, Feinstein cited a pro-life statement written by Holmes: “In a 1987 article written to the Arkansas Democrat, Mr. Holmes wrote: ‘[T]he basic purpose of government is to prevent the killing of innocent people, so the government has an obligation to stop abortion.’”
She cited Holmes' statement that Roe v. Wade was among three Supreme Court decisions he disagreed with and said, “To include Roe v. Wade with these two decisions clearly indicates that he holds Roe as a decision to be abolished. This is simply not a mainstream perspective.”
• On natural law: “Like [Catholic U.S. Supreme Court] Justice [Clarence] Thomas, Mr. Holmes has been a proponent of what is known as a ‘natural rights' or ‘natural law' theory of interpreting our Constitution in order to achieve judicial recognition of rights he believes should exist,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, DVt., senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. “The idea of ‘natural law’ is what led to the tyrannical period of judicial activism at the turn of the last century in which the Supreme Court struck down numerous state and federal laws written to protect the health and safety of working Americans.” “He has expressed support for the concept of natural law, which holds there are laws that trump the law of the Constitution” Feinstein said. “This concept is starkly at odds with the role of a federal judge, who must swear to uphold the Constitution.”
• On wives' submission and opposition to feminism: Feinstein, quoting from an article co-written by Holmes and his wife, who were citing St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians, said: “‘The wife is to subordinate herself to her husband' and … ‘the woman is to place herself under the authority of the man.' This belief, if sustained, clearly places this nominee in a place apart. … How can I or any other American believe that one who truly believes a woman is subordinate to her spouse can interpret the Constitution fairly?”
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who led the Republicans opposed to Holmes and who cast her first vote against a Bush judicial nominee when she voted against him, said, “My vote will not be in any way related to his views on abortion or his personal religious beliefs. It is based on his body of statements over a 25-year period that lead me to conclude he does not have a fundamental commitment to the total equality of women in our society.”
“In fact, Mr. Holmes has blamed feminism for the erosion of morality,” said Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. “He has written that ‘to the extent that we adopt the feminist principle that the distinction between the sexes is of no consequence … we are contributing to the culture of death.' Are we really expected to believe that someone with such medieval views will dispense 21st-century justice?”
• On homosexuality and contraception: “Mr. Holmes is not merely opposed to a woman's constitutionally protected right to choose,” Feinstein complained. “He has also lashed out at contraception, against women generally and against the rights of gays and lesbians. He wrote in 1997: ‘It is not coincidental that the feminist movement brought with it artificial contraception and abortion on demand, with recognition of homosexual liaisons soon to follow.'”
• On bringing good out of evil: Several senators were disturbed that Holmes agreed with Booker T. Washington's theory that God allowed slavery in order to show white Americans a Christlike example in the black race.
Feinstein cited this in a list of Holmes' writings she didn't like: “Specifically, in a 1981 article, he wrote for a journal called Christianity Today about Booker T. Washington. This is what he wrote: ‘He taught that God had placed the Negro in America so it could teach the white race by example what it means to be Christlike. Moreover, he believed that God could use the Negroes' situation to uplift the white race spiritually.' … In April of last year, Leon Holmes wrote to Sen. [Blanche] Lincoln [D-Ark.]: ‘My article combines [Washington's] view of providence — that God brings good out of evil — with his view that we are all called to love one another. This teaching can be criticized only if it is misunderstood.”
Battles to Come
Liberal groups and the senators beholden to them “picked out Holmes because he had been president of Arkansas Right to Life and had written on pro-life,” said Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee.
He said the Holmes battle would have little bearing on a Supreme Court nomination except as an indicator of what is to come.
“A Supreme Court vacancy is an entirely different situation,” he said. “What percentage of the public was paying any attention to the appointment of Leon Holmes, outside of Arkansas?”
But, he said, this is “a harbinger of what these groups will try to do when President Bush makes a nomination to the Supreme Court.”
“I think what you are seeing is two forms of bigotry,” said Joseph Giganti, communications director for the American Life League. “One is against Catholics who live by the tenets of their faith and the other is against pro-life people. They're trying to send a clear message that we won't tolerate this [a pro-life nominee] on lower levels so don't even try it on the Supreme Court.”
“It's becoming less and less disguised, the anti-Catholic sentiment that exists on the left,” said Manuel Miranda, chairman of the Ethics in Nominations Project, who agreed that liberals were trying to intimidate Bush out of appointing a pro-lifer to the Supreme Court. “They're almost oblivious to the offense they give to people of faith.”
“The Holmes debate is an early debate on the federal marriage amendment,” Miranda added. “It's a warm-up because the Holmes debate was about St. Paul and Christian marriage.”
“It has been suggested that Mr. Holmes' religious principles are extreme. I say to you that his principles are consistent with the Catholic Church's principles,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., during floor debate. “What he has said in every writing I have seen, and as I understand it, they are perfectly consistent — in fact, he defended classic Catholic doctrine. … Is the rule that no true believers in Catholic doctrine need apply for a federal judgeship?”
Supporters of Holmes read letters from pro-abortion female lawyers who had worked with Holmes and supported his nomination. They noted that Holmes supported the accession of the first woman to be a partner in his law firm.
“And by the way,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, “if it comes down to a choice between St. Paul and my distinguished friend from Massachusetts, Sen. Kennedy, or my distinguished friend from Illinois, Sen. [Dick] Durbin, I think I will take St. Paul every time, and I think most everybody else in the country would, too. He and his wife were quoting St. Paul.”
The Republicans who voted against Holmes were Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, John Warner of Virginia, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island. Democrats voting for him were Lincoln, Mary Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu and John Breaux of Louisiana, Zell Miller of Georgia and Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
Joseph A. D'Agostino writes from Washington, D.C.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph A. D'Agostino ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: A Bat, a Bible and a Purpose in Life DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:Mike Sweeney was a 4-pound “preemie” at birth. He went on to be a four-time all-star first baseman with the Kansas City Royals.
Although a strained back has sidelined him lately, he's the happy father of a firstborn son, Michael John, born in March.
Sweeney spoke to Register correspondent Bob Horning about ways in which the Catholic faith has been instrumental in his career and in his life.
Tell us about life growing up in your family.
I was born two months prematurely and spent my first six weeks in the hospital. I had pneumonia and turned blue. When the doctors determined that I needed a blood transfusion, my dad called the priest to have me baptized, since the operation could be fatal. He baptized me right in the incubator. The next morning when they came to do the transfusion, I didn't need it. I was healed. I believe God had his hand on me.
The Church was obviously important to your family.
Yes. The seed of going to church and reading the Bible was planted in me as a boy. We never missed Mass on Sunday and always had dinner together afterward before heading out for our athletic events. I was the oldest of eight children and grew up in Ontario, Calif., just east of Los Angeles.
My dad played minor-league ball for two years but retired when he realized he couldn't support a family on $550 per month. He began driving a beer truck and later became a branch manager. My mom stayed at home and also baby-sat other kids to earn extra money.
When I was 16, I went on a confirmation retreat. Up until then, I had a head knowledge of what Jesus had done for me on the cross, but that weekend I embraced it as my own. It was the most joyful time of my life.
Did you dream of being a baseball player when you were growing up?
Yes. I wanted to be like my dad. I remember a friend of my dad's, Brian Downing, who played with the California Angels, coming to talk to our Little League team when I was 6 years old. He was my boyhood hero, so that really fed my dream.
You were drafted out of high school in 1991 at age 17. What was that like?
I packed up and headed for the rookie league in Florida with only my travel bag and Bible. The first Sunday I had to pay $5, which was a lot of money for me, to get to Mass. I waited around afterward trying to get a ride back but wasn't able to until Father Domingo Gonzales offered.
First, though, he had to say the Spanish Mass. From then on, every week he would pick me up for Mass, and Spanish Mass, then we would go to lunch and he would take me home. He was a good influence on a 17-year-old, and we still keep in touch. Plus, I learned Spanish pretty well, which comes in handy with all the Latino players now.
For the baseball fans reading this, what is the toughest thing about hitting?
Physically, you have to be a warrior; mentally, you have to believe in yourself. I would say the toughest pitch to hit is a split-finger fastball. It looks just like a fastball coming to the plate, then it suddenly drops, like off of a table.
How do you deal with life on the road, since between April and October you are traveling half of the time?
Years ago, if you were a Christian ballplayer, you took a lot of criticism. Now it's more accepted. Still, it comes down to choosing the world or choosing Christ. I have been fortunate to have good Christian friends around me. Often after a game, seven or eight of us will meet for Bible study or we will talk shop. That's more honoring to God and to our wives than going to a bar. On Sunday, I go to Mass, and at the stadium we have baseball chapel for the players. Seventeen or 18 guys come for that.
In addition, Jeremy Affeldt, one of our pitchers, and I meet regularly to hold one another accountable, helping each other to stay pure in mind and body.
But traveling is tough, probably one of the toughest things about being a professional athlete. I have missed a lot of my siblings' events — graduations, weddings, confirmations, first Communions. I have been married two years now to Shara and have a son who was born in March, so I see them when we are playing at home. In the meantime, I call her every day, and she sends me pictures on my picture phone.
You recently became the new national spokesman for the youth movement Life Teen. What does that entail?
I basically speak to teen groups and in churches throughout the country. For example, in March, during spring training in Arizona, we had a Life Teen Day. One thousand kids attended a baseball game, then a concert and a talk by Life Teen founder Msgr. Dale Fushek. I am blessed to wear a big-league jersey and be able to use my position to help spread God's word.
There is nothing worse than seeing kids fall away from their faith during the teen years. That is when they need to embrace Christ, not embrace what the world offers through drugs, alcohol, sex. When I first came to Kansas City, I was a part-time parish youth minister. I saw kids get excited about the faith. They are at an age when their hearts can catch fire for Jesus, and I can help by pouring on some gas.
How does your Catholicism help you with baseball?
First, it gives me a purpose in life. I am playing for an audience of one, Christ, not for myself, the fans or teammates. He is my plumb line. Because of that, I can have joy even if things aren't going well on the field. As the Bible says, Jesus will never leave nor forsake us.
The Creator of the world chose to love me through what Jesus did on the cross, so my inheritance is eternal life. He did it all. I did nothing. Because I am playing for him, I work harder. I want to please him. I want my attitude to glorify God even if I am in a slump. They say true Christianity is doing right when things are rough, not when they are easy.
It sounds like you enjoy being Catholic.
When I wear a crucifix, I represent the Catholic Church. When people see how I live, they should be able to say, “Man, I want to be like him.” I am proud to be a Catholic. I want people to know that I love Jesus, I love Scripture, and I love the Catholic Church.
Bob Horning writes from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mike Sweeney ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:The Constitution as Seen by Clarence Thomas
In the Pledge of Allegiance case in June, Thomas wrote in his opinion that the Constitution protects a state's right to recognize an official church.
“Quite simply, the establishment clause … protects state establishments from federal interference. [It] does not protect an individual right,” he wrote, pointing to the words, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
Also, in 2002, he denounced separation of church and state doctrine, noting it grew out of “anti-Catholic bigotry” during the 19th century, the Los Angeles Times reported. At that time, Protestants controlled the public schools, and immigrant Catholics set up their own schools to escape the Protestant influence, he said.
“I thought his was the most interesting opinion in the pledge case. Thomas is right as a matter of history,” Richard Garnett, an associate professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School, told the newspaper. “But I think most people would see it as water under the bridge.”
Church Asks Court to Void California Sex-Abuse Law
NBC SAN DIEGO.COM, July 1 — Lawyers for the Diocese of Davenport, Iowa, have asked a San Diego federal judge to strike down a 2003 law that makes it legal for victims of sexual abuse to sue without regard to any statute of limitations in sex-abuse cases.
The law opened up a “tidal wave” of lawsuits in California, the San Diego NBC news affiliate reported, and the Church faces up to 800 lawsuits. The Church said the law violates its First Amendment right to free exercise of religion and its right to due process.
If the law is declared unconstitutional, the news station noted, it could save the Church hundreds of millions of dollars needed to resolve the cases.
St. Louis Priests Support Stance on Communion
Many noted that the archbishop's comments are simply in line with Church teaching, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
“There is no change in policy,” said Father Mark Ullrich of Our Lady of the Holy Cross parish in St. Louis. “Nothing is different, nothing has changed.”
Another priest compared someone who votes for a pro-abortion politician to those who did nothing to stop Hitler and the Holocaust.
“It's kind of like Nazi Germany,” said Msgr. Francis Blood, pastor at St. Cecilia Church in St. Louis, who said Catholics who do not vote for politicians against abortion rights “are at least complicit. Not decrying the Holocaust then is the same today as not decrying the Holocaust of the unborn.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Pro-Lifers View John Edwards as Radically Pro-Abortion DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — After Christine Seidel and four other pro-life advocates met with Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., in the fall of 1999, Seidel remembers leaving the meeting feeling like she had just encountered “a wolf in sheep's clothing.”
She recalls Edwards did and said all the right things. After all, the pro-lifers were constituents from his home state of North Carolina. They had traveled to Washington, D.C., to talk to him about the Senate's upcoming vote on the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.
During the meeting, Edwards became teary-eyed when he heard the story of a woman's late-term abortion. He held the woman's shaking hands as she cried while telling it. Seidel said he told the group they had made some “good points,” which he needed to look into. But one moment remains frozen in her mind.
“What really bothers me the most was when he was shaking all our hands goodbye,” said Seidel, who until recently led the Respect Life committee at her parish, St. Gabriel's in Charlotte, N.C. “We were standing in the lobby. And when he came to me, I said to him, ‘You are going to vote for the ban on partial-birth abortion.' If looks could kill … His demeanor completely changed. His smile went off his face. He looked at me and said, ‘I said I will need more information.'”
The meeting didn't sway Edwards' position. He voted against the ban, which was eventually passed and signed into law by President Bush. The law is being contested in court by pro-abortion advocates.
Seidel said she is “devastated” about Edwards being Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's pick to be the vice presidential nominee for the Democratic Party because of his pro-abortion stance.
“He will be smiling that winning smile with that face of a young man and he will look at you like he is absorbed in what you're saying, and you will feel like he's listening with all the sincerity he can muster, but it's a façade,” she said.
“People will believe him because people choose, or are ignorant, to think that he is being sincere,” she continued. “That he's honest and truly cares about their issues. People who choose not to delve beneath the surface will be sucked into the rhetoric. And you're thinking he's a nice guy, father of four and loves children.”
On the Issues
Someone else who has followed Edwards' political career also doesn't trust him and predicts he will fudge his pro-abortion position during the presidential campaign.
“Sen. Edwards will try to downplay his extreme position on abortion,” said Barbara Holt, the president of North Carolina's Right to Life Committee. “He will make his position seem mainstream, [but] it's extreme.”
Here are Edwards' positions on some issues of concern to Catholic voters:
• He supports legalized abortion. He has voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which makes it a crime to harm a fetus during a violent crime.
• He does not support same-sex marriages but opposes a constitutional amendment to ban them. He believes states should decide whether civil unions between homosexuals are permissible.
• He supports embryonic stem-cell research.
• He opposes federally-funded vouchers to help parents pay for private-school costs.
Edwards might be pro-abortion, but he is concerned about the poor, said Patricia Kelly Matthews, a cradle Catholic and a Democrat from Morgantown, W.Va. “Sen. Edwards will appeal to the hearts of Catholics [who] ever thirst for justice and mercy,” she predicted.
Noting that he is from a working-class family in North Carolina, “a state that knows too well the harm done by politicians who do not care about anyone who needs a helping hand,” Matthews said Edwards has consistently supported legislation intended to help “the least of his constituents: the very young and elderly, the un- and underemployed.”
In offering guidance to both political parties and Catholic voters, the U.S. bishops earlier this year released a document called “Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility.”
“For Catholics, the defense of human life and dignity is not a narrow cause but a way of life and a framework for action,” the bishops said.
By selecting Edwards as his running mate, Kerry has made a “clear statement” that the Democratic Party has no room for pro-life Democrats — further confirmation of the message the party sent when it excluded then Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey from speaking at the 1992 convention because of his opposition to abortion, said Robert George, a professor of politics at Princeton University.
“When it comes to the merits, when it comes to the specific issues,” George said, “Edwards has made it very clear that he is on the cultural left, and that's not where faithful Catholics are on these issues.”
Not Moderate
Edwards does not add moderation to the Democratic ticket, George said.
The endorsements of two politically active groups also give a good indication of where Edwards stands. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute said he has “a record of strong support for key issues important to lesbian, gay, bisexual and [transgendered]” people. The institute's executive director, Matt Foreman, called Kerry and Edwards “the most gay-supportive national ticket in American history.”
And NARAL Pro-Choice America, a pro-abortion group, applauded the choice of Edwards, noting in a press release that of 20 votes since 1999 on issues relating to abortion and contraception, all of his were pro-abortion votes.
“The contrast between Kerry-Edwards and Bush-Cheney could not be clearer regarding the protection of women's rights,” said Elizabeth Cavendish, NARAL Pro-Choice America's interim president. “We are confident that the Kerry-Edwards administration will reverse George Bush's limits on family-planning services, nominate judges who protect basic liberties and work to expand access to birth control, responsible sex-education and other means of preventing unintended pregnancies.”
Not surprisingly, the National Right to Life Committee has given Edwards a 0% rating on pro-life issues.
Carlos Briceño writes from Seminole, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceņo ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:October Trip to Mexico Not on Pope's Calendar
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, July 3 — Pope John Paul II will forgo an invitation to visit Mexico for the World Eucharistic Congress in Guadalajara from Oct. 10-17, instead sending a delegation to the congress.
The Holy Father “would make his presence felt by means of a special television hookup, which will allow him to follow the final celebration of the solemn Eucharistic Congress and to deliver a special message to the bishops and the faithful gathered there,” the Vatican announced July 3.
Papal Nuncio Giuseppe Ber tello had said last year that the Holy Father might make the visit despite his health problems.
In April the Mexican government formally invited the Pope to make his sixth pilgrimage to the countr y, the Associated Press repor ted. The Holy Father's most recent visit to the countr y was in 2002.
John Paul named Cardinal Jozef Tomko to head the delegation for the October visit.
John Paul Named One of Most-Admired Leaders
PRNEWSWIRE, June 30 — A new poll by Harris Interactive Europe, a division of the worldwide market-research firm, has found that among Europeans, Pope John Paul II is one of the most admired world leaders.
U.N. Secretar y-General Kofi Annan was named by the poll to the top of the list, with the Holy Father as second. The results were based on 2,330 inter views in Britain; 2,018 in France; 2,078 in Germany; 2,012 in Italy; and 1,382 in Spain, according to PR Newswire.
The Holy Father ranked most popular in Italy (78%), second to Annan in Britain (31%), four th in France (39% behind Annan, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Spanish Prime Minister Luis Zapatero), four th in Germany (33%, behind Annan, French President Jacques Chirac and Zapatero) and third in Spain (45%, behind Annan and Zapatero).
Of those who said they felt “very” or “somewhat” negatively toward John Paul — 25% overall — 29% were from Britain, 27% were from France, 36% from Germany, 25% from Spain and only 6% from Italy.
Pope Wishes Summer Travelers ‘Happy Holidays'
REUTERS, July 4 — As he prepared for his own vacation to the Alps, which he has had to skip the past two years, Pope John Paul II on July 4 wished all travelers happy holidays.
But he wasn't referring to the United States of America's Independence Day.
“I hope that ever yone can take advantage of a necessar y break from work,” the Pope told the thousands gathered in St. Peter's Square.
The Holy Father used to take a 10-day vacation in the nor thern Italian mountains each summer to indulge his passion for hiking, Reuters noted.
In recent years, however, he has had to cut back his activities due to health reasons.
However, John Paul appeared slightly stronger since the star t of this year, Reuters pointed out, and was scheduled to stay at his Valle d'Aosta vacation spot July 5-17.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Papal Vacations Feature Mountains, Prayer and Reading DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — From earliest childhood in his native Poland, Pope John Paul II has had a love of physical activity, particularly any sport or excursion that brought him in contact with mountains.
And when he became Pope, he had every intention of continuing to enjoy mountain sports, or at least the proximity of mountains.
Indeed, as Pope he continued to ski in the mountains close to Rome and to leave the apostolic palace for the occasional mountain hike — usually on a Tuesday, the day he traditionally prepares the weekly general audience and receives few, if any, visitors.
In the summer of 1987 the Holy Father broke with tradition — or, as some say, established a new tradition — and departed for the Dolomites in northern Italy on what was described as a “working vacation,” a combination of reading and writing, but also days of long hikes and picnics and prayer and reading books in the mountains. That summer he relaxed at Lorenzago di Cadore as he did again in 1988, 1992, 1993, 1996 and 1998.
This summer John Paul is vacationing in Les Combes, a small hamlet in the Valle D'Aosta region of northwestern Italy, for the 10th time since he first visited in 1989. He did not take a mountain vacation in either 2002 or 2003.
At 84 and in more delicate health than in past years, the Pope is expected to enjoy the same mountain views as in previous years but from a car or inside a tent pitched on a suggestive site by his aides, not from a mountain trail as a hiker.
When the Holy Father arrived in Les Combes for the third time in 1991, he told reporters that the time in the mountains “will not be a ‘dolce far niente’ (do nothing) period but rather a change of activity.” He said, in fact, that he hoped to finish the encyclical he planned on morality and to study the Magyar language for his trip the following month to Hungary.
“I don't know that language,” he said, “and so I must practice it. To help I brought some books with me.”
Mountain Mass
At the end of that 1991 visit to Valle d'Aosta, the Holy Father celebrated Mass in Breuil-Cervinia at the foot of the famed Matterhorn in a church dedicated to the memory of the fallen solders from the Alpine Skiing Battalion. In his homily, he returned to a theme he has regularly spoken of during his mountain trips: the contemplation of the works of God in nature. This leads us, he said, “to see in them the sign of the power, the beauty and the intelligence of the Creator.”
He has also said that “for vacations to be truly restful and to bring authentic well-being, a person should find in them a good balance with himself, with others and with the environment. It is this inner and outer harmony that regenerates the mind and restores energy to the body and spirit.”
This year, in addition to daily outings in the midst of tighter than usual security, the Pope is expected to work on a document on totalitarian systems and also to prepare his speeches for the Aug. 14-15 trip to Lourdes, France, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, and for a trip on Sept. 5 to the Shrine of Loreto on Italy's Adriatic coast. He is constantly kept up to date on international events.
John Paul's brief stay in the mountains at Lorenzago di Cadore in 1992 was doubly important. Not only did it allow him to unwind from a year of frenetic activity, but more importantly, it allowed him to recuperate following his mid-July surgery.
Papal spokesman Joaquín Navarro-Valls spoke to reporters during that vacation, noting that the mountain rest “contributed greatly to the Pope's being physically healthy and in very good spirits.” He added that the Holy Father's days had been spent praying, reading, writing and taking long walks in the forested, hilly areas of Lorenzago.
“He could often be seen,” Navarro-Valls said, “with an alpine walking stick in one hand and a rosary in the other.”
The Pope generally arose about 6 a.m., prayed and said Mass at 7:30. He took many all-day walks, even when it rained.
“During one sudden cloudburst,” Navarro-Valls recounted, “a tent was erected as temporary shelter and the Pope spent an hour inside reading. When he came out he told those accompanying him that it had been at least 15 years since he heard rain beat down on a tent.”
In remarks to journalists during the Pope's 1993 vacation in Loren-zago di Cadore, the head of the Holy See press office said he felt there were three focal points to John Paul's vacation period.
“One is naturally the mountains,” Navarro-Valls said. “Another are the books that the Pope usually brings with him. When he goes out and we stop for a while, the Pope immediately asks for one of his books. After lunch he might even read a while; not much, 45 minutes or so.
“The third point is the chapel. The Pope still rises early in the morning and says Mass, though it is a half-hour later than his schedule in the Vatican. He goes to his chapel upon returning from his daily excursion.”
Rejuvenation
In 1996, at the end of his July vacation, the Pope told journalists that he “felt rejuvenated” and that leaving the mountains was a bittersweet experience.
“It is sad on the one hand, but we are returning to a milieu that is close to us, Castel Gandolfo, which is traditional,” he said. “The mountains, the Dolomites, were not a papal tradition. But now they are.”
And bittersweet it will surely be on July 17 when mountain enthusiast John Paul leaves the beauty, serenity and cooler weather of Les Combes for the apostolic palace in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome in the Alban Hills, where he is expected to stay until the end of September.
Joan Lewis works for Vatican Information Service.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joan Lewis ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Holy See-Israel Talks Resume DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:Talks between Holy See and Israeli officials aimed at implementing an accord signed between the two states 10 years ago ended July 5 after only three hours but did not stall, Israeli officials said after the meeting.
The first meeting of the Permanent Joint Working Commission, set up by the Holy See and Israel, finished without any official statement.
Another meeting is planned for September. Discussions were said by some sources to have ended earlier than expected because the Israeli party was not authorized to negotiate any of the outstanding issues.
But Israel's ambassador to the Holy See, Oded Ben-Hur, said the talks were “far from being stalled.”
He admitted it was not possible to “pinpoint and present achievements” but added “that was not the purpose of the meeting.”
It was “part of a process,” Ben-Hur explained, to relaunch the working commission, which was set up to help ensure Israel fulfills its obligations to provide freedoms and rights for the Church as agreed upon in the Fundamental Agreement between the two parties in 1994.
Under the agreement, the Holy See agreed to establish diplomatic relations with Israel while Church privileges, such as tax-exempt status, restitution of Church properties, privileged judicial rights and state funding of social services provided by the Church to Israelis, were supposed to be granted by the Israeli government.
However, Israel has not passed any law fulfilling its obligations under the agreement.
Last August, Israel withdrew from the negotiations without any explanation while the two parties were working on provisions protecting Church properties and on tax exemptions.
But Ben-Hur said the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as well as the economic crisis, were the issues that have been higher priority by the Israeli government.
He also cited as obstacles “some huge differences” in the past and remaining problems over “judicial questions.”
In particular this applied to holy sites, which Ben-Hur said “no civilian court may pass a judgment on, so some kind of bypass was needed to be invented.”
But he is very confident that progress is being made. “We are getting there,” he said. “Things are still in the phase of being done behind the scenes and they're calling for a little bit more patience.”
The ambassador said the agreement is “extremely important” to Israel.
“It's time we understood the necessity for Israel to accept the fact that we're talking about a Catholic world of 1.2 billion people,” he said. “This is a major world power and we cannot ignore it, and it would be wrong of us to do so.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: John Paul to Visit Emerald Isle? DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:Contrary to recent press reports, no firm decisions have been taken for the Pope to visit Ireland this year, although the likelihood of a papal trip has grown, an Irish bishop has said.
Diocese of Meath Bishop Michael Smith, who heads a subcommittee of bishops in charge of organizing celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's first visit to Ireland, told the Register that any confirmation of a papal trip would come “closer to the time” the trip might take place.
However, the news that John Paul definitely will not attend the 48th International Eucharistic Congress in Mexico in October has made the possibility of a shorter visit to Ireland “more likely,” Bishop Smith said.
This September or next spring are the likeliest times for any trip, though Bishop Smith also emphasized that “no decisions at all” have been made.
No Vatican official was willing to comment on the plans of the Pope.
The Holy Father last visited Ireland in 1979 when he became the first Pope ever to set foot in the country.
Any visit could also be as momentous, with speculation of a first papal trip to Northern Ireland and John Paul's long-held wish to celebrate Mass in the province. Armagh is considered to be the probable destination.
But any decision about the Pope visiting Northern Ireland would depend on the permission of the British government, which would have to mount a massive security operation to protect him. It would also depend on the Pope's health.
In 1979, the Holy Father was unable to visit the north due to security fears, instead staying at Drogheda, one of the nearest towns to the border.
In Drogheda, John Paul made an impassioned plea for an end to sectarian hatred and the killing that had been done in its name. They were words that “had a strong resonance with the people,” Bishop Smith said.
“I think what he said took a while to sink in, for people to realize the importance of upholding what was right,” the bishop said, adding that he believes they were words the Holy Father “would rather have said in Northern Ireland.”
“The Pope has expressed many times during his pontificate,” Bishop Smith added, “a willingness to complete that visit.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Catholic Leaders Hail New Fairness in Indian Government DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:NEW DELHI, India — Church officials in India have welcomed the crucial decisions of the new federal government to undo the infiltration of Hindu nationalist ideology into administrative and educational systems under the previous government.
The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which headed India's government for six years before being defeated in national elections in May, had been widely accused of filling key government posts with officials with a Hindu nationalist background and loading the education system with a Hindu bias.
“This is the most serious and the worst thing they have done to the nation,” Archbishop Vincent Concessao of Delhi said July 7.
Archbishop Concessao, who is chairman of the ecumenical United Christian Forum, an ecumenical forum of major church groups, hailed the “detoxification” measures the United Progressive Alliance government has announced since assuming office in late May.
The archbishop said the Bharatiya Janata Party government was “trying to brainwash the young minds with communal poison. This is exactly what Hitler did. We are happy the new government is trying to undo this damage.”
Apart from replacing several Bharatiya Janata-appointed officials in charge of education and other departments, the federal Human Resource Development Ministry has already announced a series of remedial steps, including withdrawal of controversial school textbooks the Bharatiya Janata Party regime had introduced.
“The mandate for this government is very clear,” said Father Donald de Souza, deputy secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India. “The people don't want the education system to spread bias and hatred.”
‘Saffronization’
After the Bharatiya Janata Party assumed power in 1998, leading educational bodies such as the Indian Council for Historical Research and the National Council of Educational Research and Training were filled with pro-Hindu “saffron” scholars.
Ignoring widespread protests from scholars and secular groups, history books authored by eminent secular scholars were taken off school curricula and replaced with new texts written by dubious Hindu nationalist authors who glorified Hinduism and demonized minorities.
In states where the Bharatiya Janata Party had a clear majority, the “saffron” interpretation of history and minority bashing were forced upon students through the textbooks. Students in the northern Uttar Pradesh state, for example, were taught that Jesus Christ spent several days in the Himalayas and imbibed knowledge and inspiration for Christianity from Hindu sadhus (monks).
Similarly, in school texts in Bharatiya Janata-ruled Gujarat, high-school students are taught to consider Muslims, Christians and Parsees as “foreigners.”
“They followed a crude and very biased pro-Hindu approach in education,” said Jesuit Father Tom Kunnunkal, one of the leading educators in India.
A former chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education that oversees high-school education in India, Father Kunnunkal said “textbooks were withdrawn and rewritten arbitrarily bypassing mandatory steps.”
Father Kunnunkal added that the “values education” the Bharatiya Janata government introduced was “nothing but glorification of Hindu traditions while belittling non-Hindu faiths.” The priest recalled that he was invited couple of years ago to speak at a government-sponsored “values education” seminar for educators, “but when I reached there,” he said, “it turned out to be a seminar on the Bhagavat Gita [the Hindu holy book].”
Such blatant “saffron” bias in education had prompted even the normally quiet All India National Association of Catholic Schools — a forum of 15,000 Catholic schools in India — to speak out publicly.
The association in 2001 rejected the new National Curriculum Framework drafted by the Bharatiya Janata government, stating that it could “do untold harm to the multicultural, democratic and secular fabric of Indian society.”
While praising the new government's initial moves to repair the damage caused by Bharatiya Janata Party policies, Archbishop Concessao cautioned, “We have a long way to go. The communal poison has gone deep beyond the education system. We have saffron bureaucrats and media people.”
The government-controlled media, the archbishop said, have been “packed” with Hindu nationalists and the anti-minority sentiment “has spread deep into the villages, creating suspicion and hostility against the minorities.”
To counter this, Archbishop Concessao said, the Church will have to collaborate with secular groups “to promote understanding and harmony among the diverse communities.”
Other Moves
Meanwhile, the new coalition government took the saffron brigade by the horns July 2, firing four state governors appointed by the federal government because they belonged to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The Bharatiya Janata Party is considered the political wing of the Rash-triya Swayamsevak Sangh, which is seen as the fountainhead of Hindu nationalism.
The United Progressive Alliance government is implementing other measures to boost the morale of religious minorities who suffered harsh persecution under Bharatiya Janata Party rule. Addressing a national seminar on minority rights July 3, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — a member of the minority Sikh religion — announced several measures including job reservations for religious minorities and establishment of a federal commission to allocate funds and university recognition to minority educational institutions.
“We welcome these announcements,” said Father Kunnunkal, who attended the two-day minority-rights seminar. “If implemented, these will help us get over the bureaucratic hurdles the community has been facing in strengthening our service to the needy.”
Anto Akkara writes from New Delhi, India.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Anto Akkara ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:Muslims Encourage Schoolgirls to Defy Scarf Ban
REUTERS, July 5 — A Muslim group in France has told Muslim school-girls to defy the government's ban on head scarves when schools reopen in the fall, much to the disdain of French officials.
The Union of French Islamic Organizations pledged at the end of June to provide legal aid to any girl expelled for wearing a head scarf to school, Reuters reported. The ban, announced in March, is set to go into effect after summer break. It has already sparked debates between Muslims and the government. Its intent is to outlaw open signs of religious affiliation.
Muslim groups have already approached Catholic schools to see if girls would be allowed to wear head scarves there and were “well received,” one Muslim leader said.
However, Catholic schools would not necessarily be a place of refuge, a Church leader said, noting that Muslims would not be able to skip sports, biology classes or challenge subjects such as the Holocaust.
Bill Would Take Away Church Control in Hong Kong
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, July 6 — Hong Kong Church leaders fear a new government-sponsored education bill would take away Church control of its schools and violate their religious freedoms.
The bill would put all private schools that receive public funds — which includes Catholic schools — under the control of management committees that would report directly to the government, the Associated Press reported.
A Church representative said the bill would violate Hong Kong's mini-constitution, known as the Basic Law, which guarantees religious freedom and says churches can control their seminaries and other schools.
Hong Kong's education director called the Church's fears “totally unfounded” and another representative said it would not force the Church to change the way it runs its schools.
Church leaders are still concerned, however, because the Church's support of democracy and other issues during the years has left it at odds with the government.
Group Tries to Encourage Prayer to Mary for Abortion
C-FAM, July 2 — Participants at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean meeting in Puerto Rico at the end of June were shocked to receive prayer cards of the Virgin Mary with the words, “The love of God and of Mary of Guadalupe is greater … For women's lives, safe and legal abortion.”
The cards, created by the dissident group Catholics for a Free Choice and its Latin American counterpart, suggest prayers should be made to Our Lady of Guadalupe for legal abortion, according to the Friday Fax newsletter from the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. Our Lady of Guadalupe's intercession is often sought by Catholics for unborn children, especially those in danger of abortion.
“How insulting it is,” said one participant at the meeting, “that Catholics for a Free Choice, a rich American pro-abortion group, would attempt to use the Latin American people's strong devotion to the Virgin Mary to impose their abortion agenda here.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Kerry's Record Speaks for Itself DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:For the record, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry has been a lifelong advocate of unlimited abortion.
The record needs to be restated because he has been attempting to gloss over his pro-abortion position as he campaigns for votes in Midwestern and Southern states, where voters are more likely pro-life.
Our thanks to Steven Ertelt, whose LifeNews.com provided information for this column.
In an interview with his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, on CNN's “Larry King Live” earlier this month, Kerry was asked whether he thought abortion was a moral issue. He launched into an evasive defense of his position.
“Sure it is,” he told CNN. “I mean, being for choice does not mean you are for abortion. Neither Teresa nor I are for abortion.”
But then he echoed former president Bill Clinton by saying, “Abortion should be rare, but safe and legal.”
Abortion is legal, but it is anything but safe and rare. More than 1.3 million abortions take place annually in the United States and women continue to die from the procedure.
Kerry continued his explanation of his position to Larry King, both defending abortion “rights” as well as softening his position with a support of adoption.
“I think that it's really a question of who should make this decision and how to arrive at it. But there is morality,” Kerry told King. “Of course there's morality involved. And we should be talking to people in America about responsibility, about adoption, about other choices. And I want to have a better conversation than I think we've had on it. But it doesn't change my position on who chooses. And I will protect that right of choice.”
Earlier this month, while campaigning in Iowa, Kerry told the Dubuque Telegraph Herald newspaper: “I oppose abortion, personally. I don't like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception.”
The surprising remarks don't match Kerry's consistent record and rhetoric that favor abortion.
As a member of the Senate, Kerry has compiled only a 2% pro-life voting record since 1984, according to the National Right to Life Committee.
Kerry has voted against every piece of pro-life legislation in the Senate recently, including the partial-birth abortion ban and Unborn Victims of Violence Act, and he supported a measure endorsing the Roe v. Wade decision that struck down laws banning abortions.
At the same time Kerry tried to minimize his pro-abortion views, he also said he couldn't legislate his alleged position against abortion.
“I can't take my Catholic belief, my article of faith, and legislate it on a Protestant or a Jew or an atheist,” he continued in the interview with the Iowa newspaper. “We have separation of church and state in the United States of America.”
In fact, Catholics' opposition to abortion doesn't flow from our unique beliefs about revelation but from the natural law. We believe abortion is wrong because killing is wrong — not because the Church says so.
And pro-lifers say Kerry will indeed impose abortion laws on those who believe they're wrong.
Carol Tobias, political director of the National Right to Life Committee, told LifeNews.com, “If elected president, [Kerry] would use Supreme Court appointments to make sure that abortion is here for many, many years to come.”
In response to Kerry's selection of Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., as his running mate, Tobias said, “With John Edwards, Kerry has selected a running mate whose position is as extreme as his own, even opposing the ban on partial-birth abortions.”
After all, pro-abortion activists are is in no doubt about Kerry's record. The organization formerly known as the National Abortion Rights Action League recently unveiled what it called its “aggressive” campaign to elect Kerry president.
Four major issues it cites are: the Supreme Court, making abortion drugs more available (despite their dangerous track record), taxpayer funded abortions and defeating abstinence programs.
The lesson: When it comes to John Kerry, look at his actions and his plans — not his words.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:The Mandatum Margin
Regarding the “Mandatum Secrecy” investigative series:
As an orthodox Catholic young person, I was pleased to see the Register run a series on the mandatum among Catholic universities and colleges in the United States. Many Catholic centers of higher education must be challenged to fulfill their mission of offering authentic Catholic theology. Your series not only serves that end but also attempts to be a guide of Catholic character at these universities for parents and future students.
While I applaud this purpose, I am disappointed that you have failed to place the mandatum series in the larger context of each university's character as a whole. Your series, while rightly critical of the mandatum stance, thrusts the mandatum — an important but narrow measure of a school — as the decisive and putatively definitive feature of the Catholic character. There are many indicators of the Catholic character of a university and the potential Catholic education offered to the students than just the mandatum.
YURI MARICICH
Seattle
Luke's Lessons
We read with great interest “Judge to Doctors: Ignore Ban on Partial-Birth Abortion” (June 13-19). We were amazed to read that, on June 1, a federal district court in San Francisco decided doctors can continue the practice of partial-birth abortion even though the U.S. Congress and President Bush have banned it.
Ironically, just two days earlier, on May 30, my wife went into premature labor on the first day of her 23rd week of pregnancy. We were blessed to welcome into the world our fifth child, Luke Joseph. Luke came into the world perfectly formed but weighing only 1 pound, 2 ounces. We quickly began to admire his fingernails, toenails and even caress the hair on his head. During that time we listened to his soft cry as we loved him as best we could.
Luke was welcomed into eternal life just two hours after he was born. Thank God, we were able to baptize him (holding him in the palm of our hands) within the first 30 seconds of his life.
As we go through our grieving process, it's sad for us to think that the other option we had was, as Dr. Maureen Paul from Planned Parenthood states, “to collapse the skull and bring the fetus out intact.”
Luke's short time on earth has been a blessing for our entire family. He has taught us firsthand about the fragility of human life. More importantly, while we have always been pro-life, he has taught us how to defend life at a time when others are choosing to abort their children so far into their pregnancy.
We're convinced that no parent who witnessed what we did on May 30 would ever defend partial-birth abortion again.
Thank you, Luke Joseph Clossick, for teaching us in two hours' time what some people will never know during their entire lives. We promise you that your memory will live in our hearts forever.
SHARON AND JOE CLOSSICK
Wakefield, Rhode Island
A ‘Strict and Stingy' God?
Regarding “Cardinal Will Meet With Law-makers on Communion” (May 30-June 5), along with the reader responses to “On Receiving Communion” (editorial, May 9-15):
Have we American Catholics confused our country's Constitution with our Church's canon law? My parish priest is not “obligated” to absolve me of a sin for which I do not profess contrition (Canon 978, Section 2).
My parish priest is not “obligated” to marry me to someone else merely because I've decided that my current marriage is no longer a sacrament (Canon 1085, Sections 1 and 2).
Similarly, my parish priest is not “obligated” to offer me the body and blood of Christ if he is aware that I am unrepentantly supporting this nation's abortion “rights” (Canon 227, Canon 915).
Would the 43 million aborted unborn American children consider such an act of denial, born of love and done with great pain, to be in the service of a “strict and stingy” God?
JIM BASS, M.D.
Fruit Cove, Florida
Support for Bishop Sheridan
Regarding “Church-State Separation Group Asks IRS to Investigate Diocese” (June 13-19):
I find it interesting that those who claim to support separation of church and state are more than willing to interfere with the Church. If that group truly valued this separation, they would realize they have no business trying to tell Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs, Colo., how to shepherd his flock. Separation of church and state cannot be one-sided like this.
My prayers are with Bishop Sheridan, and I would like to have his address where I could send a donation. I think Catholics should support him and his decision by helping to compensate for those who are withdrawing money because he has chosen to follow the Gospel values instead of the world's values.
JANICE MCCOWN
Troy, Michigan
Elective Edge
I am amazed that seemingly intelligent Catholics can write with such authority on Catholic subjects and be so wrong. I refer to the letter of Mark Jameson titled “Communion Rights” (Letters, May 30-June 5).
He says “baptized Christians in good standing with the Church absolutely have the right to receive it [the Eucharist].” First off, any such right applies to a baptized Catholic. A baptized Christian (e.g., Baptist or Methodist) has that right only under certain extraordinary circumstances. This is common teaching of the magisterium and encoded in Canon 844. The writer is also wrong when he says his pastor “has an obligation to give me holy Communion.” Communion can and should be withheld when the serious sin of the recipient is publicly known by a large part of the community (Canon 915).
I personally believe that, where a public figure not only votes for such “hideous crimes” (Vatican II) as partial-birth abortion but also goes the extra mile to promote its legalization in extra-legislative meetings — and persists in such behavior despite admonition from the Church — then it is scandalous for him or her to receive Communion. Scandal demands reparation to the injured in the process for forgiveness. A public statement of a change of heart would be expected.
Having baptized many infants during my 32 years in the deaconate, I was surprised to learn that the baptismal ritual required me to announce to the baptized (or parents) at the end of the ceremony that the baptized has the right to hear the Gospel and receive the sacraments. I do not find such an instruction in my Ritual for Baptizing Infants. The book does expect me to announce the joyful expectation of receiving other sacraments, but expectation is not a right without qualification.
This matter of excluding from Communion is a complicated and judgmental decision in today's society. The responsibility of the bishop or pastor is great and worthy of our prayers. But I would take very seriously the words of St. Justin Martyr, a Father of the Church: “And this food is called among us [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined.”
Does anyone really believe that Christ would tell a politician it is okay to sanction abortion in order to get elected? Would he not say, instead, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and leave your election in the hands of God”?
DEACON JIM AWALT
Baltimore
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Yuri Maricich ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: What Working Women Want DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:Finally! An article embracing the concept of the new feminism — “‘New Feminism' Is Pro-Motherhood, Says ‘Endow'” (May 9-15).
The old feminism widely promulgated the myth that women could “have it all.” Birth control, sterilization and abortion were widely touted as the way to achieve that means. Limiting your children and terminating “unplanned” pregnancies, according to feminists, ensured that women were equal to men, especially in the workplace. Women who welcomed life yet wished to continue their careers often left child care to institutional day care, nannies and sitters, thus leaving one of a parent's most important jobs to someone else for a large chunk of the week.
By contrast, the new feminism embraces the whole dignity of the woman, both in her life-giving capacities as well as to what she can offer society through both her skills and intellect.
What is missing, tragically, are work-place opportunities that afford a woman ample opportunities to do just that — raise children and succeed at a career — without sacrificing either. Women can sequence (raise children first, establish a career later, if so desired), but for women who desire to do both at the same time, options are extremely limited. While work choices such as part-time hours and job sharing help to better establish a work-life balance for women who desire such options, few employers in corporate America offer such opportunities. When such options exist, it is often only a form of window-shopping. Employees who do not “play by the rules” i.e., full-time employment) are often not considered “serious team players.” Their professional lives often suffer seriously as a result.
Women who desire to work part-time to find a better balance in their lives are often left with such choices as menial labor, odd shifts, low wages and few, if any, benefits. Where are the choices for professional women who desire to raise their children while establishing a career at the same time, albeit with a shorter workweek in order to better accomplish both? Working 40 to 50 hours a week in most professions leaves little quality time to spend with one's children.
Many women would welcome the opportunity to work shorter workweeks in order to have more time to raise their children, if better part-time skilled/professional opportunities were made available. Unless they're willing to work a part-time job for which they're far overqualified, professional women currently have few choices that let them balance children and career. It's time for a change.
L.A. GRIBLE
Akron, Ohio
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Gender Differences: A Modern Heresy DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:If it has become a modern article of faith that all differences between men and women are socially constructed, then this new book is heresy.
This secularist creed of the church of political correctness brooks no dissent or disagreement. So Professor Steven Rhoads' book Taking Sex Differences Seriously amounts to 97 theses tacked on the door of a modern cathedral.
The first dogma Rhoads tackles is the one that says mothers and fathers are interchangeable. “Maternal instinct” is a fiction. Distinct roles for mothers and fathers are relics of a superstitious age. There is only generic “parenting,” which either parent of either sex can do equally well. A close corollary to this belief is that any self-respecting modern woman is entitled to nag at her husband until he contributes equally to all child-care chores.
Rhoads committed the sin of actually gathering data on this question. He chose a sample of new parents most likely to support the ideal of androgynous parenting: university professors having their first baby. Virtually all the men and women professors assented to the dogma of androgynous parenting. Many of their universities offered generic parental-leave policies, equally open to mothers and fathers. Guess what? Mothers took the parental leave far more often than did fathers. And those few fathers who took the leave used it differently than did the mothers. The women used the parental leave to take care of their new babies; the men used it as a sabbatical. They got more articles written; they advanced their careers while their wives took care of the babies. So much for equality.
Rhoads found another astonishing fact. The mothers enjoyed taking care of the babies far more than did the fathers. For virtually every child-care activity, from changing diapers to feeding to playing with the baby, the mothers enjoyed these tasks noticeably more than did fathers. The mothers' attitudes toward most aspects of child care ranged from indifference to great enjoyment. The one task men liked to do more than women was “managing the division of labor of parenting tasks.” Except for getting up at night to care for the child, this was the task women liked least. Rhoads speculates that women might dislike managing the division of labor because taking on this duty led to arguments with their husbands.
One possible reason women enjoy child care more than their husbands is that babies respond more favorably to their mothers. Rhoads asked the academic couples whether their babies seemed to have any preference for mothers or fathers. The parents reported that the infants had an overwhelming preference for being comforted by their mothers. It is easy to imagine that parents respond to their baby's feelings. Even the most egalitarian father would eventually be reduced to saying, “Here honey, you take the baby; he wants you.”
Not only are men and women different — wonder of wonders — so are boys and girls. From a very early age, girls and boys show different preferences for types of toys and styles of play. In fact, Rhoads quotes one expert on child sex differences who coined a term to describe people who think society alone molds children into sex roles. He calls them “childless.” Yet public policies from education to school sports to affirmative action are built around the goal of eliminating all gender differences.
Women are setting themselves up for failure and disappointment if they accept the cultural expectation that their husbands ought to share all household responsibilities equally. Men and women have different perceptions about what needs to be done. Men and women do not equally enjoy various household tasks, from child care to roof repair. Defining equality as a tit-for-tat symmetry of chores requires men and women alike to suppress their natural inclinations, ignore their natural strengths and overlook their partner's contributions.
A more sensible approach to equality would acknowledge the natural gender differences in preferences, abilities and sensibilities. A more humane understanding of equality would be that each partner is equally committed to making the marriage work. Instead of asking, “What's in it for me?” they could ask, “How can I help?” Instead of keeping score and aiming for a 50-50 division of labor, they could aim for giving 100% of themselves.
Equality could mean, “I do all I can for him, and he does all he can for me,” knowing full well that we aren't each going to do the exact same things for each other. Nor will we expect the exact same performance from each other at all times during our lives. I need my husband in a different way during menopause than I needed him when I was nursing. And he realizes I have something different to offer him at some times in my life than at others.
There is even a study that demonstrates the basic fact that gratitude pays off. In families with traditional, gender-based division of labor, the happiest couples were those in which the husband acknowledged that his wife did more of the household chores. Instead of being weighed down by doing more, the woman feels uplifted by his recognition and appreciation of her contribution.
The modern feminist movement drew its appeal from the ingrained American sense of fair play and sympathy with the underdog. But that movement always had wide streaks of irrationality. The feminist mainstream treats every debatable proposition, every testable hypothesis as if they were assumptions. Now someone has debated those propositions and tested those hypotheses. The facts are in. Men and women are different in socially important ways. It takes a lot of faith to believe that all differences between men and women are socially constructed. It is time for our laws and culture to take sex differences seriously, without apology.
Jennifer Roback Morse is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and the author of Love & Economics: Why the Laissez-Faire Family Doesn't Work (Spence, 2001).
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jennifer Roback Morse ----- KEYWORDS: Commentry -------- TITLE: From the Gutter to the Stars DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
It is perhaps a paradox of Wildean or even Chestertonian proportions that the road to hell can sometimes lead to heaven. Had not poet Charles Baudelaire, the father of the French Decadence, proclaimed with provocative precision that only Catholics knew the devil?
Baudelaire, author of The Flowers of Evil, knew more painfully and grotesquely than most that we must know our sins in order to know ourselves. One who does not know that he is a sinner does not know himself, nor does he know the God who made him. We must know the hell within ourselves, and the hell to which it owes allegiance, before we can know the heaven that is promised us.
This “discovery” was hardly an original innovation of the French or English Decadents, the literary movement at the end of the 19th century. Six centuries earlier, Dante had discovered the same perennial truth, conveying it with unsurpassed genius in his descent into the inferno en route to purgatory and paradise.
If it is true that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, it is also true that the road to heaven is sometimes paved with bad ones. Our very sins, if we repent, can be our teachers and guides. In recollecting our sins, and in recoiling from their consequences, we can be kept on the narrow path that leads purgatorially upward toward paradise.
Thus the scribes, Pharisees and hypocrites, imagining themselves on the path to heaven, might be heading for an unpleasant surprise, whereas the publicans and sinners, learning from their mistakes and amending their ways, might reach the Kingdom to which Christ has called them.
It is, therefore, a paradoxical pleasure to be able to celebrate the Decadent path to Christ taken by Oscar Wilde not as a celebration of decadence per se (heaven forbid!) but as a celebration of the path to Christ that it represents. God is always bringing good out of evil and the Catholic literary revival has reaped a wonderful harvest from the seeds planted in decadence during the 19th century.
One only needs to examine the life and work of Wilde, the godfather of the English Decadence of the 1890s, to see that the literature of death and decay can prophesy the poetry of Resurrection.
The first thing we must know about Wilde is that he was at war with himself.
Wilde the would-be saint and Wilde the woeful sinner were in deadly conflict. Throughout his life, even at those times when he was at his most “decadent,” he retained a deep love for the person of Christ and a lasting reverence for the Catholic Church. As an undergraduate at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, he began to befriend priests and appeared on the verge of conversion.
His father, horrified at the prospect of his son “poping,” sent him to Oxford in the hope that it would put him out of the reach of the Church's influence. It was an ill-conceived idea, not least because
Oxford's dreaming spires had spawned a spate of high-profile converts, the most famous of whom was John Henry Newman. Wilde already held Newman in the highest regard, even as a student in Dublin, and now, in Oxford, he would walk the streets of a city in which Newman's presence was almost palpable.
The result was that Wilde's flirtation with the Catholic faith was roused to new levels of intensity. This could be seen in the poetry he wrote after a visit to Florence in 1875. Inspired to unite his love for Fra Angelico with the artist's angelic visions of the Virgin, Wilde poured forth his desire for faith:
See, I have climbed the mountainside
Up to this holy house of God,
Where the Angelic Monk has trod
Who saw the heavens opened wide,
And throned upon the crescent moon
The Virginal white Queen of Grace, —
Mary! Could I but see thy face
Death could not come at all too soon.
Similarly, in another poem, “Rome Unvisited,” the Pope, in elevating the consecrated host, “shows his God to human eyes / Beneath the veil of bread and wine.” Wilde, quite clearly, was ripe for conversion.
A year later, in response to Anglican opposition to the Pope's promulgation of the Immaculate Conception, Wilde defended the Church's dogma with the sort of cuttingly orthodox wit more often associated with G.K. Chesterton or Ronald Knox. It was, he wrote, “very strange that they should be so anxious to believe the Blessed Virgin conceived in sin.”
In marked contrast to his lauding of the Church militant to anyone who would listen in Oxford, Wilde was careful to keep his papist sympathies a carefully concealed secret from his father in Dublin. Eventually, however, news of his flirtation with the “Scarlet Woman of Rome” leaked across the Irish Sea. His father was as outraged as ever and threatened to disinherit his son unless he desisted in his love affair with the Church. Reluctantly, Wilde bowed to parental pressure.
Years later, after the homosexual scandal that brought about his imprisonment, Wilde remarked wistfully that his decision to turn his back on Rome was ultimately disastrous.
“Much of my moral obliquity is due to the fact that my father would not allow me to become a Catholic,” he confided to a journalist. “The artistic side of the Church would have cured my degeneracies. I intend to be received before long.” He was finally received into the Catholic Church on his deathbed.
In truth, however, Wilde never completely turned his back on the Church. Throughout his life, and particularly through the medium of his art, he continued to reveal his love for Christ and his Church. His poetry either exhibits a selfless love for Christ or, at its darkest, a deep loathing of his own sinfulness.
His short stories are almost always animated by a deep Christian morality, with “The Selfish Giant” deserving a timeless accolade as one of the finest Christian fairy stories ever written. His plays are more than merely comedies or tragedies; they are morality plays in which virtue is vindicated and vice vanquished. His only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, is a masterpiece of Victorian fiction, the overriding moral of which is that to kill the conscience is to kill the soul.
“You knew what my art was to me,” Wilde wrote plaintively to Lord Alfred Douglas, “the great primal note by which I had revealed, first myself to myself, and then myself to the world; the real passion of my life; the love to which all other loves were as mere marsh-water to red wine.”
These words, written from prison to the man who was largely responsible for the scandal that caused his downfall, show the extent to which Wilde knew that the Christianity expressed through his art was far more important than the sinful passions of the flesh to which he had succumbed.
In the same letter to Douglas he also referred to the homosexuality that had been the bane of his life during the 1890s as his “pathology,” his sickness.
Mindful of the planks in our own eyes, we should not join the scribes, Pharisees and hypocrites who point self-righteously at the mote in Wilde's. For, as Lord Darlington says in Wilde's play Lady Windermere's Fan, “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
To look for Wilde in the gutter, whether to wallow with him in the “marsh-water” of sin or to point the finger of self-righteous scorn, is to miss the point. Those wishing a deeper understanding of this most enigmatic of men should not look at him in the gutter but with him at the stars.
In the end Wilde was cured of his “pathology” by the healing hands of Christ as ministered by the priest who received him into the Church and who gave him the last rites. His sins forgiven, he was granted the saving embrace of Holy Mother Church on his deathbed, reconciled with the Bride of Christ in extremis.
One imagines that Dante, Wilde's great precursor, would have smiled with knowing benignity at the divine symmetry of the happy ending.
The final words do not belong to Dante, however, nor do they belong to Wilde; they belong to Ernest Dowson, Wilde's friend and fellow Decadent, who also was received into the Church. Writing with the beauty, eloquence and gratitude of a truly repentant sinner, Dowson rejoiced at the saving power of the last rites of the Church in his poem “Extreme Unction”:
The feet, that lately ran so fast
To meet desire, are soothly sealed;
The eyes, that were so often cast
On vanity, are touched and healed.
Joseph Pearce is author of The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde (Ignatius Press, 2004), editor of the Saint Austin Review and writer in residence at Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: Why Oscar Wilde Is Important to Catholics ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pearce ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Pseudo-Knowledge and the Al Gore Effect DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:One of the strangest phenomena of American culture is the strange split-brain attitude we have toward the media.
When the media talk about something we know, we typically protest — with good reason — that they are only getting it half right, that they are employing huge simplifications, a ridiculous slant or just plain getting it wrong. Yet whenever some reporter is telling us about something of which we have no direct experience, we trust the media.
I had this experience afresh recently after reading a hilarious puff piece in Slate on Celibacy, a hatchet job posing as a documentary on the Church that aired recently on HBO (slate.msn.com/id/2103028/). I knew I was in for ignorant twaddle when the writer informed me that “it would take until 1992 … for the Church to admit that, yes, perhaps the earth really did revolve around the sun” (which was news to the scientists at the Vatican observatory, I'm sure).
But it got even better. As the article progressed I learned an important fact: “According to the film, over half a million priests and nuns have left the Church since the early '60s, a loss known among Catholics as ‘The Bleeding.’”
Galvanized by this new discovery of an oh-so-common catchphrase among us Catholics, one is tempted to rush out and found a new support group: Voice of the Bleeding or We Are Bleeding or FutureBleed or something.
You know, a “safe place” where the countless men and women traumatized by what we Catholics all call The Bleeding can come to share our stories, come to break the bread, come to know our rising from the dead. Probably very little effort will be involved in organizing such a work of mercy since, as I discovered from Slate, The Bleeding forms a permanent psychic backdrop of trauma for virtually every Catholic in the world. Stop any random Catholic on the street and ask him or her, “What haunts your thoughts, memories and prayers?” and they will invariably reply, “Why, the drop in priestly and religious vocations in the ‘60s and ‘70s caused by the evil discipline of celibacy, commonly known among us Catholics as ‘The Bleeding.’”
So I figure if we all just tack up a sign on the bulletin board in the vestibule with a date, time and location, the weeping, traumatized throngs will pour in to share their common memories of The Bleeding.
Once that really takes off at the grass-roots level, we can have a national meeting in my hometown of Seattle and do a Bell Town Pub Crawl of Psychic Solidarity for Adult Survivors of The Bleeding. Also, I think some nice “Remember The Bleeding” coffee mugs and T-shirts will do much to heal our hearts of this widely shared generational trauma and finally quiet the din caused by us Catholics all constantly speaking of The Bleeding in our secret conversations with one another.
We Catholics laugh. Yet the thing to remember is that because of articles and programs like this, a certain percentage of our neighbors — even in the process of being rendered more ignorant than ever of what average Catholics think and talk about — now believe they have a grasp of “inside Catholic jargon” and can converse knowingly about the faith. Don't be surprised, now that this documentary has aired, if you hear non-Catholics toss around a phrase like “The Bleeding” and speak as though it is common knowledge that all of us Catholics bounce this phrase off one another in our daily chats.
Why?
Because a reporter we would not trust to get our own story straight is somebody we trust completely to get the other guy's story straight. The media is never accurate about us but always accurate about them.
I call this the Al Gore Effect. I christened the term in 1992, when Bill Clinton picked Gore as his running mate. Now the fact was I knew nothing whatsoever about Gore. Neither did anybody I worked with. But the Seattle Times came out with an editorial that day saying, “Looks like Gore is a pretty good guy!” and, by the end of lunch, people who knew nothing about Gore except what the editorial told them to think while they were munching their sandwiches and downing their Starbucks were all dutifully mouthing, “Looks like Gore is a pretty good guy.”
It's the same sort of pseudo-knowledge as all those people who go around talking as though they are certain that they somewhere or other must have read the Origin of Species or Veritatis Splendor when they could not, in fact, quote five words from either. What they really know is what some authority in the media told them they should think about these documents.
Why does this matter to us? Because we all do it. We Catholics read stupid, ill-informed articles that tell us we are were all geocentrists till 1992 and have all been maundering about The Bleeding since 1972 and we laugh. Then we turn the page or change the channel and believe whatever it is the media is telling us about military personnel, Muslims, Jews, Americans, Europeans, blacks, Indians or whatever other group of people we don't belong to.
So the question we have to ask ourselves as Catholics is, “What other hilarious things are asserted as ‘common knowledge' about communities of which we are not a part?” How much of our “knowledge” of the world is almost completely a product of the Al Gore Effect?
If my experience of the media's reportage on Catholic theology (a subject I do know about) is any indication, I can't help but suspect that a huge amount of our knowledge is, in fact, pseudo-knowledge.
Mark Shea is senior content editor for CatholicExchange.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mark Shea ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Spirit and Life DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:What Marriage Means
Dear Lance and Adrienne, If you have been listening to the news of late, you have been hearing lots of debate about what makes a marriage. When I was a young person (ugh, I'm starting to sound like my father), this wasn't even an issue for debate.
From as far back as I can remember, I knew what married people were. Married people were a man and a woman who decided to get married because they loved each other. They would have a wedding, usually with a priest or minister. There might be a big party.
After they had been married for a while, they might have children. The couple took care of each other and their children. It wasn't always easy, but the concept was pretty simple.
Most of the kids I went to school with had a mom and dad — one of each. Oh, there was divorce and death, even then. But they were exceptions. If a kid in our school had lost his mom or dad, the rest of us would try to give him a little extra attention because, well, we felt sorry that he didn't have both a mom and a dad like everyone else.
President Bush has proposed a change to the U.S. Constitution that would define marriage as the union of a man and a woman — one of each. It seems funny to me that we need to amend the Constitution to recognize something I knew when I was 6 years old.
But lots of folks have been trying to suggest that a marriage can be something other than what I have always thought it is. They suggest it can be two men, two women or two people who aren't sure exactly what they are. They are wrong and the president is right. And there isn't anything cruel or intolerant about his being right. He is simply standing up for basic morality. He is simply making clear that, in this great country, we need to live by some basic rules of what is right or wrong, clearly stated in the Bible and every other sensible moral guide in the civilized world.
But what about men who feel attracted to other men and women who feel attracted to other women? What is to become of them? As the teachings of the Catholic Church make clear, we are all tempted — frequently — to do things God has forbidden. Some of those things are as unnatural as they are wrong. By rejecting our temptations, whatever they might be, and living a moral life, we find favor with God.
People are tempted by many sins — lying, stealing, cheating and immoral sexual behavior, to name a few. It matters if we give in to those temptations because they hurt us and others around us. Those sins also offend our Creator.
We must be forgiving and tolerant. That doesn't mean we must accept or condone behavior that violates God's natural law. It certainly doesn't mean that we should diminish our definition of marriage.
Some argue that marriage already is diminished by the high rate of infidelity and divorce. True, the practice of marriage has been tarnished, but not the ideal. Millions of couples continue to live a married life. Few of their marriages are perfect, just as few people are perfect. But they continue on the journey — learning from each other, raising children and forgiving each other for their failures.
I hope each of you will have the opportunity to love and marry. I pray you will one day meet someone you love as much as I do your mother. True marital love isn't just a feeling but a decision and a commitment. It requires a man, a woman and the Creator.
Jim Fair writes from Chicago.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jim Fair ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Encounter With a Statuesque Magdalene DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:With the July 22 feast of St. Mary Magdalene approaching a few years back, I found myself stopping to wonder why there was no church in Rome dedicated to La Maddalena, as she is known in Italy.
Then it dawned on me that I've been inside La Maddalena many times. It's situated near the Pantheon, very near my old apartment. I knew the name of the piazza — but the church, like many in Rome, does not have an identifying name outside.
Next time I went to Rome, I decided to seek out the Magdalene in this church. I wanted to see how it was that I had managed to miss her image even when she had been my neighbor. It seemed odd to not remember even one painting or statue, given that many of the most famous religious artists depicted her with memorably red, flowing hair to symbolize her pre-conversion life. In others she was shown as an obvious penitent, grateful that Jesus had cast seven devils from her (see Luke 8:1-3). Her long hair, according to tradition, covered her when she went off to the desert after the Crucifixion. She usually was shown with a jar of ointment, connecting her to the Mary who had bought the expensive oil at Bethany to anoint Jesus' head (see Mark 14:3).
I followed the little street in front of the Pantheon up the hill to the church. When I stepped onto the Piazza della Maddalena and took a good look at the church, I was surprised at the charming and elaborate façade: a waving, merry rococo with flourishes and saints in niches gesticulating in grand Roman fashion. How many times had I looked past this without drinking in the details? Later I'd learn that the concave façade, by Giuseppe Sardi, was added about 1725, after the reconstructed church was built over a 13th-century chapel. It's been recently restored.
Inside, a regal feeling pervades, although the church is small and more humbly arrayed, art-wise, than other nearby churches. Its elegant columns and pilasters, vaults and side altars give it the opulence of a large private chapel of a very important Roman family. Above the door, an organ and choir loft demonstrate, in luxurious fashion, the Counter-Reformation's effort to project the joys of the Church. Dramatic touches meant to bring a smile to the viewer abound.
Up Close and Personal
Yet, for all my appreciation of its architectural splendor, I'd often come here just to sit quietly and meditate or pray just off the main tourist thoroughfare. Rome is not splendor-challenged, after all. This church had become yet other glorious place that I'd never really looked at closely. Guidebooks gave it a few words only.
The light from the celebrated architect Carlo Fontana's cupola gave a mystical glow to the main altar below, where a painting showed — who else? — the Maddalena. She soared amid joyful angels, contemplating the empty cross they carried in the clouds. At the sides of the altar, evocative bas-reliefs told the story of the three Marys at the foot of the cross (see Matthew 27:55) and of the moment when Mary, overcome with joy at seeing her Savior, reaches out to touch him (John 20:17).
I walked around the church looking for more signs of her. The vault above, by one Michaelangelo Cerruti (1732), portrays various scenes from her life I hadn't noticed earlier.
Satisfied that I had found what I had come to see, I was about to leave by a side door when I came upon a figure I will never forget: a plain, tall, wooden statue of Mary looked out from a niche, her gentle expression no longer ashamed or penitent. Instead she bears the look of one who has experienced, up close and personal, the saving grace of Christ. She is beautiful in a way the more dramatic images miss. She is in heavenly love and at peace, the torments of the past having ended.
At that moment I thought I was really seeing Mary of Magdala for the first time. The words of Jesus when he appeared to her at his empty tomb had been answered. “Who are you looking for?” Her expression answers his question with great, understated eloquence. In that same expression, Mary's unique position as a disciple comes through just as loud and clear. She who had been forgiven had followed him, stayed with him during his agony — had been given the joy of seeing him that morning, before the others were even aware the stone had been rolled away. Now she knows perfect peace. I know that statue will be one of the first places I stop when I next return to Rome.
Healing Help
I decided to stay longer at the church of the Maddalena after that experience. I soon noticed a Roman man and woman kneeling at a side altar in front of a painting I remembered from earlier visits. The gold-crowned Madonna della Salute (health) and Child has a transcendent glow that has been radiating since the 16th century. Local people go there to pray daily, for relief from illness of any sort.
This church, in fact, has long been administered by the healing Order of Camillans, founded by St. Camillus de Lellis, who died here in 1591. His altar in the main church shows him in his black robe with a red cross, and there his body lies in the sarcophagus. That order still works throughout the world in hospitals.
To learn more of this saint and to see the magnificent rooms beyond the sacristy, follow the left aisle of the church. This sacristy's lavish beauty has made it, according to some art lovers, the most beautiful in Rome. It may well be. The decorations were added after the saint died here, as one would guess, as he lived here without luxury. His heart has been enshrined in a golden reliquary at the altar. Pilgrims come here to venerate him.
In the sacristy you might want to choose a rosary or a postcard of the Maddalena to clearly remember this plain but radiant statue of a woman who loved the Lord.
You might pause again to see her statue as you leave. It's as exciting to me as the surrounding splendor, this wooden image carved by “an unknown artist.” It's obvious that she meant what she said that day: “I have seen the Lord!”
Barbara Coeyman Hults is based in New York City.
----- EXCERPT: Church of the Maddalena, Rome ----- EXTENDED BODY: Barbara Coeyman Hults ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:SUNDAY, JULY 18
PGA Tour: British Open
ABC, 8 a.m., 5 p.m.
From Royal Troon in Ayrshire, Scotland, five and a half hours of coverage of the final round of the 133rd British Open begin at 8 a.m. Highlights will air at 5 p.m.
SUNDAY, JULY 18
U.S. Olympic Finals
NBC, 7 p.m., live
Finals in this two-hour broadcast from Sacramento, Calif., include the men's and women's 1,500-meter and 200-meter races, the women's pole vault, the men's high jump and more.
MONDAY, JULY 19
The Journey Home
EWTN, 8 p.m.
Despite their official name — the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 'Mormons deny basic Christian doctrines, have an invalid scripture and simply are not Christian. Marcus Grodi's guest tonight is Deacon Steve Seever, a former Mormon.
TUESDAY, JULY 20
Scientific American Frontier
PBS, 9 p.m.
This program explores new finds in archaeology and the new theories they have prompted about who first reached North America and how, by land or sea. The long-dominant “man came by the Bering Strait in 10,000 B.C.” thesis is under challenge.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 21
1421: The Year China Discovered America?
PBS, 9 p.m.
Retired British submariner Gavin Menzies holds that Ming Dynasty explorer Zheng He brought a fleet of more than 100 ships to America 71 years before Columbus. This show studies the fleet's voyages to Southeast Asia, India, Arabia and Africa and asks whether the ships really could have sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to America.
THURSDAY, JULY 22
Wide Angle: Women Rebuild Rwanda
PBS, 9 p.m.
Ten years after Rwanda's majority Hutus slaughtered 800,000 Tutsi and disaffected fellow Hutus, this special says women are playing a large role in business, politics and reconciliation efforts in the area.
FRIDAY, JULY 23
Save Our History: Live From Jamestown
History Channel, 6 a.m.
The Spanish and French, not to mention the Vikings in Newfoundland, preceded them as European settlers in North America, but the English did found a significant colony at Jamestown, Va., in 1607. This episode of “Classroom” views archaeological finds at the site, looks at the settlers' home base in England and hears from an American Indian.
SATURDAYS
Heroes in Conflict
Familyland TV, 10 p.m.
From St. Martin of Tours to St. Joan of Arc and more, the ranks of the saints include many soldiers. In this two-hour show, historian and retired Air Force Col. Paul Whelan, Ph.D., his wife, Pat, and Father Kevin Barrett provide spiritual commentary on war movies.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Daniel J. Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: A Star-Maker Is Born DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:Bob Rice refers to his band, Backyard Galaxy, as “one of the most popular Catholic bands.”
But, he adds with a note of irony, that might be because the field is not exactly overcrowded.
“As an artist, unfortunately when you say ‘Catholic' or even ‘Christian’ art, in the minds of people it almost downgrades what you do,” Rice says. “It's like, ‘Oh, you don't do real music, you do Christian music.’”
There are plenty of artists who happen to be Catholic, but too few create art with the intent of glorifying God.
That's one reason Rice joined the Society of Catholic Artists, an organization that falls under the newly formed umbrella group Book-end Productions. The mission of the artistic enterprise is to “move mountains in the hearts of Catholics through works of art that illuminate the beauty that saves the world.”
Life-Changing Art
Bookend Productions was born out of hope and love, said co-founder Gina Giambrone. She met fellow co-founder Daniel diSilva at a conference earlier this year and discovered a mutual desire to support fellow artists while building up the Church in the wake of what they call the “un-priestly” scandals.
Giambrone's background is in theater; her role now is executive director of Bookend Productions. DiSilva, a member of Crispin, which he describes as a “Catholic funk band,” leads the creative side.
Drawing from Pope John Paul II's 1999 letter to artists, the two say they want to encourage and create artistic endeavors that inspire, edify and motivate the Catholic faithful.
“The Catholic Church is full of artists,” says diSilva, whose experience in the secular music industry showed him there are many Catholics on stage who leave their faith outside the recording studio. “Book-ends is about taking all that stuff back and having them make a commitment to creating art that's going to glorify what's true.”
That's exactly the kind of people they want to target, both as members of the Society of Catholic Artists and with Bookend Productions, Giambrone says.
“We want very much the people who are Catholic and artists but haven't found for themselves the way in which these two are unified,” she says.
“We want to tell them, ‘Look, you can make art that changes the world for the good,’” diSilva adds.
They have outlined five current projects, each serving a specific need in the Church: The Society of Catholic Artists, a magazine, a letter-writing campaign to honor priests that will evolve into a coffee-table book, a video documentary on the priesthood, and Crispin, now under Bookend Productions' management. Plays and musicals are also possibilities.
DiSilva's work with Crispin is what Giambrone calls “a great example of what we hope artists will do.”
With five CDs in circulation and a sixth in production, Crispin teamed with Bookend Productions to continue preaching the Gospel. It is composing the organization's theme song and scheduling concert tours that will help spread the word about Bookend.
Fifty artists — dancers, painters, musicians, actors and writers — have joined the Society of Catholic Artists. A gathering that coincides with the 2005 World Youth Day in Germany will provide the first large-scale forum for members.
The goal of the Society of Catholic Artists, diSilva cautions, is not to act as the “art police” but rather to encourage artists to use their talents in positive ways. However, this doesn't mean members must only create specifically religious art. There are other ways to glorify God and express fundamental truths, Giambrone says.
The magazine will be one such vehicle. Slated for debut in spring 2005, Seven is named for the traditionally symbolic number that stands for heaven, eternity and the number of sacraments, among other things. It will be bold, cutting edge, completely orthodox and competitive with other popular magazines, Giambrone says. As possible subjects, she lists reviews of art, books and music from a Catholic perspective; columns on apologetics, science and religion; articles about individuals' experiences in the Church; and responses to current media topics.
“It's not worth doing if it's not worth doing excellent,” Giambrone adds. “We will not settle for something mediocre.”
Enthused Episcopacy
Both diSilva and Giambrone are very aware of the financial need these projects will create. One of their first steps has been to visit bishops and ask for their blessings, if not monetary support. Their first visit, with Diocese of Covington, Ky., Bishop Roger Foys, resulted in a blessing and an offer of office space at the chancery in Kentucky.
“The bishop was very impressed with them,” says Father Michael Due, one of the vicars general of the diocese. “They are two young people really enthused about the Church and trying to make a difference.”
Also on the agenda are two projects specifically designed to support and recognize priests. For several months Bookend Productions has conducted a grass-roots letter-writing campaign soliciting stories about priests that will be incorporated into a coffee-table book by summer 2005.
A video documentary will profile men in the priesthood and seminary, interspersed with commentary and information about the positive aspects of the priesthood.
While the scandals fueled this drive to support priests, Bookend Productions was created out of a need to support artists and glorify God, not simply to counteract negative publicity about the Church, diSilva explains.
“The scandals will come and go,” he says. “When that's done, when that smoke has been smothered, there's a lot more we'll have to do.”
Dana Lorelle writes from Raleigh, North Carolina.
----- EXCERPT: Bookend Productions to rally Catholic artists ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dana Lorelle ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video Picks DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:Chicken Run (2000)
Claymation wizards Nick Park and Peter Lord of Wallace and Gromit fame bring their trademark blend of stop-motion magic, eccentric British humor and bizarrely brilliant gadgetry and gizmos to a rousing takeoff on classic WWII escape flicks, set on an ominous poultry farm where intrepid chickens plot their getaway.
Mel Gibson lends star power as Rocky the Flying Rooster, a circus escapee who galvanizes the chickens' escape-plan movement when he agrees to teach them to fly.
Because stop-motion involves real objects under real lighting, it's more solid-looking than most computer animation, yet it has the same freedom as all animation. The film is shot one frame at a time; only seconds of film are created per day. The result of this painstaking effort is a soaring flight of unfettered imagination. It is a noble thing to unfetter the imagination. Chicken Run has this nobility.
Content advisory: Some tense and menacing scenes; fleeting mild innuendo.
A Man Escaped (1954)
Based on the true story of a French Catholic resistance fighter's arduous efforts to escape from a Nazi internment camp, Robert Bresson's masterpiece A Man Escaped gives away less in its title than it seems to. Clues to the film's intent include its subtitle, The Wind Blows Where It Wills — an allusion to Jesus' discourse on being born of water and the spirit — and its re-christening of the prisoner as Fontaine, “fountain.” A Man Escaped is as much a reflection on spiritual bondage, rebirth and the mysteries of grace and providence as about stone walls and iron bars.
Yet A Man Escaped is not content merely with the struggle toward the goal as an end in itself. Fontaine must really escape, not simply make the attempt. Yet so objective is Bresson's direction that how the story actually ends remains in doubt until the very last shot.
Bresson's characteristic insistence on bare performances stripped of all emotion seems ideally suited for a prisoner reduced to single-minded determination. For newcomers to Bresson, A Man Escaped is probably the ideal introduction to the work of this brilliant, challenging, God-haunted director.
Content advisory: Constant suspense; off-screen torture and sometimes deadly violence. Subtitles.
Grand Illusion (1937)
Perhaps the single most remarkable thing about La Grande Il lusion, Jean Renoir's classic pre-WWII WWI masterpiece, is that it practices rather than preaches its rigorous humanism, regarding every character with sympathy and nuance.
German or French, noble or common, Gentile or Jew, man or woman — all are simply human in this semi-comic tale. Characters on both sides of these divides display various forms of prejudice, from anti-Semitism to class-based snobbery, but none is reviled or scorned.
The loose narrative follows a number of Allied POWs as they seek to escape from the custody of an almost morbidly aristocratic German officer named von Rauffenstein (Eric von Stroheim) who treats captured enemy officers as honored guests and disdains commoners on both sides. Watching the film, it's easy to imagine an alternate version of this film by some other director with von Rauffenstein as a Colonel Klink-like absurdity. But not here: Despite his deluded notions, he retains his dignity and is even in the end a movingly tragic figure. One of the 15 films on the Vatican film list in the Art category.
Content advisory: A comic burlesque-like sequence involving soldiers in drag; references to adultery and an implied sexual encounter.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:Sculpture Removed
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, June 29 — A sculpture on the campus of Washburn University in Topeka, Kan., that was considered offensive to Catholics has been removed.
The sculpture, titled “Holier Than Thou,” was of a scowling bishop wearing a miter some said resembled a phallic symbol. Its presence prompted a lawsuit against the school and caused some Catholic high schools to discontinue recruitment for the school, the Associated Press reported.
The lawsuit is on appeal in federal court. The wire service said the sculpture was removed to make way for a new exhibit.
Ave Maria Woes
CHRONICLE.COM, June 30 — According to a letter it received from the U.S. Department of Education on June 21, Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Mich., might have to repay the federal government for improperly administered student aid.
The department said the college must seek permission before it distributes federal student-aid money it has on hand and in the future allot aid from its own funds before seeking reimbursement from the government, the Web site of the Chronicle of Higher Education reported. After the Education Department completes a review of the matter, it will notify the school the amount it has to repay.
A spokeswoman for the college attributed the problems to turnover in the financial-aid office.
Steubenville Northwest
Students attended Mass, heard motivational speakers, prayed and sang with other Catholic teens at the conference, whose theme was “Rise Up,” The Olympian reported. Confession was available throughout the weekend and teens were able to renew their baptismal vows.
“The conference is another way to minister to teens and involve them,” volunteer Erin Walker said, “because they are the future of the Catholic Church.”
Regarding Speakers
The bishops issued their statement at their spring meeting June 14-19.
Aquinas College in Grand Rapids said it tries to be fair and open and has had people on panels who support abortion but, according to the school's director of college relations, “we are very unlikely to invite anyone to speak on abortion rights.”
Twofold Purpose
The center would be open during the day as a school and in the evening for adult-education classes, youth ministry activities and social-service programs, the Chicago Tribune reported. The new school will combine two existing Catholic schools.
Plans are dependent upon raising $13.5 million for the project, which the archdiocese says it expects to have in time for the center's August 2007 scheduled opening.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: History-Lesson Harmony DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:It's been two years since the Catholic Schools Textbook Project — producing the first new Catholic history textbooks in 40 years — rolled into classrooms.
Now, with two texts of the planned five-volume series in use in at least one school in all 50 states, the first report cards are coming in. The consensus seems to be: Make room on the honor rolls.
“They're just excellent books with tremendous illustrations,” says Jack Kersting, principal of Trinity Grammar & Prep in Napa, Calif., where both texts are used for grades five through eight. “They're way better than anything else you could use.”
“It really keeps the kids' attention, as opposed to a book that would just cover facts,” says Tina Sabga, who uses both texts to teach history to fifth- and sixth-graders at Spiritus Sanctus Academy in Ann Arbor, Mich. “It really was like a story from beginning to end, like a book that you would want to read.”
“I have taught a lot of years,” says Katherine Hahn, a sixth-grade teacher and assistant principal at Holy Rosary Academy in Anchorage, Alaska. “I have never before had students beg to do history. They would constantly say, ‘Let's do history now!' They were always sorry when we finished history and would groan when it was time to do something else.”
That kind of response has to be heartening to Drs. Michael Van Hecke and Rollin Lasseter. Van Hecke is president of the Catholic Schools Textbook Project and Lasseter, an English professor at the University of Dallas, is general editor.
According to Van Hecke, who is also a teacher and headmaster of St. Augustine Academy in Ventura, Calif., the project aims “to bring Catholic education back into the classroom, to give Catholic teachers Catholic tools.”
It was a simple but nagging question that led Dr. Michael Van Hecke to undertake the formidable challenge of planning, publishing and marketing a new textbook series. ‘I came to the project,' he says, ‘from a simple common-sensical question: Why don't we have material that includes honestly the Church's contribution to history?' For more, go to www.catholictextbook project.com.
Fair, Balanced and a Blast
“I was ecstatic about All Ye Lands, one of the two volumes in use,” Hahn says. “I thought it was done in the manner in which all history texts should be done. You can't get around the fact that Catholicism was a big part of our history — yet in secular textbooks it's omitted completely.”
“All Ye Lands is beautifully written,” Sabga says. “There are different sections in the book highlighted with different saints of the time. It's a very Catholic perspective, but it still covers important information they need to know.”
With this text, she was able to spend “a good deal of time on St. Benedict and his rule,” Sabga says. “I branched off and had students write a paper on his rule and balanced way of life.”
Students' reactions have been equally upbeat. Sean Thornton, who will be going into seventh grade at Trinity Grammar & Prep in the fall, used both texts — the other is From Sea to Shining Sea: The Story of America. They're even more than exciting reading for him.
“I like to read and study history with these books,” Thornton says. “From Sea to Shining Sea has stories of saints and the Catholic Church and how it began in America. I think that's pretty much the most important part of the book.” He was introduced to saints such as Elizabeth Ann Seton.
“They've covered everything you like to see covered,” says principal Kersting, “and they're not trying to make the Catholic Church look better than it is but on the same token not trying to beat it up as other texts do.”
It was a simple but nagging question that led Van Hecke to undertake the formidable challenge of planning, publishing and marketing a new textbook series.
“I came to the project,” he says, “from a simple common-sensical question: Why don't we have material that includes honestly the Church's contribution to history?”
As a teacher, he had found lots of problems with the glitzy secular texts that were long on graphics and short on content. And truth. The first text he was given “lacked plenty in its context — certainly the Church's part in history, which is major. No matter how or what you are, you can't deny the Church's contribution to Western culture.”
He supplemented it with a photocopy of a 50-year-old Catholic history book to properly balance the tale of history through the year. Once he met Lasseter in Texas, they began working on the idea of producing their own books.
“Now eight years and $400,000 later, we have two books done and three in the pipeline,” Van Hecke says.
Both founders agree the project has been worth every ounce of energy and heart they've put into it. Van Hecke tells of a girl in his own school in California. She came up to him and said, “Mr. Van Hecke, I love this book so much that my mom is going to buy it for me for my birthday.”
And the story-telling approach also became paramount for Van Hecke. “The modern textbook is just simply boring,” he says. “It's not inspiring.”
“The best teachers tell stories — especially in history,” Van Hecke says. That's exactly the approach of these texts, which also have their own four-color pictures, maps and graphics.
“You want to give kids stories because one of those stories is going to catch their hearts, inspire them and show them the Church is real and not something you do on Sunday,” Van Hecke says. “It's a way of life and it has been a way of life for great men and women throughout history. And if anybody is honest, they cannot deny the amount of God in the whole process.”
Hahn finds other pluses. She's pleased with the books' sidebars, such as those about saints and literature. “They have a lot of information that would not have fit in exactly with the text,” she says, “but was too important to leave out.”
Van Hecke tells of the time Father Robert Stanion of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal came into the classroom having just read an article in Crisis magazine about the Irish soldiers who fought in Texas. He came into the fifth-grade classroom to talk about how the Church is more important than country, using this story as an example.
“One boy raised his hand,” Van Hecke recalls. “‘Father, we were just reading about that in our history book — here it is!' he said, opening to the page.”
“Here's a priest giving them a neat lesson in Catholic heroism,” Van Hecke points out with delight, “and a fifth-grader ties it back to the history book. It's that ‘awe' moment we get in teaching.”
Just the kind of moment the Catholic Schools Textbook Project hopes to make commonplace in Catholic classrooms across the country.
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: The Catholic Schools Textbook Project gets a promising progress report ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: What Would Sherlock Holmes Do? DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:THE MIRACLE DETECTIVE: AN INVESTIGATION OF HOLY VISIONS
by Randall Sullivan
Atlantic Monthly Press, 2004
448 pages, $25
Available in bookstores
Maybe it's my Protestant tendencies, a holdover from my former life as a Lutheran. In any case, I've always shied away from Marian apparitions — even since becoming Catholic. My thinking has been: If it's not explicitly
approved by the Church, I'd just as soon not bother with it.
Randall Sullivan was an even bigger skeptic. Raised in an atheistic home, he was undisposed toward believing in any type of miracle. And, as an editor for Rolling Stone magazine, he considered himself far above the silly religious enthusiasms of the tragically un-hip. Therein lies the key to this page-turner's appeal.
The account begins in 1994, when a Mexican woman living in a dilapidated trailer in Boardman, Ore., claims the Virgin Mary is appearing to her. Intrigued by the oddness of the story, Sullivan begins to look into how the Church makes sense of such occurrences. His curiosity sets him on an eight-year investigation that leads him to Rome. There he meets with Catholic theologians, historians and postulators from the Congregation for Sainthood Causes.
Then it's on to a number of current apparition sites for a firsthand look (or not) at some phenomena as they occur (or don't).
Along the way we get a backgrounder on historical apparitions, approved and unapproved, from Lourdes and Fatima to Zeitun and Betania and beyond. But it ends up being Medjugorje, the Yugoslavian village where six ethnic Croats have been claiming to speak with Mary since 1981, that causes Sullivan to think about trading in the detective's spyglass for the believer's prayer beads.
In chronicling the alleged apparitions and seeing the Balkan civil war's impact upon the region, Sullivan expresses his doubts about the religious occurrences being reported. But a mysterious encounter with a young woman on Mount Krizevac, along with a later run-in with a demonic presence at Rome's Piazza Navona, suggest there is more to the world than meets the eye.
The book is as much a personal story of Sullivan's search for religious truth as it is an investigation into how miracles are investigated and declared. His account is filled with fascinating interviews with the likes of Dominican Father Gabriel O'Donnell, Father Slavko Barbaric and Carmelite theologian Father Ernest Larkin.
Gradually, through his investigation and experiences, Sullivan is brought from a place of disbelief to one of faith. “To shun claims of the miraculous,” he realizes, “was to deny God.” In the end, the book makes a good case for the authenticity of Church-approved Marian apparitions.
What about the others? “Either the visionaries are lying, they are delusional, or they are telling the truth,” Sullivan concludes.
“Or it may be a mixture of the three,” Father Benedict Groeschel advises before telling Sullivan that he believes God did use Medjugorje. The apparitions might have begun as a means of preparing people to survive the war, he suggests. However, what may have started out as authentic has since changed. “This is a field for people who don't have it all figured out, who don't need it cast in black and white,” Father Groeschel adds. “There's a lot of gray mist around this stuff. … [O]nce in a while a bright, shining light comes through. True belief is a decision. It's also a gift.”
Watching Sullivan embrace that gift is what makes his book so enjoyable to read. One gathers from the story that Sullivan has been brought to the very cusp of conversion. He's had his children baptized Catholic. Judging from that, he's now just one step away himself.
Tim Drake is the Register's staff writer.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Teens: More Trouble Today Than Ever? DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:Family Matters
I have three children, ages 9 to 12. If I hear one more time, “Enjoy them now — soon they'll be teen-agers,” I think I'll scream. Are the teen years really all that unpleasant?
If you polled 1,000 parents, I'm sure most of them would tag the teens as the toughest parenting years, whether from personal or others' experience. If you could go back in time 100 years and take the same poll, I bet the numbers would look quite different. There'd be far less parental anxiety about the teen years.
What's different? Isn't 14 years old now the same as 14 years old then? Have kids changed that much in just a few generations?
Yes and no. From a physical standpoint, adolescence is a universal time of dramatic change. Hormones surge, bodies stretch and kids become young adults who want to be more grown-up than they are allowed or able to be.
That reality acknowledged, my impression, becoming stronger the longer I am a psychologist, is that modern-day teen turbulence is more cultural than developmental. Let's again drop back a century. How likely do you think you'd be to hear the average farmer circa 1904 lamenting, “My boy turned 14 last week. He's getting to be more of a teen-ager all the time. I can't get him to help around here as much as he used to and he just wants to hang around with his buddies. I guess I'll just have to ride it out.”
Not a likely scenario. First, “teen-ager” was not a word used at the turn of the last century. It's a recent description of a slice of childhood, complete with its own meaning and personality. Second, that farmer would have likely been overjoyed about his son getting older. He was becoming a young man, stronger and more able to contribute to the family's welfare.
Was it our hypothetical parent's rural lifestyle that caused him to feel as he did about his teen-age son? Wouldn't the “city folk” see it more as we do today? Again, I don't think so. In the past few generations, the lifestyle of the typical child has evolved into a fast-paced go-go, get-get, do-do, have-have. As such, as kids move into adolescence, what they want to try, do and possess spirals upward dramatically. If a parent tries to control the spiral, especially more so than other parents do, the level of teen resistance — or discontent, or surliness — rises with the distance between what the child wants and what the parent wants for him.
This, quite obviously, is a recipe for friction. The more stuff and perks a child sees as an entitlement due him just for growing up, the more “teen-like” he becomes if he doesn't get it.
To better enjoy your kids as the teens come and go, here are a few basic suggestions:
• Give them less materially, sometimes far less, than you are able or their peers get. Character is better shaped by less than more.
• Never use their peers or their peers' parents as a guide to what constitutes “normal” teen social freedom. The average teen with the average parent has too much freedom too early.
• In every decision, ask: “Will this help or hurt my child's moral development?” Err on the safe side. Your child is far too valuable for less.
• Brace yourself for regular resistance and questioning of your ways. To teens, “out of the norm” most often means “wrong,” even when you're out of the norm because you're better than the norm.
So, can you expect to actually enjoy your teens — or will you have to wait until most of adolescence has passed before you can get along with these individuals? Believe it or not, keeping your standards high will not only make for great adults some day but also more pleasant kids along the way.
Dr. Ray Guarendi is a psychologist, author and father of 10. He can be reached at DrRay.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dr. Ray Guarendi ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Beads Abloom DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:Prolife Profile
After Diane Fehrenbacher lost five family members and friends in 1982, she began to make rosaries out of funeral roses. The gentle activity helped, she found, in getting herself and other family members through the grieving process. That modest act of mercy has since touched thousands of people across the country.
Count Marlene Wilderman and her family among them. “When my dad, Leo, passed away in 2002, we saved the flowers' petals and ribbons,” she says. “He was a farmer, a wonderful person, everything for me. We wanted to save everything we could that was memorable.”
She had Fehrenbacher make rosaries for her mother, her five sisters and all the grandchildren. Wilderman's two small boys, 4 and 7, each got a one-decade finger rosary.
“Every time you finger those beads, the memories keep flooding back,” Wilderman continues. “It's beautiful. And when I pray the rosary, I offer it up for Dad.”
Fehrenbacher hears stories like this every day as she makes rosaries and other items for Heart Keepsakes, a prayer ministry as much as a cottage business run from her home in southwest Indiana.
Nor are the flower-fashioned rosaries limited to commemorating sad occasions. Fehrenbacher also works from the floral arrangements at weddings, first Communions and the like. And, for those special occasions at which people forget to save their flowers, she even makes items out of ribbon and cloth.
In one case, Fehrenbacher's daughter-in-law had her make rosaries from her grandfather's funeral flower ribbon. She intertwined the rosary in her bridal bouquet and after the wedding gave it to her grandmother.
In another, a family friend in Pennsylvania forgot to save the flowers from his father's funeral. Fehrenbacher asked for his dad's favorite shirt — a flannel one he wore while woodworking. She made a rosary from that shirt. A few months later, when the friend's mother was out visiting, their house burned to the ground, incinerating everything the man had carved.
“She was able to save the rosary,” Fehrenbacher says in amazement, because “it was in the house and in a plastic case.”
Prayerful Process
When ordering their heart keep-sakes, people always seem to write down the significance the flowers or the materials hold for them, Fehrenbacher explains. The notes help her stay focused on their reasons for requesting the items — and on her reasons for taking on the work.
One woman sent Fehrenbacher the first rose her husband gave her when they were dating. She had kept it pressed in her Bible for 50 years.
Fehrenbacher was able to make a fine rosary out of it.
Perhaps most important, every rosary is made with prayers from Fehrenbacher and, now, from the women who sign on to help with each project.
“I tell the ladies who it's for and who it's in remembrance of, and the women end up praying as we're making them,” Fehrenbacher says. “Our prayers are for the individuals and for the loved ones. It's a prayerful ministry.”
“Diane does beautiful workmanship on the rosaries. She makes each one with tender care,” says Father James Sauer from St. Joseph Church in Indiana. “She knows peoples' sufferings. It's a wonderful ministry as well.”
His own niece, Carri Alison, was killed in a car accident returning from a job fair in 1999. She was just 23 years old, had recently graduated from college and was looking forward to becoming a teacher. To help her many school friends at the funeral “remember Carri and that she is not truly dead but alive with God,” the priest says, he had Fehrenbacher make 15 rosaries. These he presented to Carri's family, her close friends and the pallbearers.
“The kids still talk about them, how they use them and how it reminds them of Carri,” Father Sauer says. “The important thing is it's a wonderful reminder that, although her life is ended in this world, she is not dead. I hope the rosaries that I gave the kids will remind them they're connected to her and she to them.”
Hand-Me-Downs
Fehrenbacher's work has helped people from all 50 states plus Italy, Germany and South America.
When she first began, she found that the formulas in some books for turning roses into rosary beads didn't make for long-lasting rosaries. After some experimentation, she came up with her technique that not only produced durable beads but also produced beads that held the roses' scent and color for a long time.
“They'll last for generations,” Maureen Wilderman says. “I'm happy my kids and I can hand them down.”
Fehrenbacher's personal story is as moving as those connected with the rosaries she makes. She wasn't expected to live long after her birth. An enlarged thymus gland cut off her air supply whenever she cried or got excited. Doctors tried massive does of radiation to kill the thymus.
The radiation left her with problems that persist to this day. She's allergic to medicines and very few people with similar thymus problems have lived as long as she has. She was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, likely a product of the radiation; it's now in remission.
Despite this, a very cheerful Fehrenbacher has four healthy sons ages 17 to 28. Her 21-year-old is a seminarian studying to be a priest for the Diocese of Evansville, Ind.
“God has me here for a reason,” she says. “He's blessed me with a healthy family and the ability to minister to others.”
Including the non-Catholics who order rosaries and related items from her. She recently made one for a Jewish man whose wife was Catholic. Fehrenbacher finds this an opportunity to evangelize because she can tuck in material on how to pray the rosary.
Asked how her unique undertaking has affected her own walk with Christ, Fehrenbacher replies: “My faith has grown by leaps and bounds. It's not me bringing this peace to all these people — it's the Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary. I think the best word for me is humbled. It's humbling to be used as an instrument making people want to pray.”
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Take Back the Sabbath DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:Mom, Dad and the kids hurry in the front door and kick off their shoes.
Three loads of laundry call to Mom from the back room. After that there's the week's grocery shopping. Dad's already at the computer, trying to get in some work on an 11th-hour proposal before hitting Home Depot's power-tool sale.
Daughter hurries right back out for an all-day babysitting gig across town. Son impatiently waits for his buddy to arrive. “Halo III” just came out on X-Box and he's planning to play till he's as bug-eyed as the aliens in the game.
It's Sunday, but the only one doing any resting is Baby, who fell asleep in the car on the way home from Mass.
Is this any way for a Catholic family to spend a day of rest?
Not according to the Code of Canon Law, which says: “On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass; they are also to abstain from those labors and business concerns that impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy that is proper to the Lord's day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body.”
Most faithful Catholics understand and assent to the first part of Canon 1247 and have little difficulty meeting the requirement.
It's the second part that trips us up, partly because the Church is necessarily vague on this point. After all, some occupations, out of charity, must continue on Sundays. Think of the health-care workers and those who ensure the smooth operation of societal infrastructure, such as utilities and transportation, just to name a few.
But most of the time the second part of the teaching confuses us because we live in a culture that has forgotten what the Sabbath is. Americans know how to go to church — but we don't know how to rest.
Father Tom Milota of Sacred Heart Parish in Lombard, Ill., agrees.
“Americans always have to be doing something,” he says, which is perhaps why the concept of rest is so difficult. The American work ethic is apt to equate rest with laziness.
“But rest is not just sitting down and doing nothing all day,” he says. “Rest should be sanctified. It should reflect the divine intent of the Creator for that day.”
Which is … what, exactly? According to the Church, the purpose of an instituted day of rest is to provide a respite from everyday work (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2172) and time for reflection, silence, cultivation of the mind and meditation that furthers the growth of the Christian interior life (No. 2186).
In short, the purpose of setting aside Sunday is to promote intimacy with God and growth in holiness. Keeping the Lord's day means taking practical steps to make these spiritual benefits available for yourself, your family and the people around you. Prayerful and careful participation in the Mass is the first step.
But what then? What can Catholics do to sanctify their Sunday — and what should they not do in order to avoid profaning it?
Frank and Laurie Duquette of San Jose, Calif., parents of seven, believe Sunday should be primarily a family day.
“Sunday Mass sets the tone for the rest of the day,” Laurie Duquette says, “and we try to make sure the family stays home or does something all together that day, like going to the beach or even just staying home in the backyard for a barbecue.”
The most important rule for making this happen: no commitments outside the family on Sundays.
When their girls were of babysitting age, this sometimes meant turning down a job, but those kinds of sacrifices were made so the family could simply be together.
Just hanging around with your family may seem far removed from the lofty goal of intimacy with God, but the Church teaches that devoting time and care to our families is an effective means of making Sunday holy (Catechism, No. 2186).
Pope John Paul II, in his 1998 apostolic letter Dies Domini (On Keeping the Lord's Day Holy), reminds the faithful that “the relaxed gathering of parents and children can be an opportunity not only to listen to one another but also to share a few formative and more reflective moments.”
Elsie Radtke, director of Family Life Ministries for the Archdiocese of Chicago, recalls a period of time when her family started setting aside one Sunday a month for such reflective moments.
“We tried to pick a special place, such as a park or forest preserve, and everybody had to go off by themselves for half an hour — 15 minutes of spiritual reading, 15 minutes of reflection on that reading,” she says.
Then everyone gathered together to discuss what they had read. “I was amazed at the insights the children had,” Radtke says.
The Church also teaches that “Sunday is traditionally consecrated by Christian piety to good works and humble service of the sick, the infirm and the elderly” (Catechism, No. 2186). The Holy Father recommends to the faithful that they “devote themselves to works of mercy, charity and apostolate” (Dies Domini).
God's Time
Most Catholics would agree that family gatherings, special devotions and charitable works are great positive steps for keeping Sunday well. But when you start talking about what to avoid, even people of good faith disagree.
“It's a touchy issue,” says Father Milota, who fondly recalls a particular Sunday morning during his final year of seminary at the North American College in Rome. He was carrying a load of laundry down the stairs when he met up with the avuncular rector of the college, who told the young man, “You shouldn't be doing that. It's Sunday, you know!”
“I'll never forget that moment,” Father Milota says. To this day, he encourages his parishioners to do their laundry on Saturday.
Granted, tossing in one load of laundry is hardly going to ruin anybody's Sunday rest. But how much housework is too much?
“There's a temptation to use Sunday as a day to catch up on the laundry and cleaning,” Laurie Duquette says, “but it's a temptation you have to resist.”
“Restoring the Sabbath is not complicated,” says Elsie Radtke, who spoke recently on the topic at the Take Back Your Time Conference at Loyola University of Chicago.
“It's actually very simple,” she adds. “We're not called to be God, but we are called to be godlike — and we can't do that if we never spend time with him.”
Clare Shevahn writes from Winfield, Illinois.
----- EXCERPT: What's so special about Sunday, anyway? ----- EXTENDED BODY: Clare Shevahn ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Teen Torpor DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:Facts of Life
Turn off the TV, teen-ager, and get yourself some fresh air. New data indicate that, as students get older, the amount of vigorous exercise they get declines. In 2003, the proportion of those who got vigorous exercise dropped from 69% to 55% between ninth and 12th grade. The difference was most pronounced among females, who dropped from 64% in ninth grade to 46% by 12th grade.
Source: Child Trends Databank
Register illustration by Tim Rauch.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 07/18/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 18-24, 2004 ----- BODY:Minnesota Abortions Down
KAAL-TV (Minnesota), July 1 — Abortions are on the decline in Minnesota for the second year in a row and are at the lowest level in nine years, according to the Minnesota Depar tment of Health.
About 14,000 abor tions were repor ted in the state last year, KAAL news repor ted. That's 200 fewer than last year and 800 fewer than in 2001.
“We are happy that the numbers went down,” Linda McGuire, Olmsted County Education Chair for Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, told the news station. “Obviously our effor ts are paying off. There are quite a few pro-life groups, including Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, that do a lot of educating.”
‘Walking in the Womb’
BBC NEWS, June 28 — A London professor has pioneered a new type of ultrasound scan that yields scans much more detailed than conventional sonograms.
Professor Stuart Campbell at London's Create Health Clinic has produced vivid pictures of a 12-week-old fetus “walking” in the womb, the BBC repor ted. The images show the fetus yawning, rubbing its eyes and smiling.
Campbell's technique not only shows detailed 3-D images but also shows the unborn baby's movements in real time.
“This is a new science,” he told the BBC, “for understanding and mapping out the behavior of the baby.”
Hope for Cancer Patients
REUTERS, June 30 — A 25-year-old German woman who previously under went chemotherapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma is 25 weeks pregnant after undergoing an ovarian-tissue transplant.
The baby was conceived naturally and is due in October, Reuters repor ted. After the chemotherapy, it was not thought the woman could conceive. But, for the first time, doctors from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium removed and froze ovarian tissue before the woman had chemo-therapy.
Four months after the ovarian tissue was transplanted, the woman's ovarian function was restored, Reuters repor ted. The technique is still in its early stages, doctors noted, but is a promising find for other former cancer patients.
‘Choose Life,’ Illinois
The lawsuit was filed June 28 in federal court. Among the group's directors and a plaintiff in the lawsuit is Virginia McCaskey, owner of the Chicago Bears, the Chicago Tribune reported. The lawsuit alleges White “arbitrarily” censored the group's message while allowing more than 60 other specialty license plates.
A spokesman for White said White doesn't like issuing new plates, which can contain the same numbers as other plates, because it makes law enforcement more difficult.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: CAMPAIGN 2004: Iraq and the Catholic Voter DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-31, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — When it comes to choosing who should be the next American president, the war in Iraq is one of the most divisive issues for faithful Catholics.
Although polls give President George Bush a significant edge among Catholics who attend Mass regularly, many of them are concerned about the president's decision to invade Iraq.
Both major parties have developed strategies to woo the nation's 64 million Catholics. In late June, the GOP held a four-day “Catholic Outreach Tour” to connect with voters in key states with large Catholic populations. In April, Sen. John Kerry, the presumed Democratic nominee, named a religious out-reach coordinator to his campaign.
In this, the second in a series of articles on lay Catholics' concerns leading up to November's election, the Register asked Catholic voters how the war in Iraq will affect their vote for president.
Deacon Mike Solomon, 66, a Catholic pilgrimage operator and fundraiser from Tampa, Fla., said despite Bush's pro-life stand on issues including abortion and stem-cell research, he's concerned that the United States is going in the wrong direction.
“The war in Iraq was a mistake and unnecessary,” he said.
“If George Bush would have the courage to stand before the American people and say, ‘I didn't intentionally mislead the nation. I relied on the information that was given to me. We made a mistake. I wish we hadn't done it,' maybe that would destroy him, but on the other hand, I think that's what everybody's thinking.”
Tracy Hutchinson, a Massachusetts hospice worker, says an apology isn't enough.
“It's gone so far where ‘I'm sorry' doesn't mean anything,” she said. “Osama bin Laden is still walking around. Iraq was not the country that attacked us. We were lied to about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq — and now innocent women and children are being killed every day.”
Father Stephen Torraco, a theology professor at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., says there are always unintended consequences of war.
“There are evils that result from war, even if you are legitimately defending yourself or others,” said Father Torraco, a Boston native and priest of the Diocese of Abaetetuba, Brazil.
“Innocent people are being killed. That there are terrorist groups beheading people, murdering people is intrinsically evil. That there are terrorists doing that in Iraq right now is one of the unintended consequences of the United States' and coalition's invasion of Iraq.
“The question then becomes, does the evil consequence outweigh the good consequence? In other words, does the invasion of Iraq, which accomplished the downfall of the tyranny, outweigh the evils being perpetrated at the present time?” said Father Torraco, who last year wrote A Brief Catechism for Catholic Voters.
American bishops also offer voters guidance in their 2003 document “Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility.”
The document “summarizes Catholic teaching on public life and on key moral issues.” The bishops have issued similar documents prior to each presidential election since 1976.
“Our nation has been wounded,” the bishops wrote, “but Sept. 11 and what followed have taught us that no amount of military strength, economic power or technological advances can truly guarantee security, prosperity or progress.”
While the bishops recognize the importance of defending America's interests, they say the country must hold fast to its moral principles, including “more concerted efforts to ensure the promotion of religious liberty and other human rights.”
Freedom Important
Catholic voters such as Mike O'Dea, 60, executive director of the Christus Medicus Foundation in Southfield, Mich., say the war has led to greater liberty for Iraqis.
“When you're up against a regime and a people that want to destroy freedom, we have no choice but to take a military stand in that case,” he said.
O'Dea, an ardent Bush supporter who served three years in Vietnam, says he hasn't met a single veteran who would vote for Kerry.
“They cannot believe that Americans would even consider electing a man like Senator Kerry, who did what he did in portraying our country during the war in Vietnam,” O'Dea said, referring to Kerry's anti-war activities following his service there.
He said, “The lies that were told back home and the heroes that weren't given any credit for that war [in Vietnam] is what's starting to happen now in Iraq.”
But Hutchinson, the hospice worker, argues that the U.S. Patriot Act and the war on terror have changed America for the worse.
“Since 9/11, people get their dander up very easily if you are against President Bush,” she explained. “In that way, America has changed. That has kind of bothered me. I think right now in history, this is a new time for us, and some of our rights have been stripped away.”
O'Dea disagrees. “Do we go to war over that to protect freedom throughout the world? I think that's the issue to Catholic voters,” he said. “The United States is the only country in the world with the capability to protect not only ourselves, but freedom throughout the world. We have a responsibility. “
Gary Musso, 62, a retired human-resources professional from Clovis, Calif., who served the Air Force as a civilian, is torn on the Iraq issue.
“I don't know what to think about that,” he said. “It's so gray. There's no black and white anymore. But terrorism is a huge issue. It's something that's very scary. Anything we can do to deter is worth it.
Since Sept. 11, he said, “We haven't had another incident. That speaks well of people who are protecting our country. They're doing a darn good job.”
Patrick Novecosky writes from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Patrick Novecosky ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Courts Decline 'Safer' Abortion DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-31, 2004 ----- BODY:SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has overturned the part of Arizona's abortion-clinic regulations known as “Lou Anne's Law.”
Pro-lifers like John Jakubczyk, president of the board of directors for Arizona Right To Life, are aghast at the decision.
“If the law of the land isn't going to protect children, at least it should protect women from being victimized,” he said.
The law, passed by the Arizona Legislature in 1999, was prompted by the April 17, 1998, death of 33-year-old Lou Anne Herron, mother of two other children, who bled to death after her uterus was punctured while having an abortion at the A-Z Women's Center in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale.
Herron begged for help, but was ignored by the clinic's physician, Dr. John Biskind, and administrator Carol Stuart-Schadoff, while a confused and inexperienced staff fumbled and hesitated for three hours before calling for an ambulance.
Biskind, 76, performed approximately 700 abortions a year in his two medical practices in Cleveland and Phoenix until he surrendered his medical license in August 1998.
He was repeatedly cited for negligence and incompetence prior to Herron's death and was implicated in the death of at least one other woman. Biskind was ultimately convicted of manslaughter in the Herron case and sentenced to five years in prison.
Stuart-Schadoff was convicted of negligent homicide and sentenced to four years of probation.
Mixed Judgment
Arizona's Department of Health Services reports 121,444 Arizona abortions during the past decade. Many were performed in unsafe conditions described by the appellate court as “atrociously substandard.”
Despite the danger, Arizona state law specifically denied the Department of Health Services authority to regulate any private physician's office or any clinic of a licensed health care provider unless patients were kept overnight or administered general anesthesia. In the wake of the Herron tragedy, the legislature sought to give the department the authority it needed to regulate clinics that performed five or more first-trimester abortions per month, or any clinic offering second-or third-trimester abortions.
But a Tucson federal judge struck down the regulations in 2002. The case was appealed to the 9th Circuit in San Francisco, and a three-judge panel issued a mixed ruling June 18. Judge Sidney R. Thomas, a Clinton appointee, wrote the opinion and noted that the legislature had ample reason for action, observing, “The scheme as a whole is a typical set of health and safety standards, unusual primarily because it singles out abortion clinics.
“Moreover, the legislative history indicates that at least one of the triggers for enacting the scheme was the death of a patient at an abortion clinic,” Thomas wrote.
However, he said, “Arizona itself does not have the power to prohibit any providers from performing abortions merely because it disapproves of abortion and would like to place obstacles in the way of women seeking abortions.” Neither does the state have the power to violate the federal Constitution, he said.
The court said aspects of Lou Anne's Law did both.
Inspection and access provisions of the law, permitting Health Services staff to go through clinics and medical records without warrant, were declared violations of the Fourth Amendment. Another provision, requiring clinics to “ensure that a patient is … treated with consideration, respect and full recognition of the patient's dignity and individuality,” was overturned because the appeals court ruled it to be vague and unenforceable, as well as a potential means for harassing or closing abortion clinics.
Meanwhile, Thomas rejected arguments from abortion businesses that any attempt to regulate them was a violation of the Constitution. Just because the law is only applicable to some abortion businesses did not make it a violation of the “equal protection” clause, nor does the requirement that physicians have admitting privileges at an Arizona hospital constitute an illegal delegation of state regulatory authority, he wrote.
Thomas also left open the question as to whether the law imposes an “undue burden” on providers, choosing instead to remand it back to the district court for further review. Since the state can show valid reason for the regulatory and reporting requirements, Thomas said it is now up to the lower court to decide if the requirements impose such a financial burden on the abortion businesses that they would be unable to function.
Delay Tactics
Until this final issue is resolved, the appeals court won't decide whether the state regulations must be entirely rewritten or just amended to fix the flawed aspects “since it is not yet clear if further portions of the scheme are unconstitutional.”
“That's typical of the manner in which the 9th Circuit typically applies (the Constitution) to anything to do with abortion,” Right to Life's Jakubczyk said. “The abortion industry has bought time, and that's what it's all about. If they can't overturn something, they delay and delay.”
Neither the Health Services Department nor the Diocese of Phoenix would comment on the decision. The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents a group of abortion clinics and physicians in the case, in a prepared statement called the decision “a wise move.”
“This law in no way protects women's health, as Arizona claims,” said Bonnie Scott Jones, the center's attorney representing the plaintiffs, in the statement. Instead, the law “intrudes on a woman's private relationship with her doctor and interferes with a doctor's right to practice.”
The center opposes similar state laws, calling them “Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers” or TRAPs. Meanwhile, Americans United for Life's senior litigation counsel Denise Burke, who was appointed a special deputy Maricopa County attorney to defend Lou Anne's Law, said in a prepared statement: “Right now, a dog has more protection in a veterinary clinic than a woman in an Arizona abortion clinic.”
“Other federal courts have consistently found that abortion clinic regulations, like those enacted in Arizona, are designed to protect women's health and do not interfere with their right to choose an abortion,” Burke said. “We are confident that the district court in Tucson will do the same.”
Philip Moore writes from Vail, Arizona.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Philip S. Moore ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Senate Kills Marriage Amendment DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-31, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — President Bush is in favor of the traditional definition of marriage, as are the Catholic Church and a majority of Americans.
But a majority in the Senate wouldn't even consider the question. They killed the Federal Marriage Amendment on July 14.
The constitutional amendment did not get enough votes necessary in the U.S. Senate to move the proposal past a Democratic procedural hurdle. After four days of debate, 48 Republicans voted in favor, with 50 Democrats opposed. Sixty votes were needed to get the measure onto the floor.
The House of Representatives is expected to deal with the amendment later this year, political experts said.
Bush, one of the leading supporters of the ban, said he was “deeply disappointed” by the outcome.
“Activist judges and local officials in some parts of the country are not letting up in their efforts to redefine marriage for the rest of America — and neither should defenders of traditional marriage flag in their efforts,” Bush said. The president announced that he favored the amendment after the Massachusetts Supreme Court commanded the state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples who want them.
Others who favored the ban did not view the vote as a failure, seeing it instead as the opening battle in a long war.
“I think this is a tremendous step forward for the issue of marriage in the public discourse that we were engaged in,” said Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., during a conference call with reporters moments after the voting ended. “I'm very happy that we have now brought the issue to the American public, and I think the public is becoming engaged, and this is a very important moment to make that happen. … I look forward to continuing the fight.”
In fact, one of the leaders defending traditional marriage said he expected to lose the Senate vote. When the nonpartisan Alliance for Marriage drafted the amendment in July 2001, it basically had two goals, said Matt Daniels, the coalition president. One was to get politicians in both parties on the record regarding their stances; the other was to educate the public and raise awareness, he said.
“The great social questions of the day are always decided over long periods of time,” he said. “This is certainly one of the greatest social debates in the history of our nation, and it is going to be played out in multiple votes in the House and multiple votes in the Senate. That's always been our expectation. This is the beginning of a great process, a democratic debate over the future of marriage.”
Opponents of the ban in the Senate said that the Constitution — which has only been amended 17 times since the Bill of Rights was enacted — should not be tinkered with and that there are other, more important political issues to address.
A proposed amendment must pass both houses of Congress by a two-thirds majority in each and then by three-fourths of the states, either by legislatures or in special conventions.
The Two Abstentions
Groups promoting homosexual “marriage” rejoiced in the vote's outcome. “This was an attempt to divide Americans that backfired and divided Republicans,” Cheryl Jacques, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement. “This debate has always been about politics, and undermining the Constitution is their tool.”
The only two senators abstaining from the vote were John Kerry and John Edwards, the expected Democratic presidential and vice presidential nominees. They had promised to return from campaigning to oppose the amendment when it came to a final vote but stayed away for the procedural vote. Though they have voiced opposition to same-sex “marriage,” they say the states should decide the issue.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has been at the fore-front in favoring the amendment and opposing same-sex “marriages.” In late June, Bishop Wilton Gregory, the conference president, asked all Catholic bishops in the country to urge their senators to support the amendment, and on July 6, he wrote each senator and asked for his or her support.
Meanwhile, on July 12, Msgr. William Fay, general secretary of the bishops' conference, spoke about the importance of marriage during a press conference sponsored by the Alliance for Marriage.
“The Church believes and teaches that marriage is created by God,” said Msgr. Fay, one of several speakers. “It is a faithful, exclusive, lifelong and loving union of a man and a woman who are the foundation of the family unit, which itself is the bedrock of society and culture. Marriage is not an arbitrary social arrangement that can be altered by either the Church or the state. It is God's will for humanity and the keystone of every human community.
“Just as we know from natural reason that we cannot ignore or violate, without grave consequences, the structure and integrity of the physical world, which is our environment,” he said, “so too we cannot ignore or violate the natural structure of our human relationships. … The failure to protect marriage at this important moment in our history will have devastating consequences for our society and our nation.”
The two sentences, originally proposed by Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., at the core of the Senate debate were: “Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.”
The issue sparked heated comments on the Senate floor, including the charge by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., that the Senate's Republican leadership was “engaging in the politics of mass distraction by bringing up a discriminatory marriage amendment.” Kennedy said a majority of Americans do not support the amendment, and in fact, a University of Pennsylvania National Annenberg Election Survey from June showed that 48% of Americans oppose an amendment banning same-sex marriage, while 43% are in favor.
Most Oppose ‘Marriage’
A nationwide Gallup poll in May, however, found that 55% of Americans oppose same-sex “marriage.” That was down from 65% in December, however.
Still, Santorum said during debate, “I can't think of anything more important than the basic social building block of our country. And that's what marriage is. That's what the family is. And it is in jeopardy. It is in serious real jeopardy as a result of what the courts are doing.”
Maggie Gallagher, president of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, said most politicians, from both parties, don't like talking about the issue at all. But that might change if more constituents show they favor traditional marriage, she said.
“It took a decade from Roe (vs. Wade) for people to become well-organized on the abortion issue,” she said. “This is a new issue, so leadership on the grass-roots level and other places is just beginning to be organized and mobilized. Come November, if it's become clear that voters care enough about this issue that it makes a difference in elections, you will find a very rapid change in the political climate in Washington.”
If the Federal Marriage Amendment doesn't eventually pass, then there would be a state-by-state struggle by judiciaries to create and impose versions of same-sex marriages, Gallagher predicted.
“So, I suppose,” she said, “you could say either way, it's going to be a long campaign.”
Carlos Briceno writes from Seminole, Florida.
How Candidates Voted
The proposed constitutional amendment was simple: “Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution or the constitution of any State, nor state or federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.”
But the following senators, who are on November ballots, killed the amendment. They wouldn—t even allow the amendment to be debated.
Presidential Candidate: John Kerry (by not voting)
Vice-Presidential Candidate: John Edwards (by not voting)
Arizona: John McCain
Arkansas: Blanche Lincoln
California: Barbara Boxer
Indiana: Evan Bayh
Connecticut: Christopher Dodd
Colorado: Ben Nighthorse Campbell
Florida: Bob Graham
Hawaii: Daniel Inouye
Louisiana: John Breaux
Maryland: Barbara Mikulski
Nevada: Harry Reid
North Dakota: Byron Dorgan
New York: Charles Schumer
Oregon: Ron Wyden
South Dakota: Tom Daschle
Vermont: Patrick Leahy
Wisconsin: Russell Feingold
Washington: Patty Murray
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceņo ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Website Launches Campaign for Priests DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-31, 2004 ----- BODY:ATLANTA — In response to the bad publicity priests have received in recent years through the sexual sins of a few, lay people throughout the world are offering their priests eternal gifts of gratitude for the good that they do.
And many of them are using a Eucharistic-adoration and letter-writing campaign sponsored by the Web site Vocation.com.
The six-month program, called “The Hands That Bring Us Christ,” began May 2 and ends Oct. 16, the anniversary of Pope John Paul II's election to the papacy.
Participants report the time they spend before the Blessed Sacrament praying for priests, and the total number of hours is logged daily and displayed on the Web site. Those who know the e-mail address of a priest also can send a personal message to him expressing thanks and telling him of the adoration effort.
The idea has received high praise from priests who have contacted the Web site.
“Wonderful!” wrote Father Joseph Noonan, vocations director for the Archdiocese of Chicago. “I am very happy to read about your effort for adoration and prayer for the priesthood and vocations. Keep up the splendid work.”
Father John Andersen, an Australian missionary serving villagers on the banks of the Amazon River in Peru, reported that his parish holds an hour of adoration for priests every Thursday evening. He asked that this hour be added weekly to the Web site log.
The adoration-for-priests campaign is the second Eucharistic project hosted by Vocation.com, which is sponsored by the Legion-aries of Christ and supported by the congregation's lay movement, Regnum Christi. Last year the Web site logged 125,000 hours of adoration in thanksgiving for John Paul's 25th anniversary as Pope. The initial goal was 100,000 hours.
In January, Daniel Gonzales, national director of Vocation.com, and his wife, Jackie, the site's operations director, presented a leather-bound report of the adoration effort to the Pope in a private audience at the Vatican. The report, in the form of a spiritual bouquet, listed the number of hours and the 41 countries represented by the campaign's participants.
“If this year's adoration campaign gets the same response as last year's, it will be a huge success,” Gonzales said. “Thus far we're getting a lot of positive feedback. The idea behind the campaign was born out of a need to support and thank priests and bishops, who have had their reputation tarnished in recent years. We want to express thanks to those who have remained faithful and serve us so well.”
Legionary seminarian Branigan Sherman, who helps maintain the Web site, said the campaign seeks “to counter what has been going on with the image of the priest and let priests know that there is tremendous support for them.”
Brother Sherman, who is preparing for the priesthood, added, “We are finding that so many lay people just want to say thank you to a priest who helped them.”
The Web site is available in English, Spanish, Italian and French. It also sends out a regular e-mail newsletter, offers information on vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and posts the vocation stories of individual priests and religious sisters. Interactive features allow visitors to ask questions about vocations that are answered by Father Bannon.
Father Anthony Bannon, North American territorial director of the Legionaries of Christ, said the program highlights the positive image priests have among their people. “The vast majority of Catholics love, respect and are grateful to their priests,” he said. “They are aware of the great sacrifice celibacy is, that their priests chose it and are faithful to it because they love their people, and this campaign is to let the priests know this, concretely.”
The program may also have a good effect on vocations, Father Bannon added, “by helping the lay people to reflect on the gift that their pastors are for them, and to move them to be generous: parents in fostering and encouraging vocations in their own children, and young men in considering the possibility that God may be calling them to this same kind of love and service. Perhaps, also, it may well encourage some pastors to renewed confidence in preaching and cultivating vocations.”
Karen Perez, whose son Victor is a seminarian for the Galveston-Houston Diocese in Texas, devoted an hour of adoration each for the priests who have influenced her son's vocation, including Father Clint Ressler, vocations director for the diocese.
“I just want to thank you for saying Yes to God's call to be the hands of Christ,” she wrote to Father Ressler. “Your example is an encouragement to young men who are hearing God's call. Victor really looks up to you.”
Father Ressler wrote back to her: “Your message this morning creates in me a real and profound sense of gratitude. A gratitude that begins with you and quickly spreads to all the blessings I have received from God and so many of his children. I am most richly blessed. I pray so hard that many more men and women will find their vocation and live it courageously. Mine has been the doorway to such blessings that I can scarcely comprehend it. God is so good.”
“When I read about the adoration effort, I said that this was a perfect way to say thank you to the priests who mean so much in our lives,” Perez told the Register.
The interactive nature of the Web site has created a network for vocations.
Father Joseph Anthony Pereira posted a message suggesting something priests can do in response to the adoration campaign.
“As our beautiful and charitable people offer all of these adorations for us, maybe we, too, can take their great and holy example” and offer a weekly hour of adoration “for all the mothers and fathers of priests and seminarians,” he wrote.
Without married couples, he noted, “we cannot have holy, consecrated priests! There will be so much grace for the Church and the world by our joint adorations.”
Stephen Vincent writes from Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Debunking The Da Vinci Code DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-31, 2004 ----- BODY:Olson is the former editor of Envoy magazine, and Miesel is an expert on the Church in the medieval era. The two teamed up to write The Da Vinci Hoax, which Chicago's Cardinal Francis George describes as the “definitive debunking” of Dan Brown's best seller The Da Vinci Code.
Register correspondent Sabrina Ferrisi spoke to the authors.
Dan Brown writes about the Holy Grail and the Church's supposed attempts to suppress it. What is the real story?
Miesel: The Church has never said anything about the Holy Grail.
Medieval legends of the Holy Grail began in the 12th century. The Grail only appears in literature, with its meaning tied to legitimate Christian belief in the holy Eucharist. Nobody ever went out to look for the Grail.
It is well established that ideas of old pagan myths filtered into stories of the Holy Grail. The first place the Grail is ever mentioned is in the Tale of the Grail, written by Chretien de Troyes, a Frenchman in the 12th century.
The idea of the Grail being the bloodline of Mary Magdalene and Jesus comes from occult books. The book Holy Blood, Holy Grail, which came out in the 1980s, talks about this “great secret” of the Grail. It's based on false documents that were planted in the French National Library by Frenchmen Pierre Plan-tard and his collaborators in the 1950s. The documents showed a supposed genealogy of the descendants of Christ.
Brown says the Emperor Constantine was baptized on his deathbed and implies he was never a believer.
Olson: Constantine was baptized on his deathbed, but this was common at the time. There is a great deal of evidence that he was a believer in Christianity. He desired to go to the Jordan and get baptized there. He called together the Council of Nicaea in 325 to combat the Arian heresy. There was unity lacking in the Roman Empire. And Constantine did see Christianity as a unifying influence. But to say he was not a true believer is a very cynical statement that does not hold up to the evidence.
What about Brown's assertions that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene?
Miesel: This legend all began with a crooked priest in France in the 1890s. This priest made money by selling Masses. He renovated his church and built an expensive house. Eventually, his bishop made him quit as a priest. The village where he lived, however, wanted the house to be made into a tourist attraction. So in the 1950s, a restaurant owner said a secret parchment and Templar treasures had been found in or near the church.
Plantard created this fake parchment. He had been a devout Catholic but went on to become a conman. The parchment supposedly supported the idea of a secret blood-line of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
Brown says Constantine invented Jesus' divinity and that no one had ever believed this beforehand, not even Jesus' followers.
Olson: This is the biggest lie in the book. It goes directly to the heart of Christianity. … If no one believed Jesus was divine, then why were Christians persecuted? Why were they willing to go to their deaths?
Jesus' divinity is in the writings of all four Gospels, the writings of St. Paul and all the early Church Fathers in the first three centuries. In our book, we quote 12 Church Fathers — these were early theologians whose writings the Catholic and Orthodox Church look to as authoritative guides.
What about this Priory of Sion? Brown claims it is an ancient organization charged with protecting the tomb of Mary Magdalene.
Miesel: There never was a Priory of Sion organization that spanned a thousand years. In 1956, Pierre Plan-tard formed the Priory of Sion in France. The group's interest was in mystical and esoteric doctrines. He eventually built a myth of himself as the descendant of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Then a supposed member of the priory committed suicide in 1992. Plantard was brought to testify in court, and under oath, he said he had made everything up. He died in 2000.
Brown is a very deceptive writer. In fact, I can hardly find a single fact that is true in his book.
Who were the Knights Templar, and did the Church accuse them of heresy — as Brown asserts?
Miesel: The Knights Templar were basically monks who fought. They were founded in 1108 and designed to help the Crusades conflict in the Holy Land.
The Knights became very popular, and many people joined them. At their peak, they never had more than 300 full-fledged knights in the Holy Land, but they did have thousands of members: chaplains, servants, workers, lay people.
How and why were they persecuted?
Miesel: In 1291, the Holy Land was retaken by the Muslims. The Knights went back to France where they had lots of property by this time — thousands of plots — which people had given to them.
They operated what amounted to a chain of international banks. You could put money down in Paris in one of their centers and take it out in Rome. In 1307, King Philip IV of France decided he wanted their money. He had all of them arrested: about 1,500 to 2,000 people. The king said they were heretics. He did this on his own authority, not the Pope's. The Pope at this time was in Avignon and was very weak. He was told about this after the fact.
The Knights were imprisoned, tortured and made to sign wild things: that they worshipped an idol called Bathomet, dishonored the crucifix and were homosexuals. About 100-200 of them would not admit to this and were burned at the stake. Pope Clement was horrified originally. But when he read their confession, he gave permission to investigate. Eventually, King Philip IV brought his soldiers to the Pope and put strong pressure on him to sign a decree in 1312 that suppressed the order. In 1314, the last two Templar Knights were burned at the stake.
What about all the assertions made against Opus Dei?
Olson: Brown uses Opus Dei to replace the old bogeyman in anti-Catholic literature, which used to be the Jesuits. Brown's language is laughable. It's not a religious order. There are no monks or sisters. He describes it as a church; it's not a church. It's a personal prelature. It is almost exclusively made up of lay people, and its goal is to promote the vocation of holiness in the world.
Brown says Leonardo da Vinci mocked the Church.
Miesel: Everything Brown tells you about Leonardo da Vinci is wrong. Maybe he was a homosexual, but he was not flamboyant. In fact, he was quiet and reserved. In the Last Supper painting, da Vinci is illustrating St. John's Gospel. Mary Magdalene is not the person next to Jesus [as Brown asserts]. It is St. John, who is always depicted as young and effeminate.
There is no evidence that da Vinci hated the Catholic Church. He died a believing Catholic. His last will specifically requests a Catholic funeral.
Brown says the Church, from the beginning, launched a smear campaign against Mary Magdalene.
Olson: This is ludicrous, especially when you see that the Gospel mentions her 12 times and she is the first witness to the Resurrection. In fact, during the entire medieval era, 400 to 1400 A.D., she was the most popular saint in the Western Church. Eventually Mary, the mother of Jesus, became more popular.
What disturbs you the most about
Miesel: That people are taking this as true. Why is this happening? Because people don't have real faith, and because Catholics have been so poorly catechized. They don't know how the Gospels were formed, what the early Church believed, that the divinity of Jesus was not an invention.
Brown exploits ignorance. It doesn't occur to people to check stuff in their encyclopedias. They only look on the Internet and find all kinds of strange Web sites supporting this stuff. People like conspiracy theories.
The Church scandals have made all of this easier to take in. It is a sad commentary that Christians and Catholics are reading this. It's a masterpiece that appeals to the weaknesses of our age.
Olson: The most disturbing thing is its success. People are spiritually gullible and put their brain on hold to embrace something that is anti-Catholic. This is a prejudice that's deeply engraved in American culture.
The Da Vinci Code appeals to people who don't like religious authority. It promises special knowledge and says the Catholic Church is false. If Jesus isn't divine, he can't make any moral demands.
The scandal is that Jesus is alive and that you have to decide for or against him.
Sabrina Ferrisi writes from Jersey City, New Jersey.
----- EXCERPT: Carl Olson and Sandra Miesel don't like hoaxes, especially when it comes to the faith. ----- EXTENDED BODY: Sabrina Ferrisi ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Congress, Bush Block Population Funding DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — The Bush administration announced July 16 that it will block $34 million of funding for the United Nations Population Fund. It is the third consecutive year that the administration has blocked the funds, and trying to restore them has become a perennial battle over the international agency's complicity in China's coercive one-child policy.
Congress appropriates money each year for international family planning and maternal health programs — including UNFPA — but a provision of law called the Kemp- Kasten Amendment prohibits U.S. funds from going to organizations that participate in coercive programs. The presidential administration decides which organizations violate Kemp-Kasten, and President Bush has decided that UNFPA does so.
Pro-population control and proabortion members of Congress tried July 9 to restore UNFPA funding while doing an end run around the issue of UNFPA's involvement in communist China. In a House Appropriations Committee hearing, Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., offered an amendment to a foreign operations bill that would have directed $25 million to UNFPA, but for use only in Iraq, Afghanistan, Tanzania, Jordan, Kenya and Pakistan.
“Her amendment is really a ploy at trying to avoid U.S. human rights law,” said Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., who led the fight against restoring the funding. “Kemp-Kasten says that an organization — not a country — cannot receive U.S. funding if it participates in a coercive family planning program.”
“Those six countries are a critical concern to our nation,” said Julie Edwards, spokeswoman for Lowey. “The amendment had an offset policy.” This policy would have deprived UNFPA of funds in proportion as it directed U.S. money to China, assuming it did so, she explained.
“We know money is fungible and UNFPA is not trustworthy,” Tiahrt said in response. And Steve Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute (PRI), commented: “If I were to give you $5,000 for writing project A, that would free up $5,000 for something else.”
Pro-Life Countries
Tiahrt said he believed there was an underlying agenda to the countries that Lowey chose. “Most of those countries are pro-life countries,” he said. “She wants to give it to a pro-abortion organization. That organization could lobby for legalized abortion.” Though UNFPA “is not supposed to perform abortions,” he said, “Secretary of State Colin Powell has said it collaborates with forced abortion in China.”
Said Powell on July 21, 2002, “UNFPA's support of, and involvement in, China's population-planning activities allows the Chinese government to implement more effectively its program of coercive abortion.”
Lowey's effort failed, 32-26, and Edwards said it was unlikely that Lowey would be able to repeat her attempt on the House floor. The Senate could be different.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., a Catholic, told the Register that the Senate might restore the funding but that it would then probably be eliminated to conform to the House's decision in the final foreign operations bill. Brownback said he would oppose UNFPA funding even if the group did not work in China. “This is a bad use of money,” he said. “I think it's wrong to use this money for something that a large proportion of people find morally wrong. There's plenty of other uses for this money, such as for refugees.”
Fiercely pro-abortion and profamily planning Sen. Barbara Milkulski, D-Md., whose biography lists her as Catholic, promised a fight to restore the money. “We're going to work on it,” she said. “If we can send our jobs over there, we can work on family planning.”
Tiahrt and Mosher said they were convinced China's one-childper-woman population control program remains coercive. “It's true that in the big cities in China, because of modernization, because of urbanization, because of women in the workforce, because of the materialism that has gripped parts of China, there is less interest in having children” than in the past, said Mosher, who has followed China's program since its inception in the late 1970s. But in rural areas and among all those who wish to have more children, he said, “coercion remains. That includes forced abortion.” Women who have second children can be fined an amount “equivalent to two to three years of their annual income,” he said. “They can be imprisoned. . . . We still have evidence of this coming out of China.”
UNFPA claims to have a positive effect in the areas of China in which it operates while supplementing China's domestic family planning programs. “We exposed that,” Mosher said. “We found that in the ʻmodel counties' in China where UNFPA operates, there was the same level of coercion as in other counties.” He noted that China's imbalance of boys and girls is worsening, since many Chinese prefer to have a son rather than a daughter if they are allowed only one child and thus abort girls. The male-to-female ratio of births in China has reached 120 to 100, he said. “It's getting worse,” he said. “Ultrasound is more and more available in China. There are 10 to 15 million abortions a year in China. I would estimate that over half of them include some form of duress.”
The gender ratio problem has contributed to social ills the Chinese government doesn't like to talk about, Mosher said. “They don't talk about the great rise in homosexuality in China today,” he said. “There's a great rise in prostitution in China. Gangs are on the rise, alternate families. There is a rise in cross-border trafficking in women.”
Meanwhile, In Peru
Another country that has had recent systematic coercion in its population control program with UNFPA's financial help is Peru, which admitted in July 2002 that a forced sterilization program for Indian women had been in place under now ex-President Alberto Fujimori. The Peruvian government apologized, and Tiahrt said he was unaware of more contemporary abuses. “I have not heard any complaints from Peru recently,” he said.
“From 1993 to 2000, the Peruvian government undertook a sterilization campaign that resulted in the sterilizations of more than 315,000 Peruvian women, most of them indigenous Indians,” reported Human Life International in February 2003. “Easily 90% of these women were forced into these operations.”
Joseph D'Agostino writes from Washington, D.C.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph A. D'Agostino ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:Pulitzer Critique of Bishops Not Accurate, Says Report
ASSOCIATED PRESS, July 12 — “The Bishops vs. the Bible,” the title of author Garry Wills' June 27 op-ed piece in The New York Times, underscored his theme that abortion is “nowhere mentioned in either Jewish or Christian Scripture.” Because of that, he said, bishops cannot supplant personal conscience “with some divine imperative.”
His summation, “Scripture is silent,” was surprisingly simplistic for a Pulitzer Prize-winner, said AP religion writer Richard Ostling. Ostling said Pope John Paul II's 1995 encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” (“The Gospel of Life”) said Church opposition is based upon “the written Word of God,” but freely acknowledged that the Bible lacks any direct commandment.
Like many, the Pope also drew upon a New Testament passage, Luke 1:39-45. Here, Elizabeth's unborn son John the Baptist leaps in her womb as the visiting Mary says she is pregnant with Jesus.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church quotes Jeremiah 1:5, where God tells the prophet, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.”
In the New Testament, Paul writes similarly that God “set me apart before I was born” (Galatians 1:15).
New York Priest Accused of Bilking Elderly Woman
The case makes it clear that relationships between priests and elderly wealthy parishioners are a potential minefield, said the Times, which quoted other pastors offered donations by elderly parishioners.
William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said in a separate statement that he is a longtime friend of Msgr. Woolsey's and considered him “one of the finest priests I have ever met.” Donohue called the charges “ludicrous” and urged people to wait until the court case is settled before making a judgment.
Bishop Makes Changes for Doctrine
Father Russell Smith is Bishop DiLorenzo's choice as diocesan theologian. Father Smith also will be responsible for ensuring that no one who deviates from Catholic doctrine is invited by a church group or parish to lead a retreat, hold a workshop or give a guest lecture “on Catholic property.” The priest said the precise definitions of orthodoxy can be found in the Catechism and Canon Law.
But within the bounds of orthodoxy, he said, Bishop DiLorenzo “is very broad-minded when it comes to the Church. No community or activity will be marginalized as long as it's authentically Catholic.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Pro-Abortion Catholic Wins Canadian Federal Vote DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:OTTAWA — Paul Martin, the latest Canadian Catholic prime minister to openly defy Church teaching on abortion and homosexual marriage, led his Liberal Party to a minority election victory June 28.
Martin, a regular communicant described routinely as “devout” in news reports, was condemned as a “source of scandal” by Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary in a June 6 pastoral letter.
In an earlier newspaper column, Bishop Henry went further, echoing recent Vatican pronouncements by Cardinal Francis Arinze and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger by declaring that any “dissident Catholic leader [who] obstinately persists in opposing fundamental Church teaching” should “be turned away” from Communion.
Martin's bishop, Archbishop Marcel Gervais of Ottawa, has declined to be drawn into the controversy. He had a private conversation with Martin shortly before the election but refused comment afterward. Neither Martin's office nor Bishop Gervais' returned telephone calls from the Register after the election.
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops spokesman Sylvain Salvas said the conference “won't comment on any particular politician.” He added, however, “Our position is clear: for life.” He referred to the CCCB's pre-election statement, which reiterated Church teaching on abortion and marriage.
Salvas also noted that the CCCB has formed a subcommittee to “reflect” on the duties of Catholic politicians.
In contrast, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has recently delivered some concrete reflections on these duties. In a statement issued June 18 during the bishops' spring meeting in Dallas, they declared, “Those who formulate law…have an obligation in conscience to work toward correcting morally defective laws. “
And while the U.S. bishops stopped short of specifying that Communion must be denied to pro-abortion politicians, they delivered an implicit rebuke to Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry and other pro-abortion Catholic legislators. “The separation of church and state does not require division between belief and public action, between moral principles and political choices,” the bishops said, adding that dissenting Catholics “should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”
Liberal leader Martin claimed repeatedly during the campaign that his main rival, Conservative leader Stephen Harper, an evangelical Protestant, was against abortion. Harper and his party responded that they too support a “woman's right to choose.” Harper did suggest, however, that he would permit a “free vote” on abortion in the federal parliament at some time.
Another issue mirrors a current U.S. debate — that of same-sex unions. In 1999, Canada's Parliament overwhelmingly rejected homosexual “marriage.” Martin voted with the majority. Now, after court rulings ordering its legalization in Canada's three most populous provinces, Martin has changed his mind. He explained to the CBC, “What tipped the balance was clearly when the courts said this is a [Constitutional] right. I really believe that a nation of minorities…cannot allow minority rights to be infringed on.”
Canada's Supreme Court has not yet ruled on homosexual “marriage,” although it is expected to uphold the lower court verdicts. Martin pledged to abide by such a decision, while Harper said his party would ensure Parliament had the final say.
Basilian Father Alphonse de Valk, editor of Toronto-based Catholic Insight magazine, is distressed by Martin's victory, but pleased that “the number of pro-life members of Parliament seems to have increased by nine.” (There are now close to 100 pro-life MPs in the 308-seat legislature, including substantial numbers in both the Conservative and Liberal caucuses.)
Father de Valk notes that as the governing Liberals are now in a minority, “Martin is going to have to count on every one of his MPs, which gives them that much greater say.”
Kevin Michael Grace writes from Victoria, British Columbia.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kevin Michael Grace ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Vatican Promotes Funneling Aid to Poorest of Poor DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — What can be done to help the 300 million people living in dehumanizing conditions of abject poverty, without basic health care or education?
It seems an impossible task sometimes, but discussions at a July 9 meeting at the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace may be grounds for hope that an innovative new scheme could lift many millions out of such misery within a relatively short time.
The seminar, entitled “Poverty and Globalization: Financing and Development Including the Millennium Development Goals,” discussed a plan to eliminate extreme forms of global poverty within the next decade. Central to the discussion was a financial proposal for tackling Third World poverty that has gained the wholehearted support of Pope John Paul II and leaders of other faith groups.
Called the International Finance Facility (IFF), the initiative is a means by which development funds could be rapidly raised on international capital markets, doubling over a short time the amount that is currently given in development aid.
Among other current proposals, the IFF is widely considered the best scheme to enable the world to meet the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals, ambitious targets set by 190 countries four years ago to halve world poverty by 2015.
At its current rate of progress, the world will only have succeeded in halving poverty in Africa in the next 100 years, not the next 10. “That is not something any of us can accept,” said seminar co-chairman Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster, who joined Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and other cardinals at the head of an impressive array of delegates that included politicians, academics, diplomats and NGO representatives.
“Either we have the generosity to lift the poor of the world out of the mire, or we face a crisis of huge proportions,” Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor said, adding that it is a matter of “moral action and moral will.”
Heading the international campaign is British Finance Minister Gordon Brown, who first proposed the IFF.
Brown, who took a leading role at the Vatican seminar, said that so far 50 countries support the plan that, by frontloading aid flows, could generate an additional $50 billion a year to tackle the causes of poverty. The funds would be used to finance schools and hospitals.
At this time, of the countries that form the G8 group of leading industrialized nations, only France is behind the scheme, although Brown is confident that others will announce their support in the next few months.
He emphasized that the backing of the Church is “incredibly important” and cited the effectiveness of the Church-backed Jubilee Campaign to cancel Third World debt, which Brown credited with changing the minds of government leaders on that issue.
Aid Problems
But there are significant problems associated with aid. In the past, it has been blamed for increasing levels of corruption, with funds being siphoned into undeserving hands or leeched by self-serving government bureaucracies.
It has also been criticized for increasing dependency in low-income countries, rather than fostering self-sufficiency.
Such concerns did not figure highly in the Vatican seminar, but in an interview with the Register, Cardinal Murphy O'Connor said he believes the Church has an important role here, too.
“The Church's efforts are not just in education and conversion but in ‘communio’ — in helping people get on well together,” he said. “That's particularly important in Africa where there's very much of a tribal system.”
The cardinal believes the first priority is to help Africa cease conflict and then “to make sure there is good
Peace, told bishops and the faithful of Africa's Great Lakes region.
“In the name of the Lord, the master of life, I exhort you: Stop hating one another and stop killing one another,” he told the region's inhabitants during a July visit to Kinshasa, Congo.
The cardinal urged the people to put down “your machetes, your hatchets, your Kalashnikovs and other weapons of destruction and death” and take up instruments for building peace and reconciliation.
The text of the cardinal's July 4 speech to the gathering, sponsored by the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa, was released July 13 by his office.
Cardinal Martino said the United Nations and the international community would help the countries as they move toward democracy and governance.” However, he added that good government has to come “not just from outside but from within — they've got to really want it.”
The Vatican seminar concentrated on how to increase aid, not on how to best deliver it. That's because the IFF is envisioned primarily as a fund-raising mechanism to pump more cash into channels already used to distribute and manage aid flows, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
However, Brown did imply that the additional capital would be directed to those nations that display improvements in good governance.
But he also stressed the need for wealthier countries to do their part in securing a level playing field in terms of trade, emphasizing the need to “act now to end agricultural protections” which he said have made it very hard for developing countries to compete in the areas for which their economies are best suited.
Pope's Words
In his message to the seminar, Pope John Paul II said that conditions of extreme poverty are “the cause of grave concern to the international community.”
The Pope said that over “the short to medium term, a commitment to increase foreign aid seems the only way forward,” and he added that while the Church welcomes the International Finance Facility, it also encourages other U.N. and government-sponsored initiatives.
Considerable emphasis at the conference was placed on the need for the laity to exert pressure on politicians to commit their governments to established targets.
development, but that the region's citizens must take the first essential step.
He praised the region's Catholic bishops and faithful for their efforts “to re-establish the image of God in this region, an image tarnished and obscured, trampled and injured by a series of barbaric and cruel acts.”
The people of the region must recognize that each human being is created in the image and likeness of God and that all people are brothers and sisters, he said.
Despair and discouragement are understandable, Cardinal Martino said, but they are not virtues.
“Our faith is a faith that makes us hope against all hope,” he said.
The cardinal reminded those gathered that Pope John Paul II has called peace a “permanent engagement.”
“There is a task for everybody in the pews to say to their politicians, “What are you doing to achieve the Millennium Development Goals?'” said Duncan MacLaren, General Secretary of the Catholic development agency Caritas Internationalis. “Without that pressure, nothing will be done.”
Already, governments are required to give 0.7% of gross national product in aid to developing countries, though few do, including Brown's own government.
Chris Bain, director of CAFOD, the development agency of the bishops of England and Wales, said that lobbying governments to reach that 0.7% target is the main goal, and that right now the IFF is “the best option on the table, even if it's not the best option we could ever have.”
In their closing joint statement, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor and Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, expressed hope that the seminar would mark the beginning of a global campaign to guarantee freedom from poverty. They also encouraged proposals for international taxes, something which the United States firmly opposes.
Another meeting to assess the progress of the IFF is scheduled to take place in a year.
The consequences of continued inaction would be disastrous, Brown stressed to participants. “As His Holiness said,” the British finance minister said, “for this generation, having made a promise to the poor and then to break it, is unpardonable.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:Vacationing Pope Urges World to Slow Down
REUTERS, July 12 — Midway through his annual mountain holiday in Les Combes, Italy, Pope John Paul II suggested modern society should experience the sound of silence.
“In this oasis of calm, in front of this marvelous show of nature, one can easily appreciate just how fruitful silence, something which is becoming ever more rare these days, can be,” he said July 11, Reuters reported.
The Pope made the comments during his only public appearance during his two-week vacation in the Italian Alps near France.
Addressing 6,000 people who had come to hear his Sunday angelus prayer, the Holy Father said modern society often “steals the time needed to think, sometimes to the point of making people incapable of reflection and prayer.”
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the Pope was refreshed by his vacation, even though he could no longer hike in the mountains as he did when he was younger.
“You can see he is enjoying this,” Navarro-Valls said. “It's good for his health.”
N. Ireland Protestants Supportive of Papal Visit
Press reports in Ireland have speculated that the Pope might visit this fall or next spring, 25 years after he first visited in 1979. Due to security considerations, the Pope did not travel to British-ruled Northern Ireland during that trip.
“Presbyterians might find it difficult to understand the full significance of a papal visit here,” the spokesman said. “However, they would recognize the importance of such an event to their Catholic neighbors and would wish them well in the celebrations and festivities surrounding such a visit.”
Vatican Criticizes Italy Over Immigrant Ship Arrests
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, July 13 — The Vatican joined with the German government in denouncing the arrest of three officials on an aid ship that brought 37 Africans to Sicily July 12.
The ship, operated by the German aid agency Cap Anamur, was stranded offshore since June 20 because Italian officials refused to allow it to dock. After it finally received permission to dock July 12, the ship's captain and first mate and the head of the aid agency were immediately arrested on charges of aiding illegal immigration.
Police said some of the Africans claimed they were from Sudan's troubled
Darfur region. But the ANSA news agency said authorities determined that 30 of the men were from Ghana, six from Nigeria and one from Niger, the Associated Press reported.
German federal and state officials objected to the arrests, insisting in a joint statement, “Humanitarian actions must not be criminalized.”
The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, agreed with that assessment, commenting July 13 that “carrying out the duty of rescuing people, whatever their nationality, always takes priority.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Courting Trouble? DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:ROME — Last month, the Bush administration unexpectedly dropped its bid to have the U.N. Security Council renew for one more year the immunity the U.S. previously enjoyed from prosecutions by the International Criminal Court.
Many hailed the move as a necessary acknowledgement of the court's jurisdiction, particularly in light of the recent abuses of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers.
However, although it agreed for the time being to drop its campaign for an ICC exemption, the Bush administration is still opposed to the tribunal because it believes it could be used for politically motivated lawsuits against the American military and even against U.S. government leaders. Underlying this is a general American skepticism of international bodies like the ICC, widely seen as part of a growing trend to create undemocratic global bodies that encroach on domestic law and undermine national sovereignty in order to push controversial social agendas, under the guise of protecting human rights.
These concerns were given a full airing recently at a conference entitled “International Law, Democratic Accountability and Moral Diversity,” held in Rome June 13-14 and hosted by the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), the Culture of Life Foundation, the Federalist Society, the Ave Maria School of Law and the journal The National Interest.
Held at the residence of the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, and at Rome's Santa Croce University, it was attended by Vatican and Church officials, law professors, representatives of interest groups and journalists.
Judge Bork
The opening address was given by Judge Robert Bork, a former solicitor general under Richard Nixon who was once nominated for the Supreme Court by Ronald Reagan, and is a recent convert to the Catholic Church.
Judge Bork said that left-leaning intellectual elites, which he termed “Olympians,” were bypassing domestic constitutional laws and instead resorting to international tribunals and laws. Commonly, he said, these elites push their platforms through nongovernmental organizations that hold broad influence at the U.N. and with other international bodies.
Their agenda, Bork said, is “much the same domestically as in the U.S., except that it is perhaps more extreme.” The “Olympians” seek to achieve their vision on a “global scale by forging the people of the world into a single community based on the universal enjoyment of human rights.”
But given that their definition of human rights commonly embraces left-wing economic doctrines, radical environmentalism and controversial social policies such as on-demand abortion and homosexual rights, Bork explained that the internationalist ideologues “need coercion” to achieve their goals. Consequently, they want to establish international tribunals that can impose these agendas through the centralizing power of international bureaucracies.
Another speaker, John McGinnis of Northwestern University School of Law, believes that such a development is particularly dangerous and likely to result in higher costs for citizens because the international arena is “opaque” to most people and therefore largely unaccountable.
Judicial Tyranny
Also discussed was the increasingly unchecked power of the domestic judiciary and its challenge to democracy.
William Saunders of the Family Research Council cited a growing tendency for American courts to refer to international courts and tribunals in making decisions that reflect the same radical social vision shared by the intellectual elites that make up the majority of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Bork also alluded to this, saying that the Supreme Court justices have “begun to see themselves as participants in a worldwide constitutional conversation.”
According to another participant, Fernand Keuleneer, a practicing lawyer in Brussels, there is “nothing wrong” with a worldwide respect for the dignity of the human person, but seeking to enhance human dignity does not necessarily translate to the need to create a global legal system.
“Such a system,” he explained, “does not generally serve to achieve the goals which its promoters, of different political persuasion, seek to achieve.”
Rather, Keuleneer concluded, it “serves to redistribute power, to the detriment of autonomous and sovereign states and for the benefit of global players, sometimes of doubtful legitimacy.”
But outside the conference, some were quick to oppose this critique of international law, especially in reference to human rights.
According to Geraldine Mattioli, an international justice advocate at Human Rights Watch, in the case of the ICC, there are “many safeguards” to prevent anti-Western or anti-American bias from interfering with the judicial process.
“The court is there to prevent or prosecute people for serious war crimes such as genocide which are currently banned in customary law,” Mattioli said. “The ICC makes it more likely that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.”
Pro-family U.N. lobbyists who participated in the1998 negotiations that resulted in the ICC's Rome Statute counter that left-wing NGOs actively sought to write their agendas into the statute. In particular, they point to the successful campaign by radical feminist NGOs to include the term “forced pregnancy” as a “war crime” and “crime against humanity” falling under the jurisdiction of the ICC.
In legal arguments before U.S. courts, the same feminist lawyers who fought in Rome for the inclusion of “forced pregnancy” have defined the term to mean any denial of abortion access. A leading feminist activist admitted in a private meeting in Geneva two months before the Rome negotiations began that feminists had deliberately introduced the term into U.N. discussions as a subterfuge for advancing abortion rights.
In the context of the ICC statute, determined efforts by the Holy See and pro-life national delegations resulted in a final definition of “forced pregnancy” that states that it cannot be used to overturn national laws regarding that limit or ban abortion.
But pro-lifers warn that abortion activists continue to press for a redefinition of “forced pregnancy” at the U.N. level that would allow the term to be used as a club to force Catholic and Muslim countries to rewrite their abortion laws.
The Catechism of the Catholic
Church states that in reference to the principle of subsidiarity, “a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to co-ordinate its activities with the rest of society, always with a view to the common good” (No. 1883).
In the opinion of the delegates at last month's conference in Rome, international legal bodies such as the ICC have yet to prove that they intend to conform with this Catholic understanding of subsidiarity and the common good.
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
(Register staff contributed to this report.)
----- EXCERPT: Rome Conference Discusses Perils of International Criminal Court ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Ultrasound Re-ignites British Abortion Debate DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:LONDON — British Prime Minister Tony Blair's indication that there may be a possible reduction in the legal time limit of when abortions can be carried out, because of scientific developments, has drawn mixed responses from pro-life groups and Church leaders in Britain.
A week after British newspapers published ultrasound pictures showing 12-week-old babies moving, sucking their thumbs and even seeming to walk in the womb, Blair suggested that Britain's current 24-week time limit for abortions for “social” reasons could be shortened.
“I have not had an opportunity myself to study in detail the evidence that has been provided,” Blair said July 7 in the House of Commons. “But I am sure that if the situation does change then it would be advisable for us to have another look at the whole question. If the scientific evidence has shifted, then it is obviously sensible for us to take that into account. If we have proposals to put before the House, we will put them.”
The abortion debate was reignited after a new type of ultrasound scan last month produced vivid pictures of a 12-week-old fetus in the womb. The 3-D scan was developed by Stuart Campbell, an obstetrician and professor at a private London clinic.
Meanwhile, Lord Steel, the architect of Britain's 1967 Abortion Act, which set a time limit of 28 weeks before it was reduced to 24 weeks in 1990, has led calls for the time limit to be reduced to 22 weeks. However, he also wants mothers to be able to have abortions on demand in the first three months of pregnancy, as happens in France. In the UK, two doctors must agree to the termination.
Lord Steel said restricting a mother's right to an abortion by reducing the 24-week upper limit had to be balanced by the fact that some fetuses had survived after being born at 22 weeks into a pregnancy. “I think people find it very repugnant to think you are getting close to the point where you are not dealing with a fetus but with the possibility of a baby,” he said.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster said, “The Catholic Church has always been totally opposed to abortion. The latest pictures of a child in the womb have rightly shocked people into rethinking the morality of the present law. I am very glad the prime minister has given his support to a review.”
Archbishop Peter Smith of Cardiff, chairman of the bishops' conference Department of Christian Responsibility and Citizenship said, “I would warmly welcome a review of the legal time limit for abortions. Advances in fetal medicine reveal more and more clearly the humanity of the unborn child. Faced with this evidence, it is not surprising that so many people now call for a change in the abortion law.”
Added Archbishop Smith, “Tragically, our present law has been used to sanction killing the unborn on a massive scale. I hope that people of all faiths and none will mobilize the political will to curb the practice of abortion which undermines the very foun
ner of the Bishops-Ulama (Islamic scholars) Conference in the southern Philippines, also said fellow coconvener Mahid Mutilan, vice governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, appealed via satellite television to an Iraqi Muslim leader after meeting with de la Cruz's family.
The vice governor was flown to Clark Field in Pampanga, where he made the appeal.
The de la Cruz family is from a farming community about 40 miles northwest of Manila.
Archbishop Capalla said Mutilan told Iraqi religious leaders in Arabic: “Christians and Muslims have been in dialogue for many years, working with each other for peace in Mindanao. If you kill this man now, you are destroying our efforts for peace in the Philippines and it would not be a correct interpretation of Islam.”
As a result of the appeal, 32 dation of a civilized society.”
Professor Jack Scarisbrick, national chairman of the anti-abortion group Life, reacted more cautiously to calls for the lowering the legal time limit for abortion.
“There is a worrying aspect to this review,” Scarisbrick said. “The pro-abortion lobby, and in particular Lord Steel, and leading abortion providers such as the Family Planning Association, has seized upon this rethink on the time limit to call for early abortion to be made even easier. If this is the eventual outcome, then it is something to be feared.”
Added Scarisbrick, “The latest pictures of children walking in the womb, sucking their thumbs, smiling and even crying, have certainly pricked consciences. But it seems that we are considering lowering the legal limit dependent on the stage at which the most striking and appealing pictures of unborn babies occur. An unborn child's life is just as valuable on the day of its conception as it is when it begins ‘walking,’ smiling and sucking its thumb.”
Trojan Horse?
Anthony Ozimic, political secretary of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, attacked Lord Steel's contribution to the debate.
“Lord Steel's proposal is not aimed at reducing the numbers of abortions, as his call for a general ban on abortions after 12 weeks was accompanied with a promotion of abortion on demand before 12 weeks,” Ozimic said. “Lord Steel is trying to lead parliamentarians into the trap of repeating the mistake of 1990, when a bill to restrict the time limit for abortions backfired and led to the legalization of abortion up to birth for handicap.”
Said Ozimic, “Parliamentarians owe it to the smallest and vulnerable human beings not to back half-baked proposals which will lead to even more killing by abortion. Parliamentarians must not be deceived by such Trojan horses, which hide an agenda for total deregulation of abortion.”
Added Ozimic, “It is essential that legislative proposals aimed at changing the abortion law are not put to parliament in this, the most anti-life parliament in history, because we are certain that a majority of MPs would vote to make abortion even more widely available. The pro-abortion lobby are not only actively campaigning for abortion on demand but also for abortions to be performed by non-doctors, the specific targeting of nurses to become abortion-ists and the provision of chemical abortion in family planning clinics.”
Greg Watts writes from London.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Greg Watts ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:Massive Ads Block View of Roman Churches
CHICAGO TRIBUNE, July 12 — A lovely 16th-century church sits atop Rome's famed Spanish Steps, but tourists visiting the Eternal City this summer aren't likely to notice it -because these days, it's draped in a massive ad for L'Oreal beauty products.
The L'Oreal banner is the latest in a series of controversial advertisements that obscure Roman monuments, the Tribune reported. The Campo di Fiori, the Piazza Navona and the Piazza di Spagna are among the other Roman landmarks currently sporting huge commercial ads.
A 1997 law authorized the sale of advertising on scaffolding to cover the costs of Roman restorations. Critics complain that scaffolding is often erected solely to make money, and such criticism escalated this May after a 2,000-square-foot lipstick ad featuring a huge pair of red lips was placed across the facade of the Trinita dei Monti Church above the Spanish Steps.
The cosmetics ad was subsequently toned down but remains in place.
Another building generating controversy is the 7th-century San Silvestrino Church, an English-language church owned by the Interior Ministry. While scaffolding has been up there for a year, restoration of the church facade remains nowhere near completion.
Said Father Dennis O'Brien, San Silvestrino's Irish rector, “It's been a very negative experience, and I don't know when it's going to end.”
Violence Erupts At North Belfast Parade
BBC NEWS, July 13 — Twenty-five Northern Irish police officers were injured July 12 after coming under attack from stone- and bottle-throwing nationalist youths in north Belfast.
The incident occurred when youths following a contentious Protestant Orange parade passed by a predominantly Catholic neighborhood, BBC News reported. None of the injuries were serious, a police spokesman said.
Nationalist leaders accused the Northern Ireland Parades Commission of helping to provoke the confrontation by allowing members of the Ballysillan Orange lodge to parade past the neighborhood of Ardoyne as they returned from participation in Northern Ireland's largest Protestant march in south Belfast .
To diminish the possibility of violence, the paraders were accompanied by a massive contingent of police and soldiers, BBC News reported. The security forces erected screens to shield the Orangemen from nationalist protesters, and Ardoyne shops were blocked by a line of police vehicles.
Thousands of Orangemen took part in the annual Twelfth of July celebrations across Northern Ireland. The Orangemen demonstrate each year to commemorate Prince William of Orange's Battle of the Boyne victory over Catholic King James II in 1690.
Hong Kong Wants to Host Vatican exhibit
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL, July 12 — Hong Kong's Communist-controlled government has offered to host an exhibition of Vatican artifacts. If the exhibition takes place, it will mark the first time Vatican art is displayed on Chinese soil.
A spokesman for Patrick Ho, Hong Kong's Secretary for Home Affairs, said negotiations with the Vatican were initiated during Ho's trip to Rome in September, the South China Morning Post reported July 12. Final approval had not yet been given for the display but it appeared “highly likely,” the paper said.
The exhibition could occur as early as 2006.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: How to Defend Marriage DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:Here is an updated version of our resource list of arguments and actions for readers.
Why homosexual marriage is wrong.
World cultural and legal history has never thought of marriage as anything but one thing: the union of a man and a woman.
But just as most abortion proponents want to skip the debate about when life begins and argue about “choice” instead, most homosexual activists want to skip the argument about what marriage is.
Instead, they argue about rights or about discrimination. But the fact is, the law already severely restricts who can and can't marry. Marriage is restricted by age, by previous marriage status and by kinship, for starters. And marriage necessarily has to be “discriminatory.” Its definition has to exclude other pairings (roommates, brothers and sisters, etc.) from claiming the benefits given to married couples.
Why does society have to restrict marriage so severely? Because marriage performs a crucial function for society. Its purpose is the propagation and protection of children, and to conform sexual relationships to morality. Homosexual “marriage” would do none of these things.
If either of your parents chose a homosexual marriage, you wouldn't be here. And the uncomfortable truth that few are acknowledging is that homosexual lifestyles are not healthy — physically, emotionally or morally.
Proctologists advertise heavily in homosexual publications, because homosexual sex injures its participants. Even in countries where homosexuality is accepted, homosexuals suffer higher rates of depression and suicide than the general public.
And children are bound to suffer if their parents are part of the homosexual scene. From the Village People song “YMCA” to the Showtime television show “Queer as Folk,” homosexual culture has long celebrated sex with teens. One of the most-often searched for pornography terms on the Internet is “twink,” which is homosexual slang for underage teen-age boys. In The Gay Report, by homosexual researchers Karla Jay and Allen Young, the authors report data showing that 73% of homosexuals surveyed had at some time had sex with boys 16 to 19 years of age or younger.
What will follow homosexual marriage?
It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that legalized homosexual marriage will mean simply keeping things the way they are, only offering health benefits to homosexual couples.
In fact the changes will be dramatic: Public schools will include texts and materials treating the two types of marriages identically. If you die, your children could be adopted by either a homosexual couple or a heterosexual couple — to prefer one over the other would be illegal prejudice. Homosexual couples would be spotlighted whenever romance is spotlighted: On Valentine's Day at the public library, in Christmas specials on television, and in billboards on the Interstates.
Why a marriage amendment is needed.
Now that homosexual marriage is legal in Massachusetts, it will effectively be legal in your state, too. Federal precedent protects the status of people who move from state to state. Some 80% of the people who entered into civil unions in Vermont left the state after that. It will be the same in Massachusetts.
Many argue that marriage laws ought to be a state matter. But a national situation requires a federal response — and it's easier to have one fight at the federal level rather than to wage 50 battles when losing any one would mean a total loss.
What you can do.
Watching the Priest Watcher
The essay “Careful, Priest: The World Is Watching” by Renee Schafer Horton (Commentary, July 11-17) has troubled me on several levels.
First, a priest doesn't have a “job” or a “career.” As Mrs. Horton acknowledged, a priest has a calling or vocation. (See No. 1548 in the Catechism.)
Second, we as Catholics don't have “Sunday celebrations.” We have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, that glorious moment when the curtain between heaven and earth is torn away, and we are in the living presence of the eternal God. (See No. 1552.)
Third, I'm not sure what Mrs. Horton means when she refers to “re-examining models of priesthood.” (See Nos. 1577 and 1579.)
Finally, and most important, the Catechism states that “No one has a right to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders. Indeed no one claims this office for himself; he is called to it by God. … Like every grace this sacrament can be received only as an unmerited gift.” (See No. 1578.)
I would like to thank every priest who has answered God's call, and who has sacrificed his time, his personal life and his strength to be a living channel of God's grace for the people he serves. I pray for my parish priests regularly and, after reading Mrs. Horton's article, I will now pray for them daily.
Thank you, especially, to the priests who come as missionaries among us from faraway lands. We need you, you are valued, and I'm sorry you were described in Mrs. Horton's essay as “foreign priests with heavy accents.”
KARIN SHEPPARD
Mercer Island, Washington
Outrageous Endorsement
Regarding “Don't Judge Politicians” by Father James Conner, OCSO, of the Abbey of Gethsemani in Trappist, Kentucky (May 30-June 5):
How outrageous that he gives an under-handed endorsement to Kerry in his letter. He also makes the false accusation that President Bush's position on abortion is weak, and that Bush will do as little as possible to cater to Catholics.
Bush's nominees for federal judgeships have been rejected by the Senate Democrats because the nominees are seen as pro-life. Bush supported and signed the ban on partial-birth abortion. Bush reinstated the “Mexico Policy,” which stops U.S. tax-payer funds from going to international agencies that support abortion, something begun by Reagan only to be suspended by Clinton -- and destined to be re-suspended should Kerry win.
Bush supported the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, making it a crime if an attacker also injures or kills the unborn baby, and the Child Custody Protection Act, making it a crime to transport a minor over state lines to obtain an abortion with the purpose to elude laws that the minor's parents must be informed/consenting before the minor obtains an abortion.
The bottom line is this: If abortion is a heinous crime, then the bishops should stop those who chronically support abortion from receiving holy Communion. To do otherwise tells the rank and file that abortion is really not so bad, not a grave sin.
Would the bishops dally if the murdering were against, say, African-Americans, Jews or Hispanics instead of the pre-born?
DANIEL J. BARTON
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Destroy Dehumanization
I would like to comment on your editorial “What Would Reagan Do?” (June 27-July 3).
As a leader in the pro-life movement for 30 years, I have always been very aware of the power of words. Therefore, I come to you with a constructive suggestion.
In that editorial, you state that “research requires destruction of the boy or girl embryo.” In the following paragraph, you speak of “contributing to the destruction of nascent life” and of “without killing an embryo.”
Let me criticize the first two “destructions” and praise the final “killing.” When you use the word destruction, you subtly dehumanize the subject being done in. When you use the word kill, you very abruptly humanize the subject being done in.
Let me suggest that, in the future, you bear this in mind and always use the proper terminology when discussing abortion. Please remember that we destroy things, but we kill people.
J.C. WILKE, M.D. President of Life Issues Institute, Inc. Cincinnati
Willing Life
Regarding “Penitential Plea” (Letters, June 27-July 3):
This letter touched a weak spot inside of me. In asking for Register readers' advice on writing his living will, the writer (whose name was withheld) reminded me how, as a youngster, I would do almost anything to avoid pain. I hated fights, dentists, confrontations, whatever. When I heard mission preacher Father Stephen Barham spend a whole night teaching that the opposite of faith is not really unbelief but fear, he actually scared me. He made me realize that, by avoiding difficult situations, I was really trying to play God.
How can that be, you ask? Well, so did I. The good Father pushed me in the right direction, but it took me years to really learn that God does not allow problems to come our way without giving us the strength to handle them.
Jesus himself is our best example. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed to his Father that, if possible, he would not have to suffer and die for us. Yet he prayed “not my will, but yours” be done.
Being a good Christian takes a lot of humility, because we all know what is best for us. But God changes the subject completely by insisting that we are not our own God. He has better things in store for us than we can imagine, but we have to trust him, because in our earthly viewpoint, damaged by original sin, we just can't see it without grace.
It is unnatural to put our fears in God's hands and trust him, even to natural death. But if we really trust, he will never allow anything to come to us but what is for our good. Trust him, and he sends us his own strength to go through whatever is necessary. And finally: Pray, pray, pray.
JOE CALLAGHER
Bakersfield, California
What's in a Headline?
Regarding “Democrat Kerry is Most ʻCatholic' in Senate” (June 13-19):
We are appalled to find this article in your paper. One would expect this Democratic spin to appear in publications such as the New York Times. As Catholics and Republicans, we take exception to that description of Mr. Kerry or for any of the claimed to be Catholics mentioned in the article. It is time the Catholic clergy and bishops realize that the Democratic Party has abandoned the principles that we were taught in our 70-plus years as practicing Catholics.
We are seriously considering not renewing our subscription to the National Catholic Register if this is the philosophy of your publication.
BOB AND FRAN LUNDY
Pahrump, Nevada
Santorum's Strategy
Thank you for putting the question to Sen. Rick Santorum regarding his support for Sen. Arlen Specter over Rep. Pat Toomey (“Santorum Defends Specter Campaign,” June 20-26). I was as disappointed in Santorum's response as I was in his decision to support Specter.
Santorum says, “I think there are far too many churches, particularly Catholic churches, that are not teaching the faith and integral parts of the faith having to do with abortion.”
I don't know where he's been, but I think the Catholic Church has made it abundantly clear that we have a moral obligation to vote in a manner consistent with our faith. We need to support pro-life candidates over pro-abortion ones.
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs has even gone so far as to say that Catholics who vote for politicians who support homosexual marriage or abortion are banned from Communion until they have confessed their sin.
So where does that leave Santorum, who presumably voted for Specter and certainly encouraged everyone else to?
The Catholic Church has always taught that “It is not licit, even for the gravest reasons, to do evil so that good may follow there from” (Humanae Vitae). Santorum's reasoning seemed to do just that. His “more sophisticated approach” sounded a lot like political justification for abandoning his principles.
As for changing hearts and minds, I think we give a better witness by remaining steadfast in our convictions rather than hedging our political bets.
Arlen Specter has not gotten my vote in the past, and this year I will write in Pat Toomey.
MARIA KEY
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Inquisition Inquirer DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:“New Vatican Study Sets the Record Straight” (June 27-July 3), regarding a reappraisal of the Inquisition, is good news indeed.
Your readers may be interested to know that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) produced a scholarly TV documentary, “The Myth of the Spanish Inquisition,” in 1994. The findings of the historians featured in the documentary appear to support the conclusions of the Vatican's six-year study mentioned in the Register article, i.e., that the Spanish Inquisition's alleged barbarities have been grossly exaggerated by contemporary Protestants.
The fact that the Inquisition is still regarded as synonymous with fiendish cruelty is evidence of one of the most successful smear campaigns in history.
Given the BBC's anti-Catholic bias, its 1994 documentary may well have been something of an aberration. I have a hunch that its producer was severely reprimanded, because seven years later, the BBC returned to form with yet another Inquisition documentary - this one unequalled for its mean-spirited bigotry.
KEVIN TIGHE
Los Angeles
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kevin Tighe ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Religion: The Greatest Danger? DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:If you were to design a religion, would it be the Catholic Church? I doubt it.
And why should it be? Surely each of us, given his druthers, would tweak doctrine, practice or liturgy this way or that.
In the course of history, there have been plenty of tweakings to the faith of the apostles — indeed, that's the very raison d'Être of Protestantism, with Luther demanding that the faith be changed one way, Calvin another, King Henry VIII another still, Seventh-day Adventists yet another, ad infinitum. And today the Protestant tweaking of Christianity is only part of a far broader mix-and-match “spirituality” that takes a little Buddhism, a little Judaism, a little infantilism.
This seems absurd if the goal is objective truth. But, of course, that's not the goal. The goal is self-affirmation, and such self-affirmation can quickly become moralistic coercion. As Karen King of the Harvard Divinity School has said: “Today we have a need to take responsibility for the kind of religion we create.”
For a Catholic, the idea that “we create” our religion is nonsensical. The Catholic Church explains reality, and we accept it just as we accept gravity and the existence of Alexander the Great. No religion is more assiduously based on history (the Church offers the only convincing explanation of the Resurrection), on reason and on logic (St. Thomas Aquinas, anyone?) than Catholicism.
The Church puts a premium on truth. But the popular desire to create one's own religion is at bottom a childish desire to create one's own “reality.” So while a Catholic expresses gratitude to God, the do-it-yourselfers can offer gratitude only to, well, themselves. And they can get pretty darn churlish when someone claims an objective standard of measure that infringes on their self-referential beliefs. This helps explain, I think, the ever more strident opposition of the secular Left to our “Bible-believing” president, George W. Bush.
Robert Reich, who served former President Clinton as secretary of labor, recently published in The American Prospect magazine an essay entitled “Bush's God.” He concluded on this note:
“The great conflict of the 21st century will not be between the West and terrorism. Terrorism is a tactic, not a belief. The true battle will be between modern civilization and anti-modernists; between those who believe in the primacy of the individual and those who believe that human beings owe their allegiance and identity to a higher authority; between those who give priority to life in this world and those who believe that human life is mere preparation for an existence beyond life; between those who believe in science, reason and logic and those who believe that truth is revealed through Scripture and religious dogma. Terrorism will disrupt and destroy lives. But terrorism itself is not the greatest danger we face.”
Like a good secular liberal, Reich never mentions Islam, focusing his ire instead on Bush and “America's religious right,” identified as “mostly right-wing evangelical churches, but also right-wing Southern Baptists, anti-abortion Catholics and even a smattering of extreme pro-Israeli and anti-Arab Jews.”
Still, one assumes that his reference to terrorism refers to Islamic terrorism, if only to discount it as a threat compared to the danger posed by those who “want to promote the teaching of creationism in public schools, encourage school prayer, support anti-sodomy statutes, ban abortions, bar gay marriage, limit the use of stem cells, reduce access to contraceptives, and advance the idea of America as a ʻChristian nation.'”
No doubt, as Reich implies, encouraging school prayer and protecting the unborn children one sees in ultrasounds is far more dangerous to the Republic than any Al Qaeda terrorist bombings that kill hundreds or thousands in the United States. Nevertheless, one might reasonably think that any analysis that conflates Islamic terrorism with Christianity; or conflates “the primacy of the individual” as an antonym for Christianity, which affirms the ineradicable value of every human life; or that conflates illogic with the Church that taught logic to the Western world is a pretty bankrupt analysis. But I reckon it's a pretty popular one, too.
People like Robert Reich often present themselves as independent thinkers, but they move as part of a herd. And, in the context of history, it is a herd that has blood on its hooves, as a quick recollection of how the forces of “reason” and “science” treated Catholics in the French Revolution, the Spanish Civil War, and the Communist revolutions of Mexico, Russia and East Asia might remind.
Indeed, the history of the last century was written in the blood of Christian and Jewish martyrs shed by anti-Christian and anti-Jewish pagans (National Socialists) and progressive “science,” as in the “scientific socialism” of the Soviet Union and its Communist fellow travelers.
If one accepts the scientific fact that an abortion stops a beating heart, then the blood on the hooves of the anti-Christian horde is greater still. The pile of dead — killed in the name of anti-Christian creeds in the 20th century — does not number in the thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands; it totals more than 100 million, dwarfing the death total of any other century.
The Catholic Church has nothing to fear from reason or logic — if only her opponents would engage the Church on those grounds. But don't count on that. The Left is already sharpening its guillotine for another go at “those who believe that truth is revealed through Scripture and religious dogma.” How else to ensure the triumph of “science, reason and logic” against “the greatest danger we face”?
Bliss is it in this dawn to be alive, to be sure, but to be a Catholic — well, that's going to be, as it always is, a challenge.
H. W. Crocker III is the author most recently of
Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church, A 2,000-Year History. His prize-winning comic novel The Old Limey and his book Robert E. Lee on Leadership are available in paperback.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: H. W. Crocker ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Universal Church, Global Village DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:Recently I was honored to be asked to give a talk to members of the Houses of Parliament in London, along with Catholic writers and journalists, on the intriguing topic of “The Catholic Church and the Global Village.”
It was easy to gain inspiration as I passed through St. Stephen's Gate and past the Great Hall, where the martyrs St. Thomas More and St. Edmund Campion were condemned to death for their faith. I am happy to report I emerged alive at the end of the talk, even though some of the questions were somewhat challenging.
Naturally, the Church, being the universal institution par excellence, has made understanding globalization a high priority. The Holy Father has made several comments about it in recent years. Judging from the Holy Father's statements, it is clear that the Church recognizes globalization is not going away, short of cataclysmic climate change (The day after tomorrow?) or nuclear world war. Or, I might add, the Second Coming.
The Church's response to the reality of globalization is that “the human person must be the centre of every civil and social order, of every system of technological and economic development.” The Holy Father says: “I am motivated by no other concern than to defend human dignity, and by no other authority than the Divine Word.” While the institutional Church works through diplomacy, as it has for thousands of years, it is clear that the Church's principal influence on the phenomenon of globalization will come through the free action and influence of its more than a billion Catholics.
Without the influence of Catholicism, the net result of globalization could well be either a quasi-totalitarian world government, inevitably exalting the rich and exploiting the poor, or a chaotic, free-market free-for-all with multinationals competing for market share. Either outcome would most likely strive to impose a sort of secular fundamentalism that would leave no room for religion in its public square.
This could well produce what John Paul II referred to in his encyclical on The Gospel of Life as a “new totalitarianism.” Of course, there is another possibility, rather far-fetched, I think, which is a world under the control of a resurgent Islam in its most extreme form.
At this point in history, there are only two global institutions, and one nation-state, that have a realistic claim for hegemony, of different sorts, over the world. One is the United Nations; the other, the Roman Catholic Church. The United States may be a third, but empires come and go, and it is not at all clear the United States will remain the sole world superpower; China and India with their enormous populations are making rapid economic progress.
Let's talk about the United Nations first. The United Nations' claim is based on the vision of its founders after the Second World War and its continuing participation in the proceedings of hundreds of member nation-states. It has proven to be ineffective, at least in part, in settling inter-country disputes, most of which have finished in violent conflicts. At the same time, it has proved fairly effective in what may be its best argument for continuance, which is its work of providing relief for disaster- or war-stricken nations.
However, there have been proposals made, at least in the United States, to form another world body, which would be made up of democracies that have seceded from the United Nations. The United Nations' membership is made up largely of de facto or de jure dictatorships, oftentimes making true discussion and viable agreements virtually impossible.
The Belgian Catholic theologian Michel Schooyans is concerned about the U.N. becoming a vehicle for a vision of the world that is atheistic with new-age accents. His fears are justified in the creation of an Earth Charter (to take the place of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights) under study by the U.N. that would promote “the creation of one unique new world religion that would entail right away the prohibition of proselytism on the part of all other religions.”
It is clear that there are many people of power interested in greatly increasing the global powers of the United Nations to the detriment of religious freedom, the principle of subsidiarity and the central role of the family. The Catholic Church would stand, perhaps, alone in opposing this concentration of power in a world government that hints at totalitarianism.
Perhaps for that reason, the Church continues its work in the United Nations, above all to give a Catholic voice, as well as to keep an eye on possible attempts at global hegemony via world government, rather than any real hope that, as currently constituted, the United Nations can be effective.
As for the United States, “the real question for the United States is whether they are going to follow the path of Europe into the de-Christianization and continental suicide via contraception, sterilization and abortion, or whether they are going to fight and win current culture wars. Orthodox Christianity is alive and well in the U.S. and growing, yet the country is increasingly polarized. The U.S., like Europe but to a lesser degree, suffers from what noted American thinker Francis Fukuyama describes as the “great disruption.”
He says the West has witnessed a disintegration of traditional family structures because of the birth-control pill, introduced in the early 1960s, and the demographic decline of native-born populations in the developed world because of contraception and the consequent need to increase immigration. “The growing cultural diversity those two trends augur raise questions about how pluralistic Western cultures can become without breaking apart.” In the U.S., however, the overwhelming bulk of immigration comes from Catholic Latin American countries and from Catholic Asians: Filipino, Vietnamese and Chinese. Europe's immigrants are largely Muslims, Turks and Hindi whose religion and culture are certainly not of the West.
Affecting these secular institutions is the enormous power of multinationals that are theoretically governed in part by their shareholders or by the consumers who use their products. In reality, their boards of directors, predominant shareholders or executive officers have powers that are increasingly exempt from national governance. I read recently that of the top 200 economic global entities in terms of net worth, 40 were multinationals, while the rest were nation-states. Many of the 40 multinationals were very high up in the rankings. How they fall under any governance except in a fragmentary way is a serious subject that must be examined. .
There are certainly many factors that account for globalization but most notable has to be the ever-increasing communication among people. Communication over distance started with chariots, horses and roads, moved on to the printing press, telegraph, telephone, radio and television, and now has arrived to the internet and worldwide web and who knows what development will take place next. A Christian can only exult at the possibilities of what the Holy Father has spoken about in his 2001 apostolic letter — Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the Beginning of the New Millennium) — when he speaks of the “New Evangelization” and the need for all Christians to ”go out into the deep” (Duc in Altum) to catch men.
I think that we should look at this reality from a supernatural viewpoint.
Our Lord taught the apostles and us at the end of his earthly life to go out into the whole world and preach the Gospel. Some sort of a healthy globalization helps the spreading of the Good News while protecting the things the Pope insists on: solidarity, the common good, the dignity of the human person. At least it affords the opportunity for all men and women and their families to hear and respond to the Gospel preached to them. A greater interdependence should promote the Christian solidarity of which the Holy Father speaks.
Some years back, I had a conversation with a British Nobel Laureate economist, Robert Mendel, who certainly does not consider himself a Christian. He told me that Catholicism indeed would be the global religion of Christianity on account of its history, with its core dogmatic and moral teachings serving as a sort of Gold Standard for the religious world.
So though the world has shrunk to a global village, the Church's mission and growth will continue to rely on the supernatural means of sacramental grace and prayer which will overflow into a greater service to all, especially those most in need. Indeed, due to globalization and productivity and to the implementation of the teachings of the last great ecumenical Council as seen through the historic pontificate of John Paul II, it may lead the Church to the greatest period of growth, both in numbers and in sanctity, in its history.
Many years ago, as a student, I read a book entitled Understanding Media by Catholic convert Marshall McLuhan.
He had converted to the Church as a result of reading G.K. Chesterton's book, “What's Wrong with the World.” McLuhan was perhaps the first person to see how quickly the world was coming together principally through the new means of communication. He coined the terms “The Medium is the Message” and “The Global Village.”
I believe the Church alone knows what's wrong with the world, and its message will be the best medium or remedy to solve the many problems of the global village in our new century.
Father C. John McCloskey III is a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei and a research fellow at the Reason and Faith
Institute in Washington, D.C.
www.frmccloskey.com
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father C. John Mccloskey ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: The Roe Effect: Aborted Voters DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:We know the bittersweet, post-war tale of how the lives of the people of Bedford Falls were touched by George Bailey, and how different things would have been if he had never existed.
It's a great lesson of the principle that absences have consequences.
Thirty-one years after Roe v. Wade, it's impossible to imagine what life would be like if those 40 million people were among us today, but theories abound. Some hard-hearted abortion activists like to say they would largely have been a criminal class and cite their absence as one reason for the nation's decreasing crime rate. Pro-lifers are fond of suggesting that among them was the one who would have discovered the cure for cancer.
The oldest would be turning 31 this year, and odds are they would have been very much like us — going to school, getting jobs and raising families. What's more, they would have voted, and their missing votes comprise what Wall Street Journal reporter James Taranto calls the “Roe Effect.”
The theory is that the practice of abortion is making America more conservative than it otherwise would be.
Two basic assumptions underlie the Roe Effect theory. One is that liberal women are more likely to have abortions than conservative women, and the other is that children tend to espouse the views of their parents. Thus, there are fewer and fewer children growing up to become pro-abortion adults — and this, according to the theory, has political ramifications.
The Guardian in London recently ran a story entitled “Mother Knows Best” which brings to mind the Roe Effect. The story discusses a recent study on the question of teen-agers and abortion by the University of Southampton Centre for Sexual Health. According to the study, young women tend to do what their own mothers would do in the same circumstance. Another study cited from the University of Leeds on moral decision-making and the family comes to the same conclusion: On the issue of abortion, most young women will simply internalize the view of those closest to them.
Does this contradict the memorable New York Times story, “Surprise, Mom: I'm Against Abortion”? Not necessarily. Pro-abortion baby boomers might well be baffled by their pro-life daughters, but theirs are not the only views that count. The views of those closest to teen-age girls include their best friends, too… friends who exist, odds would have it, because their own moms are pro-life, or at least because their moms didn't exercise the right to “choose” in their case. The latter holds true for the pro-life daughters of pro-abortion moms as well — and the Southampton study concluded that young women tend to do what their mothers would do.
Larry Eastland, discussing the Roe Effect recently in The American Spectator, claims it is well-settled social science that children tend to absorb the values of their parents, including their political views, and tend to develop the same lifestyle as their family. He calls children who were not born in a given year “missing voters” 18 years later, and calculates that abortions from 1973 to 1982 resulted in 12,785,800 missing voters in the year 2000. Not all people of voting age vote — in fact, only 51.2 percent of them voted in the 2000 election. With that in mind, the actual missing voters in the 2000 election was 6,033,097, according to Eastland. Do these missing votes count? In a race as close as the last one, there is little doubt. Abortions from 1973-1986 will result in 19,100,600 missing voters in this year's election, and by 2008 the figure could be 25,426,000, says Eastland. “Like an avalanche that picks up speed, mass and power as it thunders down a mountain,” he writes, “the number of missing voters from abortion changes the landscape of politics.”
How would they have voted? We get a clue from a survey done by Wirthlin Worldwide which asked, “As far as you know, has anyone close to you had an abortion?” The question included the phrase “close to you” in order to capture the people inside the respondents' circle of family and friends.
Of the 2,000 respondents, 636 people said “yes,” and an analysis of their socio-demographic characteristics revealed that Republicans have fewer abortions than their proportion of the population and Democrats have more than theirs. When Eastland matches party affiliation with the missing voter numbers above, the results are both interesting and grim: There are 14 million Republicans who are not with us today, but there are 20 million missing Democrats.
“Abortion has caused missing Democrats — and missing liberals,” says Eastland.
Sixty percent of Americans call themselves conservatives, he says, and only 25% of them are having abortions. By contrast, slightly more than one-third of Americans call themselves liberals, yet more than 40% of them are having abortions. This means that liberals are having one-third more abortions than conservatives. “For advocates so fundamentally committed to changing the face of conservative America,” Eastland says, “liberals have been remarkably blind to the fact that every day the abortions they advocate dramatically decrease their power to do so.”
Do Catholics promote large families for political reasons? The accusation is rather absurd. But if the Roe Effect is true, then the pro-abortion movement is actually killing itself.
Cathy Cleaver Ruse, Esq. is director of planning and information for the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Cathy Cleaver Ruse ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Spirit and Life DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:Down But Never Out
Lying on a gurney in an emergency room at St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham, Ala., waiting to be examined, I looked up at a clock on a wall and noticed the time: 9:50 a.m.
I had arrived by ambulance at St. Vincent's minutes earlier after having been transported from EWTN, where I slipped and fell. Hard. The pain was excruciating. I felt something tear and I was unable to get up. Later, X-rays would reveal that I had severed the tendons above both knees.
“How am I going to get back home to Boston?” I thought to myself. “Why did this happen?” I had many more questions than answers. Then, just when panic was about to block out all reason, I thought of the words “be not afraid.” Words of comfort repeatedly spoken by Christ to the apostles and his followers, by the angel Gabriel to Mary at the Annunciation and by Pope John Paul II at the beginning of his pontificate.
Almost immediately, a wave of peace washed over me. I thought: “You are in the world, but you are not of the world. As a baptized child of God, you belong to Christ. He is your hope and you need not be afraid.”
I had traveled to EWTN to appear on “Life on the Rock,” the show for young people hosted by Father Francis Mary Stone. The program was scheduled to air that night. I had been booked to speak about the role athletics can play in a Catholic's pilgrim journey to God. Needless to say, I never did make it. (A few weeks later, I was able to do a live telephone interview with Father Francis Mary during “Life on the Rock.”)
All this happened last November. Since that time, I have had multiple surgeries and one major re-injury. After the second set of operations, I developed pneumonia in both lungs and was hospitalized for 10 more days. My knees are in tough shape and daily life has become, quite literally, a grind.
What have I learned from this life-altering ordeal that all began with what I expected to be a special and joyful occasion?
First and foremost, that God will not leave us alone. If we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), we will always receive the help we need. Much of the aid is interior. But much of it comes from the people God puts in our life.
So many have assisted me, beginning with my wife, Mary Rose, who made the trip with me to Alabama and has been close by my side ever since. Then there were the wonderful people of EWTN, the emergency-medical technicians and even the helpful and sympathetic flight attendants. And I can never thank God enough for my orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Mark Caulkins, or the nurses who got me through the tough days and long, drawn-out nights with inspiring, vocation-like care and commitment.
And God sent me Father Ted Kofitse, a priest from Ghana, West Africa, who serves as assistant priest chaplain at my hospital, St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Brighton, Mass. Every day, without fail, a beaming Father Ted brought me closer to Jesus. He gave me Communion. He heard my confession, anointed me with oil, held my hand, prayed with me and was truly present, sharing his enormous faith. His visits strengthened me at a depth only God knows.
Today my rehab moves ahead. Slowly, but surely. I must use a cane but I no longer have to wear braces or use a walker. I can drive and I am able to get to Mass. I have a long way to go, but I know God will get me there if I cling to him. He hasn't let me down yet. Why would he start now?
Wally Carew, author of Men of Spirit, Men of Sports and A Farewell to Glory, writes from Medford, Massachusetts.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wally Carew ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Spanish Spiritual Conquest DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:I was totally unprepared for the throngs of visitors crowding the windswept mountain-top that Montserrat, Spain, calls home.
Montserrat is an oddly shaped mountain that cradles a shrine to the Blessed Mother and a Benedictine community. Legend has it that an image of Mary was found in one of the mountain caves in 880 A.D. In the 13th century, a polychromatic wooden carving of the Mother of God with baby Jesus on her lap was created to represent the original image. (Photos courtesy Press Service of Montserrat)
Knowing it was a famous shrine that's stood here for more than 1,000 years, I suppose I should have known better.
Still, I never suspected so many people would wend their way up the side of a steep, 4,000-foot mountain on adamp and dreary winter's afternoon. Yet once I experienced the place, just 30 minutes from Barcelona, it all made perfect sense. Now that the dog days of summer are upon us, it seems like a good time for a vicarious revisit to a place I remember as chilly on the outside but supernaturally heartwarming indoors.
Montserrat is an oddly shaped mountain that cradles a shrine to the Blessed Mother and a Benedictine community. Legend has it that an image of Mary was found in one of the mountain caves in 880 A.D. When its discoverers tried to take it in procession to the nearby city of Manresa, they were thwarted. The people took this as a sign the image must be worshipped right there on the mountain. The monastery was founded a few decades later.
In the 13th century, a polychromatic wooden carving of the Mother of God with baby Jesus on her lap was created to represent the original image. This is the same carving venerated by pilgrims today in the Montserrat Sanctuary's ornate basilica.
In 1223, historical documents note the presence of a boys choir at Montserrat, the first boys choir in Europe. The choir, or Escolania, still resides at Montserrat today. Fifty strong, the boys typically sing the Salve and Virolai at 1 p.m. after vespers.
The sanctuary was destroyed by Napoleon's army in 1811-12, and the monks were forced off the mountainside. They eventually returned only to be forced away again in the 1930s due to the Spanish Civil War. But despite these and other ordeals, the monks always returned, and the site remained holy.
Today Montserrat remains an important part of Catalonian and Catholic culture. The sanctuary contains the basilica and monastery, plus a museum, restaurants, several footpaths to various shrines and lodging facilities.
Rewarding Trek
During my recent visit, the hustle and bustle of the complex's main drag was distracting. So my family and I started off on the footpath to the Chapel of the Holy Grotto, built into the mountainside around 1700. Expecting a 45-minute walk, we began down the sloping path, sack lunches in hand. Sculptures created by various artists mark the mysteries of the rosary.
As we walked along the mountainside path, a cold wind whipped around us, making us feel like true pilgrims. We were filled with admiration for all of those who had come before us to worship here across the long centuries before modern amenities were available.
Finally we spied the chapel, a terra cotta-colored structure that seemed to be growing out of the mountainside. We soon discovered why: Inside, the altar's backdrop is the actual grotto where the image was reportedly found more than 1,000 years ago. A reproduction of the basilica's carving rests here. Just off the chapel are several smaller rooms such as the pilgrims' room, filled with objects visitors left in thanksgiving for prayers answered — baby clothes, shoes and photos in thanks for healthy children.
Halfway through our second walk — the Way of the Cross — a sudden mountain snowstorm, complete with thunder and lightning, forced us to turn back. Our walks were over for the day, but the basilica and holy image lie ahead. We joined a chattering line of pilgrims queued up outside the basilica's right-side door, where you enter to venerate the image. The line moved rather quickly past five of the basilica's side chapels but slowed for the remainder of the way. This proved a blessing in disguise, as the sights were stunning.
A large, arched alabaster doorway, decorated with biblical references related to Mary, opens onto a glittering stairway. Its interior walls are adorned with colorful mosaics depicting virgin saints (right side) and those who were mothers (left). The ceiling is also ornately decorated.
At the top of the stairs we stepped into a sparsely furnished room; its main feature is a large armoire containing three flags. Their presence next to the Blessed Virgin is thought to help independent-minded Catalonians live in reconciliation, solidarity and brotherhood with all while maintaining their own identity. Sparkling doors of repoussÉ silver lead to the holy image, which rests on a throne of polished stone from the mountain.
Universal Queen
Finally the chattering crowd quieted, and we silently processed to the image. Our Lady is safely ensconced behind an oval glass, but her right hand, which holds a sphere symbolizing the universe, protrudes out of an opening. The traditional ritual for venerating the Blessed Virgin is to kiss or touch her right hand while opening your other hand out to Jesus, who gives us eternal life.
Some people bowed in front of the image while others touched the glass reverently. Still others followed the traditional ritual. When I approached, I quickly saw the Virgin is a “Black Virgin” because her face and hands have a dark hue. Interestingly, the dark color is not from the wood, which isn't black, nor from earlier coatings of paint. It has simply darkened over the years, although her right hand and the orb have been rubbed to a caramel-colored sheen.
After our veneration, we ducked into the resplendent Mother of God chapel next door, which features stunning paintings, stained glass and other objects. My favorite: a vibrant sculpture of St. George, patron saint of Catalonia, slaying the dragon.
We departed the basilica via the “Ave Maria Path,” lit by thousands of candles, all representing silent prayers to Mary. The snow had stopped and we tramped back to our car, almost forgetting to enjoy the stunning mountainside views. We might not have seen as much of Montserrat as we'd have liked, but our hearts and souls were full.
Melanie Radzicki McManus writes from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.
----- EXCERPT: Sanctuary of Our Lady of Montserrat, Spain ----- EXTENDED BODY: Melanie Radzicki Mcmanus ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:SUNDAY, JULY 25
Baseball Hall of Fame Ceremonies
ESPN Classic, 1:30 p.m., live; ESPN2, 6 p.m., highlights
Baseball's storied hall admits Paul Molitor and Dennis Eckersley to its pantheon of all-time heroes. Nearly 50 Hall of Famers will be on hand to salute Molitor, who piled up 3,319 hits as he batted .306 over 21 seasons, and “The Eck,” the only hurler to amass at least 100 wins and 100 saves.
MONDAYS
The Loretta Young Show
Familyland TV, 9 p.m.
They should make 'em like this nowadays. Glamorous Catholic actress Loretta Young hosted this classic 30-minute drama show on NBC from 1953 to 1961. She appeared in just over half of the plays, and Catholic actor Ricardo Montalban and many more leading men and ladies guest-starred. At the end of each show, Young read poetry or verses from Scripture to reinforce the drama's lessons about life and love.
MON.-THU., JULY 26-29
Classroom: California, Here We Come
History Channel, 6 a.m. daily
These four installments cover prehistory through the Franciscan missions, the secularization period and Yankee influx, the Gold Rush and on up to modern times.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 28
Container Ships
Discovery Channel, 9 p.m.
Ships that haul cargo stored in large containers are so massive nowadays that ports must modify themselves in order to accommodate them.
THURSDAY, JULY 29
In the Name of Science
Discovery Channel, 10 p.m.
Four scientists see if they can turn a trailer into a rocket.
SATURDAY, JULY 31
Solanus Casey: Priest, Porter, Prophet
EWTN, 5:30 p.m.
Bernard Francis Casey (1870-1957) and his brothers formed a complete baseball team in their youth. As a prison guard for a brief time, “Barney” helped convert Wild West desperado Cole Younger into going straight for the rest of his life. Finding his vocation as a Capuchin priest, Barney, now Father Solanus, became known as a kind and humble miracle-worker of great sanctity who influenced untold thousands of people - and remained a Detroit Tigers fan to the end.
SATURDAY, JULY 31
IR: Return to the Killing Fields
A&E, 6 p.m.
In this Investigative Reports episode, Bill Kurtis visits Cambodia to assess the aftermath of the genocide committed there between 1975 and 1979. In a crime against humanity that embodied every bit of the megalomania, insane ideology and blood lust that is atheistic communist totalitarianism, the Khmer Rouge (“Red Khmer”) drove everyone out of the cities into slave labor camps and murdered several million men, women and children in an attempt to create a Marxist society. Advisory: TV PG.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Daniel J. Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Is Your Computer Spying on You? DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:A few years ago I boarded a bus in a small town in Colombia.
A man got on and began offering a food product to the passengers. Down the aisle he went, handing one item to each person on board.
When he finished, he went around and asked each person for one of two things: money or the item back. His idea, I suppose, was that once the product was in a prospect's hands he or she would have a harder time resisting it. (In my case, his strategy worked.)
Apparently this aggressive marketing tactic is now being deployed on the Internet. I turned on my computer one day and a few new program icons appeared. One of the programs running was a calendar-reminder. I figured it must be related to Microsoft Works, which I was using already, so I opened the program. Up came a screen that neither looked like Microsoft Works nor contained any of my reminder entries. I scratched my head and wondered where this program had come from.
Now, other people do use this computer. I checked with them. Did anyone download anything? The answer was a resounding and unanimous No. So I looked at Start>Programs>Startup. New programs had been added to the computer startup menu. Suspecting we'd been infiltrated by malware — that's short for malicious software — I ran Ad-Aware by Lavasoft (available at www.lavasoftusa.com) and, sure enough, it detected a malicious program at work.
What made this program malicious? First of all, it was installed on our computer without our asking for it, either by e-mail or Web browsing. Second, this program then began downloading other programs and installing them on our computer, again without our permission or even knowledge, bypassing even our Internet firewall. The calendar-reminder program seemed to have caused no particular damage. But what other programs, and from whom, would it download next?
Here's the thing. The programs the malware downloaded seemed to be free and useful — but the way they were foisted on me did little to endear their marketers to me. Yes, the “Colombian bus” approach worked on me when the product being peddled was food. But software is no little snack.
I also know that one aim behind many a sneaky installation is to set up programs that track where you go and what you buy on the Internet. This information is of great value to companies that want to market products and services tailored just to you. Unlike viruses, which are nothing but mischievous (albeit sometimes maliciously so), “spyware” is out to set you up as a target for sales pitches.
Once I removed the malware with Ad-Aware, I further had to uninstall all the other programs that had been installed unbeknownst to us. Nothing new has appeared since the housecleaning; however, I had another experience on a different computer similar to malware.
I opened Internet Explorer one day to discover a “search bar” added to my usual Explorer toolbar. It was not a command icon I recognized. And, as you might have already figured out, I don't like things changing on my computer without my consent. And I know that “add-ons” to Internet Explorer make up the majority of crashes in the browser program. The new search bar not only looked different, but it also used a search engine I had never heard of before. I decided to get rid of it.
On Explorer I went, opening View>Toolbars. Normally you can uncheck a toolbar and it will disappear. In this case, all toolbars listed were grayed out, meaning they were unavailable for selection. Next I looked at Tools>Internet Options>Advanced. I unchecked “Enable third-party browser extensions.” This took away the toolbar.
Still concerned that this unknown toolbar software might be lurking on our hard drive, I went into the Windows Registry and searched for the toolbar name. It appeared several times. My first impulse was to delete those registry entries. But I feared doing so might mess up Explorer.
I went to the Web site used by the search toolbar and clicked on the FAQ (frequently asked questions) section. Sure enough, others wanted to uninstall this thing. The company claimed that if Explorer had been altered, it was because the customer wanted the change. I never wanted it. I was fortunate, though, as I was able to download a program that promised to uninstall this toolbar — and it actually worked.
Microsoft has noticed that certain people are exploiting Windows and Explorer. Some “holes” malicious hackers use were meant to be helpful, such as Explorer add-ons. The Windows XP SP2 update contains many security enhancements and feature additions for Explorer. I encourage you to download it, as the new Web browser will offer a “Manage Add-ons” feature. Any add-on to Explorer can be easily disabled. It will include an advanced popup blocker along with a download blocker that will analyze attempted downloads and determine whether they were the result of user choice or some stealthy “push” from the outside. In the latter case, the toolbar will notify the user of the attempted download and offer the opportunity to make a decision. And Explorer will be set to the highest security settings by default.
With current versions of Windows, security settings are scattered all over. The Windows XP SP2 update will have a single security-control panel. Red and green lights will indicate the security level of individual settings.
It is hoped Microsoft will make these updates available to other versions of Windows as well. All this added security should make Internet surfing what it was meant to be: useful, informative, fun — and free of “Colombian bus” sales schemes.
Brother John Raymond, co-founder of the Monks of Adoration, writes from Venice, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: Beware free stuff you didn't ask for ----- EXTENDED BODY: Brother John Raymond ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Month Web Picks DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:All of us have people in our lives for whom we would like to have Masses offered, whether they're living or deceased. Let's look at some online sites that offer this service or contain information about it.
A good place to start is the Carmel Mission of St. Charles Borromeo, which offers information explaining Mass intentions and stipends at carmelmission. org/massintention.htm and a short article by Father Paul Turner at rpinet.com/ml/2803bi2.html.
The Society of the Divine Word takes Mass intentions at svd-ca.org/holymass.htm and asks for an offering of $15 per Mass.
You can request Mass cards and pick them out online through the Capuchins at capuchin.com/sma/ MassIntent/MassIntent.htm. Mass-intention requests are sent to their missionaries throughout the world. An offering of $5 per Mass is requested.
The Augustinians of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova offer Mass Cards online that will be sent to you to fill out and send to the recipient for a $5 offering at augustinian.org.
Many more sites with Mass offerings can be found under the Religious Men category at monksofadoration.org/religmen.html.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Brother John Raymond ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video Picks DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:The Mask of Zorro (1998)
A sequel of sorts to all tales of the adventures of Zorro, The Mask of Zorro is a rousing, witty, wholesome swashbuckling tale of two masked avengers. One is the familiar Don Diego (Anthony Hopkins), aging champion of the oppressed, whose career ended with capture and imprisonment. The other is a scruffy rogue named Alejandro (Antonio Banderas) who has a grudge against the villains, but must first learn the meaning, as well as the methods, of heroism.
The Mask of Zorro is a rare action-adventure tale in which the villains' scheme is more than a boilerplate evil plot that hardly matters. The story is actually clever and memorable. The injustices inflicted aren't mere cruelty, but serve the bad guys' agenda and the plot. And the story's moral themes — family, honor, defending the poor — aren't just tacked on, but are integral to the drama.
Remarkably, Catholic priests are for once portrayed in a positive light. And the light-hearted romance between the younger Zorro and the heroine (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is refreshingly chaste.
Content advisory: Much stylized violence and a few deaths; mild innuendo; one scene involving a decapitated head in a jar; fleeting rear nudity.
Becket (1964)
Twice in 500 years, an ambitious British king named Henry had an engaging chancellor named Thomas who was forced to oppose his king over attacks upon the Church. Each Thomas resigned as chancellor and heroically followed his conscience, despite persecution and finally martyrdom. Each became a saint and had his story made into a play later adapted as an Oscar-winning, faith-affirming film.
While lacking the depth of A Man for All Seasons, Becket remains a masterpiece: reverent, well-made, spectacular. O'Toole roars magnificently in laughter and rage, Burton is impressive in his austere reserve, and the English locations are glorious. The high ritual of ecclesiastical ceremony is reproduced in impressive and reverent detail, and the magnificent score includes fine Latin chant.
Content advisory: Offscreen sexual immorality and some demeaning treatment of female characters; coarse language; some violence, including a murder/martyrdom.
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
They have dirty faces, but they're no angels. Tough young hoods on Manhattan's lower East Side, the Dead End Kids may tolerate sincere, savvy Father Jerry (Pat O'Brien) and his efforts to turn them from the wrong path — but it's in Father Jerry's boyhood chum, infamous gangster Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney), that the Kids find a kindred spirit.
Father Jerry has enormous affection for his old friend, but he's also coldly clear-eyed about what his friend has become and emphatically does not want the young toughs of his streets following in Rocky's footsteps. Yet who can blame the Dead End Kids for wanting to do so? Who's more interesting, Pat O'Brien or Jimmy Cagney?
As the conflict escalates, both men remain true to character, with inevitable results.
In its famous climax, the film unfortunately sullies its intended uplifting message by involving immoral means to bring about noble ends. This misstep diminishes the film but doesn't entirely negate its moral message. (See full review at DecentFilms.com for a more detailed analysis.)
Content advisory: Violence ranging from face-slappings to murderous gunplay; a depiction of capital punishment.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:37 and Counting
THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE, July 7 — With the ordination of three new priests this summer, Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, Calif., now boasts 37 alumni priests.
The priests serve across the United States and abroad, including dioceses in New York, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, North Dakota, New Jersey and Argentina. Others are in religious orders, including Benedictines, Cistercians, Norbertines, Oblates of Wisdom and Oblates of the Virgin Mary, according to a press release from the school. Many are members of the Legionaries of Christ.
“We're not a seminary,” college president Thomas Dillon said. “But we recognize that despite our human frailty, the college's unwavering fidelity to Christ and his Church … provides fertile soil for the cultivation of religious vocations.”
Unconstitutional Program?
WNDU (Indiana), July 8 — Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education program has come into question after the American Jewish Congress filed a lawsuit claiming the program is unconstitutional.
The program trains college graduates to teach in low-income parochial schools, the South Bend, Ind., news station WNDU reported. It is partially funded by the government-supported AmeriCorps.
A district court has ruled the Alliance for Catholic Education program unconstitutional because it blurs the line between the separation of church and state, the news station noted. The university says it plans to appeal.
Financial Boost
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, July 9 — Jesuit-run Xavier University in Cincinnati is $2.5 million richer after a former television repairman left part of his estate to the school he graduated from in 1968.
Robert Borcer of Cincinnati obtained his master's degree in English from the school to begin a teaching career. He died last year at age 90 and had no children or surviving relatives, the Associated Press reported.
College officials said the university would use the money to support the biology, chemistry and physics departments at the school.
Philosopher Punished
James Tuttle, who teaches at Lakeland Community College outside Cleveland, filed the lawsuit June 30, the Washington Times reported.
He said school administrators cut his teaching load and salary and did not renew his contract after a student complained about comments he made in class and on his syllabus, where he refers to himself as a “Catholic Christian philosopher and theologian.”
Prep School Preparations
Ave Maria Preparatory School is scheduled to open in August for middle- and high-school students who have trouble with memorization, attention, processing information, language organization or social skills, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.
The school is named after Ave Maria University in nearby Naples, which doesn't financially support the school but whose lawyers helped the prep school's founders obtain nonprofit corporation status. Three university students will also be working at the school.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Eduction -------- TITLE: Public Schools: Attack Your Abuse Problem DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:Because of the prevalence of child sex abuse, public schools must develop prevention programs that include educating employees, volunteers, parents and students on how to spot and report problems, says an educator who prepared a federally mandated study for Congress on the issue.
Sex abuse of students by teachers and other adults in the public school system “is a problem that needs to be taken care of,” according to Charol Shakeshaft, professor of educational policies at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., and managing director of Interactive Inc. in Huntington, N.Y.
Her study, “Educator Sexual Misconduct: A Synthesis of Existing Literature,” estimates that almost 10% of public school students, about 4.5 million children, have been abused by school employees or adult volunteers. It was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education and presented to Congress at the end of June.
When informed of abuse prevention programs designed to educate children, parents and employees in Catholic dioceses, Shakeshaft praised these as a “good idea” and a “good step” toward curbing child sex abuse.
Her study was limited to an analysis of existing reports and studies on the situation and did not involve any new surveys or research.
The figure of 4.5 million children was based on a 2000 national survey of 2,064 students done by the American Association of University Women. It showed that 9% of students from kindergarten through 11th grade reported unwanted sexual harassment or abuse by public school employees. Students listed teachers and other educators as being responsible for 57% of the incidents.
Shakeshaft says her mandate was limited to identifying the public information available on the topic, adding that she hopes her report will lead to a national survey devoted exclusively to gathering data on child sex abuse in public schools.
A study can be done by surveying students or by gathering data on allegations against adults, as was done in the study commissioned by the U.S. bishops' National Review Board and conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, she said.
Both are valuable methods, but Shakeshaft says she preferred a survey of students because “a lot lower number of allegations are reported” to authorities against adults than actual incidents.
The John Jay study found that, between 1950 and 2002, allegations deemed credible were made against 4,392 clergy, mostly priests, by 10,667 individuals claiming abuse.
Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has said that child sex abuse is a national problem and has expressed hope that efforts to curb it in the Church will spur similar efforts by other organizations.
Regarding public schools, Shakeshaft has proposed a national summit on the issue. She also favors less stringent federal laws to make it easier to sue schools for failure to prevent abuse and to sue the adults responsible, she said.
Currently, it is easier to sue for employment discrimination based on gender under federal law than to sue for child sex abuse, she notes.
“If a district believes that it may have to pay damages and employees may have to pay because of child sex abuse, it will put sexual misconduct higher on the priority list,” she said.
School prevention programs, she believes, need to include:
• Educating children and adults about their responsibilities to prevent abuse so everyone in the school knows what actions are acceptable and what are unacceptable.
• Procedures that make it safe to report suspicious activity and allow for a quick investigation to protect students and adults.
• Background checks as part of a comprehensive program as most predators are not registered as sex offenders by police or child protective agencies because of under-reporting of abuse.
Shakeshaft's report says that teachers who abuse children are hard to detect.
“Teachers who sexually abuse belie the stereotype of an abuser as an easily identifiable danger to children. Many are the most celebrated in their profession,” the study reports.
“Schools are also a place where teachers are more often believed than are students and in which there is a power and status differential.”
Predators also know how to manipulate students, according to the study: “They lie to them, isolate them, make them feel complicit and manipulate them into sexual contact. Often teachers target vulnerable or marginal students who are grateful for the attention.”
The study also criticizes laxity by local school officials in dealing with abusers.
The Shakeshaft study cites a 1994 report on disciplinary action against 225 public school teachers who admitted sexually abusing children in New York state.
According to the 1994 study, only 15% were terminated; 25% received no disciplinary consequences; 39% left the school district, many with a positive recommendation to teach elsewhere; and the rest were informally reprimanded.
The Shakeshaft study says that, in one class, “boys reported that the teacher would call them up to his desk at the front of the room and, one at a time, while discussing their homework, would fondle each boy's penis.”
Although all the students knew the situation, “the teacher repeated the behavior for 15 years,” says the study, “before one student finally reported to an official who acted upon the information that everyone knew.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Agostino Bono ----- KEYWORDS: Eduction -------- TITLE: What's in God's Name(s)? DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:LORD, WHO ARE YOU?: THE NAMES OF CHRIST by Cardinal Jorge
Medina Estevez
Ignatius Press, 2004 156 pages, $11.95
To order: (800) 651-1531 www.ignatius.com
The first thing we usually learn about a person is his or her name. There is a good reason for this: Names are intimately linked to identity. On hearing someone's name, you can probably guess his or her nationality. You might also be able to make inferences about the person's religion, cultural background and whether the person is married or religious.
Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez, former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, wants to introduce us to Jesus and help us to know him more intimately. Cardinal Estevez wants us to consider Jesus' different attributes and recognize his identity by meditating on his different titles.
In Lord, Who Are You?, Cardinal Estevez has written a delightful series of reflections on Jesus' titles that invite meditation on Christ's names “for the purpose of drawing near to him with humility, in order to know who he is and what sort of blessings the Father imparts to us through him. The fruit of such reflection — or meditation, if you prefer — should be the praise of God for his love and for the wonders he has done and continues to do for us, gratitude for all his boundless gifts and, as a consequence, love for him who loved us first.”
Much can be learned from Christ's many names, from “Bridegroom” to the “Word of God.” Each particular name evokes some unique aspect of his divine and human nature. In each reflection, Cardinal Estevez brings his obvious love of Scripture to bear on his examination of biblical precedents and etymological roots. He rounds out his meditations by offering helpful catechesis and doctrinal explanations.“To be a disciple of Jesus Christ implies more than admitting his historical existence and accepting or acknowledging the loftiness of his moral doctrine, considering it as the teaching of an important philosopher or even of the greatest philosopher of all time,” he writes. “To be a disciple means to believe in Jesus. … To believe in Jesus means acknowledging that he is the Son of God who has come into this world, following him lovingly and accepting his word as the ultimate criterion of the truth.”
This book is packed with helpful insights and profound meditations that are sure to inspire in the reader a deeper love for Jesus Christ. I highly recommend it as a tool for exploring the depths of the very question its title poses.
Cardinal Estevez wants to introduce us to the God of the universe. He wants us to know the Lord by name. He has accomplished his goal for this reader. I find this book especially useful during Eucharistic adoration, where I can look up and gaze into the face of Jesus the Messiah, the Prophet, the Lamb, the King, the very Word of God himself — and I'm able to relate his name to his identity.
Mike Sullivan is editor of
Lay Witness magazine
(www.laywitness.org).
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mike Sullivan ----- KEYWORDS: Eduction -------- TITLE: What's Grand about Grandparents DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:St. Jerome once praised her as “the glorious tree from which bloomed a twig under divine influence” and “the happy mother of mothers, from whose pure womb came forth the shining temple of God.”
She is, of course, St. Anne, long venerated by the Church as the mother of Mary and maternal grandmother of Jesus Christ. Along with her husband, St. Joachim, this holiest of grandmothers can be a valuable role model for modern-day grandparents. There's no better time than the couple's feast day, July 26, to consider how.
“Today's grandparents often are the ones who pass on Catholic tradition and teaching to their grandchildren,” says Father Marc Bergeron, pastor of St. Anne Parish and Shrine in Fall River, Mass. “St. Anne can be a great means of help and example for them.”
Father Bergeron points out that, in many families, particularly those torn apart by divorce, grandparents are called upon to play an especially significant role in their grandchildren's faith formation.
“Grandparents usually have more free time,” he explains. “And that's important because one of the scarcest commodities in today's world is time.”
Among his own parishioners, Father Bergeron notices that, especially when troubled parents neglect their children's religious education, grandparents are instrumental in teaching their grandchildren the fundamentals of the Catholic faith.
“A grandmother is a likely candidate for teaching children their prayers, for taking them on a tour around the church and explaining what everything is. Even if the parents don't, she can bring her grandchildren to Mass on Sundays and take them along on visits to the Blessed Sacrament as well.”
When talking about grandmothers, Father Bergeron likes to recall a list he once read of the unique characteristics that make grandmothers special.
“It said grandmothers are special because ‘they read the whole book without skipping any pages,' and that's just it. Grandmothers have the time to spend with their grandchildren and that makes them powerful influences in their grandchildren's lives.”
Beautiful Bond
Angela Ward of Longview, Texas, knows firsthand about the positive power and influence a loving grandmother can have on extended family members. She grew up enjoying a special relationship with her grandmother, 90-year-old Mary Carmel Sudela Krovontka, a mother of five, grandmother of 11 and great-grandmother of 11.
“When I was a very small girl and knew my grandmother was coming up for the day, I'd get a little chair and sit in the front yard to wait for her so that I could be the first person to greet her,” she recalls.
Now a mother of three children herself, Ward credits her Grandma “Carmel” with establishing a strong connection and sense of family among extended family members.
“She did so much to provide me with a warm network of support during my childhood years,” says Ward. “I was never part of simply a nuclear family but of a much larger family of aunts, uncles and cousins. I saw all these people regularly because my grandmother provided the place, the food and the invitations for us to get together.”
‘Grandmothers read the whole book without skipping any pages.’
Like many grandmothers, preparing food — and lots of it — is one way Grandma “Carmel” has always demonstrated unconditional love for her family.
“She cooked constantly and would do her best to learn the favorite foods of any new family member,” says Ward. “She made it clear that everyone was always welcome at her house. Not just her grandchildren, but their friends, their spouses and their children.”
Ward believes that part of what made her grandmother's role special is the fact that she had fewer parental responsibilities.
“Grandmothers have the same unconditional love for their grandchildren that mothers have,” she adds. “And there's no pressure to provide for the children financially or to discipline them, or monitor their schoolwork or anything like that. Grandmothers can simply rejoice in their grandchildren, enjoying them to the fullest.”
Distance Education
Carole Kastigar, author of For Our Children's Children: Reflections on Being a Grandparent (Living the Good News, 1998), echoes Ward's thoughts.
“There is a spiritual connection between a grandparent and grandchild that is unique,” she explains. “It's very different from being a parent. When I became a grandmother, I felt an instant, vital connection that's hard to put into words but still is very real.”
Kastigar notes that, in contrast to past generations, many of today's grandparents live far away from their grandchildren. She emphasizes, however, that physical distance doesn't have to separate grandparents from their grandchildren.
“Modern life seems to have a frenetic pace for many parents and children today, but grandparents are usually retired and have more free time,” says Kastigar. “They have already lived through many hardships and now there is an easier gait to their lives.”
In fact, Kastigar points out, one of the most important things a grandmother can do for her grandchild is to provide a familiar, comfortable place to visit and an opportunity to enjoy a slower-paced lifestyle.
“We can give them space and time, a nothingness where they are not hassled with responsibilities,” she explains. “When we do normal things together, like make bread or hammer a nail, it seems like magic because we are sharing a special time together.”
For those who live far away from their grandchildren, Kastigar recommends making frequent use of phone calls and email, but she is also a firm believer in the unique value of handwritten letters. For example, she recommends that grandparents commemorate special events in their grandchildren's lives by sending written memoirs of similar events in their own lives.
“If a grandchild receives First Communion, a grandmother can write down a one-page description of receiving her First Communion years ago and send it to her grandchild,” says Kastigar. “Even without a special occasion, short handwritten memories of ‘My Father,’ ‘When Grandma and Grandpa Got Married’ or ‘My First Time at Camp’ can become family treasures.”
Kastigar adds that it's not only grandchildren who stand to benefit from a grandparent-grandchild relationship. Through a connection with their grandchildren, many grandparents find new vitality and motivation for self-improvement. They can also find appreciation and a deep sense of their own value.
“There's a sense of understanding and a deep bond with grandchildren,” says Kastigar. “We are loved unconditionally just because we are there. We didn't do anything to earn it. It's a gift.”
Danielle Bean writes from Center Harbor, New Hampshire.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Danielle Bean ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Northwest Passage Maker DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:Priest Prolife
Father Joseph Anthony DeFolco Jr. is known to some as one of two Catholic priests sought out by the Washington, D.C.-area sniper in the days before he and his teen-age accomplice were arrested. Yet his ministry is anything but yesterday's news.
At the time of the shootings, Father DeFolco was pastor of Assumption Church in Bellingham, Wash. Now he's pastor of St. Michael's Church in Snohomish, about a 75-minute drive to the north.
In a recent interview with the Register, Father DeFolco — or Father Jay, as most call him — said he never did find out why John Allen Muhammad tried to contact him. He allows that Muhammad may have wanted to establish contact with investigators through him, as the authorities speculated. Or maybe Muhammad, although a Muslim convert, was seeking spiritual counseling.
Currently, Father DeFolco is busy establishing a second parish in which he will serve as pastor. To be called Holy Cross Church, the parish will serve the adjoining cities of Lake Stevens and Granite Falls. Construction will roll out over several years. For now, Holy Cross Masses will start in September at a Lake Stevens public middle school.
Father DeFolco is accustomed to pastoring two parishes. During the first four years of his six years at Assumption, he was also pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Bellingham. Also, Holy Cross is Father DeFolco's second church-building assignment, as he oversaw construction of a church in the early 1990s.
Father DeFolco has been a priest for 19 years, all within the Archdiocese of Seattle. His journey to the priesthood began at an early age. “When I was 10 years old, I told my parents for the first time that I wanted to be a priest,” he recalls. “I used the example of Father Gallagher as a reason why I wanted to be a priest.”
When Father DeFolco was 7 years old, his brother Robert died at age 19 of a rare illness. It was a sudden death, and the family went through very difficult times. Father Bill Gallagher, who was their pastor at St. Luke Church in North Seattle (now Shoreline, Wash.), befriended the family. “It was because of his helping my family that I wanted to become like him,” says Father DeFolco. “I wanted to follow his example.”
Born in Centralia, Wash., and raised in North Seattle, Jay DeFolco was the youngest of four children. As the years went by, he continued to be inspired by priests who served at St. Luke's. He graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle, earning a degree in philosophy. Later, he graduated from the seminary at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was ordained at age 26 on June 29, 1985, at St. James Cathedral in Seattle. Over the years, he served in various communities within the Archdiocese of Seattle - first as parochial vicar and a Catholic high school campus minister, later as pastor.
Another priest who greatly influenced the young DeFolco was Father Phil Bloom, also at St. Luke's parish. “He was the one who got me involved in teaching religious education, when I was a freshman in high school,” Father DeFolco says, adding that he saw Father Bloom as a man of deep spirituality who preferred a simple lifestyle. Father Bloom is now pastor at Holy Family Parish in South Seattle. Father Gallagher, a former pastor of St. James Cathedral, is retired.
Of priestly ministry in the Pacific Northwest, Father DeFolco says: “We're very much in missionary country here. Thirteen percent consider themselves Catholic. Only 30% are affiliated with any denomination or any religion. There are many who have never experienced church, religion, faith. So there is a real need for us to be evangelizing.”
Just before he moved to St. Michael's, in June 2003, the people of Assumption Church gave Father DeFolco a memorable and festive send-off. He was surprised — but he probably shouldn't have been. His parishioners' love for him was not exactly hidden.
“I was both a parishioner and his pastoral associate,” says Kathy Ernst, who remains a pastoral associate at Assumption. “I believe the marriage of my daughter and her husband was the first Father Jay celebrated in Assumption Parish. Father Jay loves witnessing marriages, and the experience was a graced memory in a long line of memories I have of Father Jay.”
Ernst, whose ministry under DeFolco was liturgy and outreach, says Father DeFolco was supportive of her decision to pursue a doctorate in ministry. “He himself is a passionate learner, diving enthusiastically into the study of Spanish and encouraging me — and, in fact, all of our staff — to do intensive language study and become more culturally aware and sensitive.”
Father Kenneth Haydock, pastor of Holy Rosary Parish in Edmonds, Wash., has known Father DeFolco since Father DeFolco was ordained. “He's not a one-man show,” says Father Haydock. “He very much responds to people, and he reaches out. He builds consensus.”
Those skills will no doubt serve him well as Father DeFolco builds a new church for his diocese — and builds on a ministry whose doors are open to all inquirers.
Armando Machado writes from Mount Vernon, Washington.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Armando Machado ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Thank God for Workplace Whine-O's DATE: 07/25/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: July 25-August 7, 2004 ----- BODY:Family Matters
I don't know what to do with employees who are chronic complainers. I try to tell them the reasons for problems, steer them away from things that can't be solved and help them keep their criticisms constructive. But I'm feeling worn down by the negativity. What can I do?
In a business setting, there are generally two types of grumpy employees: those who complain to management and really want something done about the problem, and those who “vent” to fellow employees — or, worse, customers — and keep their specific concerns from management because they don't think talking will do any good.
The kind that take their beefs directly to managers can actually be your best friends, even if you're not on friendly terms with them. While some managers are on top of even the little things, most managers are not. Often there's good reason for that. Managers are often more intuitive, watching the big picture and the overall welfare of the business. Employees attend more closely to details and will notice that something is out of whack, inefficient or wasteful. And anyone who does that is doing you a favor because you can't fix glitches you don't know about. They are delivering opportunities to make things better. You ought to thank them.
But your ego probably will feel like doing anything but. Why? Vanity says the “complainer” makes you look bad. Pride says he or she can't possibly understand things as well as you do. Sensuality — manifested here as slothfulness — will worry about the extra work an attentive response will entail. In short, you'll be at high risk for acting defensively. And a defensive response from you will just drive the complaint underground, where it can fester and become a much more difficult problem to solve.
No matter how silly, quirky or inappropriate the complaint is, if it's being made to you, you are trusted. Return the compliment by listening actively and offering your undivided attention. “I greatly appreciate your bringing this to me … Let me make sure I have it right. You're saying that we … and that has you concerned because … Did I get that just right?”
The truth sets us free. Any time you're presented with the truth, no matter the source, you are more free. So anyone who tells you what is happening, no matter how grating or hysterical the particulars may sound, is, well, setting you free from delusion or misperceptions.
When you prioritize respect and dignity, no matter what someone else's agenda might be, you're offering a Christian response. A Christian doesn't return “an eye for an eye” or get distracted by the ego's needs. God's grace enables us to treat people with dignity and to go rooting for the truth. Once you've listened with respect and appreciation, you can address the possibilities of resolving any problem.
This is not a stoical brace against attack, nor a pessimistic resignation that life is fraught with problems. It is, rather, a Christian understanding that my ego is an easily bruised obstacle that can prevent me from responding with dignity, attacking problems wisely and creating more good.
Art Bennett is director of Alpha Omega Clinic and Consultation Services in Vienna, Virginia, and Bethesda, Maryland.
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Odds are that a disproportionate number of children now in summer school are from broken families. According to the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, the average grade-point scores of children in intact families is 2.98, compared to 2.79 for children of cohabiting parents and 2.71 for children living in stepfamilies.
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Those women have spoken with counselors and perhaps changed their minds about having an abortion, Anne Koehl, coordinator and staff nurse for the Women's Care Center, told Fort Wayne News-Sentinel writer Kevin Leininger for his biweekly column.
Ser vices at the Women's Care Center are free — unlike ser vices from its next-door neighbor — and Koehl reports that 95% of the women who see and hear an ultrasound of the life inside them decide to have their babies.
Alabama and Women's Rights
The Women's Right to Know Act states that information must be provided 24 hours before a scheduled abortion, the Auburn Plainsman reported. Alabama Attorney General Troy King on July 5 announced that the act, which had been mired in a three-year legal battle with six abortion businesses, would now be implemented.
The act also mandates a 24-hour waiting period before a woman can undergo an abortion. And if a woman decides to keep her baby, the abortion business must give her the name of a doctor who can provide prenatal care.
Better Sense in Britain
Jim Dobbin, the Labor Party chairman of a pro-life parliamentar y group, said the recent pictures taken of 12-week-old fetuses “walking” in the womb is helping shift opinion among Parliament members, The Independent newspaper reported.
“I think the time is right now to start looking at this seriously,” Dobbin said. “People I would never have thought would move an inch on abortion are beginning to say it needs to be looked at.”
Resigned to Pro-Life Leverage
CYBERCAST NEWS SERVICE, July 9 — Two managers at an abortion business in Wichita, Kan., have quit their jobs, possibly because of tactics employed by the pro-life group Operation Rescue.
Operation Rescue West has pressured employees at the site, Cyber-cast News Ser vice reported. When the group learned a new manager, Rhonda Lipscomb, had been hired at Women's Health Ser vices in Wichita, members began telling her home neighbors about her job at the abortion business. A similar effort against Lipscomb's predecessor resulted in the manager's resignation after a month on the job. Lipscomb quit her job after three months.
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