CALGARY, Alberta — A Canadian tax official has threatened a Catholic diocese's charitable tax status over politics. Calgary Bishop Fred Henry said the saga started last spring when he made comments about how Catholic teachings should impact voters' decisions.
The Globe and Mail reported Oct. 22 that Bishop Henry said a Canadian Revenue Agency official “threatened to lift the Church's charitable status in the city because of a letter he wrote to his flock saying Prime Minister Paul Martin was not a good Catholic politician.”
Bishop Henry said the official asked him to remove a pastoral letter entitled “Faith and Governing” from the diocesan website. The letter, posted in June during the campaign, criticized Martin for “moral incoherence” on the issues of abortion and same-sex “marriage.”
Martin, a Catholic who highlighted his support for abortion and homosexual unions during the campaign, narrowly won reelection June 28.
In response to the tax official's demand, “I said, ‘Of course not,’” Bishop Henry told The Globe and Mail. He said the official complained that the letter gave the impression that the bishop was telling Calgary Catholics how to vote, then ended the 20-minute conversation by warning that he planned to file a report with his superior about the discussion.
Bishop Henry made his comments Oct. 21 in Cornwall, Ontario, during the plenary assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Churches Warned
In August, the pro-life Internet news service Lifesite reported that the Canada Revenue Agency had warned representatives of the Canadian bishops’ conference and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada three months before the election about making comments like those in Bishop Henry's pastoral letter.
Lifesite reported that the bishops' legal counsel, Jennifer Leddy, and the fellowship's counsel, Janet Epp Buckingham, were invited to a meeting with tax officials in March. Neither the attorneys, nor Shane Diaczuk, communications director for the minister of national revenue, would say which revenue officials were present.
It is also unknown exactly what was discussed, although Diaczuk said the purpose was to discuss new guidelines, promulgated in September 2003, regarding the political activities of charities. According to Lifesite, revenue agency spokeswoman Dawna Lynn Labonté characterized the guidelines as meaning “that not only would churches be penalized for telling congregants to vote for a certain party or candidate, they would also be penalized for coming out strongly on an issue on which the parties were opposed, such as abortion or same-sex ‘marriage.’”
The issue of whether churches can speak out on issues in a campaign received attention in the weeks before the U.S. national election, when Catholics for a Free Choice complained to the Internal Revenue Service about the archdioceses of Denver and St. Louis. The archbishops there were among several U.S. bishops urging voters to make the right to life a central issue in choosing the next president.
Labonté told Lifesite, “There are certain issues, especially during election times, that are very political,” and “The best thing for a charity to do, especially during an election, is to stay away from those issues.”
When asked whether Labonté's comments were government policy, national revenue spokesman Diaczuk said she had “miscommunicated.” Specifically, he said, “When she said ‘political,’ she probably meant to say ‘partisan.’”
Under Canadian law, churches and other charitable organizations are prohibited from partisan political activity during an election campaign. Diaczuk said the Catholic Church could say its members should support pro-life politicians or parties and should not support pro-abortion and pro-homosexual politicians or parties, but could not specify who these politicians or parties are.
Explained Diaczuk, “You can't put the whole thing together.”
Leddy told the Register that the March meeting “was an opportunity to talk about who we are, our mission, what it means to preach the Gospel … it was a very constructive type of meeting.” Canadian bishops' conference spokesman William Kokesch refused comment, saying, “We weren't invited.” He denied that the meeting was in any way coercive, and declared, “A few weeks after that meeting, we issued our document on the election; it didn't prevent us from doing that.”
The Canadian bishops' statement was generically pro-life and did not condemn or extol any politicians or parties.
Buckingham, the attorney for the evangelical fellowship, denied that her and Leddy's refusal to name those present at the meeting proved they feared retribution. “People might think that may be the case,” she said, “but these are people (from the Canadian Revenue Agency) that don't need to have their names splashed out there.”
Basilian Father Alphonse de Valk, editor of Catholic Insight magazine, has a different view of the revenue agency's actions. The Toronto priest noted that the Catholic Church and the evangelicals — the only Canadian Christians to have taken a strong, public stand against the homosexual agenda — were the only denominations summoned to meet with the Canadian Revenue Agency.
Said Father de Valk, “You can draw the implication that both groups are being blackmailed into silence for being opposed to gay marriage.”
National Post editorial board member Lorne Gunter described the March meeting as “a continuation of the CRA's drive to politicize charitable status. One of their most senior adjudicators is a militant gay-rights activist and vehemently pro-choice, and he has set about to delist from charitable status pro-life and pro-family organizations.”
Bishops Respond
While the Canadian bishops' conference downplayed the significance of the March meeting when it came to light in August, several bishops attending the October plenary assembly were astounded that the diocese's charitable status would be threatened, Bishop Henry told America's Catholic News Service in a telephone interview Oct. 27.
Most of the bishops were unaware of the incident when the subject came up during closed-door talks at the plenary, Bishop Henry said.
A Canadian Revenue Agency spokesman declined to comment on Bishop Henry's allegations, saying only that the agency acts on complaints it receives about charities, as well as on its own observations.
Asked whether he would post such a pastoral letter again during a federal election campaign, Bishop Henry said, “I don't know, depending what the issues are. But I don't care if it's Mr. Martin or any other Catholic politician — if you're going to be making public statements and at the same time parade under the banner of being a devout Catholic, and you're acting contrary to the teaching of the Church, somebody's going to call you into account, and in all likelihood, I might be one of those people.”
Kevin Michael Grace writes from Victoria, British Columbia.
(CNS and Register staff contributed to this story.)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kevin Michael Grace ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Wheat Allergies Don't Stop Them DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:KENDALL PARK, N.J. — It's the Year of the Eucharist — even for those who are allergic to wheat and can't receive the Communion host.
We surveyed celiac disease sufferers to see how they cope.
After learning she had celiac disease, Laura Riccardi knew she had to avoid pizza and other foods she enjoyed. The digestive disorder triggered by the consumption of gluten, a protein found in barley, wheat and other grains, led to complications such as weight loss and abdominal pains.
But there was something else she could not consume, and that caused the Catholic woman the greatest pain. During holy Communion, she couldn't receive the host, which retains the physical attributes of wheat even after consecration.
“That was the most difficult blow,” she said.
All was not hopeless. The Church believes the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus is present in both species of the Eucharist.
“For those who are capable of receiving the Precious Blood, Jesus is contained whole and entire, both under the appearance of wine and the appearance of bread,” said Father James O'Connor, author of Hidden Manna: A Theology of the Eucharist.
“So if they receive the Precious Blood, they're receiving all of Jesus,” he said.
In the Code of Canon Law, Canon 925 says: “Holy communion is to be given under the species of bread alone or, in accordance with the liturgical laws, under both species or, in case of necessity, even under the species of wine alone.”
Riccardi and her 10-year-old daughter, Maryann, who also suffers from celiac disease, realized this and would drink from the chalice at their parish, St. Augustine of Canterbury in Kendall Park, N.J., grateful to receive the “fullness” of Christ. But Riccardi said she still longed to receive the host again.
She is not the only celiac sufferer who wants to receive the Communion wafer. Her feelings on the subject, however, are different from those of another family from her home state.
Elizabeth Pelly-Waldman, from Brielle, N.J., has been urging the Vatican to recognize the use of gluten-free, rice-based hosts. Earlier this year, her daughter, Haley, received a rice wafer in a communion-like ceremony, which, in the eyes of the Church, is not valid. In August, Bishop John Smith of Trenton issued a statement reminding the faithful that “hosts that are completely gluten-free are invalid matter for the celebration of the Eucharist.”
“One of the things (the Church) feels she has no power to change in respect to the Eucharist is the nature of the elements,” said Father O'Connor, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York. “Jesus used wheat flour, and he used wine from grapes. We don't have the ability to change that; therefore, the material for Mass has to be flour made from wheat and wine made from grapes. The Church has to use what Jesus used.”
In late 2003, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a low-gluten host developed by the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Clyde, Mo. The gluten content is tiny.
That amount, though very small, may adversely affect some celiac sufferers, said Dr. Peter Green, director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
“There may be some who react to it,” Green said. “But the bulk of people would tolerate it.”
‘Unchangeable’
Fearing for her daughter's health, Pelly-Waldman is adamant that Haley not receive the low-gluten host, saying it “is not permissible. End of discussion. Any type of gluten is toxic for a celiac.”
She also doesn't want her child to drink the cup because it's “not appropriate.”
“You can argue with me that it's no more alcohol than you would find in a common, over-the-counter cough syrup, and I do understand and respect that,” she said. “But Christ had a meal with his disciples, and I don't think Christ would have turned someone away from that meal because of medical conditions.”
Pelly-Waldman has written twice to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, urging the Church to allow gluten-free hosts. One of her points, she said, is that Christ used the bread commonly used at the time, and, therefore, his choice of wheat was based on custom and not theology. She has not received a response yet.
But just as the words used at the time of consecration can't be changed, what Jesus used during the institution of the Eucharist also can't be changed, said Father O'Connor, a former theology professor.
“There are some things he did in his life of such major importance that they're not simply bound by the customs of his time,” he said. “The Church has always understood them to be permanent. The fact that he wore sandals doesn't mean the rest of us have to wear sandals.”
Riccardi, however, felt she received a response to her prayers, which included a novena every day for three years when she was diagnosed with celiac disease in 1999. When her pastor told her that lowgluten hosts had been approved by the bishops, she was “speechless.”
She and her daughter have been receiving the Body and Blood since January. She said her pastor has been supportive and understanding. Before the low-gluten hosts were approved, he even gave Maryann a small chalice to use during her first Communion.
Riccardi, 41, said she understands the anguish and stress faced by many parents and their concerns for their children's health. “That's why I think it's vitally important that priests are educated on how to deal sensitively with this subject,” she said.
She added that she believes in the authority of the Church, which is why she has been obedient to the doctrine of the Eucharist.
“As a member of the mystical body, we're called to place our confidence and trust in the authority of our Church, and I did, and I can say I think certain spiritual gifts have come out of that in my life,” she said. These gifts, she said, include not taking the Eucharist for granted and being more humble.
Carrying a Cross
Other celiac sufferers also said there are crosses involved in obeying the Church, but they also realize the blessings they have received.
Although Julie Blonigen, 55, won't receive the low-gluten hosts, she does drink from her own chalice, which does not receive any part of the host the priest breaks right before Communion. Depending on the priest and what church she goes to, she has received the Precious Blood with the other extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, or been first in line or the last to receive.
“It is a cross and a trial because we're separated out,” said Blonigen, a St. Cloud, Minn., woman who was diagnosed when she was about 40. “There are some churches that you're not treated nicely.
“Part of the problem is that we have people who don't understand Church teaching, and we have people who reject the Church as a teaching authority,” she said. “And there are people who don't believe in the Eucharist as the body and blood of Christ, so what difference does it make if it's rice or potato chips or whatever?”
Because Rae Kapfhammer believes so strongly in the Real Presence, she continues to receive the regular host — even though her pastor at St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus in Altoona, Pa., has the low-gluten ones available for celiac sufferers.
“I have continued to take the host because I fail to believe that consuming the body and blood of Christ will make me ill,” said Kapfhammer, 51, who was diagnosed with the disease about 10 years ago. “It's such an awesome gift we've been given.”
She said she has had minimal adverse reactions to taking the host, although cancer of the esophagus can result for celiac sufferers who don't try to avoid gluten.
In the end, education is key, said Chris Spreitzer, founder of the Catholic Celiac Society (catholicceliacs.org), whose husband and three children have the disease. She hopes her organization can become officially recognized by the U.S. bishops' conference to help educate more dioceses, lay ministers, clergy and celiac sufferers.
Carlos Briceño writes from Seminole, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: Catholic Celiac Sufferers Speak Out ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceņo ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Spain Caught in U.K. Abortion Scandal DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:LONDON — A publicly funded abortion agency in the United Kingdom has been accused of flagrantly breaking the law by referring British women to Spain for late-term abortions.
The Sunday Telegraph reported Oct. 10 that an undercover reporter was referred by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service to the Ginemedex abortion clinic in Barcelona. When the Telegraph reporter contacted the clinic by phone, she was offered the chance to abort her 26-week-old unborn child.
Staff at the Barcelona clinic agreed to abort her healthy baby without asking for any reason, admitting that they “play with the law, so it's not completely illegal.”
According to the London newspaper, “Extensive covert video and audio recordings exposed a horrific underground industry in which women carrying healthy fetuses beyond the 24-week legal cutoff and who want to end their pregnancies for ‘social’ reasons, travel to an abortion clinic in Spain on the recommendation of BPAS. The organization refers them there as a matter of ‘policy.’”
Abortion in Spain was legalized in 1985, and it is nominally subject to much stricter limits than Britain's law, which allows abortions with few restrictions up to 24 weeks after conception. In Spain, abortion is permitted up to 12 weeks gestation in the case of rape and up to 22 weeks when there is a risk of serious mental or physical handicap to the baby or of psychological injury to the mother. After that, it is permitted only when the pregnancy poses grave medical danger to the mother.
To get around those requirements, Ginemedex staff “repeatedly told undercover reporters that they falsify paperwork to say that the mother is suffering a ‘gynecological emergency,’” The Sunday Telegraph reported.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service performs around a quarter of all abortions in Britain each year. Three-quarters of those are funded by British taxpayers through the National Health Service. It carries out around 2,000 abortions at between 20 to 24 weeks gestation each year, the majority of all abortions at that stage.
Ann Furedi, the service's chief executive, defended her organization's policy of referring women seeking even later-term abortions to the Spanish abortion facility. “There is nothing we are doing that is unlawful,” she said. “We are simply providing women with international contacts to clinics that can provide them with abortion services.” About 100 women a year who are beyond the legal limit of 24 weeks contact the service, Furedi added. “The vast majority go on to have babies, but there are some who are absolutely desperate and beg for information about where else they can get help,” she said. “All we're saying is that when a woman can't get treatment that's legal in this country, she may be able to travel for treatment elsewhere.”
Different Picture
However, The Sunday Telegraph investigation details a very different picture of the relationship between the British service and the Spanish abortion facility. “Ginemedex staff confirmed their ‘very close’ relation-ship with BPAS and said that eight out of 10 patients were British, mostly referred via BPAS,” the newspaper said.
Jimena, a worker at the Barcelona clinic, told two undercover reporters who went to the clinic that BPAS specifically refers women seeking late-term abortions there because the British agency knows that Ginemedex does not comply with Spain's 22-week limit on abortions.
“We are in very, very close contact with BPAS. We have contact with Carolyn Phillips (the agency's director of operations),” Jimena said, adding, “You can only have a termination up to 22 weeks and here we can do more than 22 weeks, so BPAS basically send us all the patients over 22 weeks.”
In a telephone interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Phillips initially denied any link with Ginemedex but later admitted that phone operators are instructed to provide the Spanish clinic's phone number. When told that Ginemedex staff admitted falsifying paperwork to make late-term abortions appear legal, Phillips abruptly hung up, the newspaper reported.
Paul Conrathe, the human-rights lawyer who represented Joanna Jepson, the Anglican curate who led a campaign to prosecute the doctor who aborted a 26-week-old fetus with a cleft palate, said the agency's actions could constitute a breach of the Offenses Against the Person Act 186. Under this British law, a person who performs an illegal abortion can receive a prison sentence of between three years and life. It also may have breached the 1967 Abortion Act, which states that “anything done with intent to procure the miscarriage of a woman is unlawfully done.”
Pro-life activists also believe the agency's actions warrant a criminal investigation.
“Certainly their status as a charitable organization needs revisiting, as they seem to be flaunting their disregard for U.K. legislation,” said Julia Millington, a spokeswoman for Britain's Pro-Life Alliance. “But BPAS would also do well to look at Section 1A of the Criminal Law Act 1977, which makes it an offense to conspire in England to commit abroad an act which is both illegal in the foreign country and which would be illegal if it were committed in this country.”
Added Millington, “If the abortions are unlawful under Spanish law, as they certainly are by our interpretation, then the BPAS position is highly precarious. The offense of conspiracy carries in this case a potential life sentence and is therefore extremely serious. We call for an immediate investigation both from the Charity Commission and the police.”
Last year, the agency ran into another controversy when it was revealed that it was offering the “morning-after” pill to under-age girls without their parents knowing. Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham responded by accusing the service of exploiting youngsters.
The agency's controversial history strengthens the case for cutting off its public funding, its critics argue. “We call upon the government for a full and vigorous investigation into the conduct of BPAS — not only their part in carrying out apparently illegal abortions but also into the justifiability of their being publicly funded at all,” said Patrick Cusworth of the pro-life charity Life.
After The Sunday Telegraph's initial publication of the accusations, British Health Secretary John Reid asked the newspaper to allow him to review the videotapes and recordings of their interviews. After viewing them, on Oct. 16, Reid asked Britain's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, to investigate the agency's actions.
Archbishop Nichols
Archbishop Nichols wrote to Reid urging a “thorough, effective and speedy” inquiry into the matter, the Birmingham Post reported Oct. 18.
“I was deeply distressed to read the reports last weekend of the activities of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service playing an active part in helping women to obtain late abortions, after 24, 25, 26 weeks or even later,” the archbishop wrote.
Added Archbishop Nichols, “British law gives only a tissue of protection to the child in the womb. That a publicly funded advisory service should help rip away even that tissue of protection is abhorrent.”
Greg Watts writes from London.
(Register staff contributed to this story.)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Greg Watts ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Christmas Gift-Giving as Evangelization DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:GREENFIELD, Mass. — Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger once wrote that “the only really effective apologia for Christianity comes down to two arguments, namely the saints the Church has produced and the art which has grown in her womb.”
Chris Opalenik; his wife, Cindy, and her sister Susie McCrea seem to have combined both. Their new business, November Partners, seeks to bring together the spiritual beauty of saints with well-crafted dolls suitable for the centerpiece of a home shrine or as a child's keepsake.
Hoping to play a small role in the evangelization of American culture, the Opaleniks and McCrea are part of a burgeoning Catholic cottage industry offering products Catholic families can be happy with.
That's becoming increasingly important for Christians disgusted with the commercialization of Christmas and seeking to reorient gift-giving to reflect Christian charity.
“While all the saints are alike in their profound love for God and neighbor, they differ profoundly in just about everything else: some were poor, others rich, some beautiful, others not so; some devoted to the elderly, others to children,” says the Greenfield, Mass., company's website. “In short, they were and are an incredibly diverse lot. Like all of us made in the image and likeness of God, they were each of them distinct. An original.”
November Partners' “Original Saints” dolls are, they suggest, “companions in prayer.” The creators hope to inspire people to emulate the saints by providing a short history of the saint, his or her patronage and a prayer along with each doll.
While many dolls on the market feature the same basic mold for face and figure, the Original Saints will all be recognizably different. The first line available includes Mary, Queen of Saints, Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Jude, St. Anthony, St. Therésé and St. Peregrine, the patron saint of cancer patients.
Painter and sculptor Matthew Brooks has done numerous works for churches around the country, but he is also committed to restoring sacred art to Catholic homes.
“This is an image-based society,” Brooks said. “They come at us so fast.” As an antidote to bombardment with secular and immoral images, Brooks says, “You've got to bring a tangible presence of Christ, Our Lady and the saints into our lives, especially the lives of children.”
Brooks contracted with Larry Kampmeier, a California craftsman, to produce tiles that feature his work. But Brooks will also paint a one-of-a-kind image for the family home, a process involving the family that can be a catalyst for its spiritual growth.
2004 ANNUAL GIFT GUIDE INSIDE
One young family, for example, detailed what they wanted their painting of the Blessed Virgin to look like. Then, as a family, they prayed and fasted and made other sacrifices in preparation for the Virgin's arrival.
“If the whole family participates in bringing an image into the home, it becomes more palpable; it becomes something more than just an image on the wall,” says Brooks.
Regarding the family involvement in the process, he notes, “It's a way to create a reality that stays with children. Somebody said that the best example you can give your children is to get on your knees in front of them.”
Holy Play
Information
Original Saints:
www.originalsaints.com or
Pathway Book Service:
1-800-345-6665.
Matthew Brooks:
www.users.net1plus.com/art-
catholic/ or (978)632-8030.
Larry Kampmeier:
(949)388-8305.
Bosco Toys: www.boscotoys.com
1-877-STBOSCO
(782-6726).
Something for children that parents can feel good about is the product line of Bosco Toys. Started by David and Chris Fisk in 1997, the company now operates out of Elkton, Fla., producing hand-crafted wooden toys with Biblical themes. They offer a Noah's Ark complete with pairs of animals, a King David's Harp that kids can actually play, and wooden puzzles depicting the lives of Christ and the Holy Family, among other products.
Inspired by St. John Bosco, patron saint of youth, Bosco Toys aims “to bring the simple joy of the Gospel to children through the toys they play with.” The Fisks have drawn on their experience with their own children in selecting the toys they craft. David Fisk tells how they decided to create the harp.
“Our daughter was playing with scraps from the puzzle-making process; she had my wife string up a harp out of a piece of wood, and she was walking around saying she was playing King David's harp. So I went online and found the prettiest harp I could find, took that image and turned it into a toy.”
In the early days, Fisk hand-cut everything. He has since automated the cutting process with computerized equipment and has mastered computer-aided design.
“St. Augustine said, ‘He who sings, prays twice.’ John Paul II says, ‘A child who sings, prays three times,’” said Fisk, who believes that capturing a child's imagination when it is at its most active is important in teaching. “I say that a child who has simple, holy play prays four times.”
John Moorehouse is the editor of Catholic Men's Quarterly.
(www.houseonthemoor.com)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: John Moorehouse ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Looking at Miracles With a Skeptical Eye DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Randall Sullivan, at first glance, seems an unlikely believer.
The son of atheists, and a writer and editor for Rolling Stone and Men's Journal, he began investigating alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary. That investigation led not only to his recent book, The Miracle Detective, but also led him to the Catholic Church. Sullivan is enrolled in the Catholic Inquiry program at St. Mary's Cathedral in Portland.
“That puts me on schedule to formally enter the Church this Easter,” he told Register staff writer Tim Drake in an interview.
Where are you from origi-
I grew up in a pretty tough blue-collar town on the Oregon coast, finished high school in Portland, began college at the University of Oregon, then won a creative writing fellowship to Columbia…. I have two brothers, one an avowed atheist, the other whom I've reduced at least to agnosticism. My father was a longshore foreman — the king of the docks in that small town — when I was growing up. My mother was mostly a housewife, who occasionally worked as what would today be called an administrative assistant. They're both quite intelligent but relatively uneducated people.
Tell me about your religious upbringing.
My parents were avowed atheists when I was growing up, although since the publication of this book, my mother has insisted that she would like to be known as an agnostic. During my childhood, they took what I've referred to as the Jesse Ventura view of religion: that it is a crutch for the weak-minded. Entirely as a result of this book's publication, I've learned that my mother did have a religious upbringing in Australia, where she was raised, within the Anglican/Episcopalian tradition, but that she abandoned her faith when a priest attempted a sexual assault on her as a young woman. Some resonance of her belief must be the reason that I, alone of all her children, was baptized as an infant. The only times I visited churches (Methodist and Episcopalian) as a child was at my own request, “to see what it's like.” I never attended as an adult and had little interest in Christianity (although I did harbor a secret fascination with Christ) until I began the process that resulted in this book.
What attracts a
I've realized over time that my underlying motivation for starting this book was to discover my own faith, or lack thereof. I think that the sincerity and confusion of the seer whose reported visions open the book in some way mirrored my own inner state and touched me. I began, though, simply by taking the position that I would investigate the investigation of alleged miracles and purported mystical revelations by the Church. I think I sensed, and have come to believe, that mystical experience, however one defines it, is the origin of faith. These things don't sustain faith, certainly, but they do spark the fire, in my opinion.
Did you believe in miracles prior to writing the book?
I would say that I believed in the possibility of miracles, and that this concession alone proved to be a major turning point for me. I was a skeptic, but a very open-minded one. My job at Rolling Stone was something I kept separate from all this (although that would prove quite difficult at one point), other than that the magazine provided me with credentials as a war correspondent that helped me get around in Bosnia during my first and most important visit to the country and to Medjugorje.
Your search eventually led you to the Vatican. What did you learn there?
I went to the Vatican to meet with and interview the priests who, for lack of a better word, vet claims of the miraculous before they are presented to the hierarchy. I was astounded and overwhelmed by much of what I learned, especially about the complexity of certain events and of the mystics at the center of them. There was often a mix of elements — spiritual and psychological — that I found most perplexing, all the more so because these two realms of understanding seemed to have almost no dialogue with one another. So many occurrences that I learned about were completely inexplicable to me. The sense of mystery that began to envelop my inquiry was absolutely compelling, and yet frightening to me, as well.
I was struck also, and considerably impressed, by the intellectual rigor of the Church's investigation of miraculous cures. In those cases, but especially in regard to reported mystical revelations, the Church seemed to be doing just about all it could to disprove or discredit them. The Church most definitely does not encourage the phenomena, or at least does not encourage the cults of devotion that form around them.
I was fascinated by the different approaches to faith I found among the priests I met at the Vatican, and especially intrigued by the influence of Pope John Paul II. I had very little interest in the Pope when I arrived in Rome, and yet, at the end of two weeks, I was deeply curious about this man whose faith and devotion seemed to mark a sort of divide between two very different ways of viewing religious life. In some way I didn't understand and couldn't articulate, Catholicism started to become an all-or-nothing proposition in my mind.
How did your trip to Medjugorje shape your beliefs?
It's difficult to say how Medjugorje shaped my beliefs, but I feel quite confident in reporting that I found my faith there. At a minimum, I would agree with what Father Benedict Groeschel told me, that “Medjugorje is part of the providential plan.” People have had and continue to have life-changing experiences there. I was one of them.
My time in Medjugorje transformed me in so many different ways that I had to write a whole book about it. Apart from the seers and the visions, the “atmosphere of prayerfulness” that so impressed Father Groeschel had the same effect on me. What most convinced me that something of an extraordinary nature had taken place there at the beginning were my contacts with some of the most solid citizens of the parish, who described how they had come to believe. I think I was lucky to have first visited the place during the war, when the religious tourism business was depressed and the intensity of daily life was magnified. I was especially lucky to have received so much time and attention from Father Slavko Barbaric, whom I consider to be the one truly holy man I have ever met. He actually had more impact on me than my contacts with the seers did.
As to the apparitions, I never have drawn a definite conclusion. I am convinced that something of a profound nature has happened and is happening in Medjugorje, but I have my doubts about whether what happened at the beginning is the same as what is happening now. The seers are human beings and subject to human failings. I agree with Father Groeschel that I created some problems for myself by relying too much upon Medjugorje as the foundation of my faith. And yet I still believe that what happened to me there was the most important development of my life.
I do believe that the events at Medjugorje have been shaped by divine intervention. I also believe that, beneath all the crass commercialism, the petty human motives, the heavy-handed exploitation, the historical complications, the lies and the craziness, the pure essence of Medjugorje's purpose remains, and that those who are able to reach it receive an enormous and sustaining gift.
Do you believe in miracles now?
Absolutely. I don't pretend to understand their operation, or even their specific purpose, and I live with doubts about every assertion I've heard or read in these regards. But I've come to the conclusion that to believe in God is to believe in miracles. And I believe in God.
I understand that you've had your children baptized as Catholic. What's holding you back?
These are the most difficult questions to answer. The fact that I had my children baptized Catholic clearly shows where my heart lies on the matter. I want them raised as Catholics. As to why I haven't formalized my relationship with the Church, that's complicated. Part of it was my probably misguided belief that I was trying to maintain some sort of independent status until I finished the book. As it is, interviewers have already questioned whether I could be objective, given that I had my children baptized and admit that I attend Catholic Mass. Also, there was this nagging belief that writing The Miracle Detective would mark my “religious phase,” and that this would begin to dissipate when I finished the book. One of the most remarkable results of the book's publication, for me, has been the discovery that my faith has actually deepened. In some way, I feel freer to experience my love of God, my devotion to Christ and my gratitude to Our Lady.
A problem for me during the past couple of years has been what I learned about the failings of the Church in addressing the clerical sex scandals. While I still feel that these were terrible, and for me they indict the whole Church, I have come to recognize that the mystical heart of Catholicism remains, for me, untouched. I've been hoping, to be honest, that I would find a priest near at hand who was capable of speaking to me on the level that Benedict Groeschel and Slavko Barbaric did, and who would help me navigate my difficulties with certain dogma. I've just about come to the point of realizing that this is a vain hope and not really necessary to my conversion.
What has really broken me down is my overwhelming desire to receive Catholic Communion. I was baptized as an Episcopalian and can receive Communion there, but (and I mean no disrespect to Episcopalians) for me, their Mass is a watered-down version of the Catholic Mass. I have just about reached the point of conceding that being “Catholic in my heart” isn't enough, and that I will have to formally join the Church to achieve any real peace on this question.
Tim Drake writes from Saint Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Eucharist is Focus of New Religious Community DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:NEWARK, Ohio — Two religious sisters living in relative seclusion on 102 acres about 60 miles from Columbus, Ohio, would not seem to be in a position to change the world. Yet that is what Sister Margaret Mary and Sister Karen, members of a new religious association called the Children of Mary, have set out to do. They live a simple, contemplative life centered on prayer, work and Eucharistic adoration.
By some accounts, the small community has already begun to change the world.
“I was a fallen-away Catholic, and Sister Margaret Mary brought me back,” said Mary Cohagen, 63, who prays a weekly holy hour in the Eucharistic chapel that is the heart of the community. “The Lord kept putting Sister Margaret Mary in front of me, and people were telling me I should go to talk to her. When I did, it made all the difference in my life. She really does want to bring everyone home to the Lord.”
Francis Boysko, who was “down-sized” into an early retirement after 36 years with a public utility, has found new life as a “full-time volunteer” for the Children of Mary. He tends the grounds, maintains the convent and the chapel, and works with the town of Newark to get the 102 acres rezoned for a religious community. His payment, he says, is spending hours each day in the Eucharistic chapel.
“After being retired in 1995, I always prayed to the Lord that I would find some way to utilize my skills in his service, and this is a perfect fit,” he said. “Sister Margaret Mary's charism is to promote our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and that is my devotion. We have to realize that this is the true body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus.”
Boysko also developed the logo for the Children of Mary, which shows a crucifix and the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance connected by the letters of Mary's name. The theme is that Mary gave birth to Jesus, who was crucified and now is present in the world through the Eucharist.
“It came to me one day when I was praying alone in the chapel,” Boysko explained. “I had the urge to get a paper and pencil and draw it out.”
When Pope John Paul II instituted the Year of the Eucharist, which continues through October 2005, the two sisters of the Children of Mary saw it as a confirmation of the focus of their new community. Sister Margaret Mary, who previously lived as a hermit and took first religious vows in January 2002 and second vows earlier this year, says the world will be converted once people see that Jesus on the cross and Jesus in the Eucharist are one and the same. Her nascent community is dedicated to spreading that message through distribution of prayer cards, a CD of sacred chant and a website, www.childrenofmary.net.
Bishop James Griffin of Columbus, who received Sister Margaret Mary's vows, has provided episcopal guidance for the new community, which, in Church law, currently is a public association of the faithful.
“Sister Margaret Mary has started a contemplative community, which has a particular focus on adoration of the Eucharist,” Bishop Griffin said in a statement for the Register. “Because the Eucharist is the source and summit of our life as Catholics, I am happy to support and approve her efforts. The ministry of the Children of Mary community calls those who come to know them to contemplate the mysteries of the Eucharist more deeply and to better appreciate the role of the Eucharist in Catholic life.”
Beginning a religious community with only two women and no formal recruiting efforts or postulant program does not appear promising, in worldly terms. Yet Sister Margaret Mary, who is 57, says the smallness of her efforts allows the strength of Christ in the Eucharist to shine forth.
“We cannot pretend to do anything of our own, since everything, our very lives, comes from God,” she said. “I decided at the beginning that we would rely totally on God's providence for donations, for food, for everything. We just tend to the apostolate of making the Eucharist more known and adored, and he will attend to our needs.”
The seeds of the community were planted some 15 years ago when Mary Jane Goffena gave up teaching in the Columbus public-school system, sold her home and used the money to purchase 102 acres in rural Newark. After living as a lay hermit for a number of years, her spiritual director suggested she try communal monastic life. Though her heart yearned for solitude with God, she took the step into a monastery and later took the name Sister Margaret Mary. She says God then led her to found her own community with Sister Karen, who is 26 years old.
Already, the sisters have sent out 50,000 Eucharistic prayer cards to those who have requested them by mail or through the website. Advertising the prayer cards, the website declares, “When God-with-us, Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, is adored by mankind, the head of Satan will be crushed.”
“Right now, there is a terrible indifference to the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament; that is what we are addressing in everything we do,” said Sister Margaret Mary. “We witness to his presence by what we say, how we act. But the way so many of us act toward the Blessed Sacrament today, it's no wonder that belief is so low.”
She said the “first lifting” of Christ came in the crucifixion, for the salvation of the world. “The second lifting, we must do,” she said. “We must lift him up in the Blessed Sacrament and come before him to adore. Only then will the promise of Christ come to fulfillment, when sin and death will be overcome.”
Stephen Vincent writes from Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Lawyer Making False Abuse Allegations Gets Caught
Thomas Smolka fled to Oregon while awaiting sentencing in Richmond, Va., for a wire and mail fraud scheme where he admitted taking fees from prisoners and not doing the legal work he'd promised. In Oregon he examined court documents, newspapers and other sources to obtain information about lawsuits against the archdiocese alleging sexual abuse by priests, including the late Father Maurice Gram-mond.
Smolka used a false identify when he told a Portland attorney that he had been abused by Father Grammond as a child. But while investigating his activities in Oregon after he was arrested for the Virginia charges, authorities discovered that Smolka did not live in Oregon as a child and had not been abused by Father Grammond.
Massachusetts Bishop Protests School Condoms Plan
“I am profoundly disappointed and disturbed,” the bishop said in a statement, which included a comment that said school officials are reducing sex to “meaningless self-gratification.”
Some school committee members acted because the town had high rates of birth and AIDS among teens. But longtime committee member William Collamore said, “It gives the wrong message to our children and our parents.”
Cardinal O'Connor's Nuns Get ‘New’ Old House
Renamed Villa Maria Guadalupe, the mansion on 10 acres was once the residence of author Henry Miller. The sisters, founded by the late Cardinal John O'Connor to help unwed mothers and women who have had abortions, plan pro-life retreats there.
Archdioceses Threatened With Tax
The group, which took the same action against the St. Louis Archdiocese, argued that Archbishop Chaput's consistent statements about voting in line with Church teaching on life issues were veiled endorsements of President Bush. But archdiocese spokesman Sergio Gutierrez said: “The Church in northern Colorado respects and observes the law. That will continue. So will our public engagement in moral issues that impact our shared public life.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Abuse Rooted in Poor Preparation for Life of Celibacy DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:SEATTLE — Celibacy is an especially demanding aspect of the priestly vocation. By taking it lightly, many dioceses “set the stage” for the sex abuse scandal.
That was the conclusion of a report submitted by the lay case review board, appointed in June by the Archdiocese of Seattle.
Chaired by retired Superior Court Judge Terrence Carroll, the 10-member board was asked by Archbishop Alexander Brunett to review 13 allegations of abuse against the diocese to assess whether there was probable basis for the accusation. The board was also asked to make recommendations on the future of ministries of the accused priests.
But it went further than its mandate. In reflections on the causes of the abuse, the board members said the Church “set the stage for the deviant and illegal behavior of a few” by failing to take extraordinary efforts to insure that candidates for the priesthood were mentally and emotionally prepared for the special demands of a celibate life.
“It is of concern that so little attention appears to have been paid to the enormity of the decision to become a priest and the attendant responsibilities and sacrifices,” the report said. While acknowledging that there have been sweeping changes in priestly formation in the last two decades, the board said scandal was the result of “insufficient attention… paid to screening or psychological assessment at the seminary entrance level or as a young man progressed through college and seminary.”
The case review board was especially critical of the former custom of recruiting for the seminary from younger teen-age boys.
The Church teaches that this criticism is unwarranted. In his 1992 apostolic exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis (on the formation of priests) Pope John Paul II said that the needs of seminary life “demand that candidates for the priesthood have a certain prior preparation before entering it. Such preparation, at least until a few decades ago, did not create particular problems. In those days most candidates to the priesthood came from minor seminaries” (No. 62).
He added that, “As long experience shows, a priestly vocation tends to show itself in the preadolescent years or in the earliest years of youth.…The Church looks after these seeds of vocations sown in the hearts of children by means of the institution of minor seminaries, providing a careful though preliminary discernment and accompaniment” (No. 63).
Archbishop Brunett said in an interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that many of the priests involved in clerical abuse were ordained during the 1960s — at the time he was protesting homosexual behavior among seminarians. The young priest served as academic dean at a seminary in his native Michigan and told his bishop that the school had a “large colony of homosexual people.” He tried to keep some from being ordained, but he was branded as “counterproductive” and moved to parish work, he told the Post-Intelligencer.
Improvements in System
Many of those seminarians, who he attempted to expel, were later accused of sexual abuse of minors. “I was right on the mark with these people,” Archbishop Brunett said.
The remarks caused an uproar in Seattle. But a national study into the nature and scope of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy from 1950–2002, released early this year found that 81% of clerical sex abuse victims were males. Those findings of researchers at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York suggested that a large part of the problem stemmed from homosexuals in the priesthood.
While agreeing with the case review board's position, Archbishop Brunett was critical of the reflections themselves, since they were made based on only 13 cases. “It is recommended that those interested in these subjects read the full report of the National Review Board,” he wrote. “These findings are somewhat at variance with the case review board's findings, particularly in regard to the root causes of sexual abuse of minors by clergy and the role of celibacy.”
The National Review Board report, issued Feb. 27, around the same time of the John Jay study, is to serve as a framework for an academic study probing more deeply into the issues raised by the board.
“Steps have already been taken to screen candidates and do a better job of formation,” said Magnoni. “We've learned that we don't have the luxury of (complacency). We have to be absolutely sure that every candidate for the priesthood is properly formed and prepared to be a priest.”
Most students for the diocesan priesthood in Seattle study at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon. Benedictine Father Nathan Zodrow, chancellor of the seminary, said the difference between the 1960s and now is a better knowledge of the psychology of the priesthood itself. “What has emerged over the years is a deeper understanding of who we should be admitting and who we should be excluding. At the same time, we've developed more depth in the formation process than we had before.”
Careful screening at the diocese and again at Mount Angel “increases the chances that we have the right man, to begin with,” he said, “but it's not 100%.”
What follows is careful scrutiny by faculty, individual spiritual and formation directors, detailed reporting to their home diocese, “and work with the students to progressively give them the depth of self-knowledge necessary to assess themselves and recognize warning signs,” he said.
“As many as a half-dozen students each year (out of a total enrollment of 180-190) are either asked to leave or leave on their own,” Father Zodrow said. “It's a good year when that's happening because it means they weren't right for the priesthood.”
Meanwhile, Judge Carroll said he is puzzled by the criticism, since celibacy itself wasn't an issue. “We welcome comparison to the National Review Board's report. It's remarkable how they parallel each other.”
He said the board's greatest concern is that there is an assumption that the system is fixed, which could lead to a repeat of the scandal. “The archdiocese has taken some strong and serious steps, but the failure that caused the problems was a failure in vigilance.”
“We want to make sure there is sufficient oversight,” Carroll said. “These last several years have been troubling to the Church. It only emphasizes the need to redouble the effort to make sure that the Church is getting those who would be up to the challenges of the priesthood.”
Philip S. Moore writes from Vail, Arizona.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Philip S. Moore ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Reflecting on the Rock: Vatican Book Highlights Dialogue Over Papal Primacy DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Despite recent disputes at a practical level between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, significant theological advances have been made on what is regarded as the most contentious issue between the two Churches: the question of primacy.
Discussions between 26 experts that took place at a Rome symposium in May 2003 have been recorded in a new book entitled The Petrine Ministry — Catholics and Orthodox in Dialogue (Città Nuova, 2004).
Speaking to the Register at an Oct. 14 press conference to launch the book, Cardinal Walter Kasper, the book's general editor, said it represented a major advance because, for the first time since the Great Schism of 1054, questions concerning the Petrine ministry have been discussed at a “semi-official” level.
“This problem of primacy is behind many other concrete problems and therefore we are stumbling on this problem — we cannot avoid it,” explained the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. “We could not solve all the problems — no one could have expected that. But we did take some first steps.”
Cardinal Kasper stressed that the discussions were carried out in “a very positive atmosphere.”
Equally encouraging was the response of a leading Orthodox contributor to the symposium, Metropolitan Joannis Zizioulas of Pergamon. “This is an extremely important book,” he told reporters, stressing that “we're entering a new era historically,” thanks to Pope John Paul II's “very deep ecumenical spirit.”
The initiative to hold the symposium was in direct response to the Holy Father's 1995 encyclical, Ut Unum Sint (That They Be One), which, in the interests of Christian unity, called on other denominations to suggest possible reform of the papacy.
Cardinal Kasper emphasized that the discussions “were not challenging papal authority but looking at forms in which it could be altered.” The dogma of papal infallibility, he added, was not questioned.
Metropolitan Zizioulas said he welcomed the peaceful spirit that accompanied the discussions, in contrast to the “polemics” and “fanaticism” of the past. “We are not covering (the subject) up to betray our own faith, but trying to see if there is any ground on which we can meet on this matter,” he said.
The Orthodox Church, he added, realizes that a universal primate is necessary but that it is currently “difficult for them to accept.” However, he believes this concept “will emerge as a logical, if not theological, consequence of the nature of the Church.”
Metropolitan Zizioulas explained that the issue of primacy was a matter of faith, not of dogma and canon law. He said the Orthodox believe a universal primate “can only function successfully and openly in the context of communion which respects otherness and difference.” That means, in part, coming to a clearer and more unified idea of the definition of local church and the exercise of authority.
Orthodox and Catholics have historically viewed local churches differently, with the Orthodox placing more emphasis on the local church than the universal, while the Catholic Church has historically viewed local churches as daughters to the Church of Rome.
But according to theologian Father Hermann Joseph Pott-meyer of Germany's University of the Ruhr, rather than relegating the local churches of the East to being mere daughters of Rome, one proposal is that Orthodox and Catholic churches be seen as “a communion of local churches.” Father Pottmeyer advocates that an ecclesiological practice be established “which corresponds to this new recognition.”
Cardinal Kasper also stressed the importance of appreciating “otherness.”
“We must distinguish between contradictions which cannot exist, and tensions and complementari-ties that do. In this last sense we have to recognize the otherness of others — their traditions, their witnesses, their spiritual and theological differences…We must come back to this unity within diversity, and diversity within unity,” he said.
But both dialoguing partners agree that progress cannot be achieved without putting old fears and suspicions aside and replacing them with confidence and trust. Metropolitan Zizioulas said the churches “must work together to overcome this fear,” adding that “we have to be careful not to encourage those who remind us of the wrong things of the past.”
Russian Complaints
Yet the absence of other senior officials in the theological discussions meant that the practical nature of a major ongoing dispute between the churches was not discussed — the accusation by the Russian Orthodox that the Catholic Church has been taking advantage of the fall of communism by proselytizing in the Ukraine.
Cardinal Kasper said he has created a commission at the local level to tackle the dispute. If proven cases of proselytism are discovered that call on Rome to intervene, “we will do it,” he promised, but he warned against the Orthodox making false accusations. Metropolitan Zizioulas, meanwhile, predicted the dispute would be resolved if the key theological “stumbling block” of primacy is successfully addressed.
Speaking to the Register, the Greek Orthodox bishop summed up the symposium as laying down the basis for further discussion.
“No one really knows how long it will take,” he said. “Very soon we will have another meeting, and we're going to work on that very quickly and persistently. So I hope that more documents will be produced and some advance will be made in the near future.”
Cardinal Kasper noted that much progress has already been achieved since the Second Vatican Council, and pointed to other opportunities for dialogue that exist beyond theological discussions in Rome.
Said Cardinal Kasper, “There's a lot going on (in the local church), and so I'm hopeful we can, with patience but also with courage, go on, step by step.”
Edward Pentin
writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Prayer Intentions DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:November
GENERAL INTENTION
That Christian men and women, aware of the vocation which is theirs in the Church, will answer generously God's call to seek holiness in the midst of their lives.
MISSION INTENTION
That all those who work in the missions will never forget that personal holiness and intimate union with Christ are the source of the efficacy of evangelization.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Crucifixes Again Face Italian School Ban
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, Oct. 26 — Italy's Attorney General testified in an Italian courtroom Oct. 26 for the continuing presence of Christian symbols in state schools.
Antonio Palatiello argued before the Constitutional Court that display of the crucifix is “a visible sign of our special alliance with the Church for the promotion of man and the good of the Church,” Agence France Presse reported.
The privileged place of the Catholic Church in Italian schools is guaranteed by the Lateran Treaty of 1929, which is still in place, although the Church was disestablished after amendments to the Italian constitution agreed to by the Vatican in 1984.
The constitutional challenge resulted from a complaint by the Finnish-born mother of an Italian schoolchild. A decision is expected in November. Last year a Muslim complainant won a case to have crucifixes removed from schools but lost on appeal.
The growth of European multiculturalism has resulted in religious symbols being seen as divisive, and French public schoolchildren have been forbidden to wear Muslim headscarves, Sikh turbans, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses since September. Pope John Paul II has defended Christian witness, declaring, “Let's not be afraid to speak of God and to carry on high the signs of faith.”
Church Fathers Moving East
ATHENS NEWS AGENCY, Oct. 25 — Pope John Paul II has agreed to transfer the remains of Fathers of the Church Sts. John Chrysostom and Gregory of Nazianzus from the Vatican to the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Church in Istanbul in November.
The decision was announced in a letter from the Holy Father to Patriarch Vatholomeos released Oct. 25.
John Chrysostom (347–407), Patriarch of Constantinople, called “golden-mouthed” for the splendor of his preaching, was tireless in his attacks on the decadence of the Byzantine court. Gregory of Nazianzus (329–389), also Patriarch of Constantinople, was a fearless opponent of the heretical Arians.
Church in France Promotes New Evangelization
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, Oct. 26 — The Catholic Church in France has heeded Pope John Paul II's call for “a New Evangelization” with a 10-day festival culminating Oct. 31 with a vast gathering at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger, Archbishop of Paris, told the Catholic newspaper La Croix that this “congress of evangelization,” which includes concerts, conferences, debates and exhibitions, was planned as a remedy to urban alienation. “The big city, so brilliant and noisy, is a place of loneliness, and an emotional desert for many,” he said.
Paris is the second European city to host such a congress. Vienna was first, in 2003, while Lisbon, Brussels and Budapest will follow in 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively.
Italian Religious Tourism Booming
ANSA, Oct. 25 — Boosted by low-price airfares and diminished terrorism fears, religious tourism to Italy is up 15% to 20% from 2003, Vatican pilgrimage organizer Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi has reported. Italy is the fourth most-visited countr y in the world — after France, Spain and the United States — ANSA news ser vice noted, and pilgrims fill 12% of its hotel rooms. Religious tourism is a mainstay of the Italian economy, generating annual revenues of $4.5 billion.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Do Not Let Wealth Deceive You! DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Register Summary
More than 20,000 people attended Pope John Paul II's general audience on Oct. 27 in St. Peter's Square. The Holy Father offered his reflections on the second part of Psalm 49. He had spoken about the first part of the psalm at his general audience during the previous week as part of his ongoing series of teachings on the psalms and canticles of the Liturgy of the Hours.
Psalm 49, Pope John Paul II noted, strongly condemns those who idolize riches and turn their backs on God and offer us at the same time “a very hard yet realistic” meditation on death. “Often we try to ignore this reality in any possible way by dismissing it from our thoughts,” the Holy Father said. “But any such effort, besides being useless, is also inopportune. Indeed, any reflection on death is beneficial because it renders many secondary realities — which, unfortunately, we have made into absolutes — relative, which is precisely the case as regards wealth, success, and power.”
Pope John Paul II pointed out a turning point in the psalm: “If money will never successfully ‘ransom’ us from death, there is, nonetheless, one person who can redeem us from this dark and tragic prospect.” God has come to save mankind. “Thus, a horizon of hope and immortality opens up for the just man,” the Holy Father said.
Pope John Paul II noted that the psalmist invites us not to fear or envy the rich man who basks in his wealth and glory because he will be stripped on everything in death. The Lord will not abandon the faithful man, he said, but will show him the path to abundant life.
The general audience opened with a choral rendition of the second half of Psalm 49.
As the Liturgy of Hours' evening prayer progressively unfolds, we once again encounter Psalm 49, a wisdom psalm, whose second part we just heard (see verses 14–21). Just like the first part (see verses 1–13), on which we already reflected, this section of the psalm also condemns the illusion that results from idolizing wealth. Such an attachment to money, seeing it as endowed with an invincible power, is a constant temptation for mankind that deceives us into thinking that “even death can be bought” and driven away.
In reality, death intervenes with its capacity to demolish every illusion, sweeping away every obstacle from its path, humbling all of our self-confidence (see verse 14), and sending the rich and poor, rulers and their subjects, the foolish and the wise towards the world to come.
The image that the psalmist depicts of death as a shepherd who herds his flock of corruptible creatures with a firm hand is highly effective (see verse 15). Psalm 49 offers us, therefore, a very harsh yet realistic meditation on death — the fundamental end of all human life that cannot be avoided.
Death Is Inevitable
Often we try to ignore this reality in any possible way by dismissing it from our thoughts. But such an effort, besides being useless, is also inopportune. Indeed, any reflection on death is beneficial because it renders many secondary realities — which, unfortunately, we have made into absolutes — relative, which is precisely the case as regards wealth, success and power. For this reason, Sirach, an Old Testament sage, warns us: “In whatever you do, remember your last days, and you will never sin” (Sirach 7:36).
But there is a decisive turning point in the psalm. If money will never successfully “ransom” us from death (see Psalm 49:8-9), there is, nonetheless, one person who can redeem us from this dark and tragic prospect. Indeed, as the psalmist says, “But God will redeem my life, will take me from the power of Sheol” (see verse 16).
Thus, a horizon of hope and immortality opens up for the just man. The question posed at the beginning of the psalm, “Why should I fear?” (see verse 6), now has an answer: “Do not fear when others become rich” (see verse 17).
God Has Saved Us
When the just man, who has been poor and humiliated throughout history, reaches the last frontier of his life, he has no possessions and has nothing to pay as a “ransom” in order to put an end to death and extricate himself from its cold embrace. At this point, however, there is a big surprise: God himself pays the ransom and snatches his faithful one from death's clutches because he is the only one who can conquer death, which is inevitable for his human creatures.
For this reason, the psalmist invites us to neither “fear” nor envy the rich man as he grows increasingly arrogant in his glory (see verse 17) because once he dies he will be stripped of everything he has, unable to take his gold, silver, fame or success with him (see verses 18–19). On the other hand, the Lord will not abandon the faithful man and will show him “the path to life, abounding joy in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever” (see Psalm 16:11).
The Enduring Treasure
As a conclusion to our meditation, which offers some wisdom on Psalm 49, we might offer Jesus' words, which describe the real treasure that defies death: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Matthew 6:19–21).
Based on Christ's words, St. Ambrose, in his Commentary on Psalm 49, confirms the emptiness of riches in a way that is clear and unwavering: “They are entirely fleeting and they are spent faster than they came in. A treasure of this sort is but a dream. You wake up and it has already vanished, because the man who is able to sleep off the drunkenness of this world and is able to appropriate for himself the simplicity of virtue scorns all these things and gives no value at all to money” (Commento a Dodici Salmi, No. 23: Saemo, VIII, Milan-Rome, 1980, p. 275).
Therefore, the bishop of Milan encourages us not to allow ourselves to be unwittingly attracted by riches and by human glory: “Don't be afraid, even when you feel that the glory of some powerful family has increased! Know how to look deeply and attentively, and it will seem empty to you if it does not contain a morsel of the fullness of faith.” In fact, before the coming of Christ, man was totally ruined and empty: “The ruinous fall of the old Adam left us empty, but Christ's grace has filled us. He emptied himself to fill us so that the fullness of virtue would dwell in man's flesh.” For precisely this reason, St. Ambrose concludes, we can now exclaim along with St. John: “From his fullness have we all received, grace in place of grace” (John 1:16) (ibid.).
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Beckham Chastised for ‘Rosary Chic’
In response to a craze inspired by Beckham, who appeared bare-chested on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine sporting a $1,000 Dolce & Gabbana rosary, the bishops have issued a pamphlet explaining the purpose of the devotional aid.
Beckham, captain of the English national soccer team, was not mentioned by name, but Father Allen Morris, secretary for the Department of Christian Life Worship, said, “Apparently, the rosary has joined the crucifix as a desirable secular fashion accessory. People who wear a cross or a rosary and ignore the religious significance of the symbol trivialize something that is very important to Catholics.”
Beckham, who with his wife Victoria — the former Posh Spice — are devotees of kabbalah, the Jewish mystical sect, is often photographed in fashionable discos wearing colorful rosaries. Dolce & Gabbana, the Italian fashion label, has characterized sales of its “Beckham rosary” as “absolutely fantastic.”
Journalist Inspired by Mother Teresa
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, Oct. 26 — Ip Pui, a Hong Kong journalist, was so stirred by reading about Mother Teresa that she traded her sheltered existence for a life of caring for the wretched poor of Calcutta.
Pui, who wrote for the Oriental Weekly, has for five years spent six days a week toiling at the Nirmal Hriday (Pure Heart) hospice directed by the Missionaries of Charity order founded by Mother Teresa. There she attends to the sick and the dying, feeding and bathing them and bringing them comfort.
Sister Georgina, who runs the hospice, enthused, “Other volunteers come and go, but she's here forever.”
Ip, the only Chinese Missionaries of Charity volunteer, was once horrified by Calcutta's squalor, but now reflects, “I saw how nuns went about their work with joy and confidence. I became more spiritual and less preoccupied with the death and disease around me.”
Saint Bernards Bow Out
ASSOCIATED PRESS, Oct. 13 — The Saint Bernard, the working dog fabled as the image of Alpine rescue for 200 years, has been superceded by technology and is to be retired by the religious order that raises and trains the dogs.
The massive canines, which can weigh up to 220 pounds, are credited with saving 2,000 travelers lost in the treacherous pass that joins Switzerland and Italy. They have been only a tourist attraction since 1975, replaced in rescues by helicopters, heat sensors, and more agile dogs such as golden retrievers and German shepherds.
The remaining Bernards, 18 adults and 16 pups, are to be sold with the proviso they are allowed to return to the pass in summer.
Brother Frederick, of the Congregation of Canons of the Great Saint Bernard, commented, “Nothing will really change when the dogs are sold. It will take a load off of us and allow us to spend more time with those who need it.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: America, the New Rome DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Now that the election is over, the real work begins.
We thought we would be at a bit of a disadvantage for this issue of the Register, since we had to send it to the printer the day before Election Day. That meant we needed to finish the entire issue without knowing the winner of the election — or if there is a winner by Nov. 7 at all.
But maybe this isn't a disadvantage after all. Maybe it gives us clarity.
The stakes in the election were high, with the future of the Supreme Court and fundamental “Catholic” issues like abortion, fetal research and marriage on the table. But there is an even more important battle going on in America today: the one for America's soul.
Truth be told, as stark as their differences were on many issues, neither candidate was likely to move our country to the conversion of heart that it needs.
Don't get us wrong. It's important to have the right legislators, and the Register did all it could to educate voters about the differences between the candidates on key issues. But Catholics need to beware becoming like the disciples on the road to Emmaus. They witnessed the death and resurrection of our Lord, and then left Jerusalem sad because they had hoped for a political ruler. Christ himself had to set them straight.
In the end, Christians don't place their hopes in politicians. It is not the American president who will transform our country, but Christ the King. And he can use whatever situation he's given to do that.
But he does rely on the Church to distribute the graces he wants to give the world — and that means he relies on us.
Do a computerized Nexis search of news stories, and you'll find that the phrase “America is the new Rome” has appeared in dozens of periodicals over the past two years. Some make the comparison to the great empire of the past with pride. Others make it with scorn at imperialism. But the fact is, America has been forced by its size and power to be involved in one way or another with other countries throughout the world.
Just as Rome brought advances in civilization to far-flung parts of the world centuries ago, America's influence has been for the good in many cases. Women in burkas voted in Afghanistan. Schools and orphanages have been built in Iraq. Our medical advances have helped suffering people all over the world.
But just as Rome brought its own brand of violence and immorality along with its sophisticated civilization, so has America. We brought Afghanistan its first abortion clinic. We brought Iraq its first satellite-TV pornography channels. And our biomedical sins are spreading along with our medical advances.
The stories comparing America to Rome often end by warning that the empire was ruined by its own arrogance. But Catholics who have seen the grandeur of St. Peter's Basilica know there's more to the story than simply the empire's ruin.
Because of the persecuted followers of “the way” whose symbol was the cross, Rome added Christianity to the things it brought the world. Because the “little flock” was unafraid despite the fierceness of the opposition, the Church took a giant step toward bringing the Gospel to all nations. And the result — Christian western civilization — has lasted until our time.
Today, Catholics in America are the followers of “the way” who find ourselves citizens of the world's leading superpower. Our nation's influence is felt worldwide, but our nation has grown hostile to the culture of life, embraced a permissive morality and unmoored itself from its founding principles.
The details of our situation don't precisely parallel the early Christians'. But American Catholics' duty is the same. By transforming America, “the new Rome,” we can do a great deal to help transform the world.
In his 2001 apostolic letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the Beginning of the New Millennium) Pope John Paul II unveiled his plan for the Church in the new millennium. He mentioned it in nearly every “ad limina” address he made this year to American bishops reporting to Rome.
The Holy Father is calling 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. The Pope has pressed them in many ways — most recently by declaring this “The Year of the Eucharist.”
The fruits he hopes to see from his plan include nothing less than a new Christian millennium.
We, the citizens of “the new Rome,” are the front lines of that forward march — after this election, more than ever.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: LETTERS DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:The Quality Quotient
Regarding “Terri's Life in the Balance” (Oct. 10–16):
If the Florida Supreme Court has overturned the constitutionality of the emergency law passed last fall by the Florida Legislature that saved Terri Schiavo's life, then there is cause for concern — but not for surprise.
The quality-of-life mindset permeating our culture underpins many of the assaults directed against vulnerable individuals throughout all stages of the human life cycle.
Here's how William Brennan put it in his book Dehumanizing the Vulnerable:
“Although these quality-of-life proponents claim they wish to enhance everyone's life, many of them are only primarily concerned with enhancing the lives of people with an ‘adequate’ range of capabilities. Anyone who falls below the minimum standards of acceptability — especially individuals suffering from debilitating illnesses and those whose survival depends upon respirators, feeding tubes and other life-sustaining aids — is placed in imminent jeopardy of being declared superfluous. Unborn children are sacrificed because they are viewed as only potentially human, not as humans with potential. Handicapped children are rendered expendable because they do not possess the requisite physical or mental capacities, while the severely afflicted elderly have lost theirs. In the practical order, the quality-of-life imperative too often translates to mean the quality-of-life for some at the expense of others.”
AUBERT LEMRISE
Peru, Illinois
Ridiculous Refusal
Regarding “Decades-Long Cover-Up?” (Sept. 26-Oct. 2):
The most apt word I can think of when I hear about so-called Catholic colleges and universities refusing to tell students and their parents whether their theology professors are teaching in accordance with Catholic teaching is ridiculous.
A comparative example would be a person going into a jewelry store and putting down $100,000, and the jeweler telling you that he can't tell you if it is a real diamond or a zircon.
The difference would be that the result of making an error in regard to choosing a college can be much more serious.
BOB DALTON
Parker, Colorado
Judge Casey's Quandary
Regarding “Judge Casey's Difficult Decision” (Sept. 12-18):
I don't think the judge should be given a pass quite so easily. Professor Robert George gave a very reasonable approach to Casey's quandary, which could easily have been taken advantage of.
Furthermore, in the very same issue of the Register, you quote Evangelium Vitae in your editorial. You point out that the Church teaching regarding laws permitting abortion is that it is “never licit to obey it, or to take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or to vote for it.” Judge Casey's position does not excuse him.
Roe v. Wade and its progeny have nothing to do with our U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court is not interested in “strong messages.” As a matter of fact, Sandra O'Connor admitted that late-term abortions were brutal, but pointed out that all abortions were. Nothing will change the mindset of the U.S. Supreme Court majority constituency. At this point, they probably wouldn't know how to reverse it even if they wanted to.
With all respect for his personal piety and physical disability, Judge Casey missed an opportunity that he should have been looking for.
ROBERT H. MESSIER, M.D.
Hillside, New Jersey
The Issue is Sanity
After reading Jennifer Roback Morse's column “What We Learned in Massachusetts on May 17” (July 4-10), I was indeed nonplussed as to your motive in publishing it. Discussing homosexual unions being legitimized by recognition of them as marriages belies rationality. What is, is; what is not, is not. In this case, marriage is a union between a man and a woman. Relationships between homosexual men or women are not, and can never be, a marriage, discussion of the various pros and cons therefore or state laws thereto notwithstanding.
The issue is not 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, as Morse says, but rather whether we want to retain sanity in the laws that govern this country.
ALBERT C. SCHULTZ
San Antonio, Texas
Research and the Reagans
As 2,000 doctors associated with the Christian Medical Association noted in a letter to Congress and President Bush (“Ron Jr. Wrong on Stem Cells,” ProLife Victories, Aug. 22-28), Ron Reagan Jr. — in a shameless exploitation of his father's memory in making stem-cell research a partisan issue before delegates to the Democratic National Convention and a national TV audience — offered “political science of the worst sort.”
Ron Reagan, a lifelong liberal who, according to brother Michael, never voted for his father, ignores the public and scientific record, as well as his father's own words, in trying to link him to embryo-destroying research. Ronald D.G. McKay, a stem-cell researcher at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, has labeled claims of an embryonic stem-cell cure for Alzheimer's a “fairy tale.”
Michael Reagan has written that he's “tired of the media's insistence on reporting that the Reagan ‘family’ is in favor of (embryonic) stem cell research, when the truth is that two members of the family have been long time foes of this process of manufacturing human beings — my dad, Ronald Reagan, during his lifetime, and me.”
President Reagan stated: “Unless and until it can be proven that the unborn child is not a living entity, then its right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness must be protected.”
While over-hyped, speculative embryonic stem-cell research wallows in rat and mouse research, adult stem cells were first used to treat human illness in 1957 and today are used to treat about 80 human diseases. Yet Ron Reagan made no reference to an alternative that is decades further along, or to the fact that the Bush administration last year wisely invested $190.7 million in that research.
Ron Reagan began his speech on stem-cell research by saying it “should not — must not — have anything to do with partisanship,” yet his presence at the Democratic National Convention and John Kerry's promise to “lift the ideologically driven restrictions on stem-cell research” belie that claim.
DANIEL JOHN SOBIESKI
Chicago
Adoration for Elders
Regarding “Stay With Us, Lord” (Oct. 17-23): I have a wonderful idea for every diocese during this Year of the Eucharist: Have a day of adoration weekly at the nursing homes. Most nursing homes have a weekly Mass; a few hours of adoration could follow.
If finding a monstrance is a problem, maybe a closed parish would loan one to the elderly. Better yet, the elderly and their families may want to donate money to purchase a small monstrance as a permanent fixture for their chapel. I know for a fact that this is a great idea because Foley's Nursing Center and adjoining Heritage Place Apartments (of Foley, Minn.) implemented a modified service four years ago this coming February.
The elderly love it and look forward to it weekly. Their prayers, sufferings and silent presence are an awesome source of grace. The elderly are Mary's humble army ushering in the triumph of her immaculate heart with her son's Eucharistic reign.
PATRICIA STRANG
Foley, Minnesota
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Stem Cell Encounters of the Adult Kind DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:The text within the “Stem Cell Hopes and Hype” graphic on the front page of the Oct. 24-30 issue could be misleading to readers. The graphic showed injuries and diseases that doctors are already treating using adult stem cells. This research is not only “hoped” for, and not “only being done on animals,” as the text stated. Ongoing treatments and clinical trials in humans are benefiting thousands and thousands of people right now.
Adult-nerve stem cells from the nasal passages are being transplanted into the spinal cords of paraplegics and helping them to regain movement in their limbs. Adult bone-marrow stem cells are being transplanted into damaged hearts, regenerating healthy heart tissue. And adult stem cells from the umbilical cords of newborn babies are being used to successfully treat leukemia, anemia and other blood-based diseases.
If the Register intended to say that scientists hope to repair these injuries and diseases using embryonic stem cells, and that embryonic stem-cell research is currently being done only on animals, it would have been accurate. Indeed, the box contained within the graphic was accurate in this regard.
We need to be very careful about the language we use in this complex area of research and medicine. Using the stand-alone term “stem cells,” as the mainstream media often does, just doesn't cut it. It confuses, rather than illuminates, the issue. The modifiers are essential in distinguishing between the ethical and the unethical, between what's working and what's not.
KATHLEEN M. GALLAGHER
Albany, New York
Editor's note: Find the graphic fixed above.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kathleen M. Gallagher ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Pray and Pay For Veterans DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Marine Lance Cpl. James Crosby when a rocket hit his vehicle in Iraq.
Shrapnel ripped through Crosby's side, shredding his intestines and severing his spine. In spite of all this, Crosby survived. Since then, losing 50 pounds and undergoing 14 operations, Crosby continues to recover from his injuries.
Bound to a wheelchair, the 20-year-old veteran looks on his military service with pride. He says, “I have no regrets for fighting for my country.” However, he does regret the fact that after being injured, his pay dropped from $2,500 to $1,300. Crosby and his wife, Angela, find it difficult to make ends meet with $1,300 a month. “When you're injured,” says Crosby, “that's a point in your life you need all the help you can get.”
Crosby is grateful that family and friends helped him pay his expenses.
If you're wondering why Crosby's pay plummeted in the first place, just ask the Department of Defense. They will tell you that soldiers get paid extra for fighting in a combat zone, for being in imminent danger and for being separated from family. That extra pay ends when a soldier leaves the combat zone.
The logic behind this policy simply says you get paid extra when you're able to comply with the conditions for extra pay. Consequently, you get normal pay if the conditions for extra pay don't exist. The Defense Department will foot the medical bills for injured soldiers and give other benefits entitled to veterans. However, that doesn't include extra pay for work a soldier can no longer do.
From a legal standpoint, a soldier agrees to this contract upon accepting military service. Therefore, the Defense Department may contend that its policy does justice to soldiers since no violation of the contract occurs.
Yet many perceive something shameful about cutting a wounded soldier's salary when he leaves the combat zone. As Crosby's dad, Kevin Crosby, put it, “It shouldn't be like this.”
U.S. Rep. Edward Markey agrees. The congressman asserts Crosby “didn't stop fighting when he left the combat zone. First, he was fighting for his life, now he's fighting for his health.” Last month, Markey introduced into Congress a bill called the Crosby-Puller Act. It would make sure injured soldiers removed from combat zones continue to receive combat pay until they recover or are discharged from duty.
Should the law demand that the Defense Department change its policy regarding combat pay? Is it right to pay someone extra even when they can no longer engage in combat?
The answer to this question centers on the issue of understanding justice.
We know that justice entails the willingness to give everyone his due. At first glance, the basic concept of justice may appear easy enough to understand. In fact, the moral virtue of justice represents a complicated reality. People often cling to false concepts of justice in their interpersonal relationships.
For instance, in the American legal tradition, we often understand justice as nothing other than what the law requires. This leads us to think that if something is legal, it is just. Consequently, justice changes as the law changes. If the law symbolizes our standard for justice, this implicitly means no law can be unjust, unless it conflicts with a more basic law within the same legal system.
This false concept of justice forgets that authentic justice cannot be reduced to legal positivism.
For justice to be objective and fair, its standard can be no other than the natural moral law written on the human heart, which we all can discern with the use of reason enlightened by faith. We cannot use only positive law to determine what is fair, right or just for our veterans. We need to consider the objective moral law to discern fairness.
People often misunderstand justice because they adhere only to a partial truth about the nature of justice. This makes the idea of justice fundamentally deficient for many.
To understand justice correctly, try to avoid these two mistakes prevalent in American culture: first, the tendency to reduce the idea of justice to fulfilling agreements or contracts only. Agreements or contracts can be unjust even when someone freely accepts them. And, secondly, people often think justice necessarily depends on the principle of merit. That's not the case. Many of our moral responsibilities of justice don't depend on merit.
For example, many people cannot earn enough money to care adequately for themselves because of illness or injury. To deprive them of basic necessities, like food, shelter, clothing and so on, would violate justice.
In my judgment, the Defense Department's policy on combat pay characterizes well these two deficient concepts of justice. For example, it's true Crosby freely entered the military and accepted the demands of military policy. However, a contractual relationship always becomes unjust when one party is unduly placed at a disadvantage.
Having your pay cut when you're sick and unable to work constitutes a disadvantage.
Furthermore, the Defense Department policies to suspend extra pay to wounded soldiers when leaving the combat zone appears to be based on the principle of merit. It says, in effect, that you must do the work to get the pay. Here, justice demands the government look at the contributions soldiers have made for the common good of us all. Wounded soldiers like James Crosby have made heroic sacrifices for the common good of our country. It seems only just to maintain their combat pay because of these sacrifices.
Justice obliges us to act fairly. The content of fairness is the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The Golden Rule should be the ethical backbone of our relationships and our laws. In America, we pride ourselves on giving every man a fair shake.
Let's make sure our veterans get theirs.
Legionary Father Andrew McNair is a theology professor at Mater Ecclesiae College of Liberal Arts in Greenville, Rhode Island.
----- EXCERPT: Last March, life changed for ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Andrew McNair LC ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Art and Priestly Formation DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Catholicism is not a democracy. This works out splendidly well when we have the equivalent of Plato's “philosopher kings” in our chanceries and rectories — maybe not so well when we have Alexander III's — but, regardless, it's one of the things that define our community.
This means that the aesthetic life of the Church is first and foremost in the hands of our pastors. Even if a priest delegates liturgical coordination to a committee and the hymnody to a music director and the flower arranging to Doris and Sylvia, it is still the pastor's artistic sensibilities that are the final arbiter of evaluating blueprints, musical and vocal skill, and decorating ability.
Priestly pastoral duties also require a mastery of the aesthetics of oratory for the one artistic skill they won't be able to delegate: preaching. So, ultimately, providing training in aesthetics to seminarians makes good practical sense for all of us who will be subject to their otherwise uninformed artistic whims in our parishes every Sunday.
But there is another, more important reason to train future priests in aesthetics and the elements of beauty: It will help them be holier. Ultimately, a holy priest is the most inspiring and beautiful “decoration” for the liturgical life of a parish.
In my convent days, I was exposed to much more beauty than any average lay Catholic ever gets to see. In the motherhouse, all 96 of us were in the choir, and we would rehearse several nights a week for whatever the next feast was on the liturgical calendar.
Besides living in a house where there was some kind of sacred art in every room, being a nun meant chanting psalm tones, going on lots of retreats in beautiful places and making pilgrimages to every notable church and shrine. Religious life is living Catholic experience and culture at the highest level.
I understood this special privilege as being part of the hundred-fold that is the other side of having bargained away many of the other goods of a normal human life. But it is more than that. Religious life and priesthood require more renunciation than lay life. Holy perseverance amidst these renunciations will be possible only for those who have been bolstered by many personal encounters with God. The experience of beauty can foster a sense of the divine touching the individual in an incomparable way.
This is the reason why agnosticism really is the worst kind of intellectual dishonesty.
The agnostic says, “I believe there is a God. I just don't believe he cares about me.” In every experience in which one could come to know there is a God, there is the accompanying sense of having been chosen to receive the revelation. This is why beauty is always humbling. We sense that it is outside of us and that it has no need of us — that it was before us and will continue after us. And that it is being shared with us. The experience of beauty always brings the conviction of the Divine Personal. One of the 20th century's great philosophers, Josef Pieper, expressed it as follows in his Problems of Modern Faith:
When we see beauty “in the midst of our workaday cares, we raise our heads and unexpectedly gaze into a face turned towards us, and in that instant, we see: everything which is good, worthy of love, and loved by God … The world is not out of joint after all; everything is moving toward its appointed end; despite everything there is peace, wholeness and splendor in the depths of things; God holds in His hands the beginning, the middle and the end of all things.”
We need to give our seminarians and priests more beauty, because more will be required of them. Particularly in their years of formation, they will need heightened liturgical life as a way of “storing up” intimate encounters with God. They will need to bank these moments for a cold, gray Tuesday morning in the future, when they will need to propel themselves out of bed and into a dark church to say a beautiful Mass for a handful of quarrelsome old ladies.
A commitment to beauty in priestly formation will start in figuring out the kinds of things that seminarians can learn in a classroom and the kinds of things that must be learned elsewhere.
When I was in college, I used to go around saying, “The truth can change people. If you just expose them to the truth, they will cleave to it.” This is a naïve view. The sense of “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” is the sense of knowing in which the Scriptures also speak of sexual intimacy, “Adam knew Eve.”
So, it's the cleaving to the truth that makes you free, not having it blare out at you from speakers in a classroom or in black words on a white page. The “making people cleave” to things inwardly — things like compassion, mercy, nobility, self-donation, heroism — this is the province of the arts.
You can discover reasons for conviction and certitude on the pages of a textbook, but if you want compassion that will motivate someone to sacrifice, you can find it much more quickly in a movie like Shine. Ethics can tell me about the disordered attractions of my own soul, but Madame Bovary will sting me to the heart and have me understand on the deepest level St. Paul's cry, “Why do I do what I hate? Who can free me from this body of death?”
Artistic narratives — that is, stories — whether in cinema, theater or novels, have a crucial contribution to make to priestly formation.
Pope John Paul II notes in his 1999 “Letter to Artists” that we owe deep consideration to even purely secular works of art, for “they can show us in a profound way what the world without God looks like.” I knew one seminarian, for example, who was deeply impacted by the film Requiem for a Dream. A dark and disturbing story of loneliness that leads into the hell of drug addiction, this well-crafted film incited a wave of pastoral urgency in this future priest that has helped him bring the Gospel into many definitely scary places. With real passion in his voice, he said to me after seeing the movie several times, “No human being should ever feel completely alone.”
Exposing future priests to the artistic stories of “what the world without God looks like” can also balance out the elitist disconnect which is the potential dark side of having lots of beauty in formation years. Always, the goal in formation must be two-fold: to make present both the reality of God and the reality of poor humanity.
Another incalculable gift of bringing arts into the work of formation is that it will bond the group of seminarians in a holy way. The arts offer a more transcendent bonding than what can be achieved by going to a ballgame together.
When I first saw the film Romero, I actually experienced the healing of a relationship. I was sitting uneasily next to one of my fellow sisters in the theater. We didn't get along. As the film's story of terrible inhumanity to man progressed, we somehow ended up holding hands in the darkness. We became friends that night.
There is a holy exhilaration that comes from experiencing beauty together.
I remember having my otherwise adolescent angst drowned out in the harmonies of our high- school choir. As we sang together the Ave Verum or the alleluia, I felt intense surges of love for my fellow students. In his book Community and Growth, philosopher Jean Vanier notes that making beauty together is both the sign of a healthy community and a way of renewing it. He writes, “Celebration is the song of joy and thanksgiving flowing from a sense of unity, but also creating and deepening it…Nourishment comes in those moments when the whole community becomes aware of the current of life which flows through it.”
This is the third of a three-part series on beauty and the Church.
Reach Barbara Nicolosi at actone2000@aol.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Barbara Nicolosi ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Sunday, Part Three: Dinner DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:The dining room of our big, old, drafty house was lined with cherry wood paneling and a builtin, cherry china cabinet.
We had a large oval-shaped table that had come from St. Louis during the 1920s westward push of our father's family.
It was made of oak, I think, and it had these great legs that looked like eagle claws. During the course of the week, it served as a pingpong table and a train table and as the Siegfried line where plastic armies of American GIs squared off against plastic armies of the Wehrmacht. But on Sunday, at exactly 6 o'clock, the table became a kind of altar to us all.
If it was a particularly special Sunday, the pads and tablecloth (actually, it was a bed sheet) would be used, and the mismatched wineglasses would be dusted off and set on the table, as well. And, of course, a rotation of Blessed Mother statues always served as the centerpiece, with statues of Saints Joseph and Patrick making their annual appearances every March.
On very special occasions, such as Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving, the hallowed “B” plates would be brought out from the china closet. You see, in another lifetime, my father's father was a man of means: a college-educated business executive in turn-of-the-century St. Louis who once made the astronomical sum of $12,000 per annum. Along with that kind of wealth came plates with the letter “B” emblazoned on them in gold leaf. Not exactly the stuff of Citizen Kane, but we always thought the plates were neat, even though with 10 kids, there were never enough of them to go around.
Our Uncle Rich always sat at one end of the table, and our dad always sat at the other end. When our uncle, Father John, was in attendance, he always sat to the left of Uncle Rich. Our mom always sat directly to our dad's right, and I, the “baby” of the family, always sat at my dad's left. This was not a good position to be in. For one, I could not easily retaliate against kicks to my shins by other family members without my father noticing. And, more importantly, it was extremely difficult to dispose of food I didn't want to eat. I can still feel the grip of my father's workingman's hand as it enveloped my closed fist under the table just as I was about to deposit some unwanted cooked carrots on the dining-room floor in the hope that the dog would discover them before my mother did.
We referred to grace as “Rule Six.” No one in my family remembers why. It was only one of a series of family idiosyncrasies created by our Uncle Rich.
Responsibility for leading the prayer always fell on the youngest at the table, still another part of the ancient regime whose genesis is lost to us. Being the youngest for the longest time, I remember embracing this heady responsibility with a sense of great pride. When my brothers and sisters started having children of their own, the “Rule Six” torch was then passed down the line.
Dinner itself was somewhat of a contact sport. It would always start off with Uncle Rich admonishing the assortment of “fuzzy headed high-school kids, punks and stoops” that the most efficient way to pass the platters of food was in an orderly, clockwise fashion, just like it was done in the eighth U.S. Army Air Corps. But, like a pack of unruly wolves in front of a freshly downed mule deer, hands appeared out of nowhere to hijack the plate of meat or potatoes, and chaos would ensue.
If things got too out of hand, and sometimes they did, our dad would restore order with either a look or a word. But generally our dad didn't seem to mind the chaos around the table. In retrospect, I think he received a kind of joy and grace from watching his children around the table eating the food he worked so hard to win for us.
All of us kids looked forward to the menu for Sunday dinner — the best cut of meat we were likely to see for a week. We had survived Friday's creamed tuna on toast, canned salmon or frozen fish sticks. We had finished Saturday's spaghetti with hamburger meat augmented by our mom's secret recipe of ketchup. Now it was Sunday, which meant roast beef or fried chicken or, on wonderful summer Sundays, T-bone steaks barbecued blood-rare by our dad. Life was good.
Before the first bite of roast beef was halfway down anybody's throat, though, talk quickly turned to the politics of the day. Living under the same roof with a New Deal Democrat (Uncle Rich) and a Dewey Republican (our dad) always meant sparks and fur and just about everything else would fly. Add Vatican II, Jesuit war protesters and the whiff of the death of Western civilization that the Beatles represented, and you pretty much covered every battle that was ever waged over that glorious old dinner table.
Many a time a brother or sister would bring a date to one of these events, and that would be the last we'd see of them. For others, like our eventual spouses, these Sunday events became a kind of baptism of fire. If they didn't run away screaming from the house, then they either had potential or were just poor judges of character. My wife received the Uncle Rich seal of approval when — in private, after dinner — he confided that the girl I brought to dinner was okay because she wasn't a “smart aleck.”
There never was any blood spilled during these dinners that, in turn, evolved into feasts, fratricide and farce. There were times when family members rose from the table in a full-blown Irish tiff and stormed away. But they always came back.
And when next Sunday came around, it would all start over again.
Robert Brennan is a television writer living in Los Angeles.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Robert Brennan ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Chair Man DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:The first time I went to Rome, I thought I was going in order to see St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum, the catacombs…
I did feast my eyes on all of those, and I'm glad I did. But it was the sight of a chair that ended up moving me the most. And I'm not even into furniture, much less antiques.
As we drew near to this particular chair, our tour guide began explaining its historical high points. That was when the tears began running down my cheeks. For there it was, just 50 feet away, sitting alone in a roped-off spot of its own: the chair of Peter, Christ's representative on earth.
We were, of course, in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the church of the bishop of Rome.
And this was his chair, the one the Holy Father sits in when he comes here to say Mass. The chair that so many successors of St. Peter have likewise sat in. Taking it all in, I tried to contain my emotions. I didn't do very well with that, so I separated myself from the rest of the group.
You see, to me, that chair represented the center of the spiritual universe. I had been seeking it my whole life, without realizing what, exactly, I was looking for.
After a couple of minutes, when our little group moved on, I followed. But the next day I was back, by myself, alone with the chair. I needed more time at its side. I knelt there a long while, praying and reflecting near the rope.
On my knees seemed like the appropriate position. I wanted to get closer to the chair, to touch it and hold it, though I knew there was no chance of that. Most people just walked by, many of them probably not even knowing what it was.
St. John Lateran was built in the early fourth century. It was the residence of the popes until after their return from Avignon, whereupon their home moved to the Vatican. It was the center of Christian life in the city. It is still the cathedral of Rome and, indeed, is called the “mother of all churches.” St. Peter's is where the Pope says Mass most often, but the Lateran is where the Pope would come if he needed to make an ex cathedra (from the chair) pronouncement.
I'll re-live my visit to the chair Nov. 9. And this time I won't be alone: That's the feast of the dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica.
Maybe being a convert has something to do with the chair being so important to me. I'm not sure. In any case, until I became a Catholic, the pieces of the puzzle of life never quite fit. For many years, I had hoped to find the answers somewhere. But in the non-Catholic world, there are parts of Scripture that just can't be reconciled with others, and there is no authority that can make definitive statements on theology or life or ethics or practically anything. The result was that I was confused on a number of issues. No, it was worse than that: I was beginning to conclude that God was confused, too. I had only a slight hope that somehow, somewhere this side of heaven, God's revelation was being held sure and clear.
I look back now on how I knelt there at the chair, thanking God for his revelation to man through the Church, and for establishing and protecting an apostolic authority that we can trust absolutely. I recall how I thanked him for the font of wisdom that flowed from this chair to the ends of the earth.
And I thank him once again for the faithful Catholics who, down through the ages, have lived the truth so it might be passed on to people like me.
Bob Horning writes from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Bob Horning ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Missouri's Marian Marvel DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:The stately steeple of St. Martin's Church has stood watch over Starkenburg, Mo., for more than 100 years.
By now, it's as much a fixture in Gasconade County, the heart of Missouri's wine country, as the gently rolling hills and winding country roads.
St. Martin's also watches over a lovely historic monument to the Virgin Mary: the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows.
This place of prayer, pilgrimage and devotion got its start in 1847, when German settlers rowed up the Missouri River from nearby Hermann, Mo. Mass was first celebrated in the homes of settlers or, during the warm-weather months, in tobacco barns. At some point, a white plaster statue of the Blessed Mother was discovered in a nearby log church, spurring special Marian devotion and launching processions in honor of the “White Lady.”
In 1873, the parish, named after St. Martin, bishop of Tours, France — feast: Nov. 11 — constructed a stone church in which the White Lady could take up residence.
A few years later, the original statue was replaced with a more attractive figurine. The White Lady was stored in the rectory attic until May of 1888, when the sacristan, August Mitsch, found it. He placed it under a blossoming dogwood tree near the church. With the addition of a few candles, this natural canopy and altar to Our Lady became a place of devotion. Soon, a small log chapel was built to house the statue.
In 1890, a new statue of the Sorrowful Mother, adorned in a white veil, replaced the White Lady in the log chapel. The local community turned to this image of Mary, holding the body of her son, in their times of need.
Then, in 1894, fire broke out when a candle beneath the statue broke and fell.
The blaze consumed the altar linens and flowers, and it charred the altar. But, incredibly — perhaps miraculously — it stopped at the statue. When word spread, people began coming to the site in great numbers.
In 1902, Father George Hoehn, the pastor, began raising money to build a new chapel. Parishioners quarried the stone themselves, and, in 1906, construction began on the same site where August Mitsch had placed the White Lady under the dogwood years before.
Four years later, in a solemn procession and dedication, the White Lady came to her current home behind the main altar of this newly constructed shrine. The statue of the Sorrowful Mother was placed on a nearby side altar.
Evidence of Healings Past
As I walked through the heavy wooden doors of St. Martin's on my recent visit to the church and shrine, I felt like I was stepping back in time. I later learned that the church had been restored in 1993 to replicate its appearance in the early 1900s.
Once inside, I noted how the shiny, wooden floor creaked and interrupted the silence as I walked by the sturdy wooden pews. Sunshine gently radiated through the stained-glass windows and lit up the sanctuary.
The altar, lovingly crafted with detailed pillars, is a masterpiece of gold trim and fine woodwork. It is a fitting home for the tabernacle housing Our Lord. Angels stand guard on either side. Statues of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph keep vigil from opposing sides of the church in equally beautiful side altars. I spent time before each and thought of all the petitions and prayers that have been sent from here to heaven over the years.
The shrine stands behind the church, down a short drive. Entering, I was welcomed by a striking image of the Virgin Mary painted on the sanctuary ceiling. Clearly, this is a place that was erected with great love for the Blessed Mother. The shrine is small, housing only 20 or so pews. The White Lady, enclosed in glass, looks out from behind the main altar.
Votive candles are lit near the side altar holding the statue of the Sorrowful Mother. An antique leg brace and child-size crutches, witnesses to the healing power of Our Lady's intercession, lean against this side altar. Numerous marble plaques hang on the columns around it. Etched in stone, they read, for example: “Mary helped, May 1937” and “Thanks to Mary for favors granted 1916.” Most plaques are in German, with dates more than 50 years old. As I read them, I was struck by these simple acts of thanksgiving.
A gravel path leads downhill to the Stations of the Cross, which wend their way through the woods. First constructed in 1889, the stations that stand today are embedded in sturdy, concrete pillars of white.
Continuing down the hill, I crossed a tiny creek on the path that leads to two grottos. The first honors Our Lady of Lourdes; the second is called Mount Olivet Grotto. It contains a statue of the Agony in the Garden. Both are impressive for their durable stone construction, demonstrating the skill and craftsmanship of local artisans.
My afternoon pilgrimage ended at St. Martin's — or, more specifically, at the museum inside the sacristy of the church. Several large, glass cases line a hallway. Tattered black-and-white first Communion photos, worn rosary beads and other interesting artifacts are carefully arranged and labeled inside. A faded picture of former pastors hangs on the opposite side of the cases.
A trove of memories, this tiny museum is an evocative tribute to the rich German heritage that made St. Martin's and Our Lady of Sorrows Shrine a special place of prayer for so many generations before us. We can hope and pray it will remain so for many generations to come.
Eddie O'Neill writes from St. Louis, Missouri.
----- EXCERPT: St. Martin's Church and the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows, Starkenburg, Mo. ----- EXTENDED BODY: Eddie O'Neill ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:SUNDAYS & THURSDAYS
Life Is Worth Living
Familyland TV, various
Bishop Fulton J. Sheen became TV's biggest star in the 1950s with this riveting series of sermons. Millions tuned in and many became Catholic, including at least one who has been a Poor Clare nun ever since. Airs Sundays at 5:30 p.m. and Thursdays at 9:30 p.m.
MONDAY, NOV. 8
Declassified: Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall
History Channel, 10 p.m.
In August 1961, Soviet dictator Nikita Khrushchev began building a wall between Berlin's communist and free sectors to test President John F. Kennedy's resolve. Over the next 28 years, the communists killed hundreds of Germans who tried to reach freedom over the wall. The wall fell unexpectedly in November 1989, thanks largely to President Ronald Reagan's policies of promoting liberty and rolling back the Soviet empire.
TUESDAY, NOV. 9
Offshore Oil Platforms
Discover y Channel, 9 p.m.
Find out what it's like to man one of these giant rigs that are a chief source of our domestic energy.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 10
The Four Chaplains:
Sacrifice at Sea
Hallmark Channel, 10 p.m.
Those who demand an end to religion in public life will have a hard time explaining away this dramatic documentar y about the heroic chaplains who gave their life vests to GIs who had none, then linked arms, sang hymns and went down with the U.S.S. Dorchester, torpedoed off Greenland at 1 a.m. on Feb. 3, 1943. The chaplains were Father John Washington, Rabbi Alexander Goode and ministers George Fox and Clark Poling.
THURSDAY, NOV. 11
The Last Day of World War I
History Channel, 8 p.m.
In his book 11th Hour, 11th Day, 11th Month: Armistice Day 1918, Joseph Persico says that, on Nov. 11, despite knowing the war would end that day, Allied commanders ordered charge after charge just to gain a little ground and a last bit of “glory” for the officers. The result: more casualties that day than on D-Day in the next war.
FRIDAY, NOV. 12
Super Saints:
Mother Cabrini
EWTN, 5 p.m.
Italian-born St. Francis Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917), the first U.S. citizen canonized, founded the Missionar y Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, came to the United States in 1889 and for the next three decades assisted untold thousands of immigrants, orphans, delinquents, prisoners, hospital patients and others. She founded 67 hospitals, schools and orphanages in Europe, the United States and South America.
SATURDAY, NOV. 13
Homes of Santa Fe Home & Garden TV, 2 p.m.
Spanish, Mexican, Southwest Indian and Catholic themes predominate in many homes in Santa Fe, N.M.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Daniel J. Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Now Playing DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:1 THE INCREDIBLES (Disney) Director: Brad Bird. Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson. (PG)
Take One: The family-film event of the year has arrived: The Pixar wizards team up with Iron Giant writer-director Bird for a riotous super-hero adventure with a strong Spy Kids flavor but more focused on the parents. When the world's heroes are forced by lawsuits to hang up their supersuits, newlyweds Mr. Incredible (Nelson) and Elastigirl (Hunter) retire to permanent secret-identity status. Three super-kids later, Mr. I can't let go of the thrill of doing good, despite the risks to him and his family.
Take Two: Constant invention and nonstop action coexist with genuine heart and witty intelligence as The Incredibles deftly touches on a smorgasbord of themes: the joys, responsibilities, frustrations and foibles of family life; the need for heroes vs. the pitfalls of either excessive hero worship or social resentment of excellence and pressure to conform. Bird offers a surprisingly nuanced picture of a loving family that's not without marital friction and sibling rivalry, and Mr. I's midlife crisis and secretiveness is clearly seen as a mistake, though not unsympathetically portrayed.
Final Take: Another instant family classic in Pixar's unbroken string of hits, The Incredibles con-firms Bird's status as a major talent to watch. The first Pixar film to star human characters, the film is also their first PG effort. Content issues include violence with a few off-screen deaths, a fleeting appearance of romantic complications involving the married Mr. I and a flirtatious female character, and some edgy language.
2 FINDING NEVERLAND
(Buena Vista) Director: Marc Forster. Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie. (PG)
Take One: Based on the play “The Man Who Was Peter Pan,” Finding Neverland stars Depp as Peter Pan playwright and novelist J. M. Barrie in a fictionalized account of Barrie's friendship with a beautiful widow named Sylvia Lewellyn-Davies and her young sons, and of the role these relationships allegedly played in the writing of Peter Pan.
Take Two: Finding Neverland is at least true to the tragic side of Barrie's relationship with the Lewellyn-Davieses: His marriage to Mary Barrie (Radha Mitchell) collapses as he spends all his time with the L-Ds and works on Peter Pan, and a subsequent tragic turn of events leaves him with an unexpected role in the boys' lives. The film deals discreetly with questions about Barrie's faithfulness, and even fleetingly raises and repudiates the nasty suggestion that he was a pedophile.
Final Take: With one foot in tragic reality and another in Neverland sentimentality, Finding Neverland tugs at heartstrings without ever quite succeeding at either. Peter Pan is supposed to be about the magic of childhood, a time when we are “gay and innocent and heartless,” but these lads are none of those things and have little magic in their lives until Barrie introduces it. To me, this story undermines the theme of Peter Pan without putting it in a larger context.
3 RAY (Universal) Director: Taylor Hackford. Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Regina King. (PG-13)
Take One: A tour-de-force performance from Foxx as blind soul legend Ray Charles — and the music Charles left the world — powers this 2½-hour, somewhat warts-andall biopic, which celebrates Charles' virtuosity and drive, but isn't afraid to let him look unsympathetic and compromised.
Take Two: Ray deals honestly with its subject's long-term drug abuse and notorious womanizing — up to a point. We see his pattern of adulterous womanizing, yet the film ignores his first, failed marriage and all but one of his illegitimate children. There are also redemptive elements, including the tough love of Ray's mother, who refused to coddle him as he was going blind and taught him self-reliance, and Ray's eventual triumph over heroin addiction. Some profanity and crude sexual references.
Final Take: Despite some weaknesses, including a somewhat awkward ending, Ray is an unusually nuanced biopic and deserves some credit for depicting the superstar's reckless, selfish lifestyle within a somewhat moral framework with sobering consequences. All the same, Charles' redemption is sadly incomplete: A closing title informs us that Charles kept his word to stay off heroin, but is silent about his infidelities.
4 LADDER 49 (Buena Vista) Director: Jay Russell. Joaquin Phoenix, John Travolta, Jacinda Barrett. (PG-13)
Take One: Heartfelt, predictable and surprisingly poignant, Ladder 49 is an unabashed tribute to the heroism of firefighters that eschews the silly arsonist subplot that bogged down Backdraft, preferring instead a simple character-driven story arc following a rookie as he learns the ropes, starts a family and faces crises at work and home.
Take Two: A strongly Catholic milieu is a mixed blessing. On one hand, there are church weddings, baptisms, funerals and Christmas Masses, but on the other, the hero and heroine wind up in bed after a night of heavy drinking (marriage soon follows), and a hazing stunt mocks the sacrament of confession.
Final Take: The film avoids a Hollywood cliché that seems unavoidable, and it is this unexpected move that elevates the film to more than a feel-good action picture about the real-life heroes who run into burning buildings while everyone else is running out. Ladder 49 will make you cry and make you grateful.
5 SPIN (Freestyle/Turtles Crossing) Director: James Redford. Ryan Merriman, Stanley Tucci, Dana Delany. (PG-13)
Take One: Writer-director Redford, son of Hollywood icon Robert, makes his directorial debut in a lowkey coming-of-age drama based on the debut novel of Donald Everett Axinn. Set in 1950s Arizona, the story concerns an orphan raised by a mixed-race couple, awkwardly pursuing a beautiful Mexican girl with an abusive father.
Take Two: Redford directs with restraint and subtlety, broaching difficult themes from losing parents to child abuse without resorting to graphic violence, and allowing his protagonist to be immature and petulant before a critical turn of events that changes things for him. An instance of objectionable language, a brief tussle, implied domestic assault and suicide.
Final Take: Redford's under-statement is admirable, and though the story is so slight that its raison d'etre might reasonably be questioned, there's something wholesome about the film's implied premise that the ups and downs of this callow lad do after all matter.
Incredibles: Big Fish in a Depleted Pond
The Incredibles is terrific — terrific enough that it would be a contender for the year's best family film in nearly any year. Right now, it just about owns the field.
Let's face it. It's been a lousy year for family films. Until now, the fine Two Brothers has been just about the only bright spot. Of course DreamWorks' Shrek 2 and Shark Tale each made far more money, but neither is quite what I consider fine family viewing. And other choices have been forgettable and quickly forgotten: Home on the Range, Clifford's Really Big Movie and Good Boy!
Compare that to last year's crop: Finding Nemo, Holes, Peter Pan, Cheaper by the Dozen, Winged Migration, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Elf and others. The year before, there was The Rookie, Stuart Little 2, Lilo & Stitch, Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, Powerpuff Girls, Return to Never Land, Tuck Everlasting, Treasure Planet and more.
Finally, though, relief is in sight. This week, The Incredibles takes theaters by storm. Next week, Warner Bros. will counter with another computer-animated family film, The Polar Express. The following week, cel animation gets a chance with The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Then, the last week in November comes the live-action Christmas with the Kranks.
I understand saving prestige pictures for the end of the year, when they're more likely to win awards. But why have the studios been star ving family audiences all year? Consider that Shark Tale was the No.
1 film at the box office for three straight weeks. If that doesn't prove that parents are desperate, I don't know what would.
Steven D. Greydanus is editor
and chief critic of DecentFilms.com.
----- EXCERPT: A Register's-eye view of five current box-office leaders ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly DVD/Video Picks DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Old Yeller (1957) Tragic things happen, but life goes on. If any family film does a better job than Old Yeller of bringing home that lesson, I don't know which one. Far more than just the story of a boy and his dog, Old Yeller is in fact a rousing, heartbreaking and rewarding coming-of-age tale about a boy learning to be a man in his father's absence, in particular learning to face tragedy and loss, and doing what must be done even when it breaks your heart. The emphasis in the end is on what has been gained, not what has been lost.
When a yellow stray first turns up at the Coates homestead, young Travis (Tommy Kirk) is ready to shoot him on sight. But Old Yeller is no ordinary stray, as Travis realizes, grudgingly at first and then with increasing admiration. The episodic story is largely taken up with dangerous occasions for Old Yeller's heroism. There's nothing especially remarkable about this middle act, but it's all setup for the powerful conclusion.
Content advisory: Menacing situations and a tragic key plot point that may be hard for children. Still, fine family viewing.
Lassie Come Home (1943)
As comforting as Old Yeller is bittersweet, Lassie Come Home, faithfully adapted from Eric Knight's beloved novel, is a dog story from the dog's point of view, the story of a magnificent tri-color collie who will allow nothing to come between her and her self-appointed duty to meet young Joe Carraclough (14-year-old Roddy McDowall) at precisely 4 p.m. as he gets out of school in his Yorkshire village. The obstacle to this duty, of course, is that Joe's father, Sam (Donald Crisp), is eventually forced out of financial necessity to sell Lassie to the wealthy Duke of Rudling (Nigel Bruce). However, Lassie twice escapes from the duke's handler, Hynes (J. Patrick O'Malley), in order to keep her appointment with Joe, and eventually the duke takes Lassie to an estate in Scotland, more than a thousand miles from her Yorkshire home.
But Lassie's sense of loyalty — and direction — cannot be deterred. Abetted by the duke's young niece Priscilla (a precious 10-year-old Elizabeth Taylor in her second movie role), Lassie embarks on a harrowing and memorable journey home.
Content advisory: Some mild menace and a scene of violence in which a dog is killed. Fine for kids.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Lead Kindly, Knights DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Great leaders may be born or built, but no one of either pedigree ever got to the top without developing a serious desire to serve. (If he did, he wouldn't be great.)
For the Catholic leader, that desire must be infused with love for the Church and zeal for the Gospel — or the career that results will end up as so much hollow ambition or empty achievement.
It is with such noble ideals in mind that that the Knights of Columbus have launched a program aimed at building today's college students into tomorrow's great Catholic leaders.
A key part of the program is the Knights' annual International College Council Conference. This year's conference, convened in September, brought more than 150 young Knights from 60 college councils to the organization's headquarters in New Haven, Conn. The theme: “Leading Through Service.”
The young Knights learned “leading by way of serving the Church and serving the community, using our basic principles of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism,” explains Cyril Embil, a Knight who works with new and established college councils. “The most important is drawing on charity as the first of our principles and leading through that.”
Embil is proof positive the leadership conferences work. He joined the Knights' Husky Council at Northern Illinois University in 1995, his freshman year.
“Most of us go into college thinking it's time for no restrictions and freedom from parental guidance and the Church,” he says. “For me personally, and for a lot of brother Knights, the college council is a big help. We have a way to express our Catholic faith through service and leadership, and that keeps us within the Church and closer to the faith.”
Called to Service
This year's conference chairman, Jonathan Baxa, a senior at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., joined the Knights as an 18-year-old in Belleville, Kan. He first attended Conception Seminary College, where he was impressed by the support the Knights of Columbus offered seminarians. Transferring to Benedictine, he learned the Knights' council at Benedictine College “had a very strong foundation of prayer and were very active in the community.” He became its Grand Knight for the 2003-2004 school year.
This year's conference, says Baxa, “was a terrific experience, talking to Knights around the country, hearing their problems and their successes,” he says. “It gave the guys energy to take wonderful new ideas and solutions to their councils back home.” The Knights shared and merged ideas on what's needed to improve their councils, parishes, communities, families and youth ministries.
Baxa's council was instrumental in starting a crisis-pregnancy center in Atchison and will raise the annual $3,600 rent for the building this year — after raising $5,000 in two days for nursery items.
Baxa says the idea is to go beyond preventing abortions to helping young mothers before and after their babies are born. “That's a very specific example of how these councils can bring leadership through service,” he says.
“In doing that within the context of the pro-life movement, through our service, we become leaders in our individual communities, leaders working toward changing the culture,” adds Baxa. “That's what our Holy Father has called us to do.”
Baxa describes another idea he picked up at the conference for honoring women and the family. A Knight from the University of Nebraska told how his council had gone around campus passing out flowers to women and saying, “You are worth waiting for; thanks for being a true woman.”
“That's leadership through service,” Baxa says. “That's being men to stand up and do that.”
Called to Holiness
Embil explains that most of the college councils use the conference as a way to train their newly elected officers. “They go back with such great motivation to strengthen their council, strengthen their faith and serve the community better,” he says
Nor do the conference organizers skimp on the universal call to holiness. In fact, they stress it right along with the call to service, says Embil — and it's already paying dividends. After this year's conference, for example, some councils set about organizing Eucharistic adoration.
Sean Meenan, a 2002 graduate of the University of Wyoming, joined his college council as a freshman and was appointed to the conference coordinating committee twice. He credits the conference with inspiring him to spend a year at Mundelein Seminary, discerning a vocation to the priesthood and, now, working with youth.
“The whole experience with the Knights made me think a lot about the youth,” he says. “They need help and guidance in forming their life and bringing the Church into their life. That's why you can find me at just about any youth function at the parish or on the diocesan level.”
For his part Baxa, looking back on this year's “Leading Through Service” theme, reflects on two highlights.
One was the keynote address delivered by retired New York Fire Department Capt. Al Fuentes, a Knight and one of the last persons rescued from the rubble of the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 attacks. He spoke on the need for community leadership and selfless service. He's “a true hero because he's lived an entire life of service,” says Baxa. The other was a talk offered by Dominican Father Gabriel O'Donnell on the founder of the Knights of Columbus, Servant of God Father Michael J. McGivney. “There was a priest,” says Baxa, “who truly saw the needs of his parishioners and founded this organization serving brothers through faith and family.”
“Leadership through service is that saintly call we're all called to,” he adds. “It's such a timely message for Catholic leaders to hear — do the good works, live the life of selfless service.”
Seemingly both born and built, the attendees of the Knights of Columbus' International College Council Conference are already leaders — leaders the Church will look to for years to come.
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: The Knights of Columbus go to college ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: John Paul the Good DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:THE SMILING POPE: THE LIFE
AND TEACHING OF JOHN PAUL I
by Raymond and
Lauretta Seabeck
OSV Press, 2004
256 pages, $14.95
To order: (800) 348-2440
or catalog.osv.com.
He “came and went,” in the words of Cardinal Carlo Confalonieri, “like a meteor in the Church's sky.” Indeed, John Paul I may have only presided over the Church for 33 days, but the “smiling pope” made an indelible mark in many a mind's eye. And that was before Cardinal Karol Wojtyla took his Petrine predecessor's name, along with his place in St. Peter's seat.
Albino Luciani had been a bishop since 1958. Before that, he was a seminary professor. It would be absurd to compare the tragically truncated “teaching” of one of the very shortest papacies with the voluminously expansive teachings that came from one of the very longest — but, in putting the two side by side, Raymond and Lauretta Seabeck suggest that John Paul II may have never been, if not for John Paul I.
The Smiling Pope is divided into two parts. The first 83 pages are a biography of John Paul I, from his youth in northern Italy through his brief pontificate. The last 139 pages contain assorted texts of Luciani's teaching, including sermons from his days as bishop of Vittorio Veneto and as patriarch of Venice, excerpts from his book Illustrissimi and his papal general audiences. A chronology of Luciani's life rounds out the book.
As for the texts: Every teacher and preacher has his stock of stories. Every good teacher and preacher knows how to use those stories to drive a point home. (Witness Jesus' parables.) Luciani's teaching was hardly innovative or radical. He preached a meat-and-potatoes Christianity while living the Catholic faith in all its depths, joys and mysteries.
“When they speak of adult Christians in prayer, sometimes they exaggerate,” he said. “Personally, when I speak alone with God and Our Lady, I prefer to feel myself a child rather than a grown-up… I send the grown-up on vacation, and the bishop along with him, and abandon myself to the spontaneous tenderness that a child has for its papa and mama. To be for a while before God…the child I once was, who wants to laugh and sometimes feels the need to cry so that he may be shown mercy, helps me to pray. The rosary, a simple and easy prayer, helps me to be a child.”
To read Papa Luciani's reflections here — be they on the virtues, family life, the sacraments, suffering, Sunday or love — is to receive a refreshing reminder of just how simple Christianity can be. At the same time, one forgets that their author is a priest, a seminary professor, a bishop — a pope. Luciani makes the Christian life sound simple and attractive enough that you can't help but feel challenged by his words to be a more authentic Christian. The secret, of course, is being ready to try, again and again, in the face of our failings as disciples. That, Luciani reminds us, is the human condition. He tells the story of Jonathan Swift's servant, who decided washing the mud off his boots after a long trip was a waste of time. “They'll only get dirty again,” he said. Swift said nothing until the next morning, when he announced he wanted to set out immediately. His servant protested he hadn't had breakfast. “So what?” Swift replied. “You'll only be hungry again!”
More than a quarter of a century has passed since Papa Luciani flashed across the Church's sky. As The Smiling Pope shows, the teachings of the man who was pope for a month will instruct the willing faithful until the end of time.
John Grondelski writes from
Warsaw, Poland.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: John M. Grondelski ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Campus Revival
That is the conclusion of an essay by Alan Wolfe, director of Boston College's Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life.
He says that, while higher education “has a lot of catching up to do,” he is encouraged that the revival in spiritual belief is sparking new scholarship.
Politics for Rent
St. Catherine's, run by the Sisters of St. Joseph, said the event on behalf of Sen. John Kerr y's presidential candidacy was a rental and did not imply college endorsement.
Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, said the event compromised the Catholic mission of the college, especially as it had “nothing to do with academics and ever ything to do with politics.”
A Praying Pitcher
Suppan regularly visits the school, Crespi baseball coach Craig Sher wood told the newspaper of the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
According to another school official, Suppan carries on the prayer ful spirit of the Carmelites who staff Crespi by praying before each game.
Solidarity
But Ahern repor ted that his Vatican-sponsored organization, comprised of 75 autonomous national student federations, is designed to assist Catholic students in remote areas.
During a recent gathering of students in Sarajevo, Ahern found that young Catholics in such straits “found hope in being able to connect with others like them, so they didn't feel so alone.”
New Rankings
ASSOCIATED PRESS, Oct. 19 — A group of scholars has come up with a new system that ranks colleges on how they fare in the battle for students who are admitted to several colleges and have to choose among them.
Colleges compete for students against similar schools; they may never compete against dissimilar institutions.
But, with enough data, a college's place in relation to all schools can emerge, and that's where the new rankings — which, at the top level, do not dif fer greatly with the popular U.S. News & World Report standings — take shape.
“The new system rewards other schools,” the AP repor ted. “Georgetown and Notre Dame score higher than they do in U.S. News,” for example, because they win “tournaments” within the constituency that wishes to attend a Catholic college.
Joe Cullen writes from New York.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joe Cullen ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Christmas Controversy And Hope DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:The Christmas controversies have started — throughout the English speaking world. Should schools be allowed to put on nativity plays? Can Christmas carols be played in shops or public places? May a crèche be displayed in a town square?
The topic got off to an early start in Britain this year with a front-page news story about a new religious education video just produced for schools. It describes the major feasts and festivals of various faiths — but omits Christmas and Easter. The excuse made was that information about Christmas was easily available, and that as the “holiday season” (as the video producers described it) approached, children needed information about other religions.
In Britain, unlike America, religious education is officially encouraged in schools. Historically, it always centered on Christianity. The trend now is in a different direction.
Blaming this entirely on political correctness is not quite accurate. With large Islamic populations in many British cities, some schools have a 90% Islamic majority among the pupils, and this poses a difficulty in tackling the whole subject of religion.
Although a good case can be made for teaching about Christianity in religious education lessons — and indeed most Islamic parents have shown no objections to this — such things as nativity plays or carol concerts raise different problems. Add to that the fact that many teachers are uncomfortable with the idea celebrating a Christian festival, or feel ill equipped to do so, and you have the ingredients of a complicated problem which shows no sign of going away.
Some schools no longer have the traditional Christmas nativity play — once a feature of every village, suburb and city community — and instead prefer a mix of songs, dances and sketches on a variety of themes. Sometimes this is even done in areas where there are few or no members of non-Christian faiths at the school, and where no objections to Christianity have been raised by parents.
Many teachers — and parents — are genuinely ignorant about the Christmas story and feel confused when asked to teach children about it. A journalist writing in the Independent newspaper in 2002 described a dad, son, and grandma looking at a Christmas crib scene in a shopping center. The boy was throwing money into the manger as if it were a wishing well.
“Don't throw money,” said the grandmother crossly “Give him a potato chip.” The boy asked his father “Dad, what's the baby for?” “I dunno,” was the reply. “Ask your mother when she comes.”
However, there is no doubt that deliberate efforts to undermine the public's sense of normality about celebrating Christmas play a major part in making schools, youth groups and community organizations nervous on the subject.
Disregarding the fact that Christianity is still overwhelmingly the majority faith in Britain, a number of organizations have sought to distance themselves from any public honoring of its annual round of feasts. These include the British Red Cross Society which — with apparently little understanding of the significance of the symbol from which it draws its name — has banned nativity scenes or displays of overtly religious material in its shops. When it announced this policy, the Society was deluged with letters of complaint, and there has also been a fall-off in donations.
Similarly in Canada, when city officials in Toronto two years ago called the 50-foot decorated tree outside City Hall a “holiday tree” public mockery eventually forced a change of approach. Eventually, the Mayor was forced to issue a statement: “Our special events staff went too far with their political correctness when they called it a holiday tree. They were trying to be inclusive and their hearts were in the right place but you can't be politically correct all the time.”
A cheerier note was struck by a broadcaster who robustly defended a program in which children from different schools were brought together to form a choir for carols on a BBC television show: “The Christmas tale is a great romantic story, just as carols are marvellous songs which can be enjoyed by anyone regardless of their creed,” Peter Waterman told the London-based Daily Mail. But the problems remain — and, in Europe, are increasing.
It is not only political correctness that forces the pace, but also commercial interests.
In Germany and in much of eastern Europe, an American-style Santa Claus figure threatens to take over from the Christ-child as the traditional deliverer of Christmas gifts. Some church and community groups have even taken to issuing stickers announcing “Santa-free zones,” as they want to preserve their own local tradition with its specifically Christian message.
There is particular concern in eastern Europe, where for decades the Communist authorities sought to promote the idea of “Father Frost” — initiated in Russia in the 1930s as a replacement for St. Nicholas — as a non-religious mythical figure who brought goodies for children.
All this means that Christian families, churches, schools and organizations, who feel a bit beleaguered, are going to have to make extra efforts to emphasize the Christian message at this time of year. Some already are.
In Australia, Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen came swiftly to the support of Prime Minister John Howard when the latter criticized kindergartens and child care centers that had banned nativity plays and replaced them with stories about clowns so as to avoid offending members of other faiths. “It (society) refuses to acknowledge how much it owes to the Christian faith, and the loss is going to be a desperate one,” Jensen said in a statement, calling the ban on nativity scenes “puzzling.”
In Britain, the Knights of St. Columa (British equivalent to the Knights of Columbus in the USA) distribute posters through Catholic parishes every year showing Mary and the Christ-child, and bearing the slogan “Christmas joy.” The international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need makes a special point of selling cards with specifically Christian scenes, including several depicting great works of Christian art. “Our cards carry a message — and are meant to do so,” said director of the British section, Neville Kyrke-Smith, “They depict what Christmas is all about.”
And everywhere, Catholic schools and parishes continue to prepare children for the traditional nativity play — boys with towels on their heads will be Joseph, and golden crowns for the Three Kings will be cut from cardboard and decorated with glitter and stickers.
Small girls will dress up in angel costumes, toy lambs will be pressed into service to accompany small shepherds at the Bethlehem manger, and mothers and fathers, grandparents, neighbors and friends will find themselves unexpectedly tearful as they watch the next generation stomp up on to a platform to sing the time-honored carols.
Perhaps they will reflect that, by simply keeping this tradition alive, they are doing more than they know. In tomorrow's world, honoring Christmas is going to be a central neccessity for Christians holding on to their faith and its message, and seeking to spread it to souls hungry for truth and love.
Joanna Bogle writes from London.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joanna Bogle ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: CRČCHE TIME DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Gospel of Christmas
In this Year of the Eucharist Christians ought to be committed to bearing more forceful witness to God's presence in the world. It is a mistake to think that any public reference to faith will somehow undermine the rightful autonomy of the State and civil institutions, or that it can even encourage attitudes of intolerance.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: The Unborn Jesus DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Facts of Christmas
March 25 — Jesus' unique DNA complete at conception.
April 8 — Jesus' first brain cells.
April 15 — The sacred heart begins to beat.
June 10 — Jesus' first smile.
Advent — In last four weeks, Jesus begins turning toward the light.
Dec. 25 — Jesus is born.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Football Widows DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Family Matters
My husband goes into a football coma during weekends in the fall. I feel like a single parent from Saturday morning through Monday night.
Caroline: This won't make me popular, but I say there's no use fighting the football phenomenon. My husband was born and raised in Nebraska, where Cornhusker football is king. Like most Nebraskans, he's been a fanatic all his life. His sister even moved the time of her wedding reception to accommodate a game (“Otherwise, no one would have come,” she said.) Of course, that didn't change after our wedding day; it's part of who he is.
My solution: I've become a football fan myself. Game days are a big deal around our house. We all don Husker gear, and we all watch. It has become a fun family event.
A sneaky tip: Invite friends over for the game. (But, for your husband's sake, be sure they're fans who will actually watch.) My kids and I enjoy the social atmosphere and, better yet, it inspires husbands to get a mammoth amount of work done before game time. If Nebraska plays on Saturday afternoon, for example, and we have company coming, Tom will be up early to mow the lawn, pick up the house, clean the kitchen, vacuum — even shop for groceries (and, of course, game snacks). A weekend's worth of work is done by 2 o'clock!
Tom: As a lifelong carrier of the football virus myself, I can tell you that there is no known cure for it — but the disease can be managed and its symptoms controlled. I've found that watching football per se was not the problem. Caroline didn't mind me watching as long as she was aware of the schedule ahead of time. What would bother her was when I would simply park myself on the couch for the day without any regard for our family plan for the weekend. No matter how much I enjoy football, I simply cannot allow it to trump all other responsibilities and expect the household to go on without me. After all, on weekends, we dads have more time to spend with our wives and kids, and we can't squander it.
So I plan ahead. I am a huge fan of college football. I'll watch Montana Polytech play Virginia Southern A&M with glee while respecting the fact that, now that I have a family, I must use restraint. During the week, I let Caroline know if Nebraska's game is being televised. That way she doesn't feel blindsided. Those three hours have been blocked out on our schedule.
Because Caroline graciously indulges me in this way, I try to reciprocate by helping around the house or taking the kids out so she can have a break. For example, last weekend, Nebraska's game wasn't televised, so, instead of turning on another game, I took the kids to the circus while Caroline had a well-deserved nap.
Bottom line: If husbands make good, conscientious use of weekend time with their families, I'm willing to bet that their wives won't mind them watching some football now and then.
Tom and Caroline McDonald are family-life coordinators for the Diocese of Mobile, Alabama.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tom and Caroline McDonald ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Walk for Wits DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Facts of Life
Two new studies, both released in the Sept. 22 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, show a clear link between light, regular exercise — such as a daily stroll — and improved mental sharpness in old age. One study, involving more than 16,000 seniors, found that even subjects who walked a leisurely 90 minutes each week did better on tests of mental function than their less-active peers.
Register illustration by Tim Rauch
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Rauch ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: For Best Results, Read Aloud DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:You're a time-pressed parent. You wish you could find some way to spend more time with your children. Quiet time. Quality time.
Time when you and your progeny are not just under the same roof, but actually doing something together. Time that can show them you love them. Time that can give them an academic advantage, enhance their moral development and form them in the faith.
How's that for a tall order?
And how's this for a solution? Browse the family bookshelf. Together.
Studies in cognitive development consistently show that children who are read to develop thinking and communication skills much sooner than their peers who aren't read to.
Similar studies show that children whose parents read to them continue to develop these skills at an accelerated rate for as long as they are exposed to reading aloud, even into early adolescence — well past the age at which most children can read proficiently on their own.
“Reading aloud to kids is, by far, the best predictor of children's success in school,” says Patricia Crawford, coordinator of the University of Central Florida's early childhood education program. “It helps to build listening, comprehension and vocabulary skills. Most importantly, though, reading to kids is a great tool for bonding between adults and children. When I ask undergraduates about their early reading experience, they all have memories of a special person in their lives — and it's someone who read to them.”
Crawford, who, along with her sister Kerry, compiles the Register's “Children's Book Picks,” adds that older children also can benefit from family reading times. She encourages parents to continue reading to their children, even after their picture books have been set aside.
“All kids need good role models of reading, especially kids who struggle academically,” she says. “We tend to think that once children can read on their own, reading is now “their job,' but it's still our job to make reading enjoyable for them.”
One of the best ways to do that, according to Crawford, is to share the reading experience with your children. Beginning readers can benefit from “buddy reading,” a system in which parent and child take turns reading one page of a book alternately.
But readers of all ages and ability love to listen to a good story — and it doesn't take a university study to prove that hypothesis.
“When someone heralds the cry “Mom's going to read!', they come scurrying from all corners of the house,” says Kathy Szymanski, a read-aloud enthusiast and mother of seven in Alden, Minn. “More often than not, Dad comes, as well.”
With children ranging in age from 1 to 26, the Szymanski family is all over the proverbial map when it comes to interests and activities. Yet one thing every member shares is a love of books.
“If the younger ones say to an older brother, “Mom's reading The Hobbit,' he will immediately identify with them and vice versa, as they know he once sat and listened just as they did,” explains Szymanski. “And you can share in a personal, family way those characters and stories. It crosses the distance of the years when lives aren't as close on a daily basis anymore.”
Besides family bonding, Szymanski further values family reading for its power to develop her children's imaginations — something she has noticed television fails to do.
“In order to read aloud, you have to make the time,” she says. “If you choose to spend an hour each night watching TV, you probably won't have much reading aloud. When we watch occasional movies, I always make sure we have read the book first. The kids are usually disappointed in the movie as the book is often better. Reading stimulates the imagination, but TV gives it all to you on a platter — and probably not as well as you would have imagined it.”
Kathleen Pfaff, head librarian and assistant principal at St. Mary School in Clinton, Md., agrees.
“Reading helps children to develop upper-level thinking skills in a way that television could never do,” she says. “Children can imagine how the places and people in the stories look, instead of passively watching them. You can read at your own pace, pause and ask questions, and look back to clarify things when necessary.”
Pfaff acknowledges that many families have busy schedules, but emphasizes the enormous benefits parents reap for themselves and their children when they make time for reading aloud.
“Find 15 minutes in your day and make it a permanent part of your routine,” she suggests. “If you consider that reading out loud to your kids is the single most important factor in raising a reader, you can find 15 minutes.”
One of the greatest benefits of reading aloud, according to Pfaff, is the fact that children's listening comprehension is always more advanced than their reading comprehension. In other words, when children are read to, they can listen to, understand and enjoy the benefits of books they could never read successfully on their own.
“If the subject matter is appropriate, it's a great way to introduce them to fine literature they wouldn't be ready to read on their own,” she says.
Pfaff adds that reading aloud is a tool parents can use to enhance their children's faith formation as well. By reading aloud to kids, parents and teachers can expose children to stories from the Bible and lives of the saints that young people might not otherwise choose to read on their own.
Nor do the stories necessarily need to have overtly religious themes in order to be spiritually beneficial. All great stories have moral elements and characters facing adversity or making difficult decisions. These can provide fodder for family discussions on good versus evil and moral decision-making.
And that's not all. Most parents who read aloud to their kids will tell you that they do so because it just plain feels good.
“We have pictures of me in my chair surrounded by the children from 17 on down, baby nursing, while I read away,” says Szymanski. “Once a story is shared, you can keep going back to it again and again. Reading good books gives children good characters to identify with and good role models to follow. Reading aloud together means you can share that with them and be a part of that.”
Danielle Bean writes from Center Harbor, New Hampshire.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Dating for Life DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Prolife Profile
“Our problem is not that we desire too much but that we desire too little.”
So says Dave Sloan, time and time again, as he travels around the country promoting his ministry to singles, God of Desire: From Dating to Courtship to Paradise.
”The first thing is to recognize that God himself is the source of our attractions and desires for each other,” Sloan says. “The ultimate purpose of our relationships is to be drawn closer to God and attain heaven through discovering both who God is and who we are as men and women made in his image. We want to allow God to draw us not only to each other but to the nuptial union in heaven, the wedding feast of the Lamb.”
As a writer, speaker and founder of this unique pro-life apostolate for singles, Atlanta-based Sloan has brought his message to singles groups, college campuses and Eternal Word Television Network viewers. His foundation is Pope John Paul II's “Theology of the Body” and “Love and Responsibility.”
Sloan says he's working “to unpack it all for single people.” He knows whereof he speaks since he's single himself.
Sloan's “Twelve Principles Program” is grounded in the conviction that all romantic relationships must grow out of our relationships with each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.
He's quick to point out the groom's words in the Song of Solomon: “You have ravaged my heart, my sister, my bride.”
Men and women must love each other first as brothers and sisters whose identity is based on being children of God, he stresses. “Only then,” he adds, “will we be able to help one another grow closer to heaven at every stage of our dating and courtship.”
Dating Decisions
“Practically speaking, you don't skip over the dating and go directly to the courtship,” Sloan teaches. “Formal courtship is a commitment we should make only after we've taken plenty of time to get to know the real truth of who the person is. Dating is the bridge between having met one another and embarking on a commitment of formal courtship.
“When our hearts begin to stir with affection, with love, with longing for another person,” he continues, “we must not repress but complete that desire by seeing not only the beauty of this person but the mystery of the God who made this person so beautiful.”
Sloan speaks of the struggle singles face in trying to find old-fashioned romance in a new-fashioned world.
“Most folks these days say it's okay for a woman to take the lead in the beginning of the relationship,” he says. “What they forget is that they want the guy to eventually come around and take the lead in courting the woman. Everyone wants him to be the one to get down on his knee and ask her to marry him. If those roles get reversed in the beginning, it's tough to get them straightened out later.”
Few would dispute that. But what's the solution? “We have to rediscover and restore appreciation for the great glory and splendor of womanhood and feminine beauty,” Sloan says. “Courtship, including the beginning phase of dating, is nothing other than a man recognizing the glory of a woman and striving to earn her heart.”
Drawing from his streetwise, hard-knocks life before his conversion in 1993, Sloan brings his message to the streets with striking fearlessness. Father Mitch Pacwa once had an EWTN crew follow Sloan around Atlanta's nightclub district as he talked to daters.
“You could see these guys with steam coming out of the top of their heads,” Father Pacwa says. “They had just bought dinner and drinks for a date and obviously had other things in mind, but Sloan was questioning the daters about real love as opposed to ‘fun.’”
Despite the boldness, Sloan manages to get the point across without confrontation. How? “He doesn't pretend to be cool,” Father Pacwa observes. “He is cool.”
Michael Patrick of Washington, D.C., was among a group of people in Sloan's discussion group — that is, God of Desire in its early stages — at Christ the King Cathedral in Atlanta.
“People really thrived discussing and praying about the words the Holy Father had written in that context,” Patrick says, pointing out how the apostolate combines prayer, content and respect for “the whole person because we're soul and body.” For instance, “Dave is trying to get us to go on hikes together.“
God of Desire seminars don't offer rigid rules, but lay out 12 common-sense spiritual principles. The principles give clear biblical criteria for choosing a person to date, beginning with selecting someone who practices both charity and purity.
“These two virtues,” Sloan says, “are a bazillion times more important than any set of psychological traits on some dating-service checklist could ever be.”
Glorious Plan
Father Pacwa finds a difference in Sloan's apostolate. “He has a multi-faceted approach,” notes the priest. “He has young singles come together for apologetics, and he also talks about dating, courtship, marriage and sexuality for singles, and married chastity. That's the genius — he brings all these things together.”
And Sloan does it in an enjoyable way. There was the recent five-day seminar on a cruise to Nova Scotia with CatholicSingles.com, and the latest addition to his website — a fun, yet serious, Dating License Test. Those who pass can print their dating licenses from the site, and those who don't are referred to appropriate sections of the site for further study.
Sloan believes that singles ministry is the real hope for the future of the Church, because singles are the source of all vocations, married or consecrated.
“There are 86 million single people in America today, and we're going to create a revolution in ministering to them,” he says. “Thanks to the great prophetic work of Pope John Paul II, we're ready and able to bring singles the good news for which they long in the depths of their hearts: the great glory of God's plan for creating us as men and women in his image. It's his glorious plan of drawing us from dating to courtship to paradise.”
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 11/07/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 7-13, 2004 ----- BODY:Young, Pro-Life & Generous
CATHOLIC ONLINE, Oct. 20 — Chicago's Cardinal Francis George recently drove past an abortion facility and noticed members of the St. Mary of the Angels young-adult group praying and offering sidewalk counseling.
In a note of thanks to the group, the cardinal noted that, instead of pursuing other activities, “you chose to give an hour of your time to standing up for the dignity of the unborn, opposing the culture of death.”
One member, Tessa, told the Catholic website that she does not find the pro-life witness discouraging or depressing. “I would like to encourage people to come out to pray with us,” she said. “Oftentimes we think of the abortion clinic as Calvary. Praying in front of clinics has changed my life, and I think it is a great way for people to grow closer to Christ.”
Those in the Chicago area interested in joining the young adults can contact the group at onehour@excite.com.
Doctor Discerns the Divine
In her new syndicated column, “The Faith/Health Connection,” Toye draws on a multitude of studies, including those pointing to greater longevity for believers — a 25% reduction in mortality that cannot be accounted for after adjusting for greater social support and more healthy choices that usually accompany religious practice.
In addition, there is Toye's own experience and her recognition that “my spiritual life has moderated the course of (my) illness.”
Brazil Chooses Life
LIFESITE, Oct. 22 — The Brazilian Supreme Federal Tribunal has outlawed abortions for anencephalic babies. The practice had become legal in July as an expansion of existing laws that allow abortion only for women whose pregnancy is the result of rape, or if a pregnancy endangers the mother's life.
Authorization for the abortion of these babies, who are born with undeveloped brains and cannot survive long after birth, was introduced by the health ministry of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's leftist government, but was opposed by Attorney General Claudio Fonteles.
A Catholic, Fonteles argued to the high court: If “there is life within the womb, it is not legal to kill it.”
Ten Commandments Stay Put
ASSOCIATED PRESS, Oct 21 — Federal District Judge Dee Benson has ruled that Duchesne City, Utah, acted constitutionally when it sold land on which a Ten Commandments monument sits in order to keep from having to remove the display.
This is the second case within the past five months in which two public-interest law firms — the Thomas More Law Center and the American Center for Law and Justice — have collaborated to prevent the removal of such monuments in Utah.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Voters Protect Marriage DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:BILLINGS, Mont. — On Election Day, when voters in Montana and 10 other states said marriage must remain between a man and a woman, many were surprised.
Donna Petriccione wasn't.
When she moved to Billings from northern California, she thought she was leaving homosexual activism behind. She was soon disappointed.
“We have sanctioned gay activism in the public schools here,” said Petriccione, a Catholic who works at Emmaus Road Catholic Bookstore. “My daughter at West High School was invited to go to a gay-heterosexual club that's organized so that everyone gets to know and understand each other.”
She voted on Election Day because she wanted to make sure that American childrenwon't be forced to view homosexual relationships as normal — and equal to heterosexual marriages between women and men.
By overwhelming margins, voters approved similar measures in 11 states: Oregon, Georgia, Arkansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Ohio and Utah.
About one-fifth of American voters were able to cast a ballot on the issue, and the margins of approval ranged from 57% in Oregon to 86% in Mississippi, with most favorable percentages in the mid-70s.
Missouri and Louisiana approved same-sex “marriage” bans earlierthis year, but the Louisiana amendment was struck down on technicalities by a state court.
“The family needs to be protected, and homosexual ‘marriages’ are a threat to the institution of marriage and to families as God intended them,”Petriccione said, explaining why she voted for the Montana law. “It's not that Iam prejudiced against gays, and I'm actually very compassionate toward them. But threatsto the traditional institution of marriage are everywhere, and this is one of the biggest.”
The same-sex ‘marriage’ bans have invigorated Catholics and others workingfor the Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would recognize marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The amendment would allow states to continue deciding whether to recognize homosexual relationships, such as through a civil union. It would also let states decide whether companies can extend benefits, such as health insurance and Social Security proceeds, to homosexual partners of employees.
Matt Daniels, a lawyer and founder of the Alliance for Marriage, said the decisive victories of same-sex ‘marriage’ bans means the Federal Marriage Amendment islikely tobe ratified by the states if it gets through Congress.
“People in this country deeply believe that kids do best with a mom and a dad, and that's why these measures passed so decisively,” said Daniels, whose organizationdeveloped the Federal Marriage Amendment. “Americans want their own childrenand grandchildren to experience the blessings of life in an intact family. They want our laws tosend a positive message to kids about marriage, family and their future.”
Though Daniels celebrated the 11 victories, he cautioned that with no Federal Marriage Amendment, they'll crumble under judicial attack.
“The bad news is that all of these new laws will be struck down in federalcourt,” Daniels said.
Indeed, on Nov. 4, just two days after the election, a lawsuit was filed in federal court to challenge Oklahoma's “Defense of Marriage” initiative.
“The forces behind these federal lawsuits to force gay ‘marriage’ onus have no respect for democracy, and they despise public opinion on this issue,” Daniels said. “Without a constitutional amendment, this will be a repeat of the abortion crisis, with the entire issue being nationalized through the federal courts.”
Daniels said the forces that will work against the new state laws — and try to defeat the Federal Marriage Amendment — include the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Organization for Women, People for the American Way and “a panoply of gay-activist groups.” Daniels said he has nothing against homosexuals, and he urges peopleto act with tolerance toward them.
“But they do not have a right to force a re-definition of marriage on the entire society that depends on marriage and family as its fundamental, stabilizing institution,” Daniels said. “If our laws become fundamentally hostile to, or detached from,social reality — such as kids do best with a mom and a dad — then all of societywill suffer and pay a price.”
Daniels said the cost will come in the form of more social decay that has already resulted from the breakdown of the traditional family.
“We are paying with youth crime, violent crime, childhood poverty and welfare dependency,” Daniels said. “Further destruction of family, with the destruction of traditional marriage, will come with far greater costs. Furthermore, we will face legaland social marginalization, and eventually persecution, as laws become hostile to social realityand to the teachings of the faith.”
Won't Give Up
The 11 pro-traditional-marriage amendments were a blow to activists who thought they had made substantial progress toward mainstreaming the idea of homosexual ‘marriage’ in the past 20 years.
“I think it's very sad that people in 11 states want to have second-class citizens in this country,” said Matthew Gallagher, who heads DignityUSA,an organization in Washington, D.C., that advocates for greater acceptance of homosexual, bisexual and transgender people in the Catholic Church. “The 11 new state laws are a step backfor the entire country.”
Gallagher, a Catholic who attended Catholic schools from first grade through college, was a professed brother and Carmelite seminarian in New York who dropped out just before taking his final vows. He said he was openly homosexual in the seminary and looks forward to the day he marries a man.
“When I find Mr. Right, we will have a religious ceremony and a civil ceremony — if it's allowed,” Gallagher said.
But Catholic teaching argues forcefully that homosexual “marriage” is impossible. Furthermore, “When legislation in favor of the recognition of homosexual unions is proposed for the first time in a legislative assembly, the Catholic lawmaker has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it,” says the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. “To vote in favor of a law so harmful tothe common good is gravely immoral” (Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons, No. 10).
Gallagher and his organization of 2,500 members argue that the U.S. bishops —who officially back the Federal Marriage Amendment — should stop supporting the push for federal and state laws that would preclude him and other homosexuals from marrying. Galagher said it's one thing for the Church to discriminate, because it's a private organization. It's another issue entirely, he said, for the government to treat homosexuals differently from heterosexuals.
“Instead of spending money to fight against equal rights for Americans, wewant the bishops to spend the money to tell the truth and also to protect our children from thechild abuse that goes on by bishops and priests,” Gallagher said.
But the John Jay study of sex abuse by clergy found that 80% of it was homosexual in nature — an indication that homosexuality, not holy orders, is at fault. From the Village People song “YMCA” to the Showtime television show “Queer as Folk,”homosexual culture has long celebrated sex with teens. 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.
Gallagher said the new laws, and the Federal Marriage Amendment, would hurt children who are adopted by same-sex couples. He said the laws would make it difficult for homosexuals to will property to their children, or to extend health-insurance benefits to them.
“There are dozens and dozens of other false arguments put forth by those who are working hard to destroy the institution of marriage,” Daniels countered. “It's not about benefits, and it never will be. It's about marriage. The second sentence of our amendment says to leave in place the existing authority of state legislatures over benefits.”
Wayne Laugesen writes from Boulder, Colorado.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Catholic Voters Score Pro-Life Gains DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — Catholic voters and other people of faith turned out in droves Nov. 2, electing pro-life President George W. Bush to a second term and telling the world that moral values were the most important issue in this year's election.
Those values ranked higher than the economy, terrorism and the war in Iraq, according to exit polls by USA Today and CNN. Twenty-two percent of voters put moral values first, with 80% of them voting for Bush and 18% supporting Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry, according to CNN.
“The issue of moral values and people who go to church regularly put George Bush over the top,” said George Marlin, author of The American Catholic Voter, a book published shortly before the election.
“Catholics said ‘values matter,’ and they were heard in this election,” he said.
Kerry conceded Nov. 3, shortly after poll results showed Bush had won the hotly contested state of Ohio.
Bush received more than 51% of the popular vote, making him the first president elected with more than half of the popular vote since his father, George H.W. Bush, was elected in 1988. He picked up 52% of the total Catholic vote to Kerry's 47%. Churchgoers who attend more than once a week backed Bush 64% to Kerry's 35%, according to CNN.
Exit polls also indicated that Catholics made up 27% of the electorate. The race was the first time a Republican presidential candidate has won the Catholic vote since 1988. Bush showed a gain in that vote since the 2000 election, when then-Vice President Al Gore won 50% of the vote and Bush won 47%.
This year's campaign, which galvanized the nation, was seen by many people as a decision about which way the country would go in terms of protecting innocent human life and families. More than 60% of registered voters cast ballots — 120 million in all. That's the highest level since 1968, according to the non-partisan Committee for the Study of the American Electorate.
For the pro-life and pro-marriage movement, there were a string of victories, but some significant defeats as well. Eleven states approved amendments prohibiting same-sex unions, and Florida passed a ballot initiative requiring parental consent for a minor's abortion. But California voters decided to spend millions of dollars of taxpayers' money on embryonic stem-cell research.
In South Dakota, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, a supporter of abortion rights, became the first Senate leader in half a century to lose a bid for re-election. National pro-life groups had made his defeat and the election of Republican John Thune one of their top priorities, said Joe Cella, executive director of The Ave Maria List, a Catholic political-action committee dedicated to restoring the culture of life.
“John Thune is pro-life and represents South Dakota values,” Cella said.
Thune is one of seven new pro-life senators, all Republicans: Mel Martinez of Florida, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, David Vitter of Louisiana, Richard Burr of North Carolina, TomCoburn of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina.
A larger Republican majority in both houses of Congress holds out hope that Bushwill have an easier time getting pro-life legislation passed and pro-life federal judges — including probable Supreme Court nominees — confirmed.
But in Pennsylvania, where 21 electoral votes went to Kerry, pro-abortion Sen. Arlen Specter was reelected to a fifth term. Specter is poised to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, giving him power to schedule hearings on nominees and influence whether a nomination makes it to the Senate floor for a vote.
“When you talk about judges who would change the right of a woman to choose, overturn Roe v. Wade, I think that is unlikely,” Specter told the Associated Press the day after Bush's re-election. Mentioning Senate Democrats' filibustering of Bush nominees during the first term, Specter said: “I would expect the president to be mindful of the considerations which I am mentioning.”
Kerry's Faith Exit polls also showed more Catholic support for Bush among regular attendees of Mass. Catholics who attend Mass weekly favored Bush 56% to 43%, while those who go less often gave Kerry a slight edge over the president, 50% to 49%.
Despite Kerry's loss, many of his Catholic supporters say faith shouldn't be a factor in selecting a president. Eric McFadden, an Ohio Catholic who launched CatholicsForKerry04.org, says the Massachusetts senator's Catholicism should never have been an issue.
“I don't think there's ever a ‘Catholic candidate,’” McFadden said. “He's not running for pope. He shouldn't have to wear his faith on his sleeve.”
But Marlin says Kerry didn't talk about his faith because he feared a backlash from faithful Catholics. In fact, prior to the second presidential debate, he said, only 23% of voters knew Kerry was Catholic.
“He never even tried to galvanize the Catholic vote,” Marlin said.
McFadden concedes that Republicans did a better job of connecting with Catholics. “My hat's off to the GOP,” he said. “They've been at it for four years, reaching out to Catholics and the bishops.”
The last Catholic to make a bid for the White House, John F. Kennedy, garnered 78% of the Catholic vote in 1960. McFadden says Catholics voted for Kennedy because of the hype surrounding his faith.
“We'd never had a Catholic president before and Catholics were excited about Kennedy being president — and that was pre-Roe v. Wade,” he said. “The Republicans used that wedge issue very well, and they used a handful of bishops to get that message out.”
But Cathy Cleaver Ruse, spokeswoman for the bishops' Pro-Life Secretariat, says abortion isn't a wedge issue, but a fundamental human-rights issue embraced by Catholics and other Christians across the country.
“Pope John Paul II, years ago, called abortion the greatest civil-rights issue of our day,” she said. “That has been reflected in many of the bishops' statements on the issue — the distinction of it being a matter of religious doctrine — which it's not. Rather, it's a matter of civil rights and the common good.”
Nick Thomm, a graduate of Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, agrees.
“A majority realizes where this country is headed and where issues like abortion, embryonic stem-cell research and gay ‘marriage’ will take us,” said Thomm, who produces “Kresta in the Afternoon,” a nationally syndicated Catholic radio program. “The Massachusetts decision (to legalize gay ‘marriage’) and rogue court decisions have refocused our attention on how quickly our values can be taken away from us.” Cella notes that while many political observers in the mainstream media were surprised that moral values edged out Iraq and the economy as the No. 1 issue for nearly a quarter of voters, many Christian groups expected it, he said.
“We're in a cultural war, and people are thirsting after truth in a relativistic society,” he said. “Because human life and the family are being attacked, people are eager to engage their faith in the political arena to protect these hallowed institutions.”
However, Marlin said, Catholics will have to fight to sustain those values, especially when it comes to appointments to the Supreme Court. With Chief Justice William Rehnquist suffering from thyroid cancer, many pro-life supporters are eager to see justices appointed who will strictly interpret the Constitution, he said.
“We have some tough battles on our hands,” he said. “We (prolifers) are seriously in the game, and we have a man in the White House who will not hinder us.”
Patrick Novecosky writes from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Patrick Novecosky ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Californians Vote to Fund Fetal Research DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:LOS ANGELES — Fifty-nine percent of California voters decided that all taxpayers in the state will have to fund embryonic stem-cell research and cloning.
The Nov. 2 referendum on the Embryo Cloning and Stem Research Bond Act — Proposition 71 — was a defeat for the Catholic Church, which had strongly condemned the proposition. The measure passed, 59% to 41%.
An embryo is a unique boy or girl from within 8 weeks of conception. Proposition71 will fund embryo-killing research without government oversight and have a price tag of more than $6 billion for fiscally strapped California. Previous research on embryos has provided no cures, only tumors. Private money already finances non-fatal adult stem cell research. This reserch has led to successful treatments of 56 diseases.
The Catholic bishops of California, in a statement issued Sept. 7, had called Proposition 71 a “financial boondoggle” that “promises what may not happen.”
It “cannot be justified from an ethical perspective,” the bishops said.
Vincentian Father Richard Benson, a biologist, theologian and academic dean of St. John's Seminary in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, gave a series of homilies against the proposition, pointing out that 20 years of embryonic stem-cell research in animals has proven ineffective. Father Benson said even if medical benefits were likely, it would still be wrong to vote for the proposition: “You don't do evil that good may come about,” he said.
Parishes throughout the state included inserts in their bulletins expressing theCatholic position.
Actor Mel Gibson, director of The Passion of the Christ, weighed in against Proposition 71 on ABC's “Good Morning America” Oct. 28; he also recorded a commercial against it. Gibson's opposition stood in stark contrast to the support of many Hollywood celebrities, including actors Michael J. Fox and Brad Pitt, and fellow Catholic and movie star Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“I found that the cloning of human embryos will be used in the process andthat, for me, I have an ethical problem with that,” Gibson said on “Good Morning America.” “Why do I, as a taxpayer, have to fund something I believe is unethical?”
In his minute-long radio commercial — which ran days before the election —Gibson said: “I'm voting ‘no’ on Prop. 71 — creating life simply to destroy it is wrong, particularly when there are effective alternatives readily available.”
Gibson did not respond to the Register's requests for additional comment, but hetold National Review, “I would find it difficult to look at myself in the mirror ifI didn't take a stand against this disingenuous proposition, particularly in light of the factthat in 23 years of research with embryonic stem cells, not one single cure has been obtained.”
And, speaking on a radio program hosted by Focus on the Family's James Dobson, he pointed out that Dolly the sheep — who was created using the cloning process that Proposition 71 will fund — was full of problems. “I don't think you could even make a decent sweater out of her,” Gibson quipped.
Carol Hogan, spokeswoman for the California Catholic Conference, said she holds out hope that the act's effects will be mitigated by a watchful press.
“It is clear that the press will watch like hawks,” Hogan said. “Stories like this are the lifeblood of investigative journalists.”
According to Hogan, those opposing Proposition 71 had more favorable coverage in the press by a two-to-one margin and had more editorials published on their side.
“The press did a really fine job; TV was biased, but print was very fair right down the line,” she said, explaining that the press covered items related to the proposition including the fact that many of its sponsors were investors in cloning and embryonic stem-cell research companies.
Hogan said she believes the press will report even the smallest “mis-steps,” putting a great deal of pressure on the researchers. “Even if we had eked out a victory,” she said, “they would have been back with a similar proposition.” Sooner or later, something like it would have passed, she said.
Gene Tarne, spokesman for the Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics in Washington, D.C., said he was troubled, not only because the proposition is ethically wrong, but because it locks in funding for the most speculative therapy available — not for areas that are truly promising.
“From an ethical, public policy and scientific perspective, Prop. 71 is a bad idea,” hesaid.
Schwarzenegger came out in favor of the proposition in mid-October despite the state's dire financial situation.
“I am, of course, a supporter of stem-cell research. Research that we do now holds the promise of cures for tomorrow. California has always been a pioneer. We daringly led the way for the high-tech industry, and now voters can help ensure we lead the way for the bio-tech industry,” he said.“We are the world's bio-tech leader, and Prop. 71 will helpensure that we maintain that position while saving lives in the process.”
Neither Schwarzenegger's office, nor the coalition supporting Proposition 71 responded to the Register's requests for comment.
One priest who knows and has worked with both Schwarzenegger and Gibson — and so asked not to be named — said, “Mel Gibson is right on this one…. The Church is very in favor of stem-cell research, but against fetal stem-cell research because it involves the murder of the embryos.
“Mel realizes that this is killing human beings, and he is saying what he thinks is thetruth,” the priest said.
He added that he still holds out hope that Schwarzenegger will come around to the Catholic position on issues of life.
“I still think there is hope for Arnold on issues of life because he listens,” the priest said. “He is probably succumbing to his own belief that what is goodfor business is good for California.”
“Things happen for a reason,” said Carol Hogan of the California Catholic Conference. “And in five years, when they have to pay this back and there are no cures to point to, it could be a huge scandal that drives the stake through the heart of embryonic stem-cell research.”
Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, president of the California Catholic Conference, said in a Nov. 3 statement that the bishops stood ready to “work with the administration and the Legislature to correct the defects in this proposition, and to work with others to offer comfort and care to those who will undoubtedly be disappointed when they realize that cures are not imminent and that they were given false hope.” Bishop Blaire also repeated the conference's concern that state funding would be diverted to “this speculative research”when it could be better used to provide health insurance for the 7 million Californians without it or used for “the state's current and future civic and social welfare commitments.”
Andrew Walther writes from Los Angeles.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Andrew Walther ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Abortion Activist Resigns From Board DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — Attorney Pamela Hayes resigned from the National Review Board for the Protection of Children, an agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, after disclosing in the Register a life of bold abortion rights activism.
Bill Ryan, deputy director of communications for the bishops' conference, said the resignation came during a discussion about the story between Hayes and Bishop Wilton Gregory,president of the conference.
“The resignation was a mutual decision reached by Miss Hayes and Bishop Gregory,” Ryan told the Register. “Miss Haye'’ term was coming up in June. They decided that rather than let the publicity surrounding the news story distract from the board's work, especially with a new chair and new members, it was better to submit a resignation now for the sake of the National Review Board.”
Ryan said the resignation was effective immediately.
— Wayne Laugesen
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Breathing Life Into Health Care DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:Dr. Steven White says he's learned a lot about healing.
It comes through a relationship with the patient, including material, emotional and spiritual aspects.
“The inability to give a patient this attention has resulted in the high level of dissatisfaction with the medical profession today,” he said.
Dr. White is a pulmonolo-gist in Ormond Beach, Fla., and president of the Catholic Medical Association, which recently released a statement on health care in the third millennium.
He spoke with Register correspondent Stephen Vincent.
What motivated you to become a doctor?
My interest in medicine arose during my college years and was directly related to my relationship with my (then) future wife, Cris-tina, and her family. Her grandfather, fatherand brother were all physicians. I was inclined to a career which would allow me to serve othersand I realized I had found my niche when I began to study in earnest the premed curriculum. I received my medical degree in 1979 from the University of Louisville and went on to specialize in internal medicine and then sub-specialize in pulmonary medicine. I have been in private practicefor 20 years and my special areas of interest include the rehabilitation of patients with pulmonary disease and the palliative care of the severely chronically ill and dying.
Has the Catholic faith always been important for you?
I grew up in a strong Catholic family and a vibrant parish community, and my early education by the Dominicans was excellent. However, the influence of the secular culture and the changes occurring in the Church during the 1960s and 70s left me somewhat indifferent. I never actually left the Church nor lost my faith, but I did not mature in the knowledge or practiceof my faith during that time. On Jan. 1, 1992, at the age of 40, I began what I now realize was the beginning of a profound conversion of faith, destined to change my life. I came face to facewith significant innocent suffering within my own family and it created a crisis of life and faith for me. My initial reaction was one of utter disbelief and deep sorrow.
I then turned to my faith with the expectation of “miraculous signs.”When none appeared, I began to look for meaning. This spiritual odyssey involved every aspect ofmy life as a husband, father and physician. Through prayer and study and sacrifice, I encounterdMary and developed a beautiful relationship with her, and she led me to her Son. I came to know him first in the Blessed Sacrament. As time went on and my knowledge and experience of the Paschal Mystery deepened, I was drawn more and more to Calvary. It was here that I found the meaning I had been searching for. It was at the foot of the Cross that I first glimpsed the meaning of innocent suffering and I first experienced true compassion, the mercy of God himself. My Catholicfaith is now the essence and the center of my life.
What challenges do you face as a Catholic physician?
One of the most significant challenges today for a physician is to take the timenecessary to see each patient through the process of diagnosis and management of their disease with competence and compassion. I have found that healing comes through the relationship established with the patient. Competent medical or surgical care is essential, but it isn't enough. The whole relationship between the doctor and the patient, including the material, emotional and spiritual aspects, leads to the actual complete healing. This takes time. The inability to give a patient this attention has resulted in the high level of dissatisfaction with the medical profession today.
Does your faith influence the way you practice medicine?
Medicine is a vocation. It is a call from God to serve the “least of the brethren.” The Holy Father stated this specifically in 1989 and it is restated in the Vatican's Charter for Healthcare Workers. My faith enables me to respond to this transcendent call even in the midst of adverse circumstances. If I were precluded by law from practicing medicine inaccord with my moral beliefs, I would have no choice but to oppose this injustice and work to change the system.
What is the mission of the Catholic Medical Association?
The mission of the CMA has been throughout its 73 year history to “uphold the principles of Catholic faith and morality in the science and practice of medicine.” Weare leaven in a secularized profession that has completely lost touch with its Hippocratic and Judeo-Christian tradition. I am deeply saddened to have to say this, but the medical profession has in large part become an instrument of the culture of death. The blood of over 1 million innocent children a year for the last 30 years has been shed by physicians. Chemical abortifacients are prescribed by most practicing ob-gyn's and family physicians, resulting in the deaths of countless more innocent children and contributing to the epidemic of infertility in American women today. Physicians legally assist with euthanasia in Oregon today and many more throughout the U.S. sympathize with the practice. The CMA will continue to bring the message of the Gospel to the profession, even out of season.
The CMA statement, “Health-care in America: A Catholic Proposal for Renewal,” applies Catholic social teaching to the field of medicine. Explain.
Social justice requires the organization of individuals and institutions to work for the common good. Pope Pius XI called for the “reconstruction of the social order” in his encyclical Quadragesimo Anno in 1931. This reconstruction must be based upon the fundamental principles underlying the virtues of social justice: the sanctity of every human life, subsidiarity and solidarity.
The misinterpretation and misapplication of Catholic social doctrine have led some to advocate a universal or socialized system of healthcare delivery. Another important point which must be emphasized is that those who through no fault of their own are unable to work or provide the means to purchase insurance have to be taken care of. The poor will always be with usand we have an obligation in charity to care for them.
What impact can the CMA have on the culture of death?
The CMA statement will provide many opportunities for interaction with other medical associations, Catholic institutions, legislative bodies and federal health policy agencies as we all collaborate in the restructuring of the health care delivery system that is already well under way.
The Catholic Medical Association will not waver from its commitment to spread the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to its profession and those whom they serve. During this very special year dedicated to the Holy Eucharist, we will continue to strive to “restore all things in Christ,” following the example and instruction of our Holy Father who said, “Mission without contemplation of the Crucified One is condemned to frustration. Commitmentto the adoration of the Eucharistic mystery is essential, since it is in the Sacrament of the Altar that the Church contemplates uniquely the mystery of Calvary, from whose sacrifice flows thegrace of evangelization.”
Stephen Vincent writes from Wallingford, Conn.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dr. Steven White ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: West Coast Advocates for Unborn Set Path for Life DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:SAN FRANCISCO — The annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., has become one of the largest protest gatherings in the United States. Marking the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, the march brings people from all over the country to show their support for protection of the unborn.
Some people on the other side of the country want to express their solidarity with the march in the nation's capital and bring to light pro-life issues on the West Coast. Womenwho regret their abortions, feminists who reject the shibboleth that abortion is liberating and black activists who see their community targeted by population controllers will join together in San Francisco on Jan. 22, 2005, for the inaugural Walk for Life West Coast.
The Washington event and a pro-life march in Sacramento will take place on Jan. 24, a Monday, coinciding with lawmaker'’ office hours. The San Francisco march, however, will beon the previous Saturday, the 32nd anniversary of the decision that struck down most state laws protecting unborn human life.
Groups sponsoring the West Coast walk include the Silent No More Awareness Campaign; the Life Education and Resource Network; Feminists for Life of America; Priests for Life; Catholics for the Common Good; the California Pro-Life Council and United For Life.
The event begins with speeches at 11 a.m. at the Ferry Building in Justin Herman Plaza, a large, open-air site near the city's financial district. The two-mile trek starts at noon and wends its way through the city past Fisherman's Wharf to its final destination, Marina Green, for closing activities.
An ecumenical prayer service is scheduled for the evening before, led by Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Wang of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Both Archbishop Wang and San Francisco Archbishop William Levada are expected to join the walk.
Inclusive Event
Walk for Life West Coast organizers say they made an effort to include feminists and minorities.
“We didn't want to make this just a Catholic event or just a religious event, because the people in the pro-life movement cut across all of society,” said Vicki Evans, Respect Life coordinator in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. “The more broad-based support for the walk, the better are our chances of showing society that … there are a great number of people in all walks of life, all religions and all economic levels, who support life. It is a human dignity issue.”
“There are so many women — and men — who are suffering in silence from abortions,” said walk co-chairwoman Dolores Meehan. “It is important for us to bring out the awareness that abortion is not a good choice for women, specifically for African-American and Hispanic women.”
Organizers expect participants from locales along the West Coast and from as far north as Alaska; they have obtained a police permit for 10,000 to 20,000 people. The march in Washington has drawn 20,000 to 250,000 participants over the years.
“We're leaving the success to God,” Meehan said. “If 500 people show up and one person gets post-abortion healing as a result, we won't look at it as a failure.”
One speaker wishes she had known post-abortion counseling was available in the aftermath of her own ordeal. Georgette Forney is executive director of the National Organization of Episcopalians for Life and co-founder of Silent No More. Silent No More is co-sponsored by the Episcopal group and by Priests for Life. The campaign's goal is to raise awareness of the adverse effects abortion can have on women.
“As a woman, I regret choosing abortion,” Forney said. “We need to help people understand that if they are going to choose abortion, there are ramifications. I believe as we speak about (abortion), we will help people understand that it is not some panacea answer to an unplanned pregnancy. It doesn't solve a problem pregnancy; it just gives you a different problem.”
Those who study post-abortion stress syndrome say adverse effects of an abortion can occur immediately, or weeks, months or years later. Forney said she has seen women suffer from alcohol and drug abuse to “numb the pain,” self-mutilation, nightmares and overwhelming guilt that could lead to attempted — and sometimes successful — suicide.
Civil-Rights Issue The Rev. Clenard Childress, president of the Life Education and Resource Network, based in Montclair, N.J., will speak in San Francisco about abortion in the black community. His is the largest black pro-life organization in the country and seeks to network with like-minded, minority-based groups to bring the message of life to the black community.
Childress, a Baptist, says that some 1,450 of 4,000 abortions a day are of black babies. Yet, he asserts, the majority of black pastors are absent from the pro-life movement.
He calls abortion “a civil-rights issue” and said even if Roe is never overturned, “it would be wonderful to know that most people's consciousness was raised so much that abortion becomes unconscionable.”
Also speaking in San Francisco will be Sally Winn, vice president of the non-sectarian Feminists for Life of America. The group addresses the reasons why women choose abortion and advocates for appropriate emotional and financial support for pregnant and parenting women.
While pro-life events are held throughout the country to mark the Roe v. Wade anniversary, most attention will be on the Washington march. Amid the din of debate over stem-cell research, cloning and euthanasia, one priority has been lost, said march organizer Nellie Gray. That priority — the protection of each born and pre-born human being in American society — will be the theme of the march, she said.
“We haven't settled the important issue of the right to life,” she said, “endowed by our Creator, as it is vested at fertilization.”
writes from Providence, Rhode Island.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Forrest ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:National List of Accused Priests Completed
ASSOCIATED PRESS, Nov. 1 — A nationwide list of 2,600 Roman Catholic priests accused of sexual misconduct against children will be posted online early next year, according to the Associated Press. The list was compiled by Dallas lawyer Sylvia Demarest, who started work on it in 1993 while representing clients allegedly molested by a Dallas priest.
Demarest said the database of alleged “priest perpetrators” and other Catholic officials who have been accused of sexually abusing children was assembled from public sources, including court filings and media reports. Entries will include the name of the accused; the time, place and nature of the suspected misconduct; and whether there were lawsuits or criminal charges.
Kathleen McChesney, executive director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, was quoted in the story as saying, “There is a difference of opinion among the bishops as to whether (a list) should be maintained at the national level. That has not been resolved.”
Trying to Build a Wall Against Wal-Mart
According to the Los Angeles Times, the reaction among parishioners and the community was mixed. “Father Mike did what he did because he was just concerned about his parishioners,” said Bert Ross, 82. Sharon Esquivel, 60, felt differently. Referring to strong language Greely used at a city council meeting, she said, “I thought he should have taken his collar (off) if he was going to say things like that.”
In response to complaints, Los Angeles Archdiocese spokesman Tod Tamberg said, “With issues that affect life and human dignity, it's inescapable that they will have a moral component to them, so the Church has not only the right but the duty to speak out.”
Pastor Commissions Unusual Icon for Parish
Father Rutler encountered the icon at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and thought it was “a nice, friendly face.” He then commissioned Ken Jan Woo, a muralist whom he had baptized, to make an enlargement. The pastor admitted the enormous icon might not appeal to all parishioners.
“You know how New Yorkers are,” he said. Christ himself could come down, “and they'd say, ‘What time's the next subway?’”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Critics Still Wary of Campaign for Human Development DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — Around this time every year, allegations surface that the Catholic Campaign for Human Development uses much of its nearly $10 million in annual donations to fund causes with ties to a Marxist organization and pro-abortion groups such as the National Organization for Women.
So George Kocan, a Catholic from Warrenville, Ill., investigated the group to decide whether to donate.
Second Collections
“The Catholic Campaign for Human Development is far more interested in promoting a leftist, Democratic agenda of social agitation than it is with funding organizations that actually feed, clothe or house needy persons,” Kocan said of the anti-poverty organization.
But the campaign, which receives an annual second collection in churches the Sunday before Thanksgiving, denies that it funds organizations with pro-abortion or Marxist ties.
“It's completely false,” said Mary Mencarini Campbell, resource development coordinator for the campaign. “Our criteria for funding are connected to the moral traditions of the Church. Before any money goes to any program, the local bishop has to approve it.”
The campaign was started in 1970 to fund organizations that push social structural change in order to lift people from poverty, rather than give them goods, services and money for temporary relief. A typical beneficiary is Hope Street Youth Development, a project that provides leadership and employment opportunities for black teens in Wichita, Kan.
“The Catholic Church has other groups…that give actual direct assistance to people who are poor,” explained Father Robert Vitillo, executive director of the campaign. “The (U.S.) bishops designed this campaign so that Catholics could work on those situations that make and keep people poor, not just give temporary assistance to them.”
But critics say many groups funded by the campaign have close ties to the Industrial Areas Foundation — an organization founded by the late Saul Alinsky, a Marxist best known for a philosophy that encouraged the poor to effect social change through agitation, confrontation and personal attacks. Among his most famous protégés is U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, a pro-abortion feminist who wrote her college senior thesis on Alinsky's organizational tactics for social change.
“Alinsky rejected the authority of the Catholic Church and the morality that it teaches,” Kocan said.
Father Vitillo said it's true that many of some 300 organizations the campaign funds each year have ties to the Industrial Areas Foundation, but he doesn't see it as a problem. Organizations working for social change — the type the group funds — often receive training and support from the Industrial Areas Foundation, based at 55 regional hubs throughout the country, he explained. He said no money from the campaign goes directly to the foundation.
“These groups (funded by the campaign) subscribe to a methodology of helping poor people empower themselves in order to bring about change in the community,” Vitillo said. “They're not all linked to the IAF.”
G. Daniel Harden, who is on the board of directors of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists, said Alinsky championed redistribution of wealth through radical means, including violence. He said one should view with skepticism organizations that are trained and influenced by the Alinsky-inspired foundation.
“Is it surprising that the CCHD funds organizations with close ties to the IAF? Not in the least,” said Harden, a professor of education law and philosophy at Washburn University of Topeka, Kan. “There is no question that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has a history of working with and funding radical, left-wing organizations.”
Harden said Catholics, laity and clergy alike sometimes fail to understand majordistinctions between Catholic teachings on social justice and Marxist/Leninist doctrine that exploits class envy and promotes class warfare. He said, for example, that while Catholic doctrine respects private property rights and promotes opportunity, Marxist doctrine rejects property rights and promotes forceful redistribution.
“Many of the principles these organizations (with foundation ties) follow are very similar to the principles we have in Catholic social teaching,” Father Vitillo said. One organization routinely funded by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development is the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). Father Vitillo said the campaign gives no money directly to the association, but funds local branches throughout the country thatcarry out the goals of the campaign.
The association's branches push for a government-mandated “living wage,” in which employers are forced to pay wages to workers based on what is deemed appropriate by government to live comfortably in any given community. The group also works for better schools and affordable housing and utilities, and fights predatory lending practices.
In 2000, the group endorsed a pro-abortion march sponsored by the National Organization for Women. Kocan said similar ties, between groups that receive campaign funding and groups that support abortion, are common. Father Vitillo said that's a stretch and argued that Kocan may be carrying guilt by association too far.
“There might be some situations where a number of organizations are working on an issue that they agree has a common need to be addressed,” Father Vitillo said. He said critics might also want to consider the fact that the campaign funds several pro-life organizations, such as Covenant House and the Gabriel Project, both pro-life ministries in Washington, D.C. If critics don't like other groups funded by the campaign, Father Vitillo said, they might want to take it up with their own bishops.
“The bishop is the teacher — the local authority on what's right and wrong in the diocese,” Father Vitillo said. “He endorses the project, or we don't fund it…. We need to depend on local diocesan review to be sure there is no direct association with organizations or involvement with projects that promote activities that are contrary to Church teachings.”
With proceeds from last year's collection, the Campaign for Human Development is distributing about $8.9 million to fund 330 projects. Each year, 25% of the money raised stays in each diocese.
“There are 1.3 million more people living in poverty this year in the United States than there were in 2003, based on census bureau data,” Campbell said. “It's support from Catholic parishioners that will let the change happen to reverse this trend.”
Wayne Laugesen writes from Boulder, Colorado.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: In Europe, Vatican Struggles to Proclaim Church Teaching DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:ROME — The Vatican is finding that its positions on abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia and other issues are being constantly challenged in a Europe that is struggling to forge a common set of rules while keeping national identities intact.
On the eve of the historic signing of the European Constitution, Pope John Paul II met with outgoing European Commission President Romano Prodi to remind him that Christian values are at the base of European identity.
Christianity, he told Prodi Oct. 28 at the Vatican, “contributed to the formation of a common conscience of the European peoples.”
“Whether recognized or not in official documents, this is an undeniable fact that no historian can forget,” he said.
The constitution does not mention Europe's Christian roots, a reference the Vatican had sought repeatedly.
In light of this and other developments within the European Union and in individual countries, top Vatican officials have been speaking out because they feel the values of the Church are being ignored or trampled.
The most recent example of friction erupted when Rocco Buttiglione, a candidate for European commissioner, said last month that, as a Catholic, he believes that homosexuality is a sin and that women should have the protection of a man so they can raise a family.
The uproar that followed forced the European Commission president-elect, Jose Barroso, to delay an Oct. 27 vote that was to have confirmed his commission choices. On Oct. 30, Buttiglione withdrew his candidacy, charging that he was the “innocent victim” of a “superficial and very crude press campaign,” Agence France Presse reported.
Added Buttiglione, “I am happy to have been able to bear witness to the values in which I believe and to suffer for them.”
Buttiglione and others said he was singled out for his strong Catholic beliefs, and the case offered fertile terrain for a public discussion about the influence — or lack of it — the Catholic Church has on contemporary European society.
The incident apparently was at least partly responsible for remarks by Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, who said powerful lobbies in Europe were trying to “silence the Church.” He told reporters Oct. 18 that “any method is legitimate” for these lobbies, “from intimidation to public scorn, from cultural discrimination to exclusion.”
In Spain, the cabinet has approved legislation that would allow homosexuals to marry. The government also has announced plans to make religious education optional in the overwhelmingly Catholic country, although neither measure has been approved by the Spanish Parliament.
On Sept. 26, Cardinal Julian Herranz, a Spaniard and president of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, warned of a “lay fundamentalism” and an “aggressive laicism” in Spain. Speaking to Spanish faithful in Rome, he expressed the Spanish bishop'’ concern “about what's happening in our country, at the political level and with public opinion.”
In an interview with the Italian daily La Repubblica, the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, avoided commenting directly on the Buttiglione incident.
However, he said, “It's not the first time that Catholics … find themselves confronted with problems of this sort and the dangers of isolation and discrimination. Just look at the history of the Christian Church.”
Cardinal Sodano warned, however, that the Church would be increasingly obligated in the future to claim the right to preach the Gospel, which, he said, “is tied directly to the sacrosanct principle of freedom that is the right of every person beyond the faith they profess, their race and their political choices.”
Anti-Life Legislation
The Church finds itself constantly challenged by legislation passed and proposed in European countries. Some examples are:
— In August, the British government gave permission to a team of researchers to begin cloning human embryos for research, in so-called therapeutic cloning. The Vatican opposes human cloning for any purpose.
— Italians are expected to face a referendum in coming months that would repeal a law passed earlier this year that limits assisted fertility procedures and prohibits stem-cell research.
— In 2001, the Dutch Parliament passed a law permitting euthanasia in some cases and under certain provisions. Church teaching does not allow euthanasia in any circumstance.
Father Michele Simone, vice director of the Jesuit monthly La Civilta Cattolica, said the Buttiglione case should not be used as an indicator because there are strictly political components to the issue as well.
But Father Simone said he believes anti-Christian sentiment exists in Europe and that there is a “de-Christianization” of contemporary society because of excessive consumerism, the influence of the media and the tendency of individuals to create a “personal morality.”
John Paul
Pope John Paul II dedicated his Oct. 31 Angelus address to the signing of the new European Constitution, which now must be ratified by the 25 countries that make up the union.
The prime ministers and heads of state of the countries signed the constitution Oct. 29 in a fresco-covered hall on Rome's Capitoline Hill.
The Pope said the signing of the constitution was “a highly significant moment in the construction of the ‘new Europe,’ to which we continue to look with hope.”
“The Holy See was always in favor of promoting a united Europe on the basis of those common values which are part of its history. Taking into account the Christian roots of the continent means being able to count on a spiritual patrimony that remains fundamental for the future development of the union,” he said.
John Paul asked European Christians “to continue to bring to every sphere of the European institutions those Gospel values that are a guarantee of peace and of collaboration among all citizens in the shared commitment to serving the common good.”
(Register staff contributed to this story.)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Sarah Delaney ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Prayer Intention November DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:GENERAL INTENTION
That Christian men and women,aware of the vocation which is theirs in the Church, will answer generously God's call to seek holiness in the midst of their lives.
MISSION INTENTION
That all those who work in the missions will never forget that personal holiness and intimate union with Christ are the source of the efficacy of evangelization.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:Vatican Seeks End to Rift with Orthodox
ASSOCIATED PRESS, Oct. 31— The split between the Catholic and Orthodox churches is almost as old as Christianity itself, but there have been recent signs of healing, the Associated Press reported.
The Vatican has even expressed hope that Pope John Paul II might yet become the first pope to visit Russia.
The Holy Father has taken a great interest in the ecumenical project, seeking through a series of gestures to dispel the mistrust of centuries between West and East. In August, he returned the icon of Our Lady of Kazan to Russia, and this month he will return the relics of St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory of Nazianzus (removed during the Crusades) to the Orthodox patriarch in Istanbul.
Patriarch Alexy II wrote the Pope, “I believe that your decision to return the icon shows your sincere desire to overcome the difficulties existing between our churches.” Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Walls told the AP, “The climate seems to be changing.”
The Great Schism of 1054 resulted from differences over the wording of the Nicene Creed and the Orthodox refusal to accept the supremacy of the papacy. Under the tsars and communism, Catholics were severely persecuted in Russia. There are approximately 600,000 Catholics in Russia today, about 0.4% of the population.
Pope Prays for Victims of Terrorism
ASIANEWS, Nov. 1 — Pope John Paul II marked the feasts of All Saints and All Souls with an invocation on behalf of terrorism victims.
Speaking to the multitude assembled in St. Peter's Square Nov. 1, the Pope declared, “Under the bright lights of this wonderful mystery, the annual commemoration of all the faithful departed will take place tomorrow. The liturgy invites us to broaden our hearts and pray for all of them, especially for the souls who need divine mercy the most.”
Added John Paul, “I raise a special prayer to God for all the victims of terrorism. I feel spiritually close to their families. As I ask the Lord to make their pain more bearable, I invoke his name that peace may come into the world.”
Montreal Oratory Awarded Rare Golden Rose
The ornamental rose of pure gold, one of 180 awarded since 1088, was presented by apostolic nuncio Luigi Ventura to Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte of Montreal at a televised Mass Oct. 17 celebrating the commencement of St. Joseph's centenary. Archbishop Ventura said the award “communicates the deep sentiments of the Pope” and is “an exceptional sign of honor” for a “celebrated place of prayer,” Catholic News Agency reported.
The Oratory is the largest church in Canada and the world's largest shrine to St. Joseph, Canada's patron saint. It was founded in 1904 by the Blessed Andre Bessette, a brother of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, to whose intercession many miracles have been attributed.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: New Book Outlines What the Church Really Says About Married Sex DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — A new book has been published encouraging married Catholics to make love more often in an attempt to overcome the Church's perceived negativity toward sex and to address Pope John Paul II's concerns over declining birthrates.
The book, called It's a Sin Not To Do It, aims to reach out to Catholics and non-Catholics by using frank, everyday language in order to overcome misunderstandings over Church teaching on marriage and sex.
The book was written by two Italian theologians, Roberto Beretta and Elisabetta Broli, who write regularly for the Italian bishop'’ news-paper, Avvenire. The authors hope their work will help counter Italy's low birthrate, cited by John Paul as “a serious threat that weighs on the future of the country.”
“We want to show that the Church doesn't fear sex, as is usually perceived,” Beretta said. “In fact, the Church doesn't have anything against the ‘pleasure’ of the flesh in itself, neither the sexual act nor making love.”
The book, which quotes early Church Fathers, theologians and philosophers, contains chapters entitled “Sex is Obligatory,” “Catholics Make Love More Often” and “The Catholic Kamasutra.”
The work was published in October without the permission of the Vatican, but has so far not received any criticism from Rome. Beretta insists that all the chapters draw on Catholic orthodoxy, biblical doctrine and Church history, in particular the Second Vatican Council and the Pope's “Theology of the Body.”
One chapter contains a frank interview with Cardinal Ersilio Tonini in which he emphasizes that the Church has always defended the “nobility of sexuality” and regarded it as a “treasure.”
For Beretta, such an emphasis is urgently needed in a society which trivializes sex, leading to “impotence and frigidity.” One particular paragraph advises priests to urge spouses “to make love more often” rather than “dwell on prohibitions and limitations.”
Drawing on references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church,the authors write: “Sex between Christian spouses is not only permitted, not only advised, but absolutely obligatory.” Allowing for exceptions, they argue that marriage is a legal contract, meaning that the act of making love is also a contractual obligation.
The Catechism states: “The Church holds the exchange of consent between the spouses to be the indispensable element that ‘makes the marriage.’ If consent is lacking, there is no marriage” (No. 1626).
It also teaches that the marital “consent that binds the spouses to each other finds its fulfillment in the two ‘becoming one flesh'” (No. 1627).
But at one time, the book notes, some Church leaders erroneously gave extensive and strict instructions on when married couples should not have sex. Sixth-century French bishop Caesarius of Arles, for example, taught that sex should not take place on Sundays, feast days or days leading up to receiving holy Communion. Beretta and Eroli say such teaching is not based on the Gospel.
It is a view echoed by Father Richard Hogan, associate director of Priests for Life. In an essay entitled “John Paul II's New Vision of Human Sexuality, Marriage and Family Life,” Father Hogan wrote, “God never told married couples when they should make love. That is totally up to the couple. What He does say (is) that when married couples love, they are to give themselves totally to one another.”
Marriage Counselors
Tony Daly, who with his wife directs the Catholic Marriage Center in Wales, believes any attempt to popularize the truth about marriage “is to be welcomed,” although he said the title of the new book is “unfortunate, misleading and untrue.”
Daly said the message of the book should “not come as too much of a surprise” to anyone who has studied post-Second Vatican Council teachings on marriage and sexuality. Much of the ground it covers has been discussed clearly elsewhere, he added, though “old impressions of the Church's view on marriage and sexuality unfortunately linger on.”
Daly agreed with the book's argument that society is making sexuality banal with negative consequences. “Insensitivity, lack of knowledge and selfishness in the husband can lead to the constant frustration, disappointment of feeling of ‘being used’ by the wife,” Daly said. “Lust often predominates over true love, resulting in less sex in marriage and consequent relationship problems, including frigidity.”
Daly agrees with Beretta and Eroli that infrequency of sex can lead to impotence (“even more so is the use of contraceptives”) and hopes the book will extol the merits of natural family planning, which “exhibits all the aspects of true self-giving love.”
However, he believes the book will only have a lasting effect on raising birthrates if it “helps couples to see children as gifts from God and not as burdens, hindrances to careers or restrictive to desired lifestyles.”
Catholic marriage counselors generally welcomed the pretext for writing the book, though they are unable to comment more fully as the book has only had limited distribution so far.
Andy Alderson of the Cincinnati-based Couple-to-Couple League agrees that “many people have the wrong idea about what the Church really teaches about marriage, family and sexuality.” However, he said, John Paul's “Theology of the Body” and respected Catholic writers on marriage and sexuality are helping to overcome this.
Controversial?
The secular press, relying on an out-of-date view of the Church, has labeled Beretta and Broli's book “controversial,” mainly because of the explicit nature of some of the chapters. The authors concede that some parts may be offensive to some Catholics.
“We are aware that, perhaps for certain Catholics, our book could constitute a small scandal, given the arguments,” Beretta said. “But we are equally sure that many more people — above all, non-believers, though not only them — are waiting to see a presentation of the Church's message on sexuality presented in a more positive way.”
Concluded Beretta, “Without compromising any moral demands, there is at least the prospect of greater freedom in people's lives. It's this which, in our small way, we've tried to do with our book.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Christians Are Called To Be God's Children DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:Register Summary
Pope John Paul II addressed more than 8,500 pilgrims who gathered in St. Peter's Square during his general audience Nov. 3. His teaching was on the “Hymn of the Redeemed,” a canticle from the Liturgy of the Hours that is made up of verses from chapters 11 and 12 of the Book of Revelation.
John Paul II characterized the canticle as “a sort of heavenly liturgy that we, who are still pilgrims on earth, join in during our ecclesiastical celebrations.” He pointed out two fundamental elements found in the hymn: creation and redemption.
The first element of the hymn, he said, is the celebration of the Lord's works. “Indeed, creation is a revelation of God's immense power,” he noted. “This is why it is fitting to raise a song of praise to our creator in order to celebrate his glory.”
The second element that is characteristic of the hymn is its focus on Christ, the Lamb who was slain for our sins and who now reigns glorious. “The Lamb has made ‘a kingdom and priests for our God, and they will reign on earth,’ and this kingdom is open to all mankind, which is called to form the community of God's sons and daughters,” the Pope pointed out. In Christ, God's eternal plan has been fulfilled.
The hymn, the Holy Father said, “is a moment of pure contemplation and of joyful praise, and a song of love to Christ in his paschal mystery.” Pope John Paul II concluded his teaching by quoting the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Liturgy is an ‘action’ of the whole Christ (Christus totus). Those who even now celebrate it without signs are already in the heavenly liturgy, where celebration is wholly communion and feast.” A choral rendition of the canticle preceded the Holy Father's remarks.
The canticle that we just heard brings to the Liturgy of the Hour'’ evening prayer the simplicity and the intensity of a chorus of praise. It is in line with the solemn vision at the beginning of the Book of Revelation, which presents a sort of heavenly liturgy that we, who are still pilgrims on earth, join in during our ecclesiastical celebrations.
God of Creation
This hymn, which is composed of a few verses from the Book of Revelation that have been joined together for use in the liturgy, is based on two fundamental elements. The first, which is outlined very briefly, is the celebration of the Lord's work: “For you created all things; because of your will they came to be and were created” (see Revelation 4:11). Indeed, creation is a revelation of God's immense power. As the Book of Wisdom tells us, “from the greatness and beauty of created things, their original author, by analogy, is seen” (Wisdom 13:5). Likewise, the apostle Paul makes the following observation: “Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made” (Romans 1:20). This is why it is fitting to raise a song of praise to our Creator in order to celebrate his glory.
Within this context, it might be of interest to recall that the Emperor Domitian, under whose reign the Book of Revelation was probably composed, used the title of “our lord and god” and demanded that people address him only with these words (see Suetonius, Domiziano, XIII).
For obvious reasons, Christians refused to pay tribute with these words to any human creature, no matter how powerful he might be. They only addressed the true “Lord and God,” who is the creator of the universe (see Revelation 4:11), with their worshipful praise, along with Christ, who is with God “the first and the last” (see Revelation 1:17) and who is seated with God, his Father, on the heavenly throne (see Revelation 3:21): Christ, who has died and who is risen from the dead, is symbolically represented here as a “Lamb” who is “standing” even though he has been “slain” (see Revelation 5:6).
The Lamb Who Is Slain
This actually brings us to the second element that is developed at length in the hymn on which we are commenting: Christ, the Lamb who had been slain. The four living creatures and 24 elders acclaim him with a song that begins with the cry: “Worthy are you to receive the scroll and to break open its seals, for you were slain” (see Revelation 5:9).
Thus, Christ and his historic work of redemption are at the center of this praise. It is precisely for this reason that he is able to make sense out of history: He is the one who will “break open the seals” (ibid) of the secret scroll that contains God's plan.
But his work is not merely a work of interpretation; it is also an act of fulfillment and deliverance. Since he was “slain,” he was able to “ransom” (ibid) men from the most diverse origins.
The Greek verb that is used does not refer explicitly to the story from Exodus, where no mention is ever made of “ransoming” the Israelites. Nonetheless, as the sentence continues, a clear allusion is made to God's well-known promise to Israel on Mt. Sinai: “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6).
God's Holy People
This promise has now become a reality. In fact, the Lamb has made “a kingdom and priests for our God, and they will reign on earth” (Revelation 5:10), and this kingdom is open to all mankind, which is called to form the community of God's sons and daughters, as St. Peter reminds us: “But you are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises’ of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).
The Second Vatican Council explicitly referred to these texts from the First Letter of Peter and of the Book of Revelation when, in its presentation of the “common priesthood” that belongs to all the faithful, illustrated the ways in which they exercise it: “The faithful, in virtue of their royal priesthood, join in the offering of the Eucharist. They likewise exercise that priesthood in receiving the sacraments, in prayer and thanksgiving, in the witness of a holy life, and by self-denial and active charity” (Lumen Gentium, No. 10).
Joyful Praise
This hymn from the Book of Revelation, on which we are meditating today, concludes with one final acclamation that “myriads of myriads” of angels cry out in a loud voice (see Revelation 5:11). It refers to the “the Lamb that was slain,” to whom the same glory was given as to God the Father, since he is “worthy to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength” (see Revelation 5:12). It is a moment of pure contemplation and of joyful praise, and a song of love to Christ in his paschal mystery.
The Church anticipates this shining image of heavenly glory in its liturgy. In fact, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, “Liturgy is an ‘action’ of the whole Christ (Christus totus). Those who even now celebrate it without signs are already in the heavenly liturgy, where celebration is wholly communion and feast. … It is in this eternal liturgy that the Spirit and the Church enable us to participate whenever we celebrate the mystery of salvation in the sacraments” (see Nos. 1136 and 1139).
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: U.N. Resolution Calls Attention To Syrian Dominance in Lebanon DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:BEIRUT, Lebanon — A car bomb in Beirut last month was affirmation that, most often, internal events in Lebanon are orchestrated by powers outside the country's borders.
Marwan Hamadeh survived, but his driver was killed and his bodyguard injured in the blast. Hamadeh is one of four Lebanese ministers who resigned in protest over the Syrian-maneuvered constitutional amendment to extend the term of Lebanon's president, Emile Lahoud, considered a “puppet” of Syria by his Lebanese critics.
Lebanon's subservience to Syria, a constant source of anxiety among the Lebanese, received long-awaited international attention when the United Nations issued Resolution 1559 in September. The resolution, sponsored by the United States and France, calls for Lebanese presidential elections to be free of foreign interference and seeks the withdrawal of all foreign troops in the country and the disbanding of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias — referring to Syrian-supported Hezbollah as well as armed Palestinians in refugee camps in Lebanon.
However, the resolution failed to halt the political maneuvering that resulted in the amendment to keep Lahoud in power.
“Syria is capable of ordering whoever it wants in any official position in Lebanon,” said Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, who is especially outspoken about the need for Lebanon to regain its sovereignty. Maronite Catholics are the largest denomination among Lebanese Christians, who constitute about 40% of Lebanon's 3.8 million people.
Lahoud's rise to the presidency took the country by surprise in 1998, when Syria called for a constitutional change allowing him to run when he was not eligible for the office.
“President Lahoud is only a Syrian instrument in Lebanon, like a Syrian high commissioner,” said former Lebanese president Amin Gemayel, who returned to Lebanon in 2000 after eight years of exile in France. “His raison d'etre — the Syrian presence, the Syrian policy, the Syrian heresies — that's all. Now with Resolution 1559, this has become an international recognition.”
Christian Opposition
Gemayel, a Maronite Catholic, is one of 25 members of the Qournet Shehwan Gathering, a Christian opposition group in Lebanon committed to national dialogue.“Syria has a very old dream, which is to annex Lebanon,” Gemayel said. “Lebanon used to be a model of democracy in the Middle East. Syria has been trying to destroy it by destabilizing the national institutions and destroying the Lebanese traditions of freedom, democracy and harmonious coexistence.”
“If there is a place in the Arab world where you can promote democracy and human rights, and where you can have a competitive political process, it is Lebanon,” said political analyst Farid el Khazen. “This is the only country, at least before the war (of 1975-1989), where all the communities — Christian, Muslim, Sunni and Shiite — had the freedom of worship and were free to engage in the political process. This is the only Arab country where you don't have to start from scratch.”
With Resolution 1559, “Lebanon is no more forgotten by the world,” said Samir Abdel-Malak, secretary of the Qornet Shehwan Gathering. “It will be a part of the solution for the whole region. This resolution, in other words, is the practical application of the Taif Accord.” That 1989 accord ended Lebanon's civil war, which began in 1975.Part of the 1989 agreement was for Syrian troops to leave Lebanon two years later. Fifteen years later, 17,000 Syrian troops remain; 3,000 were redeployed shortly after the resolution was issued.
“Today, everybody knows that the final say in Lebanon is not for the Lebanese, but for the Syrians … We frankly say it: Syria alone is to account for what has been going on in Lebanon, since it entered into Lebanon in 1976 as if it were a Syrian province,” the Maronite Council of Bishops, led by Patriarch Sfeir, said in a Sept. 1 statement.
In the statement, the bishops cited 11 reasons for despair among the Lebanese, including an “excessive” national debt now totaling $40 billion, “bribery practiced in all official offices” and “a shut-off horizon” for Lebanese youth who are forced to emigrate to seek jobs, which in turn “impoverishes the homeland by draining away intellectual capacities.” They also cited “rampant corruption,” “unlimited squandering of public money” and “rampant poverty.”
However, the Maronite bishops stressed, “the reasons for hope are still great in spite of all the confusing appearances, repulsive despotic acts and oppressive practices. The source of our hope springs out of our faith in God, justice of our cause — and the lessons learned from our history.”
In a speech in Damascus, Syrian President Bashar Assad condemned Resolution 1559, referring to it as a “mistake.” Said Assad, “Nowadays, people are living in a state of chaos, of wrong concepts and false idioms, which increase division among cultures and prepare for further wars and bloodshed.”
In a follow-up report to Resolution 1559, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan concluded that Syria was not in compliance with the resolution's demand to pull its troops from Lebanon.
Despite the U.N. actions and pressure by the U.S. and French governments on Syria and the existing Lebanese government, Syria again prevailed, appointing a Lebanese cabinet that suits its needs. Newly appointed Interior Minister Sleimin Franjieh openly declared on national television that he “will do whatever Syria asks me to do.”
President Lahoud is scheduled to be sworn in for a new term Nov. 24.
The new prime minister, Rachid Karame, approached the Qornet Chewan Gathering to participate in the new cabinet, but the Christian group refused to be part of a Syrian-dominated governing body.
Lebanon's ‘Mission’
Syria has had a “systematic policy to destroy the morale of the Lebanese people, especially the Christians,” Abdel-Malak said. “Our role in the Qornet Shehwan Gathering — and with the patriarch and the Church — is to restore the hope of the Lebanese. Not just for Christians, but for all.”
Added Abdel-Malak, “Lebanon has a role — and even when the Pope came to Lebanon, he called it a mission — to be an example of the confidence between the Islamic world and the Christian world.”
Doreen Abi Raad Writes from Bikfaya, Lebanon,
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Doreen Abi Raad ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:Dutch Critic of Islam Slain
ASSOCIATED PRESS, Nov. 3 — Holland was in turmoil after eight Muslims were arrested for the killing of a radical filmmaker on an Amsterdam street Nov. 2. Theo van Gogh, 47, was shot repeatedly by a man in Arab dress who then slit his throat.
The eight Muslims, of Algerian or Moroccan origin, are suspected of terrorist ties. Holland's justice minister, Piet Hein Donner, said the gunman “acted out of radical Islamic fundamentalist convictions,” the AP reported.
Van Gogh, great-grandnephew of the famous painter, had received numerous death threats after the release of his film Submission, a broadside against Islam's treatment of women.
Tens of thousands thronged the streets of Amsterdam to protest the murder, which came two years after the anti-Muslim-immigration politician Pim Fortuyn was killed by an animal-rights extremist.
Buttiglione's Enemies Called ‘Fascist’
Glover called Buttiglione “the civilized voice of the Catholic intellectual. …s He is prepared even to apologize for causing hurt. Described as an extremist, he does not, in fact, wish to coerce anyone into changing their behavior. He regards the way we live our lives as a matter for personal conscience, and of faith.”
That this was not good enough for the union, Glover concluded, proves that Europeans are certainly not “living in a new enlightened age in which (the continent) has turned its back on the evils of fascism.”
Irish Prime Minister Defends Church Role
Ahern praised the Irish church's commitment to education, charity and justice as particularly valuable in a country blinded increasingly by material wealth. He concluded, “Any blanket portrayal of the Church as a negative force in our society, therefore, is not only misleading, but also inherently dangerous.”
Hindu Holy Terrors
Zoologists were called in after 2,000 rhesus monkeys at the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati went on a rampage. Temple priest Bani Kumar Sharma said, “They hide in trees and swoop on unsuspecting children loitering in the temple premises or walking by, clawing them and even sucking a bit of blood.”
Indian monkeys are strictly protected as embodiments of the Hindu god Hanuman. In 2001, 10,000 invaded Delhi and damaged several army bases.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Discouragement and Wishful Thinking DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:There are two traps Catholics can fall into at election time.
Discouragement had the upper hand before the election. That was when Catholics were busy trading information about the records of the two candidates.
Sen. Kerry had a record of opposing the Church on four of the five “non-negotiable” Catholic issues of abortion, euthanasia, cloning, embryonic stem-cell research and homosexual marriage. President Bush, for all his faults, had a record of supporting the Catholic position on each of these.
It was therefore deeply discouraging to watch Bush suffer a barrage of invective and ridicule. The leading lights of academia pronounced him a dunce, Hollywood stars and a propaganda documentary smeared him as wicked, and nearly every major media outlet followed CBS in “exposing” him as a draft shirker using forged memos.
It was discouraging because we had the sense that one reason so many people hated Bush was that he arrived at unpopular moral conclusions because of his faith. We do the same thing.
Great damage was done. We all know people who were convinced by media smears or cowed by media sneers. If it wasn't for the variety of new news sources, including Internet and radio (and alternative newspapers such as the Register), the elite opinion-makers of the world might have convinced even more people to reject the president's policies.
It was all very discouraging indeed — until Bush won, decisively. As you might expect, the size and scope his victory are being downplayed by the same people who maligned him before.
In fact, Bush was elected by the most united electorate in more than a decade. It was disunited in 1992, when Bill Clinton won the presidency with 43% of the vote against two opponents and his party lost control of Congress two years later. It was still disunited in 1998, when Clinton won re-election with only 49% of the vote. In 2000, Bush won with just 48%.
But this year, Bush won with 51% of the vote — a 4 million-vote margin — while increasing his party's majority and seeing his opposition leader in the Senate defeated. Look at the map on the opposite page — the counties the President won stretch unbroken from coast to coast, and from the borders of Canada to the borders of Mexico.
That map shows there's no reason for discouragement.
But when the dam of discouragement breaks, a flood of wishful thinking may be the first thing to follow. There's a mighty temptation to think that the enormous swath of “red” counties filling up most of the country means America is united on the Catholic side of moral issues.
But Republicanism is a far cry from Catholicism, and Bush is far from perfect. And don't forget that, in this election, more people voted for the nation's most pro-abortion senator than voted for Ronald Reagan in 1988. Far from lining up behind Bush on the “non-negotiable” Catholic issues, even while they elected him, the majority of Americans in some polls still think the country is headed in the wrong direction and don't approve of the job the president is doing.
And assuming Bush appoints pro-life Supreme Court justices, the GOP doesn't have the filibuster-proof majority it would need to confirm them — so even uglier attacks on our beliefs are probably on the way.
So wishful thinking is no good, either. Instead, we should take encouragement from the election, and redouble our efforts to convince others about the sanctity of life and the importance of the family.
Think of the map on the opposite page as a guide to where Catholic evangelization is most needed. If the map is polarized, it's metro vs. rural — cultural sophisticates vs. plain folks.
If we're accustomed to the culture of life being the quiet majority while its opponents get the limelight, we should rethink that attitude. Opinion leaders who oppose pro-family positions have been eating away at the quiet majority for decades. They will continue to do so as long as anti-religious people keep their near-monopoly on the organs of opinion.
Frankly, we see no reason Catholics and other religious believers should cede that territory.
Catholics need to be more savvy in the next four years. Only when unabashedly religious people become leaders in the “elite” fields like academia, media and entertainment will we make deep and lasting gains.
We once prayed for the conversion of Russia. Now, let's pray for the conversion of the media — and look for ways to make our sons and daughters the leaders of tomorrow.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:Family Fashion Faux Pas
“Modesty Rocks!” (Oct. 3-9) was an excellent article. I think it may be time to put out a similar reminder to us women in our 30s, 40s and 50s. Too often, I see women in my age group doing the cleavage thing. Meanwhile, there are flattering swimsuits that cover us up and styles that are very attractive, no matter how many kids we've had.
I honestly think we don't ask ourselves, “Would I wear that to church?” I've even seen it in church. Women with short shorts and halter tops — serving as lectors and extraordinary ministers of communion, too. Anyway, as a 43-year-old wife and mother of five, I thought it was a great reminder that how I dress myself is important and how I allow my children to dress themselves is important, too.
ROBERTA JOHNSON
Moorhead, Minnesota
Teens and Free Will
As a mother of five teen-agers, I wanted to comment on “The Road to Chastity” (Aug. 15-21).
My husband and I have done a lot of things right to help our children live chastely. We pray together, are active in our parish and have spoken to our children about real love and the love the world offers. Each carries around a signed card promising to keep pure. We haven't had television in our home for more than 10 years, and we eat together as a family nightly. If we go to a movie, we discuss the good, the bad and the ugly. Our Internet access is very limited, and the computer is located in a central part of our home.
I have been praying and sacrificing for my children. I feel that my husband and I have done as much as we can to “proof” them against the worldly pull. Certainly we haven't been perfect, and we've had our challenges.
However, God has given each person free will. Our 17-year-old daughter has chosen to go against the values that we have tried to instill in her. We are devastated because it wasn't supposed to turn out this way. I somehow want to warn parents that there are no foolproof methods to keep your children chaste. I thought that my husband and I made a great team in parenting.
If I could do anything over again, I would work on my marriage. I would learn how best to blend spouses' different backgrounds, ideas, strengths and weaknesses. I would be more docile to the role of my husband as the head of the house.
We can't change what has happened with my daughter, but we can learn to love more, deeper and better. We can exercise more faith that God has a perfect plan for all of us and, ultimately, all we can do is to let go and let God.
Name Withheld
Prenatal Parenting
Regarding “Prenatal Screening Reconsidered” (Sept 5-11):
My fourth child is now 18 years old. I was 35 when I became pregnant with him. The doctor told me that, because of my age, “We will do amniocentesis and then decide whether to terminate.” I very emphatically told him, “No, we will not!” and found another doctor. Seven months later, we had a perfectly healthy baby boy.
I never had any fears about “something being wrong with the baby.” He was our gift from God, healthy or not. Abortion was not an option under any circumstances. And I refused to let anyone take away our joy at welcoming new life.
LINDA WILLIAMS
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
To Translate Truth
Regarding “New Mass Translation: Not Stalled, But No Final Text Yet” (Sept. 5-11):
I don't believe the issue is that a “new” but stalled translation is on the way. We need a correct translation. I cringe every time I hear the celebrant begin the Credo with “We believe.” Yes, I know that a council of the Church originally promulgated its creed with “We believe,” but the prayer of the Church in fact begins with “I believe.”
The translation “And also with you” completely misses the point. The response of the congregation is intended to recognize the charismatic spirit of the ordained priest or deacon. As a matter of fact, that's why a lay cantor must bypass those words when singing the Exsultet.
The article presented some comments by Father Allen Morris, secretary for the Department of Christian Life and Worship of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. I hope that Father Morris does not have a contributing function in the translation project. He is quoted as saying, “No one was sitting on their hands” and “Each have their own opinion.” It seems the reverend father does not have an understanding of formal English grammar. Perhaps he is part of the problem.
WILLIAM G. STOOPS
Richmond, Virginia
Missing: 19 Million
Regarding “The Roe Effect: Aborted Voters” (Commentary & Opinion, July 25-Aug. 7):
Did you really mean to say that abortion is a means to an end to rid ourselves of abortion? It was almost congratulatory.
To suggest that the “missing 19 million” voters would be up to no good anyway denies the redemptive power of Christ and his promise of salvation he made on the cross. It also suggests someone doesn't read the news.
Faith-based news media (including yourselves, I believe) have, in the past couple of years especially, chronicled Gen-Xers bucking their boomer parents' and grandparents' “pro-choice” attitudes and habits. If this is victory, I'll take the mixed-up kid going to the polls over an abortion every time. At least there is a chance he'll ultimately choose redemption over death some time in his life.
MARK GERATY
Boise, Idaho
Who's Minding the Site?
At the end of his otherwise unobjectionable article “My Computer, the Bookkeeper” (Oct. 31 - Nov. 6), Brother John Raymond includes a list of his favorite charitable organizations. Giving Brother Raymond the benefit of the doubt as to the depth of his knowledge of these “favorite” groups, I must voice strong objections to at least two of the organizations he lists.
The Catholic Worker is essentially a socialist organization that embraces a wide variety of far-left agendas, including socialized medicine and attacks on the “military-industrial complex.” If you search its website very thoroughly, you can find a rare reference to Jesus, though almost none to “Jesus Christ.” But the website does include essays favoring clean needle-injection sites for drug addicts and blaming America for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The sympathies of the Catholic Worker are further illustrated by its favorite links section, which will take you to radical sites such as the Noam Chomsky Archive, Pax Christi and the anarchistic Jesus Radicals. The Catholic Worker site also includes a link to the “Church Reform” organization Call to Action.
Brother Raymond also includes among his favorite organizations Catholic Charities USA, which uses charitable contributions to lobby for a wide range of extremely liberal economic and social policies. Its site links to a number of far-left organizations, including pro-abortion groups such as the Leadership Conference for Civil Rights. Worse yet, Catholic Charities itself is a member of the Leadership Conference; their fellow members include pro-abortion groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Feminist Majority. Perhaps worst of all, however, is that Catholic Charities includes a link to the pseudo-Catholic publication the National Catholic Reporter.
If your readers are inclined to contribute to charitable groups, it would be far better to give to organizations that focus on helping people, as opposed to hating the Church and America, or joining with those who do. I would urge your readers to take a look at both Catholic World Mission (catholicworldmission.org) or the Padre Pio Shelter, in the Bronx, N.Y., which is run by Father Benedict Groeschel and the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (franciscanfriars.com).
JOSEPH DESANCTIS
Cheshire, Connecticut
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Post-Television Pleasures DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:Thank you so much for “TV: The Great American Time Robber” (Aug. 29-Sept. 4), on the negative impact television has on today's youth.
My husband and I had our cable service disconnected almost two years ago. At the time, our reason for disconnecting the TV was not so much the programs our three children were watching (which we were strictly monitoring), but the commercial advertising every 30 seconds that was full of sexism, promiscuity, consumerism and greed.
We enforced TV hours, yet we found our children “sneaking” TV with the volume down, and then trying to cover up their indiscretion. I also brought to my husband's attention that he was falling into the habit of coming home from work and plopping down to a show regardless of what was going on in the home.
Were our three young sons happy when the TV was gone? No. It took about a week to get a different routine going and to get used to the “silence,” which we have since replaced with classical music. My husband and I did notice an almost immediate change in behavior, attitude and general disposition in all of us. On the weekends, we now go to our local video store and choose a movie or two as a family. The discussions that go on in the video store are irreplaceable teachable moments. Sometimes we choose a movie and then read the book, or vice versa. We are teaching our children to be informed decision-makers, critical thinkers and, most importantly, godly members of their community.
Friends and family members constantly scrutinize our decision to be TV-free, and when they hear our rationale, some say they would love to do the same. We know it takes courage and commitment to stand up to the pressures of the world.
If living without TV is difficult to fathom for some, then something is wrong. Why not subscribe to magazines and newspapers instead of paying a cable bill? Read with your children. Choose articles to discuss at mealtimes. Learn to play games as a family. Take walks. Talk. Discuss the day's events. Provide your children with projects to accomplish. The ideas for TV replacement are endless.
As a Christian mom who works tirelessly to undo the damage done through the school and social settings, I absolutely believe television is one of the most dangerous impacts Satan can make on today's family. How easy we make it for him to come right into the very homes we work so hard to protect from outside worldliness — our private domains. How easy we make it for him to entertain the masses and to put messages of sin into unsuspecting minds.
TRICIA M. PIPER
Yakima, Washington
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tricia M. Piper ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: 2004 Elections DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:November's election results indicate President Bush handily won the Catholic vote.
In 2000, Al Gore won the Catholic vote. A few items of interest this year:
• Among Catholics who attend Mass weekly, the president won 56% to 43%.
• Even counting all self-described Catholics, President Bush improved his standing since the 2000 election, when he lost the self-described Catholic vote to former vice president Al Gore, 47% to 50%. The 2004 results — Bush 52%, Kerry 47% — represent an eight-point net gain for the president among Catholic voters since 2000.
• This election marks the first time that a Republican presidential candidate has won the Catholic vote since 1988.
• This election marks the first time that a Catholic major-party candidate for president has lost the Catholic vote.
Individual state tallies show similar or stronger results. For example, President Bush won the Catholic vote by comparatively larger margins in two states widely regarded as the two most important in this year's election: Florida and Ohio.
On Election Day this year, Catholics comprised 28% of all voters in Florida and 26% of all voters in Ohio. The results were as follows:
• Florida Catholics: Bush 66%, Kerry 34% (or, including those who aren't weekly Mass-goers, Bush 57%, Kerry 42%).
• Ohio Catholics: Bush 65%, Kerry 35% (including those who don't go to Mass weekly, Bush 55%, Kerry 44%).
Our thanks to Priests for Life for these numbers.
----- EXCERPT: How Catholics Voted ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Did Catholics Win on Nov. 2? DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:There's no such thing as the ideal Catholic candidate because there's no such thing as the Catholic stance on all issues. Catholics should all agree on basic principles of their faith, including issues that necessarily entail specific positions on certain questions, such as the legal right to life for unborn babies. But this side of the Eschaton, Catholics will always disagree among themselves about how best to order this-worldly affairs to conform to the law of God.
Mark Brumley
That said, on the highly important, fundamental issues of abortion, embryonic stem-cell research and human cloning, it's not breaking news that evangelical George Bush is much closer to the Catholic position than soi-disant Catholic Senator Kerry.
Furthermore, Mr. Bush's Supreme Court nominees, who are all-but-certain to come, will probably be more favorable on most right-to-life issues and most issues regarding traditional Christian values in the public square than Mr. Kerry's choices would have been. On these things, the Bush victory is, in a qualified sense, a “Catholic win.”
Even so, many — though certainly not all — serious Catholics have sizable problems with aspects of the Bush agenda: the war in Iraq, tax cuts, health-care policy, etc. While these concerns aren't in the same category as such things as 1.3 million abortions every year, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning and same-sex “marriage,” they're not unimportant.
Let's be clear: A Catholic isn't obliged, as a Catholic, to differ with the Bush administration on the war, tax cuts, health care, etc. But he certainly is free to do so, and many faithful Catholics, in fact, do disagree. Indeed, many Catholics feel compelled to disagree out of fidelity to the same principles that lead them to agree with the Bush administration on right-to-life issues. For such Catholics, the Bush re-election isn't a “Catholic win” in those areas on which they differ with the president, notwithstanding the “Catholic win” in other areas.
There's also a sense in which — even on the issues of abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell experimentation, human cloning and same-sex “marriage” — the Bush re-election isn't a “Catholic victory.” Opposition to such evils isn't specifically or uniquely Catholic. The Catholic Church witnesses against these evils, but so do many other Christians, as well as many non-Christians.
The recent election was a Catholic victory in another sense: a triumph over the irrational fear some Catholic leaders have had of confronting pro-abortion Catholic candidates. The argument has been that such confrontation inevitably leads to victory for pro-abortion candidates. John Kerry's defeat disproves that thesis, for no candidate has been chided publicly by Catholic leaders for his pro-abortion stance more than Mr. Kerry has.
Then, too, Catholics “won” in this election insofar as lay groups — such as Catholic Answers, Catholic Out-reach and this newspaper — disseminated literature to millions of Catholics. Such organizations mounted massive, non-partisan efforts to educate Catholics on Church teaching and to relate that teaching to key issues. Seldom have lay Catholic groups been so effective in reaching Catholics in the pews. While some diocesan bureaucracies sought to impede such groups, other diocesan offices supported their efforts.
The election clarified that to espouse a consistent life ethic isn't the same as signing off on a litany of highly debatable policy positions with “non-negotiable” Catholic concerns, such as abortion, euthanasia and same-sex “marriage,” effectively neutralized in their significance.
Finally, the Catholic Church came out a winner in the recent campaign in that more and more Catholics feel free to break with the historic pattern of lockstep Democratic support. No party should think it has the Catholic vote in its back pocket.
Growing Catholic independence doesn't mean, of course, that Catholics should now march to the Republican Party's drummer, lockstep or otherwise. As Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver recently observed, Catholics aren't with the Republicans on such issues as abortion; Republicans are sometimes with us. An effective political strategy would be to remind the leaderships of the Republican and Democrat parties of just how important it is that they side with Catholics on such fundamental issues as the right to life — that is, if they want to continue to receive Catholic support.
Mark Brumley is president of Ignatius Press and associate publisher of IgnatiusInsight.com.He contributed to the book The Five Issues That Matter Most (Catholic Outreach).
----- EXCERPT: Were Catholics winners in the 2004 presidential election? Yes and no. ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mark Brumley ----- KEYWORDS: Commentry -------- TITLE: Now What? DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:A British poster from World War II shows Winston Churchill pointing a stern finger at the viewer, with the caption, “DESERVE VICTORY!”
Even in wartime, it's not enough to win battles; the nation's moral character must be strengthened as well. On Nov. 2, American voters showed they understand this. According to CNN, voters were more likely to cite “moral values,” not the economy or terrorism, as the reason for their choice. These “values voters” likely handed George W. Bush his second term. But voting is easy. If we want America to emerge from the next four years not only safer, but better, we have hard work to do. For instance:
Life issues. The way Bush attained re-election should hearten pro-life Democrats. Catholic Democrats should point out that the party will continue losing if it keeps its abortion-rights litmus test. Many Americans who disagreed with Bush on the Iraq war, economic policy or other issues found themselves simply unable to vote for John Kerry because of his stance on this basic social justice issue.
But pro-lifers can't relax just because President Bush proclaims his pro-life beliefs. Chief Justice William Rehnquist's recent diagnosis with thyroid cancer brought the issue of the courts home in the days before the election. We need judicial nominees who, whatever their personal beliefs, do not think the abortion license is written into the Constitution. We need these nominees especially for the Supreme Court, where President Bush may make as many as three new appointments. But we also need to watch the lower courts.
Marriage. Unsurprisingly, all 11 state constitutional amendments defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman passed. Unsurprisingly, these states will now face a flurry of litigation as gay-rights organizations try to overturn the amendments through the courts. One of these cases will eventually make it to the U.S. Supreme Court — unless some variant on the Federal Marriage Amendment passes.
Meanwhile, the president has declared his support for civil unions. Civil unions and domestic partnerships are less damaging to the institution of marriage than the falsehood of “gay marriage.” Such “marriage-lite” options — like cohabitation — at least leave us a language in which to uphold marriage and exhort couples to marry.
Marriage-education programs would still be able to teach about marriage, rather than treating marriage as interchangeable with a homosexual union. And many contractual rights should not be reserved for married couples, such as the right to designate someone who can visit you in the hospital and make medical decisions when you're incapacitated.
However, we don't need more alternatives to marriage. We don't need more encouragement to view marriage as a benefits package rather than a deeply rooted, organic human need. And we don't need legal innovations that would likely be viewed as stepping stones on the road to same-sex “marriage.”
What we do need is to make marriage credible. Many Americans who grew up in our divorce culture support same-sex “marriage” because they haven't seen the marriage ideal in their families and communities. If we don't strengthen struggling marriages, discourage cohabitation and promote abstinence until marriage, our opposition to same-sex “marriage” starts to look like hypocrisy: scapegoating homosexuals for the problems of heterosexual couples. We need to support groups like Retrouvaille and Marriage Savers, and promote morally sound and intellectually stimulating marriage education in our schools.
An upcoming issue here is House Resolution 10, the “9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act of 2004.” Sections of this bill, which passed the House of Representatives in October, would make it legal to turn suspected terrorists over to foreign countries known to use torture — essentially, outsourcing torture. The version passed by the Senate does not contain this provision; the two versions must be reconciled before the law can be implemented. Torture is directly contrary to our faith, as discussed in section 2297 of the Catechism.
If Bush adheres to Catholic values on these issues, he will have gone a long way toward deserving his own electoral victory.
Read former Register staff writer Eve Tushnet at www.evetushnet.blogspot.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Eve Tushnet ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: The Wisdom of the Unenlightened DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:When a majority of that court decided that “homosexual marriage” is a constitutional right, it made many voters — well, it made them see red.
Thanks to this exercise of raw judicial power, 11 states had referendums defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman, and all 11 passed by thumping margins. There is no doubt that this issue brought to the polls church-going Christians who pulled the lever for Bush. Unlike the residents of Malibu or Greenwich Village, most Americans do not wish to commit cultural suicide.
They do not share what Malcolm Muggeridge called “the great liberal death wish.” They do not want activist judges redefining the one institution whose health fundamentally determines society's health.
Since the middle of the last century, there has been a “transvaluation of all values” among the cultural elites. And it has accelerated in recent years. These elites are hostile to religion and want to erase from public discourse any idea remotely connected with church or Scripture. (That the civil rights movement in the early '60s was “faith-based” is conveniently forgotten.) Starting with the 1972 convention that nominated George McGovern, these radical secularists have had a disproportionate influence within the Democratic Party. And the result is the electoral map we saw last week.
To see how smug and parochial this new elite can be, one need only read the Op-Ed piece that Gary Wills wrote two days after the election for The New York Times. Wills, of course, is the intelligentsia's favorite anti-Catholic Catholic.
Whenever the Times or the New York Review of Books needs a hit job on the pope or Catholic orthodoxy, Wills is the man. But he is also an example of a university professor who thinks that this country is overly populated with Bible-thumping swamp creatures who desperately need tutoring by enlightened persons like himself.
Wills claims that Bush won because of the Republicans' cynical mani pulation of religious fundamentalism. “[Karl] Rove understands what surveys have shown, that many more Americans believe in the Virgin Birth than in Darwin's theory of evolution.”
Well, I recall hearing Mr. Wills tell Tim Russert not long ago on CNBC that he himself believed in the Virgin Birth. And I would be glad to discuss with him some of the thorny problems that scientists now raise about Darwin (although not about evolution per se). It is, as they say, a nuanced topic.
Be that as it may, the thrust of Wills remarks is that half of America has rejected the Enlightenment and is mired in religious obscuranticism. (This includes faithful Catholics.) They are at the same intellectual and moral level as Muslim fanatics. “Jihads are scary things,” Mr. Wills informs us. In his view, the fault of these benighted Bush-voters is that they do not share “Enlightenment values — critical intelligence, tolerance, respect for evidence, a regard for the secular sciences.”
But to identify the Enlightenment with the absence of religious faith is, of course, an absurdity. Mr. Wills is an historian and ought to know better. It may be argued that the U.S. Constitution is the greatest political document produced by the Enlightenment. In 1789, the House of Representatives, after voting for the First Amendment, passed by a 2-to-1 majority, a resolution calling for a day of national prayer and thanksgiving. Even the least religious Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin, thought religion essential to maintaining a just political order. It was the French who discovered just a few years later how horrific a government based on “reason” and the rejection of God can be.
But in the final analysis, political wisdom has little to do with how many books one has read about the founding fathers or the French Revolution. I know an elderly black woman who is Catholic. She has little formal education, but is wonderfully wise about the things that matter. We've never discussed politics, and I was surprised to learn that she had voted for Bush. I mean, after all: an elderly black Catholic. The Democratic Party used to have a lock on such people.
Why had she voted Republican? It all came down to having to choose between a candidate whom she thought represented real moral values and a candidate who seemed to function (if I may so express it) in a new post-moral, post-Christian world where suctioning out the brains of a half-delivered child is okay if the existence of that child is inconvenient.
Mr. Wills would no doubt consider this woman a candidate for some kind of Enlightenment education camp run by him and Michael Moore. But, on the other hand, maybe she knows something that he doesn't.
George Sim Johnston writes from New York.
----- EXCERPT: President Bush ought to write a thank you note to the Mass. Supreme Court. ----- EXTENDED BODY: George Sim Johnston ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Intellectual Pride Makes You Stupid DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:As I watch the Left ask “What went wrong?” in the election aftermath, I am reminded of an incident a few years back,in my native Seattle.
A tourist returned from the former Soviet Union with a 10-ton statue of Lenin. When he died, the statue somehow wound up in the hands of the city, whose Wise Elders decided it should be erected in a public location for all to admire.
Some protested this, pointing out that Lenin, after all, fathered a system that butchered more innocent people than any other creation of the human mind in all of history. They pointedly suggested that if Seattle was now spending public moneys to honor architects of mass murder, perhaps Seattle would also find it doubly cute to erect a statue of Hitler.
At this point, somebody wrote to one of our local papers, saying it was ridiculous to compare Lenin with Hitler. After all, Lenin was an intellectual.
This fatuous remark, as much as anything, illustrates the problem which faces the Left in trying to grapple, not just with this election, but with the human race in general. In a nutshell, our liberal elites really and truly believe they are way smarter than anybody who disagrees with them.
Illustrations of this from the post-election press abound, but I will limit myself to just a few. One of the most hilarious was the allegedly Catholic Garry Wills, lamenting in the Nov. 4 New York Times that Election Day 2004 was “the Day the Enlightenment Went Out” and asking (I kid you not) “Can a people that believes more fervently in the Virgin Birth than in evolution still be called an enlightened nation?”
He does not inform us when the memo was issued by the Church that made the Virgin Birth a legend fit only for mouth-breathers, but then, he doesn't mean to. Rather, he simply means to confirm to his fellows on the Left that they are intellectuals and that those who differ from them are stoopid.
In a similar vein, William Saletan wrote a piece for Slate to rally the dispirited Left; it was called “Simple but Effective: Why you keep losing to this idiot.” Once again, the dogmatic faith of the Left in its superior intelligence is on full display. First, Saletan assures the faithful of the Left of their intellectual superiority: “Now look at your candidate, John Kerry. What quality has he most lacked? … Not brains — he proved that in the debates. What Kerry lacked was simplicity. … If you're a Democrat, here's my advice. Do what the Republicans did in 1998. Get simple. Find a compelling salesman and get him ready to run for president in 2008. Put aside your quibbles about preparation, stature, expertise, nuance and all that other hyper-sophisticated garbage that caused you to nominate Kerry.”
Translation: “The trouble with Our Set is that we are just too darn intelligent. We appreciate the nuances. We are hyper-sophisticated. We are just so utterly brilliant that we can't win the hearts of all those common, simple people out there.”
So what does Saletan recommend?
“You just need somebody to win the White House and appoint them to his administration. And that will require all the simplicity, salesman-ship and easygoing humanity they don't have. The good news is, that person is already available. His name is John Edwards.”
You read that right. The lesson Saletan takes away from the election is: Since Americans who disagree with him are “simple” (read: “stupid”) then the solution for the Left is to run a pre-fab, blow-dried, empty-headed, talking hairdo like John Edwards — who just lost the last election.
Saletan at least gets as far as asking, “If the Right is so stupid, how come they keep running rings around us?” But like so many on the Left, he cannot face squarely the awful prospect that “maybe we're not nearly as smart as we think we are and conservatives aren't as stupid as we keep telling ourselves.” Instead, Saletan opts to say, in effect, “Sadly, more Americans than we'd like to admit are dumb, unlike us. How can we exploit these morons?”
This is why the Left is losing. Many who populate it are gripped by intellectual pride: a form of pride which is both deadly and funny. For just as the Spirit can take people of rather modest intellectual gifts and sharpen their minds, so the devil can, through intellectual pride, take very bright people and make them stupid.
Mark Shea is an author and apologist. www.markshea.com
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mark Shea ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: One Piece of Unfinished Election Business DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:Not if you are a pro-lifer. We won the presidency, 11 homosexual marriage bans, and morals values votes across the country. But that's not how Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania saw it the morning after his own reelection victory.
The pro-abortion Specter was endorsed by actor Michael J. Fox for his pro-cloning stance. He's in line to be the next chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The current chairman, Orrin Hatch, is constrained by term limits and the tradition of seniority gives the seat to Specter.
But there's no constitutional or procedural rule mandating that Specter become judiciary chairman in the Senate. And there's no reason Americans of good will shouldn't let their Republican senators know that a Judiciary Chairman Specter is simply unacceptable.
Comparing Roe with Brown v. Board of Education, Specter warned president Bush on Nov. 3 against nominating pro-life conservative judges for the Supreme Court. Though the president won reelection with a majority of the popular vote — and his party picked up a 55-seat majority in the Senate (beyond the expectations of many), Specter freelanced his view that Election Day 2004 was a victory for pro-abortion Republicans. The Republican platform and the president's record on life suggest otherwise.
Why, after such a historic electoral victory would Republicans — a conservative, pro-life majority in Washington, D.C. — allow Specter to hold one of the most vital positions in the Senate? As judiciary chairman, he would be a potentially devastating obstacle in the way of appointing good men and women to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court will determine our future abortion and marriage laws. The nine men and women there will decide if banning infanticide is acceptable or not. And Arlen Specter, darling of Planned Parenthood, will do all he can to keep judges of faith from being among them, if he is chairman of the Senate committee that confirms them.
Simply put, after all of our help to the president and his party in this election, pro-lifers should not accept Arlen Specter as judiciary chair.
If you agree, call and email your Republican senators today.
The Senate switchboard phone number is (202) 224-3121. Ask to speak to the offices of the Republican senators from your state.
I'm told that an overwhelming outcry from voters ASAP is the only way Arlen Specter can be kept from doing his best to undo the pro-life victories of Nov. 2.
Kathryn Jean Lopez is the editor of National Review Online.
----- EXCERPT: Is the election over? ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kathryn Jean Lopez ----- KEYWORDS: Commentry -------- TITLE: A Watershed Election DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:In August, I wrote (and in October it was printed in Crisis) that, in my more “pessimistic moments,” I thought that Kerry would win.
I then went on to list the basic reasons why Kerry should not win.
The President had it mostly right about the war (though he still does not identify the enemy accurately), about public decency, about the economy, about common sense, about Texas. Some petulant critic accused him of “swaggering” in his walk. Bush's response was, “in Texas, we call it walking.” My “optimistic” moments, however, told me that Bush would win by 3 million votes. This proves the inestimable value of hindsight!
Predicting elections, even while they are going on, as the exit-poll business proves, is a dubious enterprise.
If we really could or wanted to do this knowing ahead of time, we could dispense with the elections and take whom the polls gave us. The consolation is that we have a number of polls each giving us contradictory results.
William Bennett remarked that this election was, more than any before, an election about public morality. I suspect, when all is said and done, that it was the pro-life evangelicals who won this election.
An Australian friend wrote asking whether I was pleased with the number of bishops who made strong statements that made a difference. The most notable of these statements are those of Archbishops Chaput, Myers and Burke, Bishop Ricken, and a number of others, but the overwhelming impression is rather the reluctance of bishops to say much other than “vote for someone,” a most unhelpful guide.
The District of Columbia for its three electoral votes went 91% for Kerry, which I suspect is approximately the same percentage of votes of the faculties in the leading universities. George Will has noted that almost for the first time in our country's history, the vote is now on ideological lines, not merely on lines of party or prudence about feasible alternatives. This deep division does not bode well. Machiavelli said that between an armed and an unarmed man there is no proportion. Between someone who allows or promotes the killing of the unborn or aged and someone who does not, likewise there is no proportion.
An evangelical friend of mine, whose church was elated at the Bush victory, told me of a conversation with a Kerry-voting Catholic. “If you think it is all right to kill an unborn child,” my friend told the Catholic, “you think in principle it is all right to kill me.”
Kerry, I think, never did get it right about why Catholics are against killing babies, born or unborn. He claimed it was because of the “faith” that they did not do so. So he nobly did not want to “impose” his views on anyone.
Of course, while the faith may also say it is not permitted to kill the unborn, the reason has basically nothing to do with the faith. It is a question of reason and experience. This is a real human life whatever any faith says. To kill it is to claim a power we do not and cannot have. It is not an act of “respect” to any faith to allow it to be indifferent to the killing of what is human in any stage of its growth and life. As my evangelical friend said, this is an absolute and it measures all else. This is a single issue that, more than any other, reveals our attitude to all issues.
Ironically, the war played perhaps less a role in the election than we might have at first thought. The appearance of Bin Laden on the screen a few days before the election in effect telling us to vote for Kerry or else he would blow something up in every state that voted for Bush was an attempt to make the Americans look like the cowardly Spanish voters after the bombing of a train in Madrid. The proper response is not to elect a secular socialist, but to fight.
Bush is a clear thinking and determined man on this issue. Bin Laden and his followers, to their credit, understand this. That is why they wanted him defeated at the polls. Bush has two objectives. The dismantling of terrorists for our and others, security and the setting up of at least some regimes in the Islamic world that are not controlled by militant Islamic forces.
Much is made of the French, Germans and the general world left's opposition to President Bush. Those of us who read European demographic figures know that these classic Christian countries are seeing themselves being replaced by Muslim immigrants. Birth control is definitely working to eliminate Europeans in their very own homes. Paul VI would have been amused, or perhaps, saddened.
The Hispanic vote that the President received is 10% over the last election. For Catholics this is a significant figure. We, too, have our birth problems. These Hispanics are (when they have not been converted by evangelicals) Catholics, family people, folks who do most of our physical labor. They realize that one-party allegiance is a disaster to their own interests. This country has Latinos, not Muslims (though we have some of these too), as the people replacing our own population and labor problems.
The fact that increasing numbers of them now vote Republican should makes a considerable difference in how the Church looks at the Latino population in its pews.
In short, this election was a water-shed. Those who thought it a near-apocalyptic election were probably right, if Kerry had carried out what he seemed to stand for. The important thing about President Bush is that he is a good, commonsensical, and decisive man. He admits he makes mistakes. He has wit and is unassuming. We know we can trust him. I think that this is the underlying factor of this election.
Kerry never did tell us why he changed his mind so often. It does not take a genius to figure out that such a vacillating man ought not to be our president. As I said of 9/11, this country was very fortunate that President Bush was president on that tragic day. It is likewise fortunate that he is still president.
He was not elected by the big cities, those in California, the northeast, Illinois, Minnesota. He was elected by the middle, by the common folks who were able to see through the enormous pressure put on them by what is called the “mainstream” media. Today, ordinary people have, if they will, other ways of finding out the truth – talk radio, internet, bloggers, some of the magazine, journal, and newspaper press.
The election of 2004 is a return at least to some of the virtues of a republic. President Bush can take pride in this return. He is someone who stood for what is most important to most people: security, morality, hard work, common sense, decisiveness.
Jesuit Father James Schall writes from Georgetown in Washington, D.C.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father James Schall ----- KEYWORDS: Commentry -------- TITLE: Only Words DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:The French philosopher Jacques Derrida — the “father of deconstructionism” — passed away in October.
Obituaries and tributes sought to make sense of the work of a man whose influence on Western thought has been, unfortunately, quite significant — even if many people never heard of him. His disciples are certain Derrida made an invaluable contribution to humanity, even while their explanations of the contribution are less than clear. “He understood that official thought turns on rigorously exclusive oppositions: inside/outside, man/ woman, good/evil,” wrote Terry Eagleton, professor of cultural theory at Manchester University. “He loosened up such paranoid antitheses by the flair and brio of his writing, and in doing so, spoke up for the voiceless, from whose ranks he had emerged.”
I'm not certain who's in charge of “official thought,” but I suspect Eagleton is referring to what most people might call ordinary, common-sense thinking. Even the venerable Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy struggles to define deconstructionism: “(Derrida) tells us that deconstruction is neither an analytical nor a critical tool; neither a method, nor an operation, nor an act performed on a text by a subject; that it is, rather, a term that resists both definition and translation.”
To cut to the chase, Derrida taught that language is meaningless, communication impossible and life ultimately absurd. This is all the more amazing since Derrida dedicated most of his life to writing and teaching about deconstructionism. In books and lectures, he insisted that words, sentences and books cannot really say anything — or, if they do, they cannot say what the author thinks they say.
Illogical? Yes. Popular? Yes. Sadly, far too many people in the world of academia think deconstructionism is a most marvelous thing. One reason is that it allows ideologues to interpret any given text to mean anything they want it to say.
For my money, deconstructionism is just another form of gnosticism, or secret knowledge. A few enlightened elites are able to really understand what Dante, Shakespeare, Joyce or anyone else is really saying.
In an essay titled “The Meaninglessness of Meaning,” philosopher Roger Kimball denounced the “baneful ideas” of Derrida: “Deconstruction comes with a lifetime guarantee to render discussion of any subject completely unintelligible. It does this by linguistic subterfuge. One of the central slogans of deconstruction is ‘there is nothing outside the text.’ In other words … the meanings of words are completely arbitrary and, at bottom, reality is unknowable.”
Set aside the big word, and you'll recognize that we're surrounded by amateur deconstructionists who say, “We really can't know if something is true or not” or “That statement means something different for everyone” or “That depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is.” Deconstructionism is aptly named because it seeks to deconstruct — that is, destroy — the nature and meaning of language.
When language is attacked, truth is attacked; when words are damaged, humanity is damaged. If words have no meaning, there is no meaning. Or, if there is, you cannot actually communicate it. Such thinking must culminate in nihilism and despair.
Derrida held that we inhabit “a world of signs without fault, without truth and without origin.” It's not surprising that he was an atheist who had little patience for religion or belief in the supernatural. Sadly, his ideas live on precisely because Derrida was wrong. Words do mean something, even when they are misused.
Carl E. Olson is co-author of The Da Vinci Hoax.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: CARL E. OLSON ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: A Saint's Sicilian Sanctuary DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:Despite the hordes of tourists it attracts from all over the world, Sicily has retained an element of mystery — distinctly Catholic mystery.
Located in the Mediterranean between Italy and North Africa, the island sparkles with facets of the varying civilizations that have peopled the place through the ages. Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans all had their day here, as did Arabs, Normans and Spanish. It was only in 1870 that Garibaldi landed on the island to begin his march that would make Italy finally independent of foreign powers.
Travel around the island and you'll see remnants of each age — preserved not only in architecture and art, but also manners and foods.
But if you come here for more of a pilgrimage experience, you'll want to honor Sicily's beloved Santuzza, or “little saint,” as St. Rosalia is affectionately called.
You'll need a car or bus from Palermo in order to ascend Monte Pellegrino, where, during the 12th century, the adolescent Rosalia, daughter of Norman nobility, grew disgusted with the luxury and ostentation of the Norman court. After entering a convent in Palermo, she fled to a structure on the mountain. Here, under the protection of a religious order, she could live the simple, prayerful life of a Christian hermit.
The queen, it's said, ceded the area of Monte Pellegrino, where Rosalia could both enjoy the stillness and be visited occasionally by those in need of her spiritual strength. She first became attached to a Byzantine church that was later destroyed. Then the extreme asceticism of the Greek orders attracted her, helping her to spend long hours in contemplation of Christ's Transfiguration on the Mount.
Her death in 1170 drew hordes up the mountain from Palermo to her chapel in a cave, beginning a tradition of pilgrimage that later died out for centuries. There her story might have ended. But in 1624, the “Black Death” would make her an instrument of salvation through Christ and a beloved patroness of Sicily.
Protectress of Palermo
The plague seems to have arrived on a ship from North Africa that was filled with Christians fleeing slavery. Palermo and much of Sicily saw the plague destroy young and old, peasant and noble, for years to come. Then one day, a holy man had a vision. He was told, he explained, that Rosalia's bones could be found in the cave on Monte Pellegrino — and that they must be carried through the streets of the city in a procession in order for the plague to be lifted.
Church authorities did not know whether his vision was from God, but soon enough they decided they had no choice but to investigate. Bones were found, just as the visionary had said, and it was decided — after a long inspection — that they were indeed those of the saint. (Having no forensic scientist to confirm the DNA, they relied on prayer.)
A cardinal from the famous Doria family finally called them authentic, and on June 7, 1625, they were placed in a reliquary and carried in procession through Palermo's winding streets.
Soon afterward, the plague receded and then disappeared. On Aug. 15, Rosalia was officially declared “Protectress of Palermo.” On June 26, 1630, Pope Urban VIII inserted her name in the martyrology, and her relics were placed in Palermo's main cathedral. That's where they remain, for veneration, to this day.
The idea of a procession soon caught on with Palermo's nobility. Always looking for a celebration, they made the day the plague ended, July 15, a time of feasting and frolicking that would have sent Rosalia farther into her cave.
Fortunately, the faithful had her shrine in the mountains rebuilt, and it remains a moving experience to descend into her grotto and spend time in prayer with her. In 1787, the great German writer Goethe visited the shrine and wrote: “The shrine is more appropriate to the humility of the saint than the pomp of the festival that is celebrated in honor of her renunciation of the world.”
Percolating Prayers
The great festival is still observed in Palermo in July, and less elaborately on Sept. 4, the day of her death. But a better idea perhaps is to visit the grotto itself. You'll see by the quantity of ex-votos that many have preceded you on this pilgrimage. Wax limbs and photos, flowers and messages ask the Santuzza for intercession.
To enter the grotto is to join in a Sicilian mystery. A frisson of surprise and joy is apt to make you spend more time here than you planned: The prayers of centuries seem to effervesce in the cool air.
The grotto was carved into the rock, more than 80 feet deep, at the spot where the relics were found. At the far end, tapers illuminate a figure of the Immaculata. On the ceiling, metal channels the water that flows here from a mystical stream. It is offered in the holy water font at the entrance to the grotto.
At one part of the cave, an opening in the rock contains only the marble head of the saint, illuminated, representing the solitude she embraced on this spot.
Behind a glass case, a reclining statue of the young Rosalia resides, crowned with golden roses and arrayed in a robe of gold thread, a gift of the Bourbon King Charles III. She embraces a crucifix, as she did in life. However, her dress is hardly that of a hermit. The king was paying tribute to her as to another royal.
Leaving the grotto, you will find a place to obtain mementos of this shrine. You can proceed also to the top of the mountain, where a large statue of Rosalia looks out over the world. Weather permitting, you can see eastward along the coast as far as the still-active volcano, Mount Etna, on the far side of Sicily. This view is another reason for joy and thanksgiving. The saint's life was rich in views of the natural world, before the building campaigns of Sicily.
Enthusiasm for Santa Rosalia lives on in the parts of the world to which Sicilian fishermen have traveled. Among them is Monterey, Calif., where each autumn her statue is taken from the church to the waterfront to bless the fleet.
One trip to Rosalia's own little corner of the world — in Sicily — and you'll see how a life so humble can inspire celebrations so spirited.
Barbara Coeyman Hults is based in New York City.
----- EXCERPT: The cave of St. Rosalia in Sicily, Italy ----- EXTENDED BODY: Barbara Coeyman ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: To Sing Like an Evangelizing Angel DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:After winning a 2003 Unity award for her CD “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy,” 16-year-old singer Angelina Davis performed at St. Peter's Square last Christmas Eve during the blessing of the outdoor nativity.
It was a good year for Davis; her CD also was named “Spoken Word Album of the Year” by the United Catholic Music and Video Association. This year, she's only gotten busier, releasing three new works: “Songs of the Faithful,” inspirational tunes about saints; “The Child Within,” selections for children; and “The Faithful,” an 11-song video pilgrimage to sites in Ireland, Italy and Poland. (The latter has been nominated for a 2004 Unity Award.) Davis, a student at the Mississippi School of the Arts, spoke with Register correspondent Lisa Hendey.
How did your singing career begin?
Well, I have been singing since I could talk. Professionally, since I was 9 or so. It all started with a simple request from my grandfather, who had been diagnosed with lung cancer. At his request, I began to learn the “Ave Maria.” That was a very big request for a 9-year-old, but I sang it for him six months later, on Christmas night. He died two days later, and that was the last song he heard. A month later, my mom and I decided to start work on a recording of the rosary.
What was it like to sing in St. Peter's Square?
I had been to the Vatican earlier in the year, so I was familiar with the area. The square is beautiful. The nativity was set up larger than life, and the Pope gave the blessing from his window right before I sang a song called “Do You Hear What I Hear?” It was so cold outside that I had to wear my jeans underneath my dress. The most important part was going to Midnight Mass in the basilica. My whole family was teary-eyed when the Pope passed by at the processional. It was a beautiful and blessed time to spend with my family. My mother was born on Christmas Day, so that was extra special, too.
What were some of the highlights of your travels in making the video for “The Faithful”? And what do you hope it will accomplish?
I knew it would take work, but it took a lot of work. We worked 12- to 14-hour days. I had to walk up so many stairs, sit in one position for so long and retake me singing the choruses over and over. It started to become redundant, but the finished product really was (worth the effort). It's a beautiful piece that I can be very proud of.
I told my mom that I really feel I grew so much spiritually during all this filming. I hope this project reaches more people than I can imagine; this video will take people on a mini-pilgrimage through prayer and song. They are going to see the places where people like St. Faustina, St. Francis and my favorite, Saint Pio — who will be my confirmation saint — lived out their humble lives.
There are many videos and shows that already do this, but not like what we have done. I think children and adults will view this and come out with a deeper sense of their faith and hopefully want to change something in their lives.
How challenging is it, as a teen-ager, to remain committed to your Catholic faith while pursuing your dreams and ambitions?
I love my school. Everyone there is so committed to their discipline, whether it be visual arts, drama or music. I love how everyone is accepted in that type of nurturing atmosphere. I think that's why it's actually very easy to keep my faith alive: No one looks down on me for being Catholic in a very Protestant area. It's a very open-minded school where everyone is accepted and not shunned in any way.
Sometimes it can be difficult in a public-school system in the South. I did go to Catholic school up until seventh grade, but I needed the music program for college. I found that changing to public school actually made me more in-depth in my faith, because instead of being told what to learn, I had to ask my own questions — and learn what people around me were asking about Catholics. My mom says I am a little more independent than most teens, but changing around has definitely helped me.
My mom also sends me interesting facts and articles on our faith through email, which helps, and I do research on my own. Now, at the Mississippi School of the Arts, I am in a college atmosphere to give me a taste of what college is going to be like. It is a very small-scale version of college, but I truly love it.
Tell us about your upcoming project.
“The Littlest Gargoyle” was actually a play I performed at the age of 10. Earlier this year, the playwright — a local writer by the name Tonya Hayes — suggested turning the play into a storybook. My mom remembered how many times our family listened to books on tape or CDs on road trips. The two came together, and the book was written.
It's a great story about a young nun in medieval France wanting to help build Notre Dame. Her heart is surrounded by doubt and fear of the unknown. She is led on a journey that finds her in some very difficult situations, but, through perseverance and her deep love for God and the Blessed Mother, she begins a deeper understanding of his plan for her. This story will be a wonderful tool to introduce the idea of religious vocations.
As for new projects, my mom and I are flirting around with ideas at the moment; we don't know what type of CD we would like to do just yet. My main focus would be to finish “The Littlest Gargoyle” book on tape and be busy promoting the DVD of “The Faithful,” which is a very new product in the Catholic world.
I am extremely happy to be a part of all this and just want to continue to share my gift with people.
Lisa M. Hendey, webmaster of CatholicMom.com, writes from Fresno, California.
----- EXCERPT: It all started with a simple request from my grandfather. At his request, I began to learn the 'Ave Maria.' ----- EXTENDED BODY: Lisa M. Hendey ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly DVD/Video Picks DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:America's Heart and Soul (2004)
The pursuit of happiness. That's what Louis Schwartzberg has captured in the two dozen portraits that make up America's Heart and Soul, a tribute to the endless diversity of ways in which humans will engage in the pursuit of happiness, as long as there is life and the liberty to do so. From kooks to heroes, musicians to athletes, Schwartz-berg's film is at turns fascinating, touching and inspiring.
For a film that isn't specifically about music, this one finds a surprising number of subjects involved in it. Whatever the reason, it's gratifying to see Americans making their own melodies, not just downloading iTunes. With only a few minutes per subject, Schwartzberg creates a series of moving snapshots, not exploring any one individual or milieu in much depth.
He also offers a pretty flaky picture of faith in America (not that the reality isn't flaky, too). But Heart and Soul isn't about how people generally live, or should live, but about the freedom to live as one chooses. Like last year's Spellbound, this film shows us people of all types and backgrounds, some who may at times be a bit wacky, but for the most part win our interest and sympathy.
Content advisory:Fleeting references to heavy drinking; some provocative dance footage; a couple of references to reincarnation; a deficient presentation of Christian ideas.
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Riveting performances, immaculate black-and - white cinematography, steely moral conviction and an insightful portrayal of the border between the worlds of childhood and adulthood make Robert Mulligan's acclaimed To Kill a Mockingbird an extraordinary film. Faithfully adapted from Harper Lee's semi-autobiographical, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the film tells a story of racial unrest in a poor Southern town in the 1930s. There is no romance and no action, no dramatic showdown between the hero and the villain. Yet it is an unforget-table film, far more indelible than many more “exciting” productions.
Gregory Peck is note-perfect in arguably his signature role as Atticus Finch, a deeply principled, widowed attorney and father of two young children, whose decision to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman makes him a target of epithets and threats. Then-unknown Robert Duvall makes the most of his brief scenes as the mysterious, reclusive Boo Radley.
But the heart of the film is in the unaffected performances of the child actors, Mary Badham as Scout and Philip Alford as Jem. Seen through their young eyes, the now-familiar occurrences of wrongful accusations, resentment, menace and judicial miscarriage still carry a sense of shock and innocence lost, and the appearance of Boo Radley effectively dramatizes coming to terms with fear of the unknown.
Content advisory: Courtroom references to sexual assault, attempted seduction and domestic abuse.
The Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
The Italian title of Roberto Rossellini's The Flowers of St. Francis is Francesco, Giullare di Dio, “Francis, God's Jester.” Yet, in fact, it is not Francis, but his followers who are the real jesters, trying with charming naivete to stumble along in the footsteps of their master. In fact, it's a bit of a shock to realize that, for once, the poor man of Assisi is neither an eccentric nor a holy fool, but the straight man— a figure of Christlike wisdom indulgently shaking his head at the well-meaning foolishness of his disciples.
It's an apt picture, perhaps, of all our best efforts in the spiritual life in the eyes of our Lord. Francis' followers are foolish, but they are joyful, and even materialistic moderns may be able to recognize here something that is lacking in our desacralized age.
At the same time, the film doesn't pander to modern sensibilities by portraying Francis as a medieval flower child. Instead, his childlike spirit is combined with an affirmation of strict religious obligation and ultimately evangelization, as in the delightful closing episode, drawn from the Little Flowers, in which Francis commands his followers “under holy obedience” to spin around “like children at play,” until they are too dizzy to stand and collapse on the ground, whereupon he sends them out to preach in whatever direction they are facing.
Not yet available on DVD, The Flowers of St. Francis is hard to find on video, but can be found in some libraries and rare video stores.
Content advisory: Nothing objectionable.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: When in Rome, Learn as the Pope Learns DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:What is it like to study or teach in an ecclesiastical university in Rome?
Ask Pope John Paul II. He knows from experience. “I will never forget my feelings during those first ‘Roman’ days of mine, when in 1946 I began to get to know the Eternal City,” he wrote in his autobiographical book, Gift and Mystery. “I enrolled in the two-year doctoral program at the Angelicum.”
John Paul II loves Rome and the university world. For many years, he was a college student and a university professor. From the beginning of his pontificate, he established the tradition of celebrating the Eucharist at St. Peter's Basilica for the staff and students of Rome's ecclesiastical universities at the beginning of the academic year.
In the last few years, however, the Holy Father attended the Mass and delivered the homily but did not preside over the celebration. Polish Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, president of the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education, does it instead. On Oct. 22, hundreds of university professors concelebrated the Mass with the cardinal. The Holy Father followed the Mass while seated at one side of the altar.
The basilica was colorfully packed with thousands of students, including young diocesan and religious priests and seminarians, along with friars, nuns and lay men and women. You could spot Americans here and there.
As the Pope said in his homily, Rome's ecclesiastical academic community is “unique in the world on account of its number and variety of origins. In their own way, Roman ecclesiastical universities show the unity and universality of the Church. It's a multi-form unity founded on the same ‘vocation,’ that of the common call to follow Christ.”
For many years in Rome, I experienced how true this is. I got my bachelor's degree in philosophy at Gregorian Pontifical University and my Ph.D. at Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University. Now I teach philosophy at the latter, where about 1,000 seminarians, 500 lay people and 200 nuns come daily to class. My students come from more than 30 different nations, yet it seems as if we have known each other for many years. Everybody feels part of one big family, including those who, like the Americans, speak a different language.
If someone wants to study in the Eternal City, he may enroll in one of several pontifical universities. The oldest is the Jesuits' Gregorian University, established by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1551, which now counts six departments and 10 institutes and centers. Associated with this institution are the famous Pontifical Biblical and Oriental Institutes.
A few hundred yards from the Gregorian, you find the Angelicum. The formal name of the school is the University of St. Thomas Aquinas — run, of course, by the Dominicans — but most call it by the nickname that springs from Aquinas' designation as the “angelic doctor.”
The Lateran University, located next to the grandiose Basilica of St. John Lateran, is run by the Archdiocese of Rome. It has four departments and several institutes, including the John Paul II Institute for Family Studies.
On the Gianicolo, the hill next to Vatican City, stands the Urbanian University, founded by Pope Urban VIII in 1627 to form priests for mission territories. It is run by the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, also called Propaganda Fide. Many students come here from nations where the Catholic population is a minority or still in need of missionaries.
Other pontifical universities include Salesian University, with a notable education program; the University of Santa Croce (Italian for “Holy Cross”), run by Opus Dei and famous for its social-communications department; and Regina Apostolorum University, which is run by the Legionaries of Christ and has a groundbreaking bioethics department.
A number of other pontifical colleges, faculties and institutes have their own specialties. The Redemptorists' “Alphonsianum” specializes in moral theology; the Augustan-run Patristic “Augustinianum” Institute is renowned for its studies on the Fathers of the Church; the Claretian-run “Claretianum” offers theological studies on religious life; the Benedictine College of St. Anselm is known for its liturgical studies; the Minor Franciscan “Antonianum” and the Conventual Franciscan theology department of St. Bonaventure include studies on medieval thought; the Carmelites' “Teresianum” focuses on spirituality; the Servants of Mary's “Marianum” offers Mariological studies; the “Auxilium,” run by the Daughters of Mary of Perpetual Help, focuses on educational sciences; the Regina Mundi Institute is for religious sciences. Three other pontifical institutes are exclusively dedicated to sacred music, Christian archeology, and Arabic and Islamic studies.
On the day of this year's academic Mass, the staff and students from all these educational institutions were convoked before St. Peter's tomb by the Eucharistic Christ. The Eucharist is, as the Pope said in his homily, “the principle of unity in charity, of the communion in the multiplicity of gifts.”
This encounter took place, in fact, at the beginning of the Year of the Eucharist. “The Eucharistic mystery is the school in which the Christian is formed in the intellectus fidei (understanding of the faith), training himself to learn by adoring and to believe by contemplating,” the Holy Father said. “At the same time, in the Eucharistic mystery, he matures his own Christian personality to be able to witness the faith in charity.”
This year, the traditional Mass took place on the 26th anniversary of the inauguration of John Paul's pontificate. I'm sure the Pope followed the Mass thanking God for his years as bishop of Rome — and for the experiences he enjoyed as a newly ordained priest and student in one of Rome's ecclesiastical universities 56 years ago.
“Father Karol Kozlowski, rector of the Cracow Seminary, had told me a number of times that for those fortunate enough to study in the capital of Christendom,” John Paul II said in Gift and Mystery, “it was more important to ‘learn Rome itself’ than simply to study (after all, a doctorate in theology can be gotten elsewhere!)”
How far was Father Karol Wojtyla from knowing that his Roman experience was going to be decisive in his future mission as the Vicar of Christ? “The two years of study, completed in 1948 with the doctorate, were a time when I made every effort to ‘learn Rome,’” he wrote in the same book.
The science of “learning Rome” is not easy to describe. Among other things, it includes delving into the faith from its historical center, feeling the Church's ideals and needs, enjoying the universal Catholic faith and getting in touch with the one who represents Christ on earth.
So what is it like to study or teach in an ecclesiastical university in Rome?
It is studying and teaching the faith in order to “learn Rome” near one who, by God's design, “learned Rome” very well.
Legionary of Christ Father Alfonso Aguilar teaches philosophy at Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Alfonso Aguilar, LC ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:Kerry, 9-1
NEWMAN SOCIETY, Oct. 25 — Employees at 10 leading Catholic universities gave $196,025 to suppor t Sen. John Kerr y, according to Federal Election Commission reports.
That's more than nine times the amount given to President George W. Bush's bid for re-election — a total of $21,200, the Cardinal Newman Society reported.
A press release from the society said “the over whelming support for Kerr y among Catholic university employees stands in contrast” to pre-election polls showing the candidates splitting the Catholic vote, with Bush leading among practicing Catholics.
SMU or SCU?
Catholics represent 21.2% of the student population, compared to 16.4% for Methodists.
A similar trend of higher Catholic enrollment is being seen at other denominational universities in Texas, including Baylor University in Waco, where Catholics comprise the second-largest group after Baptists.
House of Studies
The friars transferred their house of studies from Berkeley, Calif., to Mount Angel in 1999, reported the archdiocesan newspaper.
Due in large measure to the Carmelites’ strong contemplative dimension, said Father Donald Kinney, student master, the 50-man Western province is attracting vocations, including four new postulants this year. New Job
Tenet, 51, now works for the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Ser vice and will begin teaching next fall.
In the meantime, he is lecturing and writing a book about his tenure at the CIA.
NHL Scions
NHL.COM, Oct. 27 — The leading scorer on the Providence University hockey team is sophomore left-winger Bill McCreary, whose father and grandfather, both Bills, played in the National Hockey League.
McCrear y is one of six sons of former NHL players now playing for the Friars in what the NHL's website calls a “recruiting fluke.”
The other Friars and their NHL dads include freshmen Colin McDonald (Gerr y), Vince Goulet (Michel), goalie Tyler Sims (Al), Trevor Ludwig (Craig) and sophomore Chase Watson (Jim).
Rights Case
ASSOCIATED PRESS, Oct. 29 — The student-led Christian Legal Society has sued the University of California's Hastings College of the Law in federal court in San Francisco for not recognizing it as an official campus organization.
The society says it should be eligible for campus funding and other benefits, and should not be required to open its membership to homosexuals and nonbelievers as required by the school.
An attorney for the group cited the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court found that the Boy Scouts of America had the right to deny membership to homosexuals.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Kickin' Campus Companion DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:HOW TO STAY CHRISTIAN IN COLLEGE by J. Budziszewski NavPress, 2004 179 pages, $13.99 To order: (800) 366-7788 or navpress.com
It's a sight to behold: J. Budziszewski, noted author and professor of politics and philosophy at the University of Texas, rolls up his sleeves and goes mano a mano with the secular, anti-Christian culture right in one of its strongholds — the college campus. Jumping in with an amiable mix of humor and practicality, Budziszewski proves himself shrewd as a serpent and simple as a dove (per Matthew 10:16).
In How to Stay Christian in College, Budziszewski squares off with the anti-Christian animus students will inevitably face in classrooms and dormitories. He pummels it by hammering away at atheistic worldviews (including the famed “isms” of naturalism, postmodernism, skepticism and relativism) and popular rationales for multivariate sex and political silliness.
Like G.K. Chesterton, Budziszewski realizes that campus apologists cannot lead with holy Scripture, Church tradition or any other religiously rooted source. No, in the rarified air of academia, the opening jabs must come in the form of cogent common sense.
Here he is on why living together outside of marriage is objectively disordered:
“The very essence of marriage is having a binding commitment. The very essence of living together is having no binding commitment. That's why living together can't be a trial for marriage, because in everything that matters, the two conditions are opposite. And that's why not having a binding commitment is less like training for marriage than like training for divorce.”
The book is marketed to students, but parents whose only hope is in a prodigal-like experience — one that may never come — will probably embrace it with even more enthusiasm. If you're in this category, know that, in owning this book, you'll be well armed for those home-visit “catching up” talks. Should your collegiate come home for the holidays announcing there is no such thing as truth, for example, you can sagely reply, “How do you know that's true?” While he's scratching his head, hand him a copy of this book.
One quibble: Budziszewski has undoubtedly field-tested these arguments in his own classes, but in places, I felt that his quick repartee might not work since so many anti-Christian attacks are subtle rather than overt. Then again, repartee is not the ultimate goal. He successfully shows how to be confident and competent in a social atmosphere that is indifferent to the faith at best and hostile at worst. Also, Budziszewski was not Catholic when he wrote this — but he has become one since. We'll have to wait for a second edition, or look elsewhere, to get at Catholic-specific issues like how to defend the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the need to confess sins to a priest. It's probably a given that such doctrines are questioned more on Catholic campuses than secular ones. But many Catholic parents are concerned with evangelical Protestants turning their child's heart from the Church, and “Bible Christians” are well organized on many a campus.
How to Stay Christian in College is a powerful antidote to those who dismiss Christianity as a ridiculous compromise with reality, a “crutch” for the weak-minded or an intellectually inferior philosophical framework. This is where Professor Budziszewski gets very aggressive and impressive, making himself a valiant ally and a wise counselor for the college kid in your prayers.
Art Bennett is director of Alpha Omega Clinic and Consultation Services in Vienna, Virginia, and Bethesda, Maryland.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Art Bennett ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:How Abortion Hurts Women
AGAPEPRESS, Oct. 25 — “Faces of Abortion,” a new television and radio series, exposes viewers to women who have experienced abortion and now oppose it.
It is the first time women are “going on television to tell the stories of what their abortions did to them,” said foundation director Alan Parker.
The women featured in the series, which began airing in some places in late October, tell stories of post-abortion depression, sterility, suicide attempts, miscarriages, stillborn births, increased chances of breast cancer and other abortion-related medical problems that have devastated their lives. For more information, call (210) 614-7157.
British Doctors vs. Suicide
MEDICALNET, Oct. 21 — Expressing the view of the majority of English doctors, the British Medical Association and its ethics committee have taken a stand in opposition to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.
Even England's Voluntary Euthanasia Society conceded that its own survey found that 53% of the nation's doctors would permit euthanasia “under no circumstances.”
Far from being a “muddled” point of view, as some have claimed, the organization's clear position has been submitted to the House Of Lords Select Committee on Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill.
Canadian Web Adoptions
CNEWS, Oct. 24 — Thousands more children are being adopted in Canada, thanks to greatly expanded use of websites that allow prospective parents to see photos and read case histories of children who are available for adoption.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prayers to Purgatory DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:It's mid-November. Have you prayed for the Church Suffering yet?
Sure, All Souls' Day was back on the second. But the Church dedicates this whole month to the holy souls in purgatory — and urges us to pray for them not just now, but all through the year.
“Just as in their earthly life believers are united in the one mystical body, so after death those who live in a state of purification experience the same ecclesial solidarity that works through prayer — prayers for suffrage and love for their other brothers and sisters in the faith.”
Those are the words of Pope John Paul II in his Aug. 4, 1999, general-audience reflection on purgatory.
How can families get into — and stick with — the holy-souls prayer habit?
Begin by teaching your children the four pillars that have a direct impact on the holy souls, says Susan Tassone, author, speaker and all-around champion of the holy souls. The pillars, she says, are the Mass, the rosary, Eucharistic adoration and the Stations of the Cross.
“The Eucharist is the most efficacious way to help the souls get out of purgatory because it's the highest act of worship and highest form of prayer,” says Tassone, whose books include Thirty-Day Devotions for the Holy Souls (OSV, 2004) and Praying in the Presence of Our Lord for the Holy Souls (OSV, 2001).
Every liturgy mentions the faithful departed, she points out. Families can attend Mass, have a Mass offered for the departed, and enroll the family and deceased loved ones in one of the several spiritual-remembrance societies that pray for souls in hundreds or even thousands of Masses a year.
Take children to adoration, especially in this Year of the Eucharist, adds Tassone. “And pray the rosary as a family and say the ‘Eternal Rest’ prayer with the rosary.” Parents can also teach St. Gertrude's prayer for holy souls. (See page 17.)
Include the holy souls in grace before meals and during other family prayers, says Conventual Franciscan Father John Grigus of Marytown. “If that is done in a good, healthy way in the family, when these kids grow up, they will continue to teach their children as well.”
That's happening in Louisburg, Kan., with Dennis and Lisa Reilly and their four children, ages 2 to 6.
“Before every meal and in our prayers before bedtime,” says Lisa, “we pray for our deceased relatives and someone (we know) who just passed away. We tell the kids they have a grandma and grandpa in heaven and a grandma and grandpa on earth. They understand. It just seems normal to them.”
Father Grigus points out that going through the family photo album can spark spontaneous teaching moments when children look at relatives who aren't around any more.
“Mom or Dad can talk to them, leaving them with a sense of hope by telling them the Lord is still taking care of the deceased members of the family, purifying them by his love,” he says.
The Reillys keep a framed picture of the grandparents in the family room. “Just by virtue of praying for them, the children have an understanding they need prayers,” Lisa says. “We've explained to them that the people are getting ready to go to heaven.”
One day, she notes, long after the tradition has become an ingrained habit, “They'll be praying for us.”
Susan Tassone advises parents to urge their children to offer up “little things” for the suffering souls. They might go without dessert or TV for an evening, she says. Or maybe they can go out of their way to do a good deed and offer it to God on behalf of the holy souls.
Come to think of it, parents ought to be doing those things, too, for such actions are spelled out in the Catechism, which reads: “The Church … commends almsgiving, indulgences and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead” (No. 1032).
Kristen Zimmerer, 20, of Denton, Texas, learned to pray for the dead as a child. She recalls complaining about her knees hurting from kneeling in church. “My dad told me to offer it up for the holy souls in purgatory. You pray for them, and they'll pray for you,” she says.
Her father, Alan Zimmerer, learned it from his parents, so “it became natural to raise my kids to offer it up,” he explains. He, wife Brenda and their five children, ages 3 to 20, remember the souls of loved ones and others in each family rosary — and they make it a family practice to gain a plenary indulgence according to the Church's precepts.
The Catechism tells us: “Since the faithful departed now being purified are also members of the same communion of saints, one way we can help them is to obtain indulgences for them, so that the temporal punishment due for their sins may be remitted” (No. 1479).
For the past six years, once a month on average, the family drives to Houston for confession and Mass. On the way, they pray a rosary together.
“We offer the plenary indulgence for the pour souls in purgatory and ask them to pray for us,” says Alan. “It's truly a joyful family event. My kids look forward to it.”
Sacramentals Save
Don't spare the sacramentals, says Tassone. The lighting of votive candles can be traced back to the catacombs, where the martyrs and faithful departed were entombed.
Tassone encourages parents, grandparents and godparents to take kids to a cemetery this time of year. “Teach them to sprinkle holy water on the graves,” she says, “because the souls get relief from holy water.”
Our prayers are a two-way street. When we pray for the holy souls, Tassone says, “the holy souls become our intercessors and help us reach heaven. When we pray for them, they become our friends forever. Bishop Fulton Sheen tells us, ‘As we enter heaven, we will see them, so many of them, coming towards us and thanking us. We will ask who they are, and they will say, ‘a poor soul you prayed for in purgatory.”
For each of us, may that line stretch out of sight.
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Shopping Season - Again? DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:Family Matters
Around this time last year, you gave advice on following a budget for the first time, even as the craziness of the holiday shopping season was bearing down. Some of us could sure stand to hear that advice again.
I said it then, and I'll say it again: Holiday spending is a major issue for many families. In some cultures, it is customary and expected that gifts will be given throughout the family, down to second cousins. Many families will succumb to this pressure and find their credit-card balances ballooning because of it.
Often these gifts individually amount to $10 to $25. Yet, by the time all family members are taken care of, several hundred dollars or more have been spent. Don't get me wrong. I think it's important to share in a spirit of generosity during the Christmas season. It's just that we need to re-examine what it means to be truly generous.
I've counseled many families to reconsider what they choose to give for Christmas. Rather than a $25 gadget, what about something that will be treasured for the special memory it creates? That may be a homemade Christmas card or a gift of time (maybe in the form of babysitting for new parents). Be creative. It's so easy to fall into the trap of our consumer society's spending frenzy that we fail to give gifts with greater meaning.
One of the things I enjoy when I give a seminar is the interaction between participants. As we work together to save the Stewart family from financial oblivion, it's fascinating to hear the responses of people from varying backgrounds. Some look at how much the Stewarts are paying for their holidays and suggest they greatly simplify them. Others will then cry out, “But Christmas isn't Christmas without gifts.” We all get a laugh out of the discussion, but the point gets made: It's more important for the Stewarts to get their financial house in order than to spend irresponsibly on Christmas gifts.
Our most memorable times at Christmas should flow from the awesome wonder and joy of the Incarnation. Certainly the sharing of gifts plays a role. Yet many of our most enjoyable times as a family occur because we're spending time together, not because we're opening presents.
So work to keep the real meaning of the season in perspective. Then you and your loved ones will truly have a blessed Thanksgiving, a fruitful Advent and a genuinely merry Christmas. God love you!
Phil Lenahan is director of media and finance at Catholic Answers in El Cajon, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Phil Lenahan ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Teen Spirit DATE: 11/14/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 14-20, 2004 ----- BODY:Facts of Life
A majority of American teen-agers — 67% — think God should have a place in the White House. That's from a new survey by the American Bible Society. The study also found that only 8% believe religious faith should play no part in presidential decision-making, while 25% think faith should be factored in “sometimes,” depending on the situation.
Register illustration by Tim Rauch
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Rauch ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Election 2004 DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Until this year, David Stanghellini often voted Democratic. His family is made up of strong, practicing Catholics with cultural ties to Italy. But voting for a Democrat who took clear positions in favor of abortion and embryonic stem-cell research proved too difficult to stomach.
“I voted for George W. because ‘moral values’ was the most important thing for me,” said Stanghellini, a nurse from White Plains, N.Y. “I think there's a lot of good in the Democratic Party platform, like helping the less fortunate. But I think they miss the key issue in this country: the right to life. If you allow citizens to extinguish the next generation, it's a major problem — especially to legally sanction it. I think the Kerry platform was too liberal.”
Stanghellini was not alone in citing “moral values” as the decisive factor for him in the voting booth. In a poll by Zogby International released Nov. 9, 22% of voters claimed “moral values” was the most important factor for them in the presidential election.
Just what those “moral values” are has been more difficult to quantify, though marriage certainly seems to be one. To some Catholic observers around the country, the high turnout Nov. 2 was the result of two principal forces: fear with regard to national security and the desire to safeguard traditional marriage.
Maria Luisa Rojas, a nanny in New York City opposed President Bush's war in Iraq but voted for him because of “moral values.”
“The moral values important to me are defending the family — meaning man, woman and children,” she said. “I'm opposed to gay marriage and divorce because I believe the family is the most important thing in society. This is more important to me than the economy. If we destroy the family, the essence of society, then a good economic plan will never be able to save it.”
Marriage was not on the ballot in New York, and Sen. John Kerry won the state. But voters in 11 states by wide margins passed referendums to define marriage as being between one man and one woman. And the issue proved to be the determining factor in Bush's re-election, particularly in the swing states.
“What we saw was a democratic tidal wave for marriage,” said Matt Daniels, president of the Alliance for Marriage, the main group pushing for a federal amendment that would define marriage as the union between a man and a woman. “The only way to describe it was a landslide victory for our cause. The American people are clearly on our side. In the race for the White House, it was very clear: The marriage issue played a decisive role in the election.”
Referendum?
While TV news outlets aired pieces on whether the election was a referendum on moral values, Austin Ruse, president of the Culture of Life Foundation, thought referendum was “too strong a word.”
“The moral values of those who oppose abortion and gay marriage played a big role in this election. Between 20%-25% said it was the most important issue. If 80% had said it, than it would have been a referendum,” Ruse said.
“In the matter of defining marriage, [the state marriage initiatives were] clearly a referendum,” said Archbishop John Myers of Newark, N.J. “Many of us ordinary Americans are concerned with the deterioration of values in public and private life. Was this a watershed? Not with 22%. I'd want much more than that.”
“It's not the whole picture but a substantial part of the picture,” said Robert George, professor of political science at Princeton University. “The meaning of marriage was at stake, and everyone knew it.”
“For the element of the population that cares about the pro-life issue, this election determines the fate of Roe v. Wade,” said George, a member of the president's Council on Bioethics. “With a Bush win, it can be changed. We may see two, three, maybe even four vacancies in the Supreme Court. Plenty of people cared deeply about this election because of the great moral issues of human life and marriage.”
‘Hope Springs Eternal’
Meanwhile, many Catholics who left the Democratic Party because of the abortion issue are asking: Will the party change in response to a perceived rejection of its tooth-and-nail defense of Roe v. Wade?
“I think they are worried within the Democratic Party,” said Kristen Day, head of Democrats for Life. “This election was a big wake-up call. Planned Parenthood and NARAL don't speak for the majority of the American public. A recent CBS poll concluded that Democrats are clearly out of touch with their base. Now that we've watched the party deteriorate, we want to take the party back.”
“Somewhere in the last two decades, the leadership of the Democratic Party decided to appeal to a certain identifiable group,” Archbishop Myers said. “And they moved in one direction morally. They have since been caught in this current. Is there hope for a change? Well, hope springs eternal.”
But Princeton's George doesn't share in the optimism. “There'll be gnashing of teeth. The base of the party remains social liberals, the journalistic establishment and cultural elites,” he said. “They can't change — no matter how much they are advised by James Carville to be born again. This is their religion. It's like what Catholicism means to you and me. Liberal ideas — that is their religion. They can't give it up.”
Ruse believes the Democrats are still missing the point. “Their core beliefs — a woman's right to choose, a permissive attitude toward sexuality, the family and marriage — these have been rejected in the voting booth,” he said. “And their reaction is a sneer. Republicans should fear the day that Democrats really do engage the pro-Reagan Democrats who are pro-life.”
“On the moral issue, there is a big divide between the elites of the Democratic Party and their popular base, especially minorities,” George said. “The elites aren't going to change their spots. If their base begins to vote on values, the way they have for Catholics and evangelicals — that will mean the end of the party. What if the black church really got behind marriage? What if Republicans, instead of getting 11% of the black vote, got 25%? There would be no Democrats elected at the national level. The majority of Catholics today no longer vote on economic issues but on values.”
Sabrina Arena Ferrisi writes from Jersey City, New Jersey.
----- EXCERPT: Did "Values Voters" Make the Difference? ----- EXTENDED BODY: Sabrina Arena Ferrisi ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Attorney General Pick Faces Pro-Life Scrutiny DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — President Bush's announcement Nov. 10 that he would replace outgoing Attorney General John Ashcroft with White House counsel Alberto Gonzales was greeted with caution in Catholic and pro-life circles.
If confirmed, Gonzales, the son of migrant workers from Mexico, would be the first Hispanic-American attorney general.
While much of the initial reaction to the nomination has focused on legal memorandums Gonzales supervised regarding the treatment of terror suspects, some observers have questioned his dedication to standing up for the rights of unborn citizens.
“As a Texas Supreme Court justice, Gonzales' rulings implied he does not view abortion as a heinous crime,” Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, said in a press release. “Choosing not to rule against abortion, in any situation, is the epitome of denying justice for an entire segment of the American population — pre-born babies in the womb.”
Brown was referring to a case Gonzales ruled on involving parental notification for minor girls considering abortion. He voted against the law.
But Darla St. Martin of the National Right to Life Committee said Gonzales will have a position in the president's Cabinet that will require him to carry out Bush's policies. “And since we have a pro-life president, we can expect he will carry out pro-life policies,” she said.
Asked if he would be able to carry out something similar to Ashcroft's initiative on the dispensing of federally controlled lethal drugs in Oregon, St. Martin said simply that it was a policy of the president, and Gonzales would be expected to carry it out.
Focus on the Family issued a brief statement saying it knows how highly the president regards the man known in the White House as “The Judge.”
“We expect these issues and other policy priorities of the president will be carried out by Mr. Gonzales with excellence,” the organization stated.
Douglas Kmiec, former dean of the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America, was not incensed, as Brown was, about Gonzales' action in the Texas court case. Kmiec, who is now professor of law at Pepperdine University Law School, believes Gonzales was merely doing his job at a subordinate court.
“He put his objections [to Roe v. Wade] in the opinion,” Kmiec said, but voted against the law because he knew the U.S. Supreme Court would not uphold it. Those who are criticizing him, Kmiec said, probably have not read the opinion.
But Teresa Collett, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., has read it. Collett used to teach in Texas and wrote an article on the case in the Baylor Law Review. She was “distressed” by the opinion, she told the Register.
The case was about a 17-year-old pregnant girl who did not want to notify her parents or seek a judge's permission for an abortion because she had been abused at home. The question before the court was what level of abuse this should be considered — child, adult or ordinary abuse. The highest standard is child abuse, which would mean she needed a judge's permission. But Gonzales argued for the adult abuse, Collett said, which does not require that oversight.
Collett believes, though, that Gonzales was trying to reach consensus on the issue. As it ended up, there was a plurality of opinions, which meant the ruling only applied to the case that came to the court and not to the law in general.
The Torture Question
Still, Kmiec said he knows Gonzales on both professional and personal levels and believes him to be a man who “is certainly sound in his instincts.”
Gonzales is drawing fire from human-rights watchers because of his opinions on al-Qaida members and their rights under the Geneva Convention.
Among other things, he called the Geneva Convention “quaint” when it comes to dealing with terrorists.
But Kmiec said there's good reason for Gonzales to make that kind of statement. The convention recognizes a prisoner of war when the prisoner is a member of an identifiable nation and is going after targets of war, not civilians. Gonzales was “courageous” to stake out a position for the president, Kmiec said, in showing that al-Qaida members do not fit under the Geneva Convention despite pressure from European countries. Certainly they are to be treated humanely, Kmiec added, but they do not have the same rights as prisoners of war.
That, of course, leads to the issue of torture. Some reports have said Gonzales has met opposition from military lawyers because of the memos he supervised about allowing torture to be used.
But Kmiec said Gonzales has recognized and admitted that what was written, based on advice from the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department, was wrong. Kmiec said he wanted to be careful in speaking about that office, in which he used to work, but he acknowledged that what Gonzales was given was “theory.”
“He didn't get good advice,” Kmiec said. “He got a theory by an academic.” And the advice “did not get the vetting it should have received” from others at the Justice Department, he added.
What is most telling, he added, is that Gonzales “admitted the error” and said the issue “needed to be re-looked at.”
That comment, Kmiec said, “infuriated many of my conservative friends” who uphold a certain ideology, “and he took some heat for saying that.” But “that's what you want in an attorney general,” he added. “Someone who is willing to re-look at things and not uphold a certain ideology.”
While pro-lifers are cautious about Gonzales' nomination, some are saying it is better for him to be attorney general than to be on the Supreme Court, where he was considered a prime candidate for any one of three to four expected vacancies.
“It's better that he's attorney general than on the Supreme Court,” said Gerard Bradley, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame.
Bradley said it was a “real risk” that a Justice Alberto Gonzalez he could turn out like Justice David Souter.
Souter was a Republican fixture in New Hampshire who had been assumed to be in line with pro-lifers when he was appointed to the high court, Bradley said. “But he isn't and he never was.”
With Gonzales as attorney general, “I don't think it would make much difference,” he added, because “the lion's share of what he needs to deal with is law and order. So whatever Gonzales' deficiencies are on cultural issues will not be a major impediment.”
The question it raises now, Bradley said, is “who will be on the Supreme Court?”
Thomas A. Szyszkiewicz writes from Altura, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Thomas Szyszkiewicz ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Why Christians Embraced Arafat DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:JERUSALEM — Catholics in the Holy Land hope that the successor to Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader who died on Nov. 11, will be as even-handed as Arafat was perceived to be.
Pope John Paul II, who met with Arafat 12 times between 1982 and 2001, when Israel confined the Palestinian to Ramallah, sent his condolences to Arafat's family and the Palestinian people, but did not laud Arafat's character. The Pope prayed that “the star of harmony will soon shine on the Holy Land” and that Palestinians and Israelis will soon “live reconciled among themselves as two independent and sovereign states.”
The Vatican sent a delegation to Arafat's funeral in Cairo, which was headed by Jerusalem Patriarch Michel Sabbah, himself a Palestinian. Other top officials included Msgr. Dennis Kuruppassery, an official of the Apostolic Nunciature in Cairo, and Fr. Camillo Ballin, a Comboni missionary in Egypt.
Those who live in the Holy Land and are familiar with Arafat's dealings with the local church and Catholic organizations, said that he put Christians on a par with Muslims. “Arafat was always very open to all Palestinians, including Palestinian Christians and their institutions,” Father Shawki Baterian, chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, told the Register.
Father Baterian credited Arafat with having “a universal vision: that Palestine belongs to all Palestinians, including Christians. He was always cooperative with us when we had problems. He dealt with these problems even while locked up in Ramallah.”
Arafat spent more than three years of his life confined to the Muqata, his West Bank headquarters, due to Israel's attempts to isolate him politically. The Israeli government blamed Arafat for rejecting a peace deal four years ago and launching the violent Palestinian uprising known as the intifada.
Approximately 1,000 Israelis and 3,000 Palestinians have died in intifada-related violence.
Father Baterian, who did not comment on the intifada or its toll on human life, said that Arafat's government worked hard to make Christians feel welcome in the Palestinian territories.
“If you want to build a Catholic school, for example, you must first receive a building permit, and sometimes a local municipality doesn't want to grant us the permit or won't grant the church tax-exempt status,” he said. “Arafat was our redress whenever we had a problem.”
Father Baterian expressed the hope that a successor to Arafat will emerge in the coming months, and that he will continue Arafat's example vis-à-vis the church.
“We hope elections will take place soon and that the people can democratically choose their own leader, and that he will continue Arafat's universal vision,” Father Baterian said.
Father Pierre Battista, OFM, Custos of the Holy Land, admitted that relations with the Palestinian Authority were initially shaky. “When the Palestinian Authority was first established, there were no laws. Not all the municipalities, or even certain officials in the parliament, agreed to exempt the churches from taxes.”
Since the year 2000, however, when the Vatican and the Palestinian Authority signed a fundamental agreement guaranteeing the rights of church institutions in the Palestinian-ruled areas of the West Bank and Gaza, things improved tremendously, Battisa said. From then on “relations between Arafat and Catholic institutions were excellent,” the Custos said. “He paid very close attention to our needs. He provided us with freedom of education, which was very important.”
With Arafat's death, the Palestinians have entered “a very difficult period of passage,” Father Battista said. “Our concerns are for the Palestinians in general. We don't know exactly what will be.”
Though Father Battista admitted feeling “a little bit concerned” that fundamental Islamic factions will try to wrest greater control of the territories, putting not only Christians but moderate Muslims in danger, he expressed confidence “that there won't be any backlash against Christians.”
Unlike some other Middle East countries such as Iraq, where Islamic fundamentalism has caused Christians to fear for their lives, relations between Palestinian Christians and Muslims are mostly cordial. This is due in large part to their shared suffering under Israeli rule.
Where discrimination does exist, for example in the allocation of building permits, Christians tend not to discuss it publicly. Constantine Dabbagh, who heads the Gaza branch of the Middle East Council of Churches, said that Arafat's Palestinian Authority has been much easier to deal with than the Israeli government.
“Our relations with the PA are very respectful and based on mutual recognition,” Dabbagh said. “They facilitate our work in the fields of health and education.”
The Israelis, in contrast, establish closures on the territories that obstruct our ability to get supplies and proceed with our work. They have barriers [checkpoints] in the south and north and in the middle,” Dabbagh said. An Israeli government spokesman said the checkpoints “are necessary for security reasons” and that the government “does everything possible to facilitate humanitarian aid organizations.”
The Dark Side
While Christian institutions concur that Arafat did everything possible to assist them, some individual Christians are not sad that the Palestinian leader is gone.
“He didn't give anything to his people,” said a Christian named Emily, who spoke on condition that her last name not be published. “People can come and see how we live. I leave my house and 6 am and return at 6 pm. I have a secretarial degree but the only work I could find was as a housekeeper in a hotel. After our rent and my children's tuition, we don't any money. None.”
Emily, who moved to the quiet Jerusalem village of Beit Safafa from the sometimes-volatile West Bank town of Beit Jala when it was under siege by the Israeli military, said, “I expect nothing from the future. I hope my children will have a better life than mine.”
Michele Chabin writes from Jerusalem. Wire services contributed to this report.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Michele Chabin ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Catholic Political Activist DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:Joseph Cella grew up with politics. He got bitten by the bug while helping his father's associate, and later his father, in getting elected to office.
Now, as founding executive director of the Ave Maria List, a political action committee based in Ann Arbor, Mich., he works to help pro-life and pro-family candidates get elected to Congress. Cella is also the founder and president of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, an event first held in April.
He spoke with Register staff writer Tim Drake about this year's elections.
Tell me about yourself.
I was born and raised in Richmond, Mich. I'm the eldest of three living children. Dad was a small-town country lawyer, and Mom was a homemaker.
Have you always been Catholic?
Yes, I am a cradle Catholic. I remember first learning about the pro-life issue in 1976, when my dad helped launch a pro-life organization at our parish. I've been fascinated by politics and current issues since grade school.
I remember reading about those issues through the news strip on the front page of my father's Wall Street Journal.
How did you get involved in politics?
I worked on my first political campaign in 1980, for one of my dad's law partner's campaign for state representative. I folded literature, went to parades and stood at the polls — typical grass-roots activities. That groomed me to help my dad win his first bid for city council in 1985. My involvement in politics mushroomed from there.
Tell me about the creation of the Ave Maria List.
In the 2000 election cycle, after looking at the successes Emily's List had had in making gains in getting pro-abortion candidates elected to the House and Senate, it struck me that lay Catholics ought to bring their faith into the political arena. Catholics had no formal political organization, and I knew the moment was right to create something so Catholics could join our evangelical brethren and Jewish cousins who have been long active and successful in the political arena. We now have the first and only Catholic-based political action committee in the country.
As our model of operation, we tore a page out of the playbook of Emily's List but made it Catholic. Their methodology works, but Catholics needed a method that would get candidates elected who adhere to the Church's teachings on life, family and subsidiarity. Candidates fill out a 25-question questionnaire. We then provide support in four ways — through direct contributions from our political action committee; independent expenditures, which involve radio ads, mailings and newspaper ads on behalf of the candidate; encouraging our members to donate to targeted races; and doing fund-raisers on behalf of our candidates.
The first cycle we participated in was the 2002 elections. We were most active in supporting Jim Talent in Missouri, Norm Coleman in Minnesota and John Thune in South Dakota. We also got involved in the races in Louisiana, Colorado, Georgia, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Texas. We were victorious in all but two of those races [South Dakota and Louisiana].
What role did the Ave Maria List play in the 2004 elections?
We were active in four races: Thune in South Dakota, Mel Martinez in Florida, Jim DeMint in South Carolina and Tim Michels in Wisconsin. The only state we were not successful in was Wisconsin.
We certainly found that in 2002 and 2004, our message and our methods were validated. We have been blessed with a wave of interest from across the country to help us grow our organization.
What impact do you believe moral issues, particularly abortion, had on this year's races?
I think the moral issues really proved to be the prime motivator for voters across the country. If you look at the statistics for the South Dakota race and the presidential race, there could be no two finer examples.
In the South Dakota Senate race, moral issues were the No. 1 issue of the race. Of those who cited moral values as their primary issue, Thune won 81% of the vote. In the presidential race, President Bush received 78% of those same voters across the country; the president also took 52% of the Catholic vote — a 5-percentage-point increase over the 2002 election.
Why do you think the electorate responded in that way?
We find ourselves in the midst of a cultural war that is undermining two of our country's strongest pillars — life and family. People have seen these bedrock principles under assault by our activist courts and have rallied to elect candidates who would defend these pillars. In the last two election cycles, we have had a net gain of six senators that support these principles. President Bush in the 2002 election cycle became the first president since FDR to have a net pickup in both houses of Congress in a midterm election. Yet he added more in 2004, expanding the majority in the Senate to a nearly filibuster-proof ideological majority.
Emily's List, after spending a total of $50 million in 2002 and 2004, are zero for 5 for net gains in their major Senate races. They were slapped in the face by the reality that voters no longer connect with their platforms that are out of step with middle-American values. The Democratic National Committee is now desperately trying to reinvent itself and find a way to package their liberal values in such a way that voters will find them palatable.
When they now have Bill Clinton saying, “We don't feel comfortable talking about our convictions” and that we need a “discussion” on “what it would take to promote a real culture of life,” you know the left is in serious trouble.
No matter what “spin” they put on their liberal values, it will fall flat with the American people.
Isn't that what happened in South Dakota?
Yes. The South Dakota Senate race was a classic example of that road that so many liberal Democrats have traveled upon and failed. From [U.S. Rep. Richard] Gephardt and [Al] Gore to Clinton and Daschle, all were once pro-life, pro-family, pro-Second Amendment, but to advance their careers they sold out on the tenets of their faith and sold out the voters who initially elected them because of their stance on those issues.
Daschle first ran saying that abortion was an abhorrent practice and that no vote he would ever cast would ever contradict it. What did he do? After 26 years in government, he developed a 90% pro-abortion voting record yet went around the state claiming he was pro-life. The voters saw through that effort to hide his record.
How did the Ave Maria List contribute to the effort to defeat him? There was a lot of talk about 527s — tax-exempt groups engaged in political activities.
We sent the maximum contribution to Thune, our members sent contributions to him, and we engaged in a monthlong statewide radio campaign against Daschle. Through our 527 arm we did a pro-life mailing statewide to 200,000 households, sent e-mails and took out 11 full-page ads in daily newspapers across the state. We also developed the DaschleDocuments.com website and unveiled three video clips of a speech that Daschle had delivered to Emily's List, which he later denied existed.
From looking at polling data and talking to people in South Dakota, I know we played a key role in affecting the outcome of the race. It was the No. 1 Senate race in the country.
What do you have planned next?
There are many miles to go before we sleep. Short term, we have an ongoing battle to block Arlen Specter's ascendance to the position of chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Before the end of the year, we might see a vacancy on the Supreme Court, so we will remain actively engaged in the judicial nomination process. Then we'll set our sights on the top races for the 2006 election cycle.
It is incumbent upon Catholics to activate their faith in the political arena. The Holy Father and the bishops call us to do this, and it works.
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:President Vows to Fight for Marriage Amendment
FEMINIST WIRE, Nov. 8 — President Bush intends to persevere in his efforts to pass a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, according to the Feminist Wire.
In an interview with Fox News Sunday on Nov. 7, Bush's chief strategist Karl Rove said the president will “absolutely” continue to push for a federal marriage amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
The proposed amendment did not pass in the House of Representatives in October and some senators believe it will not pass in the Senate now, even with the new Republican majority of 55, according to the Feminist Wire.
Suggesting on “Face the Nation” on Nov. 7 that the president would be making a mistake to try again, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, was quoted as saying, “I don't think there's any evidence that suggests that a constitutional amendment is needed at this time.”
Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said on the same program that if there was another vote, “it probably [will] not pass.”
Hispanics Show Strong Support for Bush
Among those interviewed by The Times to explore the reasons behind to explore the reasons behind the vote was Les Dorrance, a Denver security guard who explained that conservative values on abortion and the sanctity of marriage were important issues that affected his vote for Bush.
Janet Murguia, executive director and chief operating officer of the nonpartisan civil rights group National Council of La Raza, said the Catholic Church played an important part. She said voters were influenced in Spanish-speaking parishes where abortion and embryonic stem-cell research were discussed in homilies and other communications.
University of New Mexico professor of political science F. Chris Garcia said in the story: “We are up for grabs. That is a good thing for Hispanics; we're going to be more influential in the future and a bigger target for both campaigns.”
Pharmacists Won't Fill Prescriptions on Moral Grounds
“The explosion in the number of legislative initiatives and the number of individuals who are just saying, ‘We're not going to fill that prescription for you because we don't believe in it’ is astonishing,” said Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in the story.
According to USA Today, the policy of the 50,000-member American Pharmacists Association is that pharmacists can refuse to fill prescriptions for moral reasons but must make arrangements for a patient to get the pills. Not all pharmacists make those arrangements, however.
The article also noted that the U.S. House of Representatives passed a provision in September that would prohibit federal funding for authorities that made health-care workers perform, pay for or make referrals for abortions.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Roman Rabbi Criticizes Church on Jewish-Catholic Relations DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — A “cold shower,” “not very courteous” and certainly “not very diplomatic” — these were the reactions of one Vatican official to recent comments made by Rome's chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, objecting to recent Catholic actions that he viewed as hostile to interfaith dialogue.
Speaking Oct. 20 at the opening of a series of seminars on Jewish-Catholic relations at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University, Di Segni said steps taken by the Church to canonize or beatify well-known Jewish converts to Catholicism were unwelcome and urged the Church to make statements disavowing such efforts.
The rabbi also argued against viewing Jewish-Catholic dialogue too optimistically, saying “the ideal is far from the reality.” And he criticized the enthusiasm among Vatican officials for Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ. Many Jews considered the film anti-Semitic.
Vatican officials downplayed Di Segni's remarks. Father Norbert Hofmann, secretary at the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, said the rabbi's comments “didn't come as a surprise” but that he simply brought up “subjects which we have been discussing for some time in the commission.”
Vatican participants also stressed that Di Segni spoke positively at the conference sponsored by the Cardinal Bea Centre for Jewish Studies, mentioning progress in relations and acknowledging a “changed climate.”
Others who were present at the seminar described the rabbi's comments as “frank” and “refreshing.” Yet his criticisms strongly contrasted with remarks by the president of the pontifical commission, Cardinal Walter Kasper, who instead hailed the “immense impact” of advances in Jewish-Catholic relations since the Second Vatican Council.
“It's a case of seeing the glass half full or half empty,” Father Hofmann said. “We've achieved a lot over the past 40 years, and it's a great sign of progress that we can openly speak with each other in this way.”
Nostra Aetate
This coming year will be significant in Jewish-Catholic relations as the Church hosts a series of events to mark 40 years since the promulgation of Nostra Aetate (In our time), the Second Vatican Council document that set the Church on a new course of inter-religious dialogue.
In Nostra Aetate, the council stated, “As the sacred synod searches into the mystery of the Church, it remembers the bond that spiritually ties the people of the New Covenant to Abraham's stock. … Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this sacred synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies as well as of fraternal dialogues” (no. 4).
No one disputes that, in the intervening years, there has been growing reciprocity, greater understanding and increased cooperation between the two faiths. The fact that a delegation from Israel's Chief Rabbinate was present at this seminar was, according to Father Joseph Sievers, professor of Jewish history at Pontifical Biblical College, “more than symbolic of dramatic recent changes.”
But to some observers, the task still seems impossible: How can significant advances be made in relations between the two faiths until Judaism accepts the truth of Christ as the Messiah? The dialoguing partners approach this vexing question in two ways.
First, there is already a theological unity in that both faiths agree that visible unity is impossible until the eschaton (the end times).
Secondly, until that time, the goal is to improve understanding of each others' theology to find ways of collaborating through common roots and a shared patrimony.
According to Father Sievers, it is important not to overlook “the asymmetry” of the relationship. This means recognizing that Christian influence on Judaism has been more on a sociological and historical level, “often with a heavy hand.”
But it also means recognizing the necessity of the Jewish religion to the Christian faith. “Israel is the root of our faith, as Paul says in Romans, chapter 9 to 11,” explained Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto, a leading theologian in the field of Jewish-Christian relations. “The people of hope, the people of the covenant, are always necessary as a witness to the uniqueness of the biblical God for us Christians.”
Speaking to the Register during a break in the fourth seminar sponsored by the Cardinal Bea Centre on Nov. 4, the archbishop said it is vital that Christians are fully conscious of this common patrimony. “Without being conscious of this, there is the risk of promoting, in a sense, forms of anti-Semitism,” a prejudice that “means anti-Christianity because we belong to the same covenant,” he said.
Conversions
Still, as Di Segni pointed out, practical obstacles remain. Jews resent making Edith Stein (a canonized convert from Judaism) and the former chief rabbi of Rome Eugenio Zolli (another convert) models for Christians. Father Sievers noted that Stein was an atheist before she converted, and she was canonized not for her conversion but for her heroic virtues.
Zolli's conversion and possible beatification is understandably troubling to many Jews, Catholic participants in the interreligious dialogue acknowledge. “Undoubtedly,” Father Sievers said, “anyone who changes his or her religious affiliation, especially if representative of the community he or she belonged to, causes great distress in that community, particularly if it is small or otherwise in a difficult situation.”
But the Church continues to see such conversions as entirely legitimate. “It is always possible that a single person can recognize the uniqueness of the Messiah in Jesus Christ,” explained Archbishop Forte, who is also a member of the International Theological Commission. That Jesus' followers were Jews and Jesus “is forever a Jew” means that it is always possible for Jewish people “to recognize the fullness of revelation in Christ,” he said.
Concerning Di Segni's criticism of Vatican officials' enthusiasm for The Passion of the Christ, Archbishop Forte said at the time of the film's release that charges of anti-Semitism in the film were unfounded. While the film showed the responsibility of Jewish leaders for the crucifixion, the archbishop said it also showed “Pilate's ambiguity, the responsibilities of the Romans and, one might even say, the ‘misery’ of Peter.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Prayer Intensions DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:November
GENERAL INTENTION
That Christian men and women, aware of the vocation which is theirs in the Church, will answer generously God' call to seek holiness in the midst of their lives.
MISSION INTENTION
That all those who work in the missions will never forget that personal holiness and intimate union with Christ are the source of the efficacy of evangelization.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:Agca Slated for Early Release
Agca, then 23, shot the Holy Father four times from 15 feet away — in front of 20,000 people — as he crossed St. Peter's Square in an open vehicle May 13, 1981. The Pope spent five hours in surgery and then two weeks in the hospital.
Two years later, John Paul met Agca in prison and forgave him.
Agca, a mercenary for the Gray Wolves, a reactionary Turkish terrorist group, claimed the shooting was planned by Bulgarian intelligence, ostensibly acting at the behest of the Soviet KGB, angered by the Pope's support for the Polish Solidarity movement. Unfortunately for prosecutors, Agca's testimony became increasingly deranged, and the only Bulgarian tried as an accomplice was acquitted.
After serving 19 years in prison in Italy, Agca was pardoned with the Pope's blessing. He was deported to Turkey in 2000, where he was imprisoned for the murder of a journalist and two armed robberies in 1979.
Under amendments to Turkey's criminal code to take effect next year, criminals will serve sentences concurrently, not consecutively, and Agca will likely be released.
Vatican Promotes Palliative Care
ASSOCIATED PRESS, Nov. 9 — The Catholic Church has again unequivocally condemned the practice of euthanasia, while adding that it does not mandate “excessive measures” to keep people alive.
Speaking at a Nov. 9 press conference in Rome, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, affirmed, “We must preserve life from its beginning to its natural end. Life doesn't belong to us. Life belongs to God.” He defined excessive measures as “when you prolong in a painful and useless way suffering which is not responding to treatment.”
The press conference was part of a weeklong Vatican symposium to encourage the provision of painkilling drugs to chronically or terminally ill patients. Another participant, medical researcher Maurizio Evangelista of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, stressed that the widespread belief that the Church disdains palliative care because it prefers people to suffer is a falsehood, pointing out that the use of opiate painkillers was endorsed by Pope Pius XII in 1956.
Vatican Diplomat Praises Ugandan Peace Quest
AFRICA NEWS, Nov. 6 — The apostolic nuncio to Uganda, Archbishop Christopher Pierre, has praised efforts of the Church in Uganda to end that country's civil war.
At a Nov. 4 ceremony in honor of the 26th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's election, Archbishop Pierre made special mention of Archbishop John Baptist Odama of the Archdiocese of Gulu, chairman of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative, which has facilitated negotiations between the government and Joseph Kony, leader of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army.
“Where there is war, it is not easy,” Archbishop Pierre said. “I have been in northern Uganda, and with all those guns, I have wondered at the courage of Archbishop Odama and the bishops under him.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: We Find Peace When We Trust in God DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:Register Summary
During his general audience Nov. 10, Pope John Paul II divided his time between St. Peter's Basil-ica, where he addressed 3,500 faithful in German and English, and the Paul VI Hall, where he presented a teaching on Psalm 62 to 9,500 other pilgrims.
Psalm 62, the Holy Father said, is a short, gentle lesson on how we should live our lives. In the psalm, two kinds of trust are contrasted. “They are two fundamental choices, one good and one bad, that result in two different kinds of moral conduct. First of all, there is trust in God,” John Paul noted. “There is, however, another kind of trust that is idolatrous in nature,” he added. “It is a trust that seeks security and stability in violence, covetousness and wealth.”
The Pope highlighted three “false idols” the psalm mentions: violence, covetousness and wealth. “The first false god is the violence to which, unfortunately, mankind continues to have recourse even in our blood-drenched days,” he said.
“The second false god is covetousness, which is expressed in extortion, social injustice, usury, and political and economic corruption,” he continued. “Wealth is the third idol that man ‘sets his heart upon'in the deceitful hope of being able to save himself from death and of assuring for himself a pre-eminent place of prestige and power.”
“If we were more aware of the shortness of our life and of our own limitations as creatures,” the Holy Father said, “we would not choose the path of putting our trust in idols, nor would we organize our whole life around a hierarchy of pseudo-values that are fragile and fleeting. Rather, we would opt for the kind of trust that is centered on the Lord, who is the source of eternal life and peace.” A vocal rendition of Psalm 62 preceded the Holy Father's teaching.
We have just heard the gentle words of Psalm 62, a song about trust, which opens with a sort of antiphon that is repeated halfway through the text. It is like a short prayer that is peaceful yet strong, a cry unto the Lord that is also a plan for one's life: “My soul rests in God alone, from whom comes my salvation. God alone is my rock and salvation, my secure height; I shall never fall” (verses 2-3 and 6-7).
Trusting in God
As the psalm unfolds, however, a contrast is made between two kinds of trust. They are two fundamental choices, one good and one bad, that result in two different kinds of moral conduct. First of all, there is trust in God, the trust that is exalted in the opening words of the psalm where the “secure heights” are like a rock, a symbol of stability and safety, or even better still, like a fortress and bulwark of protection.
The psalmist goes on to say: “My safety and glory are with God, my strong rock and refuge” (verse 8). He makes this statement after recalling the hostile plots of his enemies who are trying to “dislodge” him from his “place on high” (see verses 4-5).
Trusting in Idols
There is, however, another kind of trust that is idolatrous in nature that the psalmist insistently focuses on with a critical eye. It is a trust that seeks security and stability in violence, covetousness and wealth.
His cry, therefore, becomes sharp and clear: “Do not trust in extortion; in plunder put no empty hope. Though wealth increase, do not set your heart upon it” (verse 11). Three idols are mentioned here and are proscribed as being contrary to our human dignity and our coexistence as a society.
The first false god is the violence to which, unfortunately, mankind continues to have recourse even in our blood-drenched days. A long procession of wars, oppression, corruption, torture and abominable killings accompanies this idol, all of which are inflicted without any hint of remorse.
The second false god is covetousness, which is expressed in extortion, social injustice, usury, and political and economic corruption. Too many people cultivate the “illusion” of satisfying their own greed in this way.
Finally, wealth is the third idol that man “sets his heart upon” in the deceitful hope of being able to save himself from death (see Psalm 49) and of assuring for himself a pre-eminent place of prestige and power.
Life Is Fleeting
By being subservient to this diabolical triad, man forgets these idols are empty and even harmful. By trusting in material possessions and in himself, he forgets he is “a mere breath … an illusion,” or better still, if weighed on a scale, “mere vapor” (Psalm 62:10; see Psalm 39:6-7).
If we were more aware of the shortness of our life and of our own limitations as creatures, we would not choose the path of putting our trust in idols, nor would we organize our whole life around a hierarchy of pseudo-values that are fragile and fleeting. Rather, we would opt for the kind of trust that is centered on the Lord, who is the source of eternal life and peace. Indeed, “power belongs to God” alone; he alone is the source of grace; he alone is the author of justice, who “renders to each of us according to our deeds” (see Psalm 62:11-12).
Always Trust in God
The Second Vatican Council applied the invitation in Psalm 62 “not to set your heart upon wealth” (verse 11) to priests. The Decree on the Ministry and the Life of Priests makes the following exhortation: “Therefore, in no way placing their heart in treasures, they should avoid all greediness and carefully abstain from every appearance of business” (Presbyterorum Ordinis, No. 17). Nevertheless, this call to reject a perverted kind of trust by choosing one that will bring us closer to God is valid for all people and must become the star that guides us in how we conduct ourselves daily in our moral decisions and in our lifestyle.
Of course, this is a hard path to follow and it also entails for the just some trials as well as some courageous choices that are, nevertheless, characterized by a trust in God (see Psalm 62:2). In light of this, the Fathers of the Church saw Christ pre-figured in the author of Psalm 62 and attributed to Christ his opening prayer of total trust and commitment to God.
St. Ambrose made the following argument in this regard in his Commentary on Psalm 62: “What would our Lord Jesus, by taking upon himself the flesh of man so that he himself might purify it, immediately do but wipe away the evil influence of the sin of old? Through disobedience, that is, transgressing God's precepts, sin came creeping in. First of all, therefore, he had to restore obedience in order to extinguish the hotbed of sin … He personally took obedience upon himself in order to pour it out upon us” (Commento a dodici salmi 61, 4: SAEMO, VIII, Milan-Rome, 1980, p. 283).
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Satanist Seaman Granted Permission to Perform Rites Aboard British Vessel DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:LONDON — A decision to allow Satanists to perform their rituals in the British Armed Services has been widely attacked.
Naval technician Chris Cranmer, 24, has been allowed to register as a Satanist by the captain of HMS Cumberland, based at Devonport Naval Base in Plymouth. The captain has agreed to give him space to use as a “ritual chamber.”
Cranmer will be able to dress in a black robe in front of an altar and use items including candles, a gong, a bell and a model phallus. The commanding officer also agreed he can have a Church of Satan funeral if he dies in action.
Cranmer told The Sunday Telegraph that he became interested in Satanism nine years ago, when he “stumbled across the Satanic Bible,” written by Church of Satan founder Anton Szandor LaVey.
“I then read more and more and came to realize I'd always been a Satanist, just simply never knew,” the sailor said. “If I were asked if I were evil, I would say Yes — by virtue of the common definition. But if you asked my friends and family, it would be a resounding No.”
Cranmer, who is now lobbying the Ministry of Defense to make Satanism a registered religion in the armed forces, belongs to the Church of Satan, which was founded in San Francisco in 1966. Adherents live by the Nine Satanic Statements, which include “Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence,” “Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek” and “Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental or emotional gratification.”
Catholic Bishop Thomas Burns, bishop for Great Britain's military diocese and a former sailor himself, said opposition from shipmates could make it difficult for Cranmer to practice Satanic rituals on board despite having received official permission.
“He would need the approval of his colleagues because there is no privacy on a ship, no private place where he could celebrate a ritual,” the bishop said.
“I find it contradictory to his job that he might want to call down evil on those he serves with. The expression of any religion or faith should be a harmonious experience. Its validity must be called into question if it becomes divisive or disruptive,” Bishop Burns said.
Ann Widdecombe, a Catholic member of Parliament and a former British cabinet minister, said she was “utterly shocked” by the Royal Navy's decision. “Satanism is wrong,” she said. “Obviously, the private beliefs of individuals anywhere, including the armed forces, are their own affair, but I hope it doesn't spread.”
Added Widdecombe, “The Navy should not permit Satanist practices on board its ships. God himself gives free will, but I would like to think that if somebody applied to the Navy and said they were a Satanist today, it would raise its eyebrows somewhat.”
A spokesman for the Royal Navy said, “We are an equal-opportunities employer, and we don't stop anyone from having their own religious values. Chris Cranmer approached his captain and made a request to be registered as a Satanist. The captain said this decision was entirely up to the individual and that he is a good lad, a good worker.”
But Admiral Sandy Woodward, former commander of the South Atlantic Task Groups in the Falklands War, expressed disbelief. “My immediate reaction is, good God, what the hell's going on?” he said. “This sounds pretty daft to me.”
Horrific Murders
Concrete evidence about the influence and activities of Satanists in Britain is hard to come by. However, elsewhere, Satanists have been involved in a number of horrific cases in recent years. In one case in Poland in 2000, two teen-agers were found murdered after a Satanic sacrifice.
In 2002, a German couple who killed a man by stabbing him 66 times in a Satanic ritual were jailed for murder. Daniel and Manuela Ruda never denied killing their victim, but argued it was not murder because they were acting on the devil's orders. The decomposing body of a man was found in the couple's flat with a scalpel protruding from his stomach and the sign of the devil carved into his chest.
And earlier this year in northern Italy, police arrested three men who stand accused of ordering the murder of at least five youths in the area around Milan since 1998. Police said the killings were all linked to Satanic practices.
At least two priests have been murdered by Satanists in the past decade.
In 1996, Father Jean Uhl, a parish priest in France, was stabbed 33 times by David Oberdorf, who told police he was possessed by the devil and had a “Satanic flash” before the killing.
And last July in Chile, Father Faustino Gazziero de Stefani was slain by a 25-year-old man moments after celebrating Mass in Santiago's cathedral. Witnesses said the assailant, Rodrigo Orias Gallardo, knelt beside Father Faustino after killing him and invoked Satan's name.
Selfish Religion?
For the Royal Navy to place Satanic practice, which has evil as its objective, on par with Christianity, which has good as its objective, will be seen by many as yet another glaring example of how Britain has abandoned its Christian roots in favor of moral relativism and secularism.
Doug Harris, director of the Reachout Trust, an evangelical Christian ministry, said, “I do think that we must look to see the quality of life we are advocating and the potential end results of such beliefs.”
At the very least, Harris said, following the tenets of the Church of Satan seems to produce a selfish person who lacks the team spirit required in military service.
Said Harris, “At the same time, Satanists appear to have little regard for others and certainly would not want to see people forgiven for things they have done wrong. There also is another concern as to whether the following and practice of such a faith can open up a door to supernatural evil and therefore have a far-reaching effect on the lives involved.”
Greg Watts writes from London.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Greg Watts ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:Netherlands Rocked by Religious Turmoil
Van Gogh, director of an anti-Islam film called Submission, was murdered by an Islamic extremist Nov. 2. He was shot and stabbed repeatedly, and his throat was slit. The butcher knife was then used to pin a message to his chest.
The message, containing lengthy quotations from Islamic scriptures, threatened the life of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Muslim apostate who wrote Submission, and prophesized “disaster” for Holland.
The murder was the second of a prominent Dutch opponent of Islam in three years. In response, Jozias van Aartsen, leader of the Liberal Party, said Holland was being subjected to a jihad, and Deputy Prime Minister Gerrit Zalm said Holland had “declared war,” The Telegraph reported.
The immigration minister, Rita Verdonk, announced the deportation of 26,000 failed refugee claimants and promised legislation to allow deportation of any of Holland's 900,000 Muslims found guilty of “extremism,” even citizens.
Marines Anointed Before Battle
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, Nov. 6 — Days before the Fallujah battle that was certain to take some of their lives, members of the U.S. Marine Corps made peace with God: singing hymns, being anointed with holy oil and, in several cases, accepting baptism in an evangelical ser vice Nov. 5.
“Church attendance is always up before the big push,” said Sgt. Miles Thatford. “Sometimes, all you've got is God.” The three dozen participants in the ser vice sang rock-and-roll flavored hymns and read from the Scriptures from the stage of a makeshift Iraqi chapel.
Agence France Presse reported that a chaplain, identified only as Horne, told the soldiers their mission was to deliver the Iraq people from “oppression, rape, torture and murder” and asked God “to bless us in that effort.”
Population Fund Leader Sees Unborn's Humanity
UN NEWS CENTER, Nov. 4 — The head of the United Nations Population Fund has implicitly recognized the personhood of unborn children in a press release discussing the U.N. agency's campaign to reduce the incidence of fistula.
Fistula, which afflicts 2 million women globally, occurs during an obstructed labor when the mother's bladder or rectum is torn. Almost always fatal to the child, it causes severe physical and mental trauma to the mother.
“Fistula is a double sorrow because women lose their babies, and they lose their lives,” said the fund's executive director, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid. She added, “The key to ending fistula lies with prevention,” which, without explanation, she linked with “family planning” — birth control and abortion.
Pro-lifers were pleased that Obaid — whose agency works closely with International Planned Parenthood Federation, the world's largest private abortion provider — had implicitly acknowledged the full humanity of the unborn. But, they noted, if resources were diverted to obstetric care from “family planning,” fistula could be sharply reduced in the developing world.
Fistula is easily prevented and can also be treated with surgery, which is successful 90% of the time.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Make Them Earn Catholic Votes DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:The Republican Party and President Bush conducted an unprecedented outreach to Catholics in their last campaign.
We warmly support that effort, insofar as it makes the GOP more friendly to Catholics … and not just vice versa. We were glad that Bush supported Catholic positions on abortion, cloning, stem-cell research and homosexual marriage. We might point out that he may have done even better if he had followed the Church's recommendations on war.
Catholic voters supported his efforts, too. For the first time since Ronald Reagan, the majority of the Catholic vote went for the Republican presidential candidate.
But the GOP's hold on its Catholic supporters remains tenuous, at best. If Republicans want to win Mass-going Catholics for good (as distinct from merely self-identified Catholics, whose votes aren't as predictable), they need to embrace the pro-family issues Mass-going Catholics care about.
That's because — as we pointed out after Bush first took office four years ago —the party-identification of Catholics with Democrats is very deeply rooted.
For most people, commitment to a party isn't based exclusively on a reasoned assessment of issues; it isn't even primarily that. Party identification is learned as a child and colors our outlook on national events.
The win-and-loss coverage our media gives to national elections only heightens our lack of objectivity. We root for our candidate and cheer his victory or mourn his defeat. Our support for our party becomes as unrelated to rationality as our support for our favorite football team.
Thus, many Catholics consider themselves either Democrats or Republicans for reasons which may have little to do with the parties as they actually operate.
Ask a Catholic why he's a Democrat, and he'll tell you that the Democratic Party is the party that favors the poor, is more likely to oppose warmongering and the death penalty, and is better for the environment.
Yet Democrats block school vouchers for poor children. And poverty rose under Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs, fell in the '80s, and rose again in the '90s, says the Census Bureau. Democratic presidents dropped the A-Bomb, took us to Vietnam, got us involved in conflicts all over the globe for the eight years of the Clinton Administration, and brought us the first federal death sentence in memory. Democrats overwhelmingly approved of the war in Iraq, voting for it almost unanimously. And it took the senior editor of the liberal magazine The New Republic to point out that President Bush's plans for the environment to point out that President Bush's plans for the environment were almost identical to Clinton's.
Then ask another Catholic why she's Republican, and she'll tell you it's the party that favors life, is better for Catholic education, is more likely to enforce decency standards in media and schools, and is more willing to give faith a voice in public places.
Yet Republican presidents gave us a pro-abortion Supreme Court majority, and Republican Congresses have passed only a few pro-life bills. Republicans have all but eliminated voucher proposals from education plans. The party's rising stars are prominent secularists like Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Rudolph Giuliani and John McCain.
Given all this, we shouldn't ask which party we should support, but which party we are more likely to change.
Today's Democratic Party platform, heartbreakingly, calls abortion “a fundamental constitutional liberty.” Whatever the party's strengths elsewhere, this posture is antithetical to the Catholic faith.
And the total and unapologetic way that Democratic leaders in Washington apply this principle is frightening. They have defended partial-birth abortion by saying that a baby isn't human until parents bring it home. They opposed making Laci Peterson's son a murder victim along with his mother. Sen. John Kerry even opposed the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, which would make it illegal to kill a baby who is accidentally born alive during a botched abortion.
Millions of women will suffer for the rest of their lives because they acted on the Democratic Party's abortion logic.
Republicans, yes, have taken a stand for life in some significant ways. But too many questionable nominations to top spots will make the party look afraid to capitalize on their pro-life support.
Catholics need to start paying attention to what's going on in Washington right now. One party took us for granted for decades, and is only now learning what a mistake that was.
We don't want another party to learn to count on our support no matter what they do.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:Dressed and Blessed
Regarding “Modesty Rocks!” (Oct. 3-9): I'm really pleased to see so many teen-agers and parents concerned about the appropriateness of the fashionable clothing of our day. I also think Theresa Kuhar is wise in asking her kids if the clothing they want would be appropriate for Mass before they consider buying it. However, regarding this standard, I have had a growing concern about the kind of apparel I have seen worn at church lately. I would like to remind everyone that a modest outfit by no means makes it appropriate for Mass. I don't see anything wrong with my baggy tie-dye shirts and sweats, but I certainly would be embarrassed to be seen wearing them at Mass.
I think we would do well to keep in mind that one way to help keep the Mass holy in the eyes of the young is to maintain a higher-than-daily standard of appearance as well as attitude when it comes to being in the presence of God and receiving holy Communion under his roof.
DEBORAH BALDWIN
Ventura, California
Musical Mediocrity
I'm writing to support the letter from Mr. John Peacock of Fremont, Calif., titled “The Silence of the Singers” (Oct. 24-30). I spent 11 years in music ministry in the letter-writer's hometown, during which I waged a constant assault on mediocrity, with mixed results.
I agree with Mr. Peacock that liturgical-music publishers, including Oregon Catholic Press, are part of the problem. Their neutering of well-known lyrics (not only of traditional hymns but also of contemporary favorites) is an affront to our worship. However, they've established something of a stranglehold on our hymnals because they're successfully targeting a market with low standards and low commitment — the performers (both within the choir loft and out of it) and also church administrators who expend resources sparingly and haphazardly.
In the Protestant churches I grew up in, the entire congregation sang hymns in four-part harmony. This was possible because all four voice parts were printed in the hymnal, and the congregants could either read the music or follow the strong singers among their neighbors. While I was in graduate school, I visited a Mennonite church where the same practice was followed, to great effect. (In Catholic churches today, however, it's rare to find even a choir that can sing four independent parts.)
On an eternal scale, of course, all our efforts are mediocre. But deliberate mediocrity — repeatedly giving less than our best effort — is maddening, especially in an area that so centrally affects our quality of worship.
JOHN M. BLISS
Burke, Virginia
Let States Have Final Say
I greatly appreciated the tone and analysis in your editorial titled “Judge Casey: Pro-Life, Pro-Law?” (Sept. 5-11). In addition to the evil of abortion itself, there are a number of reasons why Roe v. Wade is wrong. One of them is that judicial review is itself not enshrined in the Constitution. Another is that the 10th Amendment assigns matters of morality to the jurisdiction of state governments, an idea that corresponds to the Catholic teaching of subsidiarity: Keep the power distributed as widely as possible so that no one corrupt human being can wield absolute authority.
I have great personal qualms as to whether the federal partial-birth abortion ban would help or hurt the pro-life cause. It would certainly hurt the cause of subsidiarity, as it yet again increases the power of the federal government beyond constitutional limits. Our political goal at the federal level must be nothing more nor less than to overturn Roe and set back the tide of judicial activism. Otherwise, abortion should be a state-by-state issue.
Your editorial notes that “Catholics might be tempted to fight ‘bad guy’ tyrannical judges with ‘good guy’ tyrannical judges who ignore the law and do what they please.” The same principle applies to fighting “bad guy” congressmen who try to expand the federal government beyond constitutional limits with “good guys” who do the same thing.
I pray every day for the day when every form of abortion is illegal in the United States of America, but I also pray that is achieved through proper legislation at the state level.
JOHN C. HATHAWAY
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Mutilating Morality
I read with interest “Self-Expression Through Mutilation” (Sept. 5-11).
There is one type of body modification (mutilation, really) that is approved by overwhelming majorities in this country and in Western Europe, is spreading around the globe and is endorsed wholeheartedly by the medical establishment: tubal ligations and vasectomies. One could go even further and point to hormonal contraceptives — they chemically modify the body.
It would seem the evil tentacles of contraceptives have a far-flung reach.
KATHRYN GROENING
Midland, Michigan
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Two Views of Catholic U. DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:“Donors Wonder if Catholic University Has Reformed” (Aug. 29-Sept. 4) asked whether donors can be sure the Catholic University of America has reformed. I asked that same question back in 1998 when my daughter, Stephanie, was considering Catholic University's nationally renowned school of nursing. Our concerns were answered during open-house visits and she entered as a member of the class of 2003.
A couple of years before her arrival, Father David O'Connell assumed the post of president of Catholic University. From the beginning, it was his goal to restore the university. In his tenure, he has tripled the number of priests assigned to campus ministry. Under the able leadership of Father Bob Schlegeter, these popular priests have made many opportunities available to Catholic University students for truly Catholic spiritual enrichment. I have witnessed the standing-room-only crowds at the Wednesday evening Eucharistic adoration in the historic Caldwell Chapel and the overflow of students attending Sunday evening Mass at St. Vincent's Chapel.
Father Bob, his priests and the many students active in campus ministry have maintained an atmosphere that makes it popular for students to involve themselves in spiritually enriching activities and worship. The benefits they offer will have lifelong effects on these students as they leave Catholic University to make their mark on the world.
At my daughter's graduation Mass, I watched in awe as scores of graduates stood before the congregation in recognition of their commitment to spend a year or more in service to the poor (at little or no pay) and/or to take that year to discern a religious vocation. The seeds being planted at Catholic University are producing a very healthy harvest.
No institution is without its weaknesses — but, under Father O'Connell, Catholic University of America is leading young men and women in the right direction. My daughter went in as a faithful Catholic and left four years later filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit burning even more vigorously inside her. Do donors have to worry whether Catholic University has reformed? Not hardly! I can only hope that my son, Renn, will follow in the footsteps of his sister. He will get a great education, live on a beautiful campus and have the opportunities available to him that will constantly call him to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
STEPHEN ROSCHER
Owings Mills, Maryland
Regarding “Donors Wonder if Catholic University Has Reformed” (Aug. 29-Sept. 4):
After reading this article I was shaking my head. Catholic University of America is a Catholic school. Right? Parents may send their children there assured they will receive an authentic Catholic education. Wrong.
At one point the article states, “Crys-dale [the associate dean for undergraduate students], like many of the dissenting professors at Catholic University, is listed on the university's expert list, a reference for journalists seeking information on various topics.” For heaven's sake.
The article goes on to state, “Some say a good Catholic education is possible at the Catholic University of America if the student researches the backgrounds and works of the professors and makes wise choices before signing up for classes.” Again I say: For heaven's sake.
Parents are supposed to drop their 17-year-old child off there. This youngster is then supposed to research the background and works of the professors before registering. First of all, why should they have to do this? And second, I would think registration would be long over with before this could be done.
Again, Peter Casarella, associate professor of systematic theology, says, “I have no doubt students can go there and get an authentic Catholic education. The resources are there; it just takes a certain amount of savvy.”
What kind of “Catholic” school is this, where the students must spend hours researching the professors and have “savvy” before they can obtain an authentic Catholic education?
JOSEPH MOYLAN
Omaha, Nebraska
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Kick Me, Shove Me, Pull Out My Hair. Just Let Me Shop DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:We all know about shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving: the crowds, battered shelves, harried and short-tempered clerks, pushing and shoving.
I don't get it. Going shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving is like going to church on Christmas Eve: crowds, scrunched seating, long Mass. Of all the days to go to church, Christmas Eve isn't the one to choose.
Unless, of course, there's a religious reason to go. And, of course, there is, which is why the faithful — and the unfaithful visiting their parents — throng the pews.
And that got me thinking: Is there something religious about shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving? Why else would people do it, unless there was something higher impelling them? They could, after all, shop the weekend before or the weekend after. (Although the weekend after would still be crowded with Christmas shoppers, the pressure of humanity lessens.)
And if there's something religious about shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving, doesn't that imply that, in certain circumstances and in certain people, there might be something religious about shopping in general, just as there's something religious about going to church on an ordinary Sunday?
I guess it depends on your definition of “religious.” If religious means worship of God, then, no, there's nothing religious about shopping. But that definition is awfully narrow. Under that definition, there would be nothing religious about the cults and sects that worship false gods.
Likewise, there would be nothing religious about the hordes of fanatics that latch onto a particular idea or cause with fanaticism, like the French Revolutionaries, Nazis and Communists of previous eras, many of whom were willing to undergo great self-sacrifice, some willing even to sacrifice their lives for the cause, to the point that most scholars agree that the movements assumed religious-like proportions.
And that's really what religiousness is: Latching onto something higher to the point of forgetting yourself. If you're willing to put up with great inconvenience — like sitting in a crowded pew on Christmas Eve — for the sake of something greater —paying homage to the birth of the Christ child — then you're engaged in a religious pursuit.
Shift back to the Friday-after-Thanksgiving shopper. Incredible personal inconvenience, time spent in lines, sometimes pain. For what?
Just to shop — and maybe get some discounts and be able to grab more stuff than normal.
On first blush, it's difficult to call shopping a religious pursuit since there's nothing higher at stake. No god, no ideal. Just stores and clothes. No Trinity, just banality.
But here's the rub: If the banality of shopping is the reason we can't properly call it a religious pursuit, it's even more troubling to see people pursuing it with religious fervor.
And there's little doubt that, as a culture, we are pursuing shopping with religious fervor. Shopping is getting out of hand. There's the example of shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving, but there's other evidence as well. Malls and outlet stores have sprung up quicker than dandelions. Opryland Amusement Park in Nashville was shut down in favor of opening a new mall. Shopping has become the No. 1 activity for vacationers, according to the Travel Industry Association of America. Many people are taking trips to shopping sites like people used to take pilgrimages to holy spots. (At the Birch Run Outlet Mall in Michigan, the fourth largest in the country, more than 1,000 buses visit annually from other states, including New York, California and Texas.) On their travels, my parents once met a couple who, as their retirement goal, were striving to visit every Wal-Mart in the United States.
It also seems like we might be on the cusp of experiencing a new type of mental defect: shopping addiction. According to Dr. Susan Pattison, “Although there is no formal mental health diagnosis for compulsive shopping, such behavior is real and appears frequently in the therapy setting.” It is often accompanied with other mental disorders, like impulse-control disorders. I sometimes wonder if Pope John Paul II was intimating the same thing in Centesimus Annus (The Hundred Year), when he wrote that modern consumer attitudes can be “objectively improper and often damaging to (one's) physical and spiritual health.” Physical imbalance and spiritual disease often walk hand-in-hand with certain forms of dementia.
And the evidence of a widespread shopping dementia is out there. I once had neighbors who held a well-stocked garage sale twice a year because they couldn't stop buying things. I've known women who tell their husbands they're going to the store for 15 minutes, then get so caught up in shopping that they don't come home for three hours. And we've all heard the stereotypical stories about enraged husbands cutting up credit cards because their wives won't stop spending.
This is disturbing stuff. And it's the type of stuff that happens when mundane things assume religious proportions. Which might be one reason God made “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” the First Commandment. Cynics sometimes say God was selfish for making that commandment, like he did it to protect his turf. I suspect he did it because he knew the problems that result when people violate it. Like the madhouses we call malls on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Eric Scheske (www.ericscheske.com) is a freelance writer, a contributing editor of Godspy and the former editor of Gilbert Magazine.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Eric Scheske ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Where Are the Gentlemen? DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:It is rare in today's America to hear the word “gentleman” describing a man and perhaps even rarer for a man to give a definition of one that satisfies. It was not always so. There was a time when Americans of a certain age, as a result of good public or private education and coming from a stable, two-parent family, would be able to name the qualities of a gentleman and more than likely could cite their own examples from history. Mine would be George Washington, Frederick Douglass, Robert E. Lee, Theodore Roosevelt and General Douglas Macarthur, as well as the departed President Ronald Reagan.
Brad Miner, executive editor at Bookspan and former literary editor of National Review, in The Compleat Gentleman (Spence Publishing, 2004) draws on a thousand-year tradition of chivalry, honor and heroism to define the concept fully and give the reader vital ideas about recovering real manhood for the 21st century.
Miner goes about his examination of the gentleman by considering various aspects of this term and its history. He sees its origin in early feudal medieval times, in the knight who wages war on horseback in heavy armor, in service to his feudal lord, when not competing in tournaments. Very early, the institution of knighthood became allied with Catholicism and with the idealization of women called “courtly love.” The knight, though brutal in warfare, must be virtuous in his personal behavior, particularly to women, children and the poor.
Miner describes the history of the medieval knight from Charlemagne through the Crusades and the foundation of warrior religious orders, such as the Templar and the Teutonic Knights, that played an important role in the late Middle Ages, particularly in the Crusades. Knighthood clearly was spent, however, by the time of Cervantes, whose Don Quixote both parodies and wistfully looks back on an age now gone.
In the Renaissance, the idea of the gentleman developed in the courts of kings and noblemen. There have always been two senses of the word: the fine man of high birth and the fine man of high character. The latter sense has always been the most important. To nearly everyone, it also meant a standard of conduct, “a standard, to which the best born did not always rise and which even the humblest might sometimes display.” Castiglione's Courtier, written in the early 1500s, became the textbook for this new approach. The gentleman became more intellectually serious. He is “urbane” and elaborately civil. He will not only have knowledge, but “knowledge integrated: of refinement, sophistication, elegance, courtesy… plus suavity.”
The concept of “being a gentleman” reached its finest moment, at least in the English-speaking world, in the Victorian age. Education and refinement became the primary standard by which a man was judged, regardless of his birth. All of us have read books and seen films about the Victorian age that portray this idea of a gentleman.
The great headmaster of the Rugby School, Thomas Arnold (father of literary critic Matthew), gave “character training” in a “muscular Christianity” that formed the boys to be Christians, gentlemen and students of the classics. It was the great Cardinal John Henry Newman, however, who defined “gentleman” definitively in his monograph “The Idea of a University.” He recognizes being a gentleman as a natural good, but shows its relevance to being a saint. The gentleman, to be a saint, must aspire above all to holiness, which is always a work of grace as well as virtue.
Miner tells us his book is “about an ideal. No man behaves as a compleat gentleman all the time, but the best men never cease yearning to.” He says the aristocracy of gentlemen “is, in fact, a brotherhood of virtue.” Miner makes clear that the virtue he prizes above all is courage.
Though Miner cites Robert E. Lee as the “complete gentleman” in that he exemplified “the three graces of gentility: sociability, learning, and piety,” it is Lee's role as warrior that Miner especially admires: “Today's gentleman must be a warrior, a latter-day knight — one ready, willing, and able to sacrifice his life in defense of honor.” Miner clearly believes that it is in our military academies and in our armed forces, and in the courage displayed in war, that we find the best examples of modern-day chivalry.
But Miner singles out the tragedy of United Airlines Flight 93 as evidence of civil courage on 9/11. “Tom Burnett, Todd Beamer and Jeremy Glick, big men with muscular views of life, each spoke to their wives, expressed love for them, and then stormed the terrorist hijackers.” Beamer was heard to say to the other men: “Are you ready, guys? Let's roll.” So chivalrous gentlemen do walk the earth.
Miner starts his book with a personal anecdote about watching a film about the sinking of the Titanic. As is well known, when Benjamin Guggenheim is offered a life jacket, he refuses, allowing women and children to be put on the lifeboats first. He says, at least in the movie, “We are dressed in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen. But we would like a brandy.” Miner recounts his experience watching teen-agers laugh and scoff at such bizarre behavior on the screen. The experience led him to muse on the fate of a country that no longer understands the meaning of the words “chivalry” or “gentleman.”
There are few people in the United States over the age of 50 who would disagree with the assertion that standards in behavior have declined in virtually every area during their life span. Whether one looks at the relationship between the sexes, marriage, family life, language, dress or manners, one thinks we can't possibly go lower as a nation, but we do. The reasons are many, and I do not have the space to go into them all now.
I would say, too, that the lack of historical knowledge plays an important part. The continuing decline in orthodox Christian belief and practice, with the resulting lessening influence on education, family life, and cultural mores and customs, is a clear determinant of the current coarseness and pusillanimity that surrounds us. When the average schoolboy, asked who his heroes are, replies with the names of steroid bulked-up athletes or the latest rock star — rather than great statesmen, saints and religious leaders, and war heroes from the Western tradition — we are in desperate need of action if our country is to flourish or even survive as now constituted. The current cultural conflicts will not be resolved by spineless “half-way men.”
If there is a weakness in the book, it is that Miner puts his emphasis on examining the chivalrous gentleman as holy man, by putting the emphasis on the monk — i.e., great monastic saints, and founders of the past such as St. Bernard or St. Benedict. We could have heard more about secular saints like St. Frances De Sales, St. Thomas More or, for that matter, Venerable John Henry Newman himself. These men also are authentic role models, according to their state of life, for men today. You don't have to leave the world in order to transform it.
Miner has written a book that should be required reading for all Christian fathers and sons, and could indeed be used as a text for leadership formation in our schools and colleges. Decay is not inevitable, and renewal is always possible. If we are to transform our tottering and divided society and culture, we will need all the courageous gentlemen in their various manifestations that we can get.
Father C. J. McCloskey III is a priest of Opus Dei.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father C. John McCloskey ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Baseball and Fatherhood DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:When 3.2 million people gather together — the largest public gathering in New England history — to celebrate a baseball victory, you know it cannot be just about a baseball victory.
Major League baseball, as every Boston Red Sox fan knows, is a religion. It has supernatural significance. For 86 years, it seemed to statistics-intoxicated Bosox followers that the Red Sox labored under a curse, one documented and given currency by sports reporter Dan Shaughnessy in his book, The Curse of the Bambino. According to Red Sox mythology, the sale of Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees after the 1919 season was a transaction of such monumental stupidity that the gods had no other choice than to place a curse on the Boston franchise that would prevent it from ever winning another World Series.
Over fourscore and six seasons, Red Sox teams labored valiantly and would come tantalizingly close to ultimate victory. But, as the years droned on, it became increasingly clear that Boston was acting out a Greek tragedy, locked implacably in the merciless jaws of fate. And yet Red Sox fans, this curious amalgam of fatalism and optimism, continued to root and sweat and groan and hope.
How can one begin to understand this strange socio-religious phenomenon? Fans went to dizzying extremes in an attempt to “reverse the curse,” including the exploits of one stout-hearted gentleman who climbed to the top of Mt. Everest where he burned a Yankee cap and planted a Red Sox flag. To be sure, this phenomenon is not just about a baseball game.
Nor does it have anything to do with Boston. Only Mark Bellhorn, the Red Sox second baseman who set a franchise record this year with 177 strikeouts, is a native of the Boston area. Only two players came through the Red Sox farm system: Trot Nixon, who spent most of the year on the disabled list, and Kevin Youkilis, who did not make an appearance in the World Series and was excluded from the roster during the series against the Yankees.
We find a clue to the transcendent importance of this phenomenon when we listen to Red Sox fans' conversations and read their placards. When the possibility of a world championship began to present itself once again, people were talking about how happy it would have made their deceased fathers. During the mammoth celebration, one fan, representing many, carried a sign that read: “My dad lived for this.” The poster included a picture of the father and his life span — Nov. 26, 1925 to March 10, 2004 —that poignantly captured the inter-generational bond that binds fans to their team.
My mother has received a lot of media attention of late. As she approaches her 100th birthday, she has told press scribes that all she wants for her centennial event is “a Red Sox World Series championship.” She graduated from grammar school in 1918, the last time the Red Sox were World Series victors and recalls her father's devotion to the team. “We could never talk to him when the game was on,” she told interviewers, “because it would break his concentration.”
There is a religion dynamic to being a Red Sox fan, and it is one that involves the tension between fate and fatherhood. And how easy it is to apply this tension to ordinary life.
Fate means that we have little, if anything, to do with the outcome of our lives. Our fate is sealed. If this is the case, we wonder what the point of our lives can be. Will our hopes always be dashed? Can we not be an agency directing or at least influencing the outcome of our lives? Indeed, is there any sense in which our lives are our own?
Fatherhood, on the other hand, is providential. It promises to provide us with what we need to become ourselves. Every earthly father derives his fatherhood from the fatherhood of God. Fatherhood means freedom, flexibility, fortune. Fate is fixed and final. “Fate! There is no fate,” as Bulwer-Lytton once remarked. “Between the thought and the success, God is the only agent” (or “execution,” as Red Sox hurler Curt Schilling maintains).
In the final scene of the movie version of Bernard Malamud's baseball epic, The Natural, we see legendary Roy Hobbes (Robert Redford), not being inducted into the Hall of Fame, but in a field happily tossing a baseball back and forth to his bright-eyed young son. Baseball touched upon fatherhood, tradition, teaching and connecting generations. Surely a significant part of the Boston celebration is the collective sense that the fans are not creatures whose fates are fixed, but free human beings whose fathers have pointed them in the right direction. It means that we are agents in the pursuit of our destiny.
My three sons were with me when the final out was registered. Then, I had to call my own father, who is 95 and living in a retirement home. With apologies to Abraham Lincoln and Ralph Waldo Emerson, allow me to post my own celebrational gesture in poetic form:
The Shout Heard 'Round the Nation
Four score and a half dozen years ago,
A span of time that teemed with woe,
A curse of desperation Haunted Red Sox Nation;
But now the torture's over, Babe,
For the comeback that these “Idiots” made
In conquering the Yankees in their yard
And knocking down a House of Cards
Has set their fandom on a roar
And crowned them champs of 2004;
They did not wait for hell to freeze;
Their flag now flaps to autumn's breeze.
Dr. Donald DeMarco is an adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College — Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Donald DeMarco ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Be Prepared DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:The warning was clear: Be prepared.
Again and again, it was repeated. You heard it on TV. You read it in the newspaper. It seemed to seek you out in the supermarket.
Before each hurricane roared through Florida this past storm season — four direct hits over a six-week period — the warning was the same. Something big and power ful is coming, and, if you fail to prepare for its destructive might, you could lose your property. Maybe even your life.
Many people listened to the meteorologists. The long lines at stores and gas stations were proof of that.
Meanwhile, the Church has been repeating Jesus' warning for 20 centuries: “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15). Yet much of the world allows that warning to go unheeded.
The juxtaposition of those two responses came to me as I prepared for the hurricanes. And, along the way, I realized that I am woefully unprepared for heaven.
Before I started to take my Catholic faith seriously — before I came to see each day as an oppor tunity for deeper conversion — heaven seemed more like a destination on a map than an intense desire to be with God forever. That's changed now, for I know that I'm really striving for holiness. I still have a long way to go, but my love and desire for God grow day by day.
As I bought extra supplies of food and water before each hurricane, I considered it amazing that a computer may be able to predict a storm's strength, duration and path. Then I thought: But there is no way any technology is ever going to forecast the day, month and year I will die.
This helped bring home the fact that I may be able to save my life with smart hurricane preparation — but doing so would be of little consolation if I were not, at the same time, striving to allow God into my heart. I need to invite him in with the same urgency and focus that went into preparing for the storms.
I'm convinced that, if more of us understood this principle, the lines would be even longer at the confessionals than they were at the checkouts.
Our Lord said: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing” (Luke 12:49). Yet, at many times in my own life, my love for him and his mystical body, the Church, has been lukewarm. Nor do I have to look far for evidence that this condition is widespread among people who profess the same faith as I.
If there's one lesson I learned from the hurricanes, it's this: We have to prepare. We have to love more; we have to forgive more; we have to pray more. We have to listen more to God. In short, we have to heed Jesus' exhortation to “seek first the kingdom of God” rather than second-guessing the past or worr ying about the future. We have to stock up on the supplies that God makes available to ever y Catholic: the Eucharist, the sacrament of reconciliation, the full truth of the Gospel.
Like the meteorologists during their endless encores, God speaks again and again. Through the Bible, by the witness of a friend's actions, in a priest's homily. Anywhere and ever ywhere.
Are you listening? Are you prepared?
Carlos Briceno writes from Seminole, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceno ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Western Pennsylvania's Polish Prayer DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:I went for a Scott Hahn seminar. I wanted to stay for the beauty of the church that hosted it.
A friend had learned about the event a month earlier and proposed we make it a “guys' night out.” Our wives were more than accommodating, as long as we promised to bring back one of Dr. Hahn's books for each of them.
Being unfamiliar with the town and never having visited the church, we allowed for extra travel time. As it happened, we had no difficulties, so we arrived quite early — and were glad we did.
New Kensington, Pa., is a humble town of around 14,000 in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains. Although it's just a 30-minute drive from downtown Pittsburgh, it seems to have so far avoided the city's sprawl of business, traffic and commercialization.
It is in this unremarkable setting that St. Mary of Czestchowa Church sits, a startling expression of the Catholic faith in stone and wood.
St. Mary's was founded in 1893, a time when ethnic parishes were common in American towns and cities. The parish was originally the center of New Kensington's small Polish Catholic community. The current church was built in 1912, though some of the artwork dates from the 1940s.
The parish's ethnic heritage is also evident in the many Polish saints whose likenesses populate the site. And the large Stations of the Cross along the walls still bear prominent Polish titles along the base of each.
While many Catholics of Polish descent still call this their parish, today's parishioners come from the wide variety of ethnic backgrounds to be found in the New Kensington area. Look in the local phone book, and you'll see, for example, lots of German, Italian and Irish names.
The exterior is a modest red brick, not unlike many other churches built between 1850 and 1950. What we discovered when we went inside, however, caused us to catch our breath. Though we had almost an hour until the talk began, we had no trouble filling the time by carefully pondering the various aspects of this extraordinary place of worship.
Black Madonna
Upon entering the church, our attention was immediately captured by the reredos that towers behind the main altar. This structure, of intricately carved linden-wood, is topped with dramatic Gothic spires and highlighted in elaborate gold leafing. The statues of a half dozen prayerful saints stand guard around the tabernacle. Among them are St. Stanislaus Kotska, St. Casimir, St. Agnes and St. Anthony.
Mounted at the top center of the reredos is a reproduction of the famous icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa. Known as the Black Madonna, this image has its own rich history, starting with the traditional account that it was painted by St. Luke the Apostle. (The original has drawn pilgrims for centuries to the Shrine of Jasna Gora in Poland.)
At the heart of the reredos, just above the tabernacle, stands a beautiful, carved crucifix. And directly above all this, on the ceiling of the sanctuary, is a painting of the Lamb of God, slain and in glory as described in the Book of Revelation.
“That Lamb is essential,” said Father Richard Karenbauer, the pastor, when I spoke to him later. “It reminds us of the heavenly liturgy that we're a part of when we come to Mass.”
The altar in the middle of the sanctuary is also beautifully carved lindenwood, with a relief sculpture of the Last Supper depicted on the front. Though it was constructed in the 1970s, at the time of some renovations to the church, its style is perfectly consistent with the reredos; a casual visitor would think they were created together.
There are also two side altars at the front of the church, each with its own reredos, smaller but equally beautiful and deserving of attention.
Saints Alive
Once you are able to tear your eyes from the sanctuary, there is plenty more to engage the senses. Along the left and right sides of the ceiling, from the front to the back of the church, is a series of large and striking paintings. Each features a particular saint or event of Catholic history and spirituality.
We see St. Peter receiving the keys to Christ's kingdom, and St. Dominic receiving the rosary from Our Lady. There is also St. Isaac Jogues preaching to Native Americans, and Jesus revealing his sacred heart to St. Margaret Mary Aloquoque. Sts. Cecelia, Francis of Assisi and John the Baptist are here, too.
Indeed, one of the most memorable aspects of this church is its reverence for the saints. The holy ones of ages past accompany us from above, from the front door and up the main aisle of the church. They gather together with us around the altar, before the tabernacle, at the foot of the cross.
My friend and I remarked in admiration that any Catholic who came regularly to Mass in this building could not fail to appreciate the reality of the heavenly worship into which he is entering. This is a building that succeeds in fostering worship, prayer and reflection upon the spiritual heritage we share as Catholics.
Father Karenbaurer expressed similar thoughts to me. “This church is a catechism,” he said. “All of the elements of the faith are here — in the sanctuary, the paintings, the windows. It's all there.”
Because Dr. Hahn's reputation precedes him, my friend and I fully expected to come away from our little trip with plenty to think and pray about. What a joy it was to receive the same gift from the very church in which he spoke.
Barry Michaels writes from Blairsville, Pennsylvania.
----- EXCERPT: St. Mary of Czestochowa Church, New Kensington, Pa. ----- EXTENDED BODY: Barry Michaels ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:SUNDAY, NOV. 21
Reflections on the Mass
EWTN, 4 a.m., 10:30 p.m.
“It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without holy Mass,” said St. Padre Pio. In this hour-long show, Father Bill Casey of the Fathers of Mercy, Jesuit Fathers Joseph Fessio and Mitch Pacwa, Deacon Bob McDonald and Brother Bob Fishman of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity, Domestic, explain the Mass. Joining them are Scott Hahn and Alex Jones. The topics are “Before the Mass,” “Liturgy of the Word” and “Liturgy of the Eucharist.” Re-airs Monday at 5:30 p.m.
MONDAY, NOV. 22
Growing Up Penguin
Animal Planet, 8 p.m.
Brand-new little penguin Bonita belongs to an endangered species, so from the moment she hatches, zookeepers give her lots of attention and affection.
TUESDAY, NOV. 23
Destroyer: Forged in Steel
Discovery Channel, 9 p.m.
This riveting (pun intended) new documentary follows the building, outfitting, manning and commissioning of the U.S. Navy's DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers. These innovative ships, 506 feet long and with a 62-foot beam, incorporate special contours that help hide them from radar, a radically different hull shape, turbine engines and the AEGIS air defense system.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 24
NOVA: Jerusalem
PBS, 8 p.m.
The show surveys the history and current situation of Jerusalem, a city sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims, and one for which the Holy See seeks international protective guarantees.
THURSDAY, NOV. 25
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
NBC, 9 a.m.
This beloved parade, “the longest-running show on Broadway,” began in 1924, thought up by Macy's employees. The event's trademark giant balloons of cartoon and fantasy characters debuted in 1928, and large floats made their first appearance in 1969. In recent years, musical numbers have taken a prominent place in the show.
THURSDAY, NOV. 25
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
ABC, 8 p.m.
Just wait until you see Snoopy and Woodstock's idea of a perfect Thanksgiving dinner for Charlie Brown and friends in this annual 30-minute special.
FRIDAY, NOV. 26
College Football's Ten Greatest Coaches
CBS, 1:30 p.m.
Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Pop Warner, Amos Alonzo Stagg and …? Which coaches would you place in the pantheon of college football's all-time best leaders?
SATURDAY, NOV. 27
Decorating Cents: Deck the Halls
Home & Garden TV, 8 p.m.
Your Christmas decorating won't be expensive if you follow these easy, fun and ingenious tips from the experts.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Daniel J. Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly DVD/Video Picks DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Many fans consider the third Harry Potter book the best of the series to date. The film version, directed by series newcomer Alfonso Cuardón, has the makings of the best of the three films so far.
The first two films were slack at times; here, the story is taut and well-paced. The three leads — Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Emma Watson (Hermione) and Rupert Grint (Ron) — inhabit their characters more comfortably and convincingly than ever. Yet where the first two films felt padded and over-long, this one feels incomplete and overly edited.
Viewers who haven't read the book may feel somewhat lost at times. Potential content issues include the usual: from Harry's magical studies (here including a course in divination, mitigated by the ridiculous, debunked way divination is presented) and Harry's ongoing patterns of reckless rule-breaking. On the other hand, this film also gives Harry his first meaningful relationship with a sympathetic adult. As Harry grows up, it's nice to see the stories growing up in certain ways, too.
Content advisory: Some frightening scenes and menace; fantasy presentation of magic.
The Train (1964)
The year is 1944; the place, France in the last days before the Nazi withdrawal. Paul Scofield (A Man for All Seasons) plays a cultured Nazi colonel whose appreciation for the priceless art of the Jeu de Paume museum in Paris has led him to protect the museum from damage or plundering during the occupation, but now, with his departure imminent, causes him to plunder the museum himself and bring the collection to Berlin as a consolation prize. Pitted against him is Burt Lancaster as a railway man named Paul Labiche with resistance ties who must try to stop the train from leaving the country until the Allies arrive.
Based on a true story, The Train is thrilling, intelligent moviemaking, crisply directed by John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate) with documentary-like realism and emphasis on action and problem-solving. The value of some unseen art is reduced to an idea, along with the lives of a number of resistance operatives who die offscreen for their efforts. Is it worth the price? Is there any answering that question?
Content advisory: Wartime violence.
The Searchers (1956)
The reputation of John Ford's The Searchers is as a classic but troubling Western in which John Wayne plays an Indian-hating racist. But Wayne's character, Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards, is actually a complex man whose hatred is principally reserved for one particular tribe, the Comanche, members of which killed his wife. The Searchers tells the story of Ethan's relentless pursuit of a Comanche band who perpetrated a murderous raid on a settler household and kidnapped his young niece. Accompanying Ethan is the girl's adopted brother Martin (Jeffrey Hunter), who hopes to rescue his sister and, as years go by, begins to fear that Ethan would rather see the girl dead than living as a Comanche.
A gruff, off-putting loner, Ethan takes a “war is hell” approach to combat, shooting enemy Comanche as they attempt to retreat and rescue their wounded. This is a rare Western classic that questions its hero and the mythology of the Western itself.
Content advisory: Disturbing situations including kidnapping, implied rape and murder; recurring shootouts and battle sequences; treatment of racist attitudes.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: The Observer: No Place for Pro-Life Pronouncements DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:Why did the official student newspaper of the University of Notre Dame refuse to run two ads submitted by Notre Dame Right to Life in October?
Because the ads were too “politically charged,” according to Meghanne Downes, the Observer's managing editor.
The decision has left some Catholic-college watchers scratching their heads.
The first ad, a quarter-page notice that would have run Oct. 11, publicized a student Mass for life. It presented a photo of an unborn baby in utero alongside a quote from Pope John Paul II: “You are called to stand up for life! To respect and defend the mystery of life always and everywhere, including the lives of unborn babies.”
Downes told the Register that it's official Observer policy to exclude ads with political content and that its editors may refuse to print advertisements “for any reason without specifying the reason for rejection.”
The newspaper refused to run that particular ad, she said, because the quote from the Pope was “editorial in nature and politically charged. Ads that we believe contain editorial content, we reject.”
Downes said she told Notre Dame Right to Life they “could advertise their event but not their ideological perspective. The group chose not to submit a letter to the editor.”
Downes pointed out that the Observer has rejected pro-choice and birth-control ads for the same reasons.
Janel Daufenbach, co-president of Notre Dame Right to Life, rejected the rationale of the Observer editors.
“They said the Pope's quote was too political,” she told the Register. “I told them, ‘No, we're not being political at all.’ We were just advertising for a Mass at a Catholic university. We were just asking people to respect life; we were not telling them how to vote. It wasn't a political ad at all.”
Lauren Galgano, the group's other co-president, observed that the editors seem to view the Pope as a controversial figure.
Yet, she noted, ads by the Standing Committee on Gay and Lesbian Needs sometimes include language to the effect of, “We should respect each other.”
“That seems to me to be just as persuasive in nature as the language we used,” she said.
‘Ideology’
Downes has a different view on the matter. She said that she and the other top two editors at the Observer feel that editorial and ideological content belong in the paper's “Viewpoint” section, not in advertisements.
“We editors strive to be impartial and ethical in our decision making,” she said. “We don't want to accept money in return for running these ideological perspectives. We wouldn't want our audience to think that we agree with that viewpoint because we financially benefit from it.”
Daufenbach said she thinks Observer editors judged the ad too controversial and politically charged because it tells people “how to think.”
“I said, ‘Isn't that the purpose of an advertisement?’” she said. She believes her group has been singled out for unfair treatment.
Galgano agreed, saying that one of the Observer's objections to the Mass ad was that the Holy Father's quote contained persuasive language about standing up for the unborn.
Downes told the Register that the Observer worked with Notre Dame Right to Life to create a new ad that would be acceptable. The resulting ad gave information about the Mass, but the Observer required Notre Dame Right to Life to remove the quote from the Pope and the picture of the unborn baby.
The second rejected ad had run in student newspapers at 13 other prestigious universities around the country, including Georgetown, Princeton and Yale. It presented a list of 10 reflections on what embryonic stem-cell research is, and included a call to vote against candidates and ballot measures supportive of such research. It was originally drafted by Princeton University Pro-Life.
Although Downes and Galgano agree that the second ad clearly had editorial content, Galgano said they believe Notre Dame was the only school at which a student newspaper refused to run the ad.
Asked why the Observer accepts no advertisements with “editorial content,” Downes said: “Based on what has happened in past years, we felt like this was a guideline we would like to accept. It's a matter of the environment a student newspaper operates in.” Downes indicated that past editors have advised the current editors that this policy is well suited to the Observer.
“The Observer is scared of the free exchange of ideas,” countered Galgano. “I don't think they take seriously their mission to serve Notre Dame. We're not a partisan club. They should understand that it's a life-and-death issue, not a Right-and-Left issue.”
Voices Silenced
The Observer is an independent student newspaper overseen by the president's office. It is funded by student fees, but has no advisor from the faculty or administration. Chandra Johnson, assistant to the president at Notre Dame, told the Register that it is administration policy not to comment on the relationship between the administration and the Observer. Issues are dealt with on a case-by-case basis, although she did say that the newspaper's advertising policy is developed in consultation between the president's office and Observer editors.
“We don't necessarily say that, because this is advocating a Catholic viewpoint, then we should run it,” Downes said. “I believe that would be unethical. If you're not going to pair it with the opposite viewpoint as well, then you're not servicing your community. You're not being true to your purpose of being an ethical paper.”
Some Catholic observers take exception to that kind of logic. “Catholic institutions such as Notre Dame are not going to change the Supreme Court or The New York Times,” said Notre Dame alumnus Bill McGurn, chief editorial writer of The Wall Street Journal, in a lecture he gave the last week of October. “But what would happen if they used their not-insignificant platforms to raise the stature and profile of those fighting the good fight?”
That's one question Daufen-bach would like to pose when she meets with an official in the president's office to discuss ad rejections at the Observer.
“We're a very large group on campus,” she said. “They're not allowing that message to be heard. I would hope that the Observer would let Catholic values be heard.”
Tom Harmon writes from Spokane, Washington.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tom Harmon ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Discipline, the Everlasting Gift DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:Discipline That Lasts a Life-time: The Best Gift That You Can Give Your Kids by Raymond N. Guarendi
Servant, 2003
306 pages, $10.99
To order: (800) 488-0488
catalog.americancatholic.org
My husband recently relayed the following account of an incident that occurred while he was driving to the dry cleaners with our sons, ages 2 and 4. “They were fooling around, becoming louder and egging each other on in a negative way,” he reported. “I had the sense that I was losing control, that they were not going to listen.”
Every parent knows the frustration of such moments. Most also know the experience that often follows: a futile effort to impose discipline in which, at best, the parent succeeds in shouting the kids down and winning a short-lived peace.
Thanks to this practical, realistic book on the art of discipline by Register “Family Matters” columnist Raymond Guarendi, my husband knew what to do. “I remembered Dr. Ray's if-then rule,” he said. “I raised my voice slightly above the din and told them that if they continued their foolishness, then they would not receive a lollipop at the cleaners. The rest of the ride was spent in near silence.”
Eschewing psychological buzzwords and excessive permissiveness, Guarendi's advice begins with this simple insight: “You are the parent in your family; they are not.”
He defines discipline as simply putting limits and expectations on a child's behavior — backed by consequences, when necessary — in order to socialize and build character.
Our kids heard the limits and knew my husband expected a change. He promised a certain consequence if things did not change and was ready to adhere to Guarendi's key counsel: Always follow through with the promised consequence. Those boys knew their father was prepared to deny them the butterscotch lollipops the dry-cleaning proprietor customarily gave them — no matter how much they cried or complained.
Set limits. Promise consequences for refusal to meet them, and always be true to your word. “If not,” writes Guarendi, “our words will be meaningless.”
Good discipline is never nasty, adds the author. Setting limits and holding children responsible for their behavior is good parenting, and kids benefit from these lessons throughout their lives.
Guarendi gives many suggestions to help parents create boundaries.
I especially benefited from the book's third chapter, “Discipline is Acting, not Yakking.”
“Words, no matter how many, how logical, how emotional, how loud, can't replace real discipline,” writes Guarendi. “Action, less talk, more action — a time-tested formula.”
He describes talk as “the illusion of discipline.” He adds that “nagging, lecturing, over-reasoning, pleading … are all forms of talk, all frustrating and all imposters of legitimate discipline.”
The book is laid out in a question-and-answer format that makes it easy and enjoyable to read.
A father of 10, Guarendi has much to offer on this subject. He provides parents with words to use while talking with children and offers humorous anecdotes that come straight from his own household.
While some readers may not agree with some of the consequences he proposes for correcting bad behavior, his suggestions for house rules are simple, clear and effective. They include such gems as “You hit, you sit” and “You fight, you write.”
Good discipline never sounded so easy — or so smart.
Jeannette Balantic writes from Floral Park, New York.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jeannette Balantic ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:Fuzzy Agenda
Based on interviews with students who participated in “Rainbow Week,” the Philadelphia archdiocesan newspaper found that many came away with an incomplete understanding or outright misunderstanding of the Church's teaching on homosexuality.
Bishop McFadden said that “lack of understanding” indicates “it's St. Joseph's responsibility to look at their work.”
Ex Corde Canada
LIFESITENEWS, Oct. 29 — The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has received Vatican approval for ordinances to implement the 1990 document on Catholic higher education, Ex Corde Ecclesiae.
“This is the first time the Canadian bishops have responded to the problem of widespread, entrenched rejection of Catholic moral teaching” at Catholic colleges, said the Canadian pro-life news site.
Following publication of the ordinances, the colleges and universities will have until August 2005 to put them into effect.
Crime Surge
It also reported that dorm-room burglaries at St. John's University in Queens shot up 85% over the prior year. The annual publication of crime data is required by federal law.
Bragging Rights
ETRUTH, Oct. 31 — “You've got the two Catholic schools, and there are bragging rights that run awful deep,” said Fighting Irish football player Tyrone Willingham after Notre Dame's recent loss to Boston College, the fourth in as many years.
According to media coverage, the increasingly fierce rivalry is rooted in their shared quest for informal recognition as America's premier Catholic college football program.
For the storied Irish, the recent dominance by Boston College has caused something of an existential crisis. The recent loss, Willingham said, was like “somebody just stabbed you in your heart.”
Shifting Enrollment
Nationally, from 2000 to 2003, enrollment in Catholic elementary schools dropped from 2,013,084 to 1,842,918 — a decline of 8.5%, nearly 3% a year, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate recently reported.
The Great Lakes region and the East saw declines that were offset by growth in the Southeast and Far West and in suburban areas.
New Chiefs
Francis Lazarus, the former provost of San Diego University, was inaugurated as the seventh president of the University of Dallas.
Jesuit Father Joseph Hacala took the helm as president of Wheeling Jesuit University after heading Wheeling's office of university mission and identity.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Job Interviewers Come in Four Basic Flavors DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:Family Matters
I am getting ready to go on some interviews, hoping to advance in my career. What advice do you have for going in to a job interview?
The goal of every first interview is to do so well that you'll be invited back for a second interview. You want to be prepared, professional, honest and enthusiastic. Your preparation should include taking some time to think about how you'll interact with the interviewer once you get a feel for his or her personality type.
You can assume that each person who'll be sizing you up will be dominant in one of the four humors — or temperaments — identified by the ancient Greek thinkers Hippocrates and Galen. These are the choleric, sanguine, melancholic and phlegmatic temperaments.
You're bound to meet up with at least one choleric. An ambitious bigshot, the choleric believes his role is the most mission-critical in the company and likes to talk in terms of big ideas. You'll do well to convey to him that you will work very hard to help him realize his dreams. And, in the initial interview at least, you do not want to ask him how long a lunch break you get to take. You're not here for your comfort; you're here for his goals. Make sure to research the company's mission statement prior to arriving in his office, and be willing to show that you aren't afraid to sacrifice niceties in order to get the job done.
You'll know a sanguine by his love of the company, his enthusiasm for its mission and his affability in the work environment. What he wants to know, first and foremost, is: How well would you fit into the corporate culture and how energetically could you contribute? Are you fun to work with or merely duty-bound? Would you be excited about coming to work here each day? Try to leave this person with the impression that, if you're hired, there will be even more joy and success than there already is.
Inevitably you'll run into a melancholic at some point in the interviewing process. Melancholics worry about integrity and the bottom line. In fact, they worry about everything, because they're fastidious to a fault. When they meet you, they wonder if you will uphold the ethical integrity of the business. They never hire people who won't follow policies and procedures to the letter. Convince them that you are a professional who takes his responsibilities seriously and you should do just fine.
Finally, watch out for the phlegmatic. This individual may appear easygoing while secretly judging you harshly. She doesn't like conflict or confrontation, so she's on the lookout for a contrary streak in you. She won't hire you if you come off as readily argumentative. It's harmony and cooperation she's most interested in, so stress your willingness to play for the team rather than yourself. Let her know that she'll never have to get in your face to motivate you.
Remember these easy pointers and, provided you've got the necessary technical qualifications, you'll give yourself an excellent chance to show what you can do.
Art Bennett is director of Alpha Omega Clinic and Consultation Services in Bethesda, Maryland.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Art Bennett ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Faith Fortifies DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:Facts of Life
College students with significant religious involvement have better emotional health than those with no involvement, according to new research from UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute. The study, drawing from a national survey of 3,680 college students, indicates that students who are not churchgoers are more than twice as likely to say they have felt depressed or had poorer emotional health than students who frequently attend religious services.
Source: Religion News Service, Oct. 25 Register illustration by Tim Rauch
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Not by Turkey Alone DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:Fourth Thursday in November. Food. Family. Football. You know the drill.
Let's face it, though. While these long-established traditions are enjoyable and even important family events, there's nothing specifically Catholic about the Thanksgiving holiday.
The idea of giving thanks to God in a special way, how-ever, is a very Catholic tradition indeed: The word euchariste is ancient Greek for “to give joyful thanks.”
And so it follows that this year — a year Pope John Paul II has designated Year of the Eucharist — we ought to infuse our “Turkey Day” celebrations with unambiguously Catholic expressions of gratitude.
“Christianity and Judaism are unique among all religions in their emphasis on thanksgiving,” explains Catholic theologian Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio. “We believe in a God who has truly entered into human history. We give him thanks for his mighty deeds in the Eucharist especially. In each Eucharistic thanksgiving, we give thanks, not just for natural blessings, but for the fact that God supernaturally enters our lives.”
D'Ambrosio is author of Exploring the Catholic Church: An Introduction to Catholic Teaching and Practice (Servant 2001) and executive director of the Crossroads Initiative (www.crossroadsinitiative.com), a website devoted to distributing resources aimed at helping Catholics “unpack the precious gift of the Eucharist.” He suggests Catholic parents emphasize the Eucharistic meaning of thanksgiving in their families by adding their own uniquely Catholic touches to Thanksgiving holiday traditions.
“Even in traditional Thanksgiving celebration, we are called to thank a creator for our natural gifts and blessings,” he adds. “At Thanksgiving dinner, family members can read Scripture together — perhaps the Gospel story of the 10 lepers who were healed or a psalm of thanksgiving — and then take turns sharing the things for which they are most thankful.”
D'Ambrosio points out another traditional element of Thanksgiving that lends itself easily to a Eucharistic focus: the gathering of friends and family. In particular, he emphasizes the communal element of the Eucharist as it is comparable to a family gathering and a shared meal.
“It is especially important that we realize Christ's real presence in other people,” he says. “At Mass, we are the body of Christ, and all the angels and saints are present. When we celebrate the Eucharist together, it is meant to bring us into deeper communion with the whole Church. When we receive Communion, we make a public statement of unity.”
Families can underscore community-building in their Thanksgiving Day observances, he notes, by performing services to the poor prior to attending family celebrations or by inviting outsiders to share in their Thanksgiving meal. There are many single people, elderly folks and others who live far from family who might welcome an invitation to a family-style event.
In fact, a D'Ambrosio family tradition includes inviting priests and religious to take part in the family gathering.
“It helps to build a sense of community within the Church,” he says, “and gives the kids contact with those who are living out their vocations in the Church.”
Sister Patricia Proctor of the Poor Clare Sisters in Spokane, Wash., and author of 201 Inspirational Stories of the Eucharist (Poor Clare Sisters, 2004), agrees that the mostly secular holiday of Thanksgiving presents Catholic families with a unique opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate the gift of the Eucharist.
“One meaning of Eucharist is to ‘give thanks,’” she says, “so when this special day of Thanksgiving comes around, suddenly without even trying, we start counting all the things we are thankful for.”
Sister Proctor suggests that Catholic families can most effectively highlight the true meaning of Thanksgiving by attending Mass together as a family on Thanksgiving Day.
“Make a special effort to go to Mass that day,” she says. “Tell each member of the family to remember something they are truly thankful for and to tell Jesus ‘thank you’ for this at the time of Communion or at some other quiet time during or after the Mass.”
Additionally, Sister Proctor encourages families to pray an “Our Father” together or to add a communal prayer of thanksgiving to their traditional grace before the Thanksgiving dinner.
“Use the prayers of intercession at Mass as an example. Have each family member make a petition of thankfulness and have everyone respond to it, ‘Thank you, Jesus,’ or something to that effect.”
She adds, however, that families need not go to great lengths or perform elaborate rituals in order to have a meaningful Thanksgiving gathering and shared prayer time. In fact, she recalls that when she was growing up among her seven brothers and two sisters, the grace they prayed at the Thanksgiving meal was the same traditional one the family prayed all year long. Even so, it carried great meaning for her.
“The occasion of Thanksgiving often made the words seem much more poignant and meaningful,” she says. “Sometimes we don't have to do more in our prayer life, but just become more aware in a deeper sense of what we so often say every day.”
America the Beautiful
For Denise Mantei of Apple Valley, Calif., this year's Thanksgiving celebration will include morning Mass with her husband and five daughters, followed by a traditional dinner with all the trimmings shared with extended family members from both sides of the family.
She recognizes that she and her loved ones have been abundantly blessed and welcomes the opportunity to give thanks for God's gifts as a family.
“As I get older, I find myself reflecting more on what there is to be thankful for,” says Mantei. “How is it that I was so blessed to be born in America, that I was raised in a Catholic home, that I found a spouse I could share and live my faith with, that I have been blessed with five beautiful daughters, that we have such wonderful friends, that we have a nice home and enough money?”
During this Year of the Eucharist, Mantei plans to attend Eucharistic adoration more frequently, attend more weekday Masses and introduce her children to the Spiritual Communion Prayer. In particular, she intends to emphasize the importance of the Eucharist to her children on Thanksgiving Day by initiating a discussion about the gift of the Eucharist during their drive from Mass to Thanksgiving dinner.
“I think the biggest thing we can do to link Thanksgiving to the Eucharist is to remember that the word ‘Eucharist’ means thanksgiving,” she says. “As a country, we look forward to one day to celebrate our thankfulness as a country. Our families should recognize that we celebrate Thanksgiving every Sunday. We also have the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving every day as Catholics.
“And what is it we are thankful for?” concludes Mantei. “It is the Lord himself. Almighty God gave himself to be our ransom from sin. What greater gift is there than salvation?”
Thanks be to God!
Danielle Bean writes from Belknap, New Hampshire.
----- EXCERPT: Happy Thanksgiving, Catholics ----- EXTENDED BODY: Danielle Bean ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 11/21/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 21-27, 2004 ----- BODY:Adult Cells: Guided Missiles
Cancerous mice that underwent the stem-cell treatment lived significantly longer than those treated with the interferon alone and longer than those with no treatment.
Researchers from the University of Texas said the stem cells moved like guided missiles, targeting tumor cells and producing high concentrations of therapeutic proteins within the tumor cells.
‘Almost Always Bad’
AMERICANS UNITED FOR LIFE, Oct. 29 — A nationwide poll conducted for the public-interest bioethics law firm shows that 61% of Americans believe abortion is “almost always bad” for women.
Of those questioned, 64% said they knew a woman who had an abortion, and 55% said that, by their observation, it had been a negative experience for the woman. An Americans United For Life representative said, “Americans are increasingly aware that legalized abortion harms women.”
Aussies Reassess Abortion
Anderson said the debate will allow Aussies to “re-examine our understanding of medical science and the law” in light of recent statistics that show that, of 377 late-term abortions performed in South Australia between 1998 and 2002, the mother's mental state was cited as the primary reason for the abortion in more than half of the cases.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Bishops Again Postpone Statement on Catholics in Public Life DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON – The agenda of the fall meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said bishops would “debate and vote” on policies regarding Catholic politicians who support abortion.
The bishops, however, chose to do neither, raising concerns about Catholic politicians and Communion.
“I'm disappointed that it wasn't discussed publicly, because it's a great concern for all the people in our nation and for Catholics who are bound to give a very strong witness in this area,” said St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke, who's among a handful of bishops who have challenged pro-abortion politicians publicly.
Archbishop Burke said American culture seems poised for more definitive moral direction from Christian leaders, which U.S. bishops failed to provide by skirting the issue of pro-abortion politicians.
“We know from the elections that there's a concern among the general population about moral issues, so I'm particularly disappointed that it wasn't discussed openly at this conference,” Archbishop Burke told the Register.
But Cardinal Theodore McCar-rick, chairman of the Task Force on Catholic Bishops and Politicans, said the committee was not prepared to make any recommended changes to the Denver guidelines. Those guidelines stated that pro-abortion politicians should not be honored or awarded by Catholic institutions and recommended that bishops commit to “maintain communication” with public officials who make decisions about human life and dignity.
“It wasn't supposed to be debated; it was just a report,” said Cardinal McCarrick, defending the decision to forego discussion. “We have the statement that was issued in Denver, and this was basically a bringing-up-to-date of that document, and nothing changed, and there's nothing new in it.”
Cardinal McCarrick spoke to the Register Nov. 17, the last day of the conference and one day after a full-page ad in The Washington Times accused bishops of turning a blind eye to pro-abortion politicians.
“During this year's presidential campaign, only 10 of America's 186 [ordinaries] were bold enough to warn [Sen. John] Kerry that he would be denied the Eucharist in their dioceses,” said the ad, paid for by the American Life League in Stafford, Va.
“They (the American Life League) have been attacking me constantly,” Cardinal McCarrick told the Register.
Cardinal McCarrick has been at the center of the debate about pro-abortion politicians who receive Communion because he chairs the committee charged with studying the issue. Furthermore, as archbishop of the nation's capital, he oversees parishes that serve dozens of pro-abortion Catholic politicians.
“I don't judge people,” he said. “That's not my job. The Lord is the judge. I'll judge in the confessional, of course. But the most important thing is that we keep teaching the doctrine of the Church and that the people hear that and that ultimately they form their consciences by that.”
Last year, the bishops' conference decided to delay until after the presidential election a statement about Catholics in public life who support unjust laws.
Instead, at a June retreat in Denver, they developed a preliminary set of guidelines which said the issue should be dealt with by local bishops and which stopped short of recommending that they deny Communion to pro-abortion politicians.
Cardinal McCarrick said the bishops would develop a “Reader on Catholics in Public Life” and that their doctrine and pastoral-practices committees have agreed to take up the matter of Church teaching on when it is proper for Catholic politicians — and all Catholics — to receive Communion.
The cardinal said, “There will be continuing consultation on the complex theological and canonical aspects of these matters within our conference and with the Holy See.”
Other Business
The bishops, meeting at the Capitol Hill Hyatt Nov. 15-17, two weeks after President Bush was re-elected, chose their own set of new leaders, including Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., as president and Cardinal Francis George of Chicago as vice president.
They also agreed to begin a National Pastoral Initiative on Marriage, to join a new national ecumenical forum, to approve a national catechism for adults and to gather annual information about new sex-abuse accusations against Catholic clergy and other Church workers. (See sidebar.)
During discussion of the sex-abuse scandal that the bishops have been dealing with since 2002, Archbishop Daniel Buechlein of Indianapolis reported that there was little support among the bishops for the idea of a plenary council or another suggested alternative, a regional synod of U.S. bishops that would examine root causes of the scandal. Archbishop Buechlein heads an ad hoc committee formed in 2002 to guide the bishops through the proposal to convene a national plenary council.
Faith and Politics
Regarding the task force report on Catholic politicians, Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput told the Register the issue was discussed in one of the closed sessions the bishops held each day.
“I think a lot of bishops in their own diocesan newspapers and in their own meetings with their own pastoral councils and priest councils encouraged activism on these issues, we just don't really know for sure,” Archbishop Chaput said. “I personally know some bishops who wrote wonderful pastoral letters to their people in the weeks before the election — letters that got no national attention. So I think there's a certain amount of criticism that's unjust. I'll do my part to keep this issue alive, because it's a foundational issue.”
Bishop Skylstad said he's satisfied that bishops are addressing the issue in the manner agreed upon in Denver. Although the conference ended one day ahead of schedule, he said discussion and debate was passed over because of a “time limitation.”
“The guidelines that passed in Denver indicated that each bishop in his own respective diocese could make a decision as to how he wanted to handle this in a practical, pastoral way,” Bishop Skylstad said. “As you are well aware, the bishops around the country have not taken the approach of refusing Communion but want to involve themselves in dialogue and in common teaching about the belief of the Church in this regard.”
Cardinal George told the Register he will reserve judgment as to whether bishops are following the guidelines developed in Denver.
“I don't know,” Cardinal George said. “We didn't ask everyone about that, so the conversation goes on.”
Though bishops are no closer to finalizing a policy regarding pro-abortion politicians, some believe the controversy has helped eliminate ambiguity about the Church's stand on abortion rights.
“I think one of the blessings of the last six months, which turned out to be a fiery campaign season, is that Catholic bishops have spoken unequivocally about the immorality of abortion and called on all Catholics to have an informed conscience, informed by the teachings of the Church,” said Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan.
Oakland, Calif., Bishop Allen Vigneron concurred.
“I, like a lot of bishops, wrote in my diocesan paper that these things — abortion, fetal stem-cell research and euthanasia — are always wrong and always involve terrible evil,” Bishop Vigneron said. “I wrote that, in voting, people need to conform their consciences to the Church's teaching on these important matters. So the message is being heard, even though we didn't address it here.”
Wayne Laugesen writes from Washington, D.C.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: New President, New Projects DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., was elected to a three-year term as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Nov. 15 during the regular fall meeting. Bishops elected Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago, as vice president.
Elected by a narrow majority with 120 votes, Bishop Skylstad will succeed Bishop Wilton Gregory of Bellville, Ill. Bishop Skylstad had served for three years as vice president, a position that traditionally leads to election as president.
“We bishops will continue to build on the steps we have taken for more than a decade, especially the charter and the norms adopted in 2002, to promote healing of those who have suffered sexual abuse and to prevent other children and young people from being abused,” Bishop Skylstad said at a Nov. 17 press conference.
Bishop Skylstad's election was controversial, coming just three days after he announced the Diocese of Spokane would file for bankruptcy protection after a breakdown of settlement talks with more than two dozen victims of sexual abuse who are suing.
“Is it going to be a tension? Sure, it will be,” Bishop Skylstad said of the bankruptcy. “And only I know how much that's going to be as I look to the weeks and months and three years ahead.”
Bishop Skylstad said working in his favor is the fact that the Diocese of Spokane is small, with about 90,000 Catholics and 81 parishes, allowing him to devote sufficient time to his diocese and to conference issues.
In other business, the bishops:
• Approved the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults, which has been in development for about five years. It's based on the content and structure of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which was released in 1992 as a reference tool to help bishops and catechetical publishers in the development of local catechetical materials.
• Approved participation in a proposed ecumenical forum called Christian Churches Together in the USA. The forum is intended to include all major Christian denominations in the country, including Pentecostals and evangelicals. Its stated charter is “to enable churches and national Christian organizations to grow closer together in Christ in order to strengthen our Christian witness in the world.”
• Approved the National Pastoral Initiative on Marriage, a multiyear project to help bishops strengthen marriages and traditional families. Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of Steubenville, Ohio, had proposed the development of a pastoral letter on marriage that would be similar to previous pastoral letters on peace and on the economy.
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, said the initiative is an opportunity for bishops to help restore what he described as the endangered traditional family.
• The bishops overwhelmingly approved a series of recommendations aimed at limiting the conference's projects to those mandated by the Vatican or the bishops themselves. The conference “has taken on too many projects. We try to do too much,” said Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh, chairman of the bishops' Task Force on Activities and Resources, which drafted the recommendations.
• On Nov. 15, the bishops approved a $129.4 million budget for 2005 — 1.8% higher than the previous year's budget — and agreed to create an ad hoc committee to aid the Church in Africa, which would collect and distribute contributions, using staff and resources from a handful of offices to manage the effort.
— Wayne Laugesen Catholic News Service contributed to this report.
More coverage in National News and in next week's Register.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Bombed Out DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:Iraqi Christian cry as they inspect the damage to St. Matthew's church in central Baghdad Nov. 9. Car bombs exploded within minutes of each other outside two Christian churches in southern Baghdad.
AFP and REUTERS PHOTOS
BAGHDAD — Christianity took hold in Iraq as far back as the first century. But in the 21st century, Christians are leaving the country by the thousands. And they're having a hard time finding refuge.
There has been systematic targeting of Christians and their churches by Muslim extremists in the aftermath of the country's invasion by the United States and its allies.
The most recent attacks started with the bombings of five churches in the early morning hours of the second day of Ramadan, Oct. 16. More violence followed, including attacks on Christian women and the bombing of a Chaldean Catholic church in Baghdad on Nov. 8.
“Some radical Muslims want ‘cleansing’ — they want all non-Muslims to leave Iraq,” explained Caroline Kerslake, executive editor of the Barnabas Fund, from her office in Wiltshire, England.
Barnabas Fund, a British organization that advocates for oppressed Christians worldwide, has been monitoring the situation and is in regular contact with Christians in Iraq, Kerslake said. She said the five October bombings were designed to send a message to all Christians in Iraq.
“They bombed five churches from five different denominations, including Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant and the Ancient Church of the East,” she said.
As a result of the accelerating attacks, many Christians are fleeing, Kerslake said. “The figures on the numbers of Christian refugees range up to 40,000 — which is the figure quoted by an Iraqi government minister,” she added.
While Kerslake thought that figure might be too high, she said that one could say with confidence that “tens of thousands have fled.”
The message that they are not welcome is not lost on Christians in Iraq. “They want us to leave Iraq,” Odet Addul, a parishioner at one of the churches bombed in October, told Cox News Service.
Father Manuel Boji, a priest at the Mother of God Chaldean Catholic Cathedral near Detroit, Mich., said “we don't have an exact number” of those who have fled. Father Boji is in contact with people from Iraq; he had just spoken to the Chal-dean patriarch before speaking to the Register Nov. 12.
“The people who are leaving have financially good status and want to protect themselves,” said the priest, who hails from the small Iraqi town of Telkis, about 15 miles from the modern city of Mosul, the biblical Nineveh.
Some Christians refuse to be intimidated. “We will continue to have the Mass in the church and nothing will stop us,” Nabil Jamiel Suleiman, a parishioner at the recently bombed Catholic Church of St. George in Baghdad, told Cox News Service. “All Iraqis are threatened — when you go to work, when you go to school,” he said.
Cover Your Heads
While even the family of the prime minister has been threatened, the problem is that “Christians make easy targets, especially in the cities,” according to Father Boji.
Father Boji said there have been many threats, including “writings on walls saying ‘no more Christians in Iraq,’ and similar calls from some mosque loudspeakers.”
In Mosul, the bishops of three churches have been directly threatened, Kerslake said.
The reason for the targeting of Christians is their association with the West, she said. “There has been an escalation of violence because Christians are assumed to be Western sympathizers.”
For those seeking revenge for the invasion of Iraq, Christians have become the target of choice. “It's an easy way to retaliate for Iraqis who would like to attack American or British troops,” Kerslake said.
According to a Nov. 3 report by the Barnabas Fund, a letter from militants to Christian leaders in Mosul “threatened to kill one person in each Christian family as a punishment for the women not covering their heads.”
Barnabas reported that one Christian woman was killed Oct. 26 for having her head uncovered and two others had acid squirted in their faces for the same reason.
Not all Muslims are supportive of the attacks. The Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni group in Iraq, condemned them.
“Islam does not support the ongoing terrorism,” the group's spokesman, Sheik Abdul Sattar Abdul-Jabbar, told the Associated Press.
But the word on the street is not always so hopeful. “Leaflets are being distributed with the message, ‘Christians go; leave Iraq.’ Word is being passed around in the mosques, telling Muslims not to buy anything from the Christians. Not only are they infidels, but they will soon be leaving, so the Muslims will be able to take their homes and property for free,” the Barnabus report said.
Nowhere To Go
But Iraqi Christians are running out of places to flee. “They used to go to Jordan, but now Jordan is closed to them because (its government says) there are too many of the fleeing Christians there,” Kerslake said. “Now they go to Syria.”
Ironically, she said, it was easier for Christians to get refugee status in the West when Saddam Hussein was in power and their situation was less dire.
“(Western) countries don't understand the situation,” Kerslake said.
The U.S. and British embassies in Baghdad did not respond to the Register's requests for comment on the measures being taken to protect Iraqi Christians and the circumstances under which they might be offered refugee status.
“The coalition — and the government, too — are doing their best to have a better security environment,” Father Boji said. “The government has assured us that it will protect the churches and rebuild those that were bombed.”
But, Kerslake said, if the coalition and Iraqi government are unable to provide safety for the Christian community, “there won't be any Christians in Iraq.”
Andrew Walther writes from Los Angeles.
----- EXCERPT: FEARING 'CLEANSING,' IRAQI CHRISTIANS FLEE BY THE THOUSANDS ----- EXTENDED BODY: Andrew Walther ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Groups Expose The Real Kinsey DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:BLOOMINGDALE, Ind. — When a zoologist-turned-sex-expert released Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, the 1948 study and its findings met with widespread controversy.
Now, more than a half-century later, Fox Searchlight Pictures' new motion picture, Kinsey: Let's Talk About Sex, is meeting with similar controversy. At the heart of it are multiple claims regarding Alfred Kinsey's fraudulent methodology and scientific inaccuracy — and the film's failure to tell Kinsey's full story.
“The film is glamorizing and lion-izing Kinsey,” said Tara Williams, outreach coordinator for Catholic Outreach, a Carlsbad, Calif., evangelization apostolate. “We feel it'simportant to tell people the truth about the man and his research.”
Williams was one of six people who attempted to distribute Ascension Press' book The Kinsey Corruption: An Exposé on the Most Influential ‘Scientist’ of Our Time at the Kinsey Institute's benefit screening on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomingdale, Ind., Nov. 13. The 96-page book is based on journalist Susan Brinkmann's six-part series that ran in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's Catholic Standard and Times.
“Someone from security told me to get off the sidewalk,” Williams said. When Williams moved onto the street to distribute the book, a policeman told her that if she didn't have a permit, she needed to leave or risk being arrested. She complied.
In addition to the Indiana premier, Catholic Outreach attempted to distribute books outside of New York City's Rockefeller Center prior to the “Saturday Night Live” taping with Liam Neeson, the actor who portrays the man widely credited for ushering in the sexual revolution. The group's efforts were thwarted when security would not allow Millie Hau and fellow protestors into the center.
Rocco Caluccio had greater success at the Lincoln Center Theater in Manhattan.
Although he admits to being nervous, Caluccio, a physical therapist from Brooklyn, handed out approximately 80 copies of the book to theater patrons.
“We need to educate the country that they are being lied to about free sex,” Caluccio said. “It's not the way to happiness. We're buying into the counterfeit.”
One on One
While he's not sure who might be touched by his efforts, Caluccio said a conversation with four teen-agers made the evening worthwhile.
“I handed the book to one of four teens,” Caluccio said. “After a while, they came back, and one of them started asking questions. I got the book in their hands. Hopefully the Lord will take it from there.”
Catholic Outreach has similar book distributions scheduled in Cincinnati, Dallas, Miami, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. The film opened on only five screens — two in New York City and three in Los Angeles — the weekend of Nov. 12.
“The weekend of November 19, it will open on 35 screens, mostly in ‘blue’ states,” said Lisa Wheeler, media coordinator for Catholic Outreach. “Then, as Christmas approaches, it is estimated to be on 500 screens.”
Catholic Outreach is not alone in trying to get the message out about Kinsey and his research. A broad coalition of organizations has publicly condemned the film's efforts to paint Kinsey as a tragic hero.
They include the American Family Association, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, Concerned Women for America, the Eagle Forum, Morality in Media, the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, and Rock for Life.
Generation Life, a chastity and pro-life education apostolate based in Boise, Idaho, is planning protests during the film's opening in Philadelphia and Boise. They plan to hold signs and pass out literature discussing Kinsey and his work. In addition, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and the Archdiocese of Atlanta's Youth and Young Adult Offices are also planning to distribute The Kinsey Corruption to theater-goers.
Flawed Science
At issue, critics say, is the film's failure to address Kinsey's flawed data.
“The mainstream media cannot ignore the controversy, so they concentrate on the controversies surrounding Kinsey's personal life, while ignoring the scientific accuracy of his research,” said Michael Craven, vice president for religious and cultural affairs at the Cincinnati-based National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families. “The film addresses his personal sexual deviancy, but presents his research as being of the highest scientific integrity. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Most criticism centers around the men and women Kinsey questioned for his study.
“Kinsey presented as normal, data from incarcerated sex offenders, criminals and prostitutes,” said Brinkmann, author of The Kinsey Corruption. “He also engaged in criminal sexual experimentation on children and used ‘data’ that he collected from some of the world's most notorious pedophiles to arrive at his conclusions.”
Brinkmann based much of her work on research done by Judith Reisman, author of Kinsey: Crimes and Consequences.
The Kinsey Institute denies that Kinsey carried out experiments on children.
“He did not hire, collaborate or persuade people to carry out experiments on children,” its website claims. “Kinsey did talk to thousands of people about their sex lives, and some of the behaviors that they disclosed, including abuse of children, were illegal.”
Reisman's research pointing out Kinsey's flawed methodology has been corroborated by others. In April 2004, the American Legislative Exchange Council, an organization of 2,400 state legislators, issued a report titled: “Restoring Legal Protections for Women and Children: A Historical Analysis of the States' Criminal Codes.” Its focus was what Reisman termed Kinsey's “junk science” and its impact upon the 1955 American Law Institute's “Model Penal Code,” which resulted in greatly diminished penalties for sex crimes.
No Boycott Called
Reaction by film critics has been mixed. While Christianity Today, Focus on the Family and Ted Baehr's Movie Guide have criticized the film as amoral and unbalanced, others have lauded the film, mentioning it as a potential Oscar contender.
Rolling Stone movie reviewer Peter Travers described the film as “fun and informative.” “By the time Kinsey dies… he's gone from pioneer to martyr at the hands of the FBI and the religious right,” Travers wrote.
A Focus on the Family review began with a warning about not only the film, but the review itself: “This film features graphic sexual content. This review references that content and is not appropriate for children.”
Catholic News Service film reviewer David DiCerto not only didn't give the film the news service's worst rating — “O” for morally offensive — but he actually praised it.
“While not meriting an unconditional endorsement, the film has a lot going for it cinematically, including a handsome period look and a solid cast, anchored by Neeson's nuanced performance,” DiCerto wrote.
Adrienne Verrilli, spokeswoman for the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, told the Register that her organization did not have a public statement on the film. However, Verrilli told CNN that the sexual revolution of the 1960s would have happened even without Kinsey.
Kim Marshall, director of Generation Life Philadelphia, disagreed.
“Kinsey gave license to the erosion of morality, the loss of reverence for our bodies, the dignity of the human person and the sacredness of marriage,” Marshall said. “The way he presented his findings to society gave birth to comprehensive sexual education and the widespread use of contraception and abortion. What people perceive as liberating has turned out to be a form of enslavement for our culture.”
Bill Condon, a professed homosexual who wrote and directed the film, told CNN that Kinsey's research was open to legitimate criticism, but said those denouncing the movie were “confusing discussion with endorsement.”
Several of the groups protesting the film, however, are not advocating a boycott.
“Our goal is not a boycott, but education,” said Wheeler of Catholic Outreach. “The only way to reveal the truth is to expose the lies.”
“The great benefit of this movie is that it invites public scrutiny of Kinsey's research,” Craven said. “It offers Christians an opportunity to scrutinize the origins of the sexual revolution as it was presented under the guise of science.
“All Kinsey had to convince them was that sexual deviancy was commonplace in America and that there were no consequences,” Craven said. “But it wasn't commonplace until he convinced them of that, and now look at the consequences.”
According to Generation Life Philadelphia director Kim Marshall, those consequences include abortion and rampant divorce.
“We have more than 4,000 abortions per day, one in four college coeds are infected with a sexually transmitted disease, and a new marriage has a 45% chance of ending in divorce,” said Marshall, quoting statistics from the Centers for Disease Control. “The film doesn't expose Kinsey for who he really was, and for the damage he's really done.”
Tim Drake writes from Saint Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: BAD MEMORY ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Adoption, After Boston Changed Marriage DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:Dale O'Leary, a writer and researcher for the Catholic Medical Association, sees a dangerous trend afoot.
Despite the large number of securely married people waiting to adopt children, in some states same-sex couples are regarded as desirable adoptive parents with equal qualifications. Adoption agencies have disregarded evidence that persons with same-sex attractions are far more likely to suffer from psychological disorders than the general public and how those risk factors can negatively affect children, she said.
O'Leary spoke with Zenit news service and the Register about the problem.
What's the difference between a child being adopted by a same-sex couple and by a heterosexual couple?
If children adopted by married couples ask, “Why was I given up for adoption?”, what will the children who are given to same-sex couples ask? Will they not wonder why their mother would give them over to a permanently and purposefully motherless or fatherless family?
Sooner or later, the child will ask, “Why was I deserted by my father, given up by my mother and then treated by society as a second-class baby who could be placed in a second-class situation?”
The same-sex couples will not be able to admit to themselves the harm they have done to the children they love and so will blame “society” or “homophobia” for the problems they face. The children will not be able to voice their dissatisfaction and will at the same time feel guilty for not being grateful. The children will be made to feel there is something wrong with their natural desire for a parent of opposite sexes.
Are we seeing this happening?
Rosie O'Donnell, a very public lesbian and advocate for lesbian adoption, was asked what she would do if her adopted son wanted a father. According to O'Donnell, her son had already expressed that desire. When he was 6, he said, “I want to have a daddy.”
O'Donnell replied, “If you were to have a daddy, you wouldn't have me as a mommy because I'm the kind of mommy who wants another mommy. This is the way Mommy got born.” He said, “Okay, I'll just keep you.”
While O'Donnell undoubtedly sees this as a positive affirmation of same-sex adoption, there is another interpretation: She made her son feel his natural desire for a father is a rejection of her. That is a terrible burden to place on a little boy.
And it gets worse. In the same interview, O'Donnell recounted how she explained adoption to her son: “… He understands that there are different types of people; that he grew up in another lady's tummy, and that God looked inside and saw there was a mix-up and that God brought him to me.”
In other words, in light of this and the previous conversation between O'Donnell and her son, it is wrong for him to want a daddy because God decided that he shouldn't have one.
What dangers threaten children who are adopted by same-sex couples?
Children surrendered for adoption have been separated from their biological mothers and often from transitional caregivers. This can lead to attachment disorders. Attachment to a single maternal figure during the first eight months of life is crucial to emotional development. Raising a child with an attachment disorder requires special sensitivity on the part of his adoptive parents.
A friend who adopted a child from Eastern Europe discovered her adopted son had a severe attachment disorder. The specialist told her his ability to trust was so damaged that she should not leave him for any extended period for several years.
Because children surrendered for adoption have already suffered one major loss, it is very important they be placed in the most stable situation possible. Same-sex couples are the least stable arrangement. Homosexual male couples are very likely to break up; even if they remain together, they are rarely sexually faithful to one another. Lesbian couples are more likely to remain together than homosexual male couples, but they are not nearly as stable as married heterosexual couples.
Because of this, a child placed with a same-sex couple is at greater risk for a second major loss during childhood. The research on the effects of divorce on children is clear and unequivocal — divorce is profoundly damaging. The damage is necessarily greater for the adoptive child.
Michael Reagan — who was adopted by President Ronald Reagan and his first wife, who later divorced — speaks of divorce as two adults going into a child's room, breaking everything of value and then leaving the child to try to put the pieces back together. Michael Reagan, in his vulnerability, became the victim of a pedophile who took pornographic pictures of him and then used them to blackmail him into silence.
Have there been any studies done?
An article by Barbara Eisold titled “Recreating Mother” in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry reports on the effects of a moth-erless family on one little boy. This boy was conceived for a male couple using a surrogate mother who was paid for her service. His father, the older member of the couple, hired a nanny to care for the boy. When she became too emotionally involved, she was fired; another nanny was hired and then a third. The boy was then sent to nursery school. By the time he was 4, he was suffering from profound psychological problems, and a therapist was hired to treat him.
One of his problems was that he wanted to “buy” a mother. The therapist asks, “How do we explain why this child, the son of a male couple, seemed to need to construct a woman — ‘Mother’ — with whom he could play the role of loving boy/man? How did such an idea enter his mind? What inspired his intensity on the subject?”
The therapist was hired to convince this little boy that what was done to him was okay and that he must accept it. But the therapist missed the obvious: Children need mothers. This child was artificially deprived of what he needed.
What are some of the other problems with homosexual couples?
Well-designed studies published in the Archives of General Psychiatry (Herrell 1999, Fergusson 1999 and Sandfort 2001), in comparison with the general public, have found that persons with same-sex attractions are far more likely to suffer from psychological disorders.
One of the studies found that 78.6% of the gay, lesbian or bisexual group suffered from multiple disorders. Commenting on the studies in the same journal, J. Michael Bailey wrote: “These studies contain arguably the best published data on the association between homosexuality and psychopathology, and both (Herrell and Fergusson) converge on the same unhappy conclusion: Homosexual people are at substantially higher risk for some forms of emotional problems, including suicidality, major depression, and anxiety disorder. Preliminary results from a large, equally well-conducted Dutch study (Sandfort) generally corroborate these findings.” A same-sex couple has, by definition, two persons at high risk for psychological disorders.
Domestic violence is more common among same-sex couples. Men with same-sex attractions are more likely to become infected with an STD, including HIV, hepatitis or HPV, which can lead to cancer. Thus, several studies suggest that 50% of men who have sex with men will become HIV positive before age 50.
What does a child typically experience when adopted by a heterosexual couple?
Being surrendered for adoption by one's biological parents is a wounding experience. Pretending that adoption is just like having your own biological child and that there are no additional problems to overcome does a disservice to the adoptive child's struggle to understand, and to the adoptive parents' heroic love.
Adoptive parents tell their children how their brave mothers made the courageous decision to give their babies good homes with a mommy and daddy and all the advantages that brings. However, in spite of the reassurances from the adoptive parents and all their love and care, an adopted child almost always asks: “Why? Why did my mother give me up? Where was my father?”
These questions often persist well into adulthood. It takes emotional and psychological stability on the part of the adoptive parents to allow children to ask these questions.
Adoption by a happily, faithfully married husband and wife provides a healing environment for the child who has been surrendered by his or her biological parents. The faithful, committed love of the father for his wife and children teaches the adoptive child that all men do not walk away from their responsibilities to their children.
The strength under pressure of the adoptive mother teaches the child that even though his or her biological mother might not have thought she had the resources to bring up a child, the adoptive mother is strong enough to face any crisis and never stop loving or surrender a beloved child.
The day-to-day experience of seeing a loving married father and mother sacrifice and persevere gives the adopted child an image of true marital and parental love that can serve as a model for his or her own life. This is undoubtedly why, in spite of the initial wound, the majority of adopted children grow into healthy and happy adults who marry wisely and become good parents.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Experts Tussle Over 'The Way We Pray' DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:CHICAGO — Who decided what prayers are said in the Mass? How were those updated to the vernacular after the Second Vatican Council? And what did Vatican II say about translating the prayers of the Mass?
Though people in the pews may have thought little about these questions, experts who translate the Latin and plan the liturgy in American churches have discussed and debated them for the past 40 years. There are two clear sides to the debate, and they were on display at a recent Chicago conference on liturgical language.
“The fault line lies between those who see changes in the liturgy as an implementation of Vatican II, or a reversal of it,” explained Msgr. Robert Dempsey, pastor of St. Philip the Apostle Church in Northfield, Ill., who participated in the conference.
“Authentic Liturgy: Translation and Interpretation of Liturgical Texts” was sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago's Liturgical Institute, based at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, Oct. 27-29. Scholars and theologians deliberated over issues “in preparation for the publication of the English-language edition of the Roman Missal,” according to the conference program.
The new missal was issued in Latin in March 2002. It's still going through a long translation-and-review process by bishops from 11 English-speaking countries, and no one knows when it will be released. The only thing certain is that change is coming.
Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, signaled as much last year when he pronounced: “The do-it-yourself Mass has ended. Go in peace.”
Cardinal Arinze made the remark as the congregation was releasing the revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal, outlining the rules for celebration of Mass.
In Vatican II's first document, Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy), the council fathers called for “the reform and promotion of the liturgy,” undertaken “with great care” and depending “solely on the authority of the Church.” Latin was not dropped as a language of prayer, though it was no longer the only one.
But initial restrictions on vernacular translations rapidly gave way to rule-bending and widespread experimentation.
On the 40th anniversary of Sacrosanctum Concilium last December, Chicago's Cardinal Francis George addressed a Vatican conference as chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on the Liturgy. “My own belief is that liturgical renewal after the Council was treated as a program or movement for change, without enough thought being given to what happens in any community when its symbol system is disrupted,” he said. “A change in liturgy changes the context of the Church's life.”
Some believe the disruption is deep.
“There are many people out there who don't even know or remember that there ever was a Latin Mass,” said Kevin Haney, a Warrenville, Ill., historian active in liturgical affairs for two decades, and a participant in the liturgy conference. “We have lost so much, we don't even know what we lost.”
The Congregation for Divine Worship issued an instruction, Liturgiam authenticam (Authentic Liturgy), in May 2001 as an effort to restore liturgy with a new set of norms for translation. Some liturgists are still not ready to accept that.
“This is change, but not really an improvement,” said Father Paul Turner, pastor of St. Munchin Parish in Cameron, Mo. “Words have to click with ordinary people in the congregation,” he said in a talk on pastoral ramifications of translation. “Americans have a simple understanding of translations.” The 2001 instruction promotes language that is “not our vernacular,” he said.
“In its zeal to protect the past, Liturgiam authenticam threatens the future,” he continued. “Why are we having new translations? The only convincing pastoral reason will be the deepening of our prayer.”
That is the point of Liturgiam authenticam and the new missal, said Dennis McManus, associate director of the Secretariat for the Liturgy, which carries out the work of the U.S. bishops' Committee on the Liturgy. “Translating Scripture is a huge responsibility because it is divine revelation,” he said. “You can't be simply interpreting that. The liturgy takes text from Scripture in order to have Christological intent, and that has to be crystal clear to the worshipper.”
Inclusive Language
Experts like Father Turner are still promoting a translation theory known as dynamic equivalency — an approximation of the text's idea within a contemporary setting, used to make the message of a text more understandable to modern ears. But some experts believe this method is prone to translators' bias and ideological tampering. Gender words are a big issue here.
Father Turner contends that “the use of feminine pronouns for the Church narrows its use” and does not apply to the Body of Christ. “Contrast that with the use of dynamic equivalency, which better realizes the goals of faith and worship,” he added.
But dynamic equivalency takes away the authorship of God in sacred Scripture, McManus contended. He explained that the liturgy is the dialogue of the Church and Christ together, the bride and the bridegroom. “When God speaks to the Church, he speaks Christ, the Living Word. When the Church responds, she is speaking the liturgical word. Liturgical speech has to be understood as the bride answering back to the groom. That implies a whole set of understandings about translation. This liturgical speech is the most intimate possible, the speech of total surrender. It is a mystery that is huge.”
Turner wants to keep the focus on the assembly sharing the feast at the banquet table. He finds this “horizontal worship” desirable and fears that the new missal will change that.
Dempsey, among others, is hopeful that it will. “This will return to the original translation,” he said. “If the priests conscientiously try to learn their parts of the prayers and prefaces and deliver them well, the people will adjust well. The major change I see is that the way we pray in English is going to reflect more closely the way we pray in the Latin rite, with a strong vertical emphasis on God, not on ourselves.”
Cardinal Arinze stated it another way while in Chicago. “Even those who do Shakespeare say the words he wrote,” the cardinal said. “The liturgy is not the private property of anyone. It is the bride of Christ, and no one should put even one word in the bride of Christ that does not belong there.”
Sheila Gribben Liaugminas writes from Chicago.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Sheila Gribben Liaugminas ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:Critics of Catholic Health Plan Oppose ‘Choice’
The Sisters own and operate OSF Health Care Systems, which is offering the plan as part of President Bush's goal of letting faith-based organizations participate in government programs. Culture & Cosmos said Planned Parenthood was among the “typical litany of ‘pro-choice’ groups” opposing the plan and referred to an unsigned article on the organization's website stating that contraception was “basic health care” and that the OSF plan takes away the employees' right to choose. Federal employees are not obligated to participate in the OSF health plan.
Commenting on organizations opposed to faith-based health care, OSF's communications director James Ferrell was quoted as saying, “They aren't really pro-choice.”
Marriage Re-Designers Shift Focus to Culture War
Among the factors influencing the change of strategy is that many of the state amendments against same-sex “marriage” passed by overwhelming majorities in the Nov. 2 elections. Homosexual-rights advocates said in the story that the current challenge is to change public attitudes. Andrew Koppelman, a law professor at Northwestern University, said the forum for the debate over marriage has shifted, adding, “The gay marriage issue is being fought primarily in the culture, not in the courts.”
Pastor Asks Pro-Abortion Pol to Leave Choir
Father William Cleary, who made the request because of L'Italien's pro-abortion position said, “In this particular case, we're dealing with a person who is against the Church's position. I can't allow her to be in a public posture — to be standing up at the pulpit singing or directing singing.”
According to the northern Massachusetts daily, L'Italien said, “I was told that, because I am a legislator and a Democrat, I was being asked to step down.” Father Cleary countered that L'Italien's political affiliation was unrelated to his request. A lifelong member of the parish, L'Italien said she told Father Cleary she has her own personal view on abortion but is sworn to uphold the law.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Grass-Roots Efforts Made a Difference in Vote 2004 DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:PITTSBURGH — Jacqueline Halbig took time off from work this fall to join a group of political volunteers here. They went door to door and made hundreds of phone calls for their candidate.
Halbig and some 35 others were part of a grass-roots movement of people who saw much at stake in the 2004 presidential election, including the future of Roe v. Wade.
“People were coming to me. They had never done any volunteering before for any campaign,” Halbig said. “But they became concerned about values, and they became involved to work real hard to get this president (re-)elected. There was almost a life-and-death sense of importance.”
Apparently, it hasn't escaped the notice of the Republican Party that many Americans are fed up with a popular culture that degrades their values. For the 2004 campaign, the party had a volunteer team of 3,000 Catholic team leaders and put 52,000 volunteers into the field nationwide to get out the Catholic vote.
On the Sunday before Election Day in 12 battleground states, those volunteers — including Halbig's group — placed 76,000 voter guides on the windshields of cars at Catholic churches during Mass.
Catholics made up some 27% of voters Nov. 2, and 52% of them voted for the president.
Austin Ruse, president of the Culture of Life Foundation, said Republicans were successful with faithful Catholics because “they had a track record on the social issues, the non-negotiable issues that the Catholic Kerry couldn't match.” Ruse calls Bush “the most pro-life president we've ever had, and he had a track record to prove that on judges, on partial-birth abortion” and on de-funding the United Nations Population Fund, which has supported regimes that have forced abortions and sterilization on women. “He also came out in support of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which had great support from the laity and the bishops.”
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry — who spoke about the need to put his faith into action yet promised to expand destructive embryonic stem-cell research — was the only one of three major-party Catholic presidential candidates in history not to win the Catholic vote.
“He forced many priests and bishops to correct some of the errors that he was spreading about being able to disagree on issues such as life,” said Michael Hernon of Steubenville, Ohio, one of the organizers of the Catholic vote in that battleground state. “Priests realized that abortion is not a negotiable issue.”
Morality on Ballot
Father Frank Pavone recognized the effects of the grass-roots morality campaign. The leader of Priests for Life had encouraged many readers of his biweekly email column to participate.
“I would like to hear more about the kinds of activities you engaged in for the election, because I am preparing a report on what Catholics did nationwide, and will be able to present an overall picture of this activity to those who serve us in public office,” he wrote to supporters Nov. 15.
The grass-roots campaign wasn't the only factor at play, of course. Hernon, a Steubenville councilman-at-large, believes the strength of the Catholic vote is the result of an alignment of issues, organizations and thoughts.
“There were more bishops and organizations and individuals who are stepping up to the plate this time to clarify where the Church stands and to say what are the criteria that are important to a Catholic and some that you can say that we disagree on.”
He noted that all Catholic bishops in Ohio endorsed a state marriage amendment on the ballot. That amendment, along with pro-life issues, brought Catholic voters to the polls, he said.
In New Jersey, Father Michael Manning, coordinator of Respect Life Ministries for the Diocese of Trenton, participated in a meeting regarding voter registration over the summer. He told the audience that while registration is needed, it's more important that voters be educated on the issues. A group of five laymen took up his challenge and got 10 pastors along the Jersey shoreline to sponsor forums on Catholic teaching regarding life and family issues, according to one of the organizers, Robert Mylod of Manasquan, N.J.
Fighting Back
In pulpits, too, there seemed to be a new boldness. “I … made it very clear to the people that were listening that being Catholic and pro-choice … don't mix,” said Deacon Dana Christensen of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis. “Being Catholic means that we're pro-life, and I received so many compliments from people who said, ‘We've never heard a homily like this since we've been at the parish.’”
Frances Kissling, president of Catholics for a Free Choice, recognized the groundswell. Speaking Nov. 9 at a press conference of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice in Washington, D.C., she voiced concern about what she called a growing, ultraconservative lay movement developed and supported by the Vatican. She said “liberal, progressive, liberationist bishops” have been replaced by “conservative, orthodox” ones.
“This becomes the voice of the Catholic Church in the public arena,” she said, urging listeners to ponder how the “progressive” message may be heard for the next four years.
But Jacqueline Halbig said Kissling's followers will have to face a strong, enthusiastic, orthodox lay movement.
Hernon said Catholics have been awakened to a newfound voice of morality and that they won't give it up easily. “They saw in the media and in the special-interest groups, like Hollywood and the 527 groups and (Democrat activist) George Soros, an attack upon their ability to speak about the truth,” he said. “Catholics now realize they can have a voice on the national scene, and that is a beautiful thing.”
Keith Peters writes from Spotsylvania, Virginia.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Keith Peters ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Buttiglione's New Project: Defend Christian Rights In the New Europe DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — “Europe is wanting to go its own way without God,” a Benedictine monk recently remarked, “and I'm afraid that God is going to let them.”
But an Italian politician's plans to form a religious lobby group and “battle for the freedom of Christians” in Europe could go some way toward preventing this.
The proposal comes from Rocco Buttiglione, a friend and biographer of Pope John Paul II with close ties to the Vatican. In November, Buttiglione was forced by the European Parliament to withdraw as a candidate for a senior European Union post because of his Catholic values.
Buttiglione, the minister for Europe in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Italian government, said in an interview earlier this month that he intended to create a Christian network to exert pressure on institutions such as the European Parliament that discriminated against him.
“What I am thinking of is a group to battle for the freedom of Christians, which is the freedom of everyone, a group to fight against the kind of creeping totalitarianism which has emerged recently regarding my personal situation,” he said.
Senior aides to Buttiglione said the network would not take the form of a political party but be a “movement or association” committed to a greater role for Christian principles in public life.
The 56-year-old Christian Democrat, who as professor at Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome has helped write a number of papal encyclicals, was opposed in October by a group of socialist parliamentarians who believed his views on abortion and homosexual relationships made him unfit for the position of European justice commissioner.
‘Anti-Catholic Inquisition’
However, Buttiglione sees the controversy over his withdrawal from the commission as a “gift from God” and a chance to stand up to what has been called “secular fundamentalism” — which he prefers to call “an anti-Catholic inquisition.”
“We have to react,” he said during a debate in Milan in November. “Otherwise, they could one day say, ‘As you are Catholic, you cannot be a university professor or teacher.’”
Thousands of well-wishers from all over Europe have sent him messages of support, including Italy's Jewish and Muslim communities. “They are asking me not to let the matter drop but to get something going through political and cultural initiatives,” Buttiglione said in Rome earlier this month.
In other parts of Europe, where interfaith dialogue has seen significant advances in recent years, Muslim and Jewish groups also welcomed Buttiglione's firm position and his plan to create a lobby group. They see the proposal as an opportunity to work together on promoting shared moral values.
“In principle, we've so much in common that it's a shame we've not worked closer before in this area,” said Rabbi Jeremy Rosen, professor at the Faculty of Comparative Religion in Antwerp, Belgium. “We ought to come together on these issues (but) so far the emphasis has been on bridging the gap between the faiths, on how we overcome the past, and not enough effort has been made to work together on these issues in the European Union.”
Rosen's comments were echoed by Dr. Mohammed Abdul Bari, deputy secretary general of the Muslim Council of Great Britain. While unclear about the precise nature of Buttiglione's plans, Bari said Muslims welcome the initiative to bring moral values to public attention because Muslims “subscribe to these values.”
Bari was also in agreement with Buttiglione on resisting fundamentalism in secular society. “We must work against any kind of totalitarianism, whether it be religious or secular,” he said.
Natural Law
One way in which Buttiglione's group could effectively counter this fundamentalism is through encouraging greater debate of the natural moral law.
In an address to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in February, Pope John Paul II put the cause of humanity's lack of a common ethical foundation down to a rejection of the natural law. Such law, he said, is “accessible to every creature” and “points to the first essential norms that regulate moral life.”
Therefore, not only is natural law held by Catholics, but also other denominations, faiths and even atheists. Although it is interpreted slightly differently in Judaism and Islam and is dependent on Islamic law and tradition, the general belief that all humanity is stamped with the natural order of creation is common to all the Abrahamic faiths. It also served as the foundation for modern democracy, in which a general set of moral values on issues such as social justice and human rights were shared by everyone, including Enlightenment philosophers.
But for the past 30 years, the concept of natural law has eroded. John Paul has called this a “crisis in metaphysics” leading people to no longer “recognize a truth engraved on every human heart.” To redis-cover this truth, the Pope has called for the establishment of a platform of shared values around which can be developed “a constructive dialogue with all people of good will and, more generally, with secular society.”
Guiliano Ferrara, who participated in the debate with Buttiglione in Milan and describes himself as a non-believer, agrees “absolutely” with the Pope's call. He believes religious thinking has to be further integrated into the “reality of the world” rather than the object of “deconstructionist thinking.”
Ferrara, a philosopher and editor of a conservative Italian newspaper, is convinced that “the real challenge of our time is rationally reconstructing the Ten Commandments along the laws of nature, the natural law and rational law, in contact with the culture of the ancients.”
It is a task that, as the Buttiglione case showed, is an urgent one.
“We must recover the basis on which democracies have been established,” said Father Augustine Di Noia, undersecretary at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. “Otherwise, we're facing the specter of a phenomenon that the Pope is so concerned about: that if democracy is not based on truth, it's based on power.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:Pope Urges Democracy Over Violence in Iraq
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, Nov. 15 — Pope John Paul II, after a Nov. 15 audience with Albert Ismail Yelda, the new Iraqi ambassador to the Holy See, expressed hope that Iraq's upcoming elections would be “fair and transparent.”
The Holy Father spoke of his “ongoing concern for the many victims of terrorism and violence” and declared his wish that the Iraqi government “work untiringly to settle disputes and conflicts through dialogue and negotiation, having recourse to military force only as a last resort.”
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has said the elections, scheduled for January, will proceed, even as the insurgency against American occupation continues unabated, particularly in the so-called “Sunni triangle,” despite the success of U.S. Marines against rebels in Fallujah.
The Pope stressed the need to maintain the “clear distinction between the civil and religious spheres” in order to protect both the rule of law and freedom of worship.
Trentino to Provide Vatican Christmas Trees
ANSA, Nov. 15 — The great Christmas tree that adorns St. Peter's Square in Rome will be donated by Italy's Trentino region this year. The 110-foot pine from Adamello Brenta Park will be cut at the end of November and then lighted at a ceremony Dec. 15 to the accompaniment of music and festivities from Trentino bands, choirs and folklorists.
Thirty smaller trees from the region will adorn the Vatican itself. The honor of providing the Vatican trees is awarded to a different part of Italy every year.
Pope Commends Christian Unity
ASSOCIATED PRESS, Nov. 13 — At a vespers service marking the 40th anniversary of Second Vatican Council's decree on ecumenism, Pope John Paul II lauded the progress made since then toward Christian unity.
The Holy Father read only the beginning and end of the prepared text, the body of which was delivered by a bishop. The remarks noted, “Thanks to God, many differences and misunderstandings have been overcome,” but also warned of “new problems, especially in the field of ethics, where new divisions have opened up that impede us from bearing witness together.”
The “new divisions” cited by the Pope are believed to be the problems created by female and homosexual ordinations in Protestant denominations.
Franciscan Missionaries Observe Centenary
AFRICA NEWS, Nov. 12 — The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary celebrated the 100th anniversary of the death of its founder, Mary of the Passion, Nov. 15. A native of Brittany, France, she was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2002.
Born Helen de Chappotin, she founded the Missionaries of Mary in 1877. The first missionary congregation to be originated by a woman, it now consists of 7,500 sisters from 80 nationalities serving in 77 countries. It is particularly strong in Africa, with sisters in 18 countries.
A statement from the East African Provincial House in Kenya declared that the centennial celebrations “will especially remember in practical ways the poor and displaced people of our countries, the special focus of the FMM at the present moment.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: May All Nations Glorify the Lord! DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:Register Summary
More than 8,000 people crowded into the Paul VI Hall in Vatican City for Pope John Paul II's general audience Nov. 17. The Holy Father's weekly catechesis was devoted to Psalm 67, a short hymn of thanksgiving to God for the gifts he has bestowed upon the earth. The psalm is one of the many psalms and canticles in the Liturgy of the Hours.
“The blessing that Israel seeks from God is manifested concretely in fertile fields and in fruitfulness, in other words, in the gift of life,” the Pope said. “Thanks to Israel's quest for this blessing, all mankind will now be able to know the Lord's ‘rule’ and ‘saving power,’ that is, his plan for salvation. It has now been revealed to all cultures and to all societies that God judges and governs peoples and nations from every part of the world, leading each and every one of them to the prospect of justice and peace.”
The Holy Father pointed out that the psalm alludes to the wall that separated the Jews and the pagans in the temple of Jerusalem, which St. Paul describes in his Letter to the Ephesians. “There is a message for us here,” John Paul II said. “We have to break down walls of division, hostility and hatred so that the family of God's children can gather together in harmony around one table to bless and praise their creator for the gifts he lavishes upon us all, without any distinction.”
Pope John Paul II concluded his reflections by emphasizing the fact that the Fathers of the Church often interpreted Psalm 67 in a way that focused both on Jesus and Mary. “For the Fathers of the Church,” he noted, “‘the earth that has yielded its harvest’ is the Virgin Mary who gave birth to Christ our Lord.”
“The earth has yielded its harvest,” the psalmist exclaims in Psalm 67, one of the texts that is part of the Liturgy of the Hours' evening prayer. This phrase is reminiscent of a hymn of thanksgiving that is offered to the Creator for the gifts of this earth, which are a sign of God's blessing.
But this natural element is intimately intertwined with a historical element: Nature's harvests are considered opportunities to ask God once again to bless his people (see verses 2, 7 and 8) so that all the nations of the earth will turn to Israel and seek in her the means of finding God, their savior.
There is, therefore, a universal and a missionary perspective in this poetic work that flows from the promise God made to Abraham: “And all the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you” (Genesis 12:3; see 18:18; 28:14).
God's Blessing
The blessing that Israel seeks from God is manifested concretely in fertile fields and in fruitfulness, in other words, in the gift of life. For this reason, the psalm opens with a verse (see Psalm 67:2) that recalls the famous priestly blessing recorded in the Book of Numbers: “The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!” (Numbers 6:24-26).
This theme of blessing is echoed at the end of the psalm, where the earth's harvest appears once again (see Psalm 67:7-8). Here, we encounter the universal theme that gives an amazingly broader perspective to the spiritual nature of this entire hymn. There is an openness that reflects the sensitivity of an Israel that is now ready to confront all the peoples of the earth. The composition of this psalm can probably be dated to a time after the exile in Babylon, when the people began life as a diaspora among foreign nations and in new regions.
God's Plan of Salvation
Thanks to Israel's quest for this blessing, all mankind will now be able to know the Lord's “rule” and “saving power” (see verse 3), that is, his plan for salvation. It has now been revealed to all cultures and to all societies that God judges and governs peoples and nations from every part of the world, leading each and every one of them to the prospect of justice and peace (see verse 5). This is the great ideal to which we are called and this is the news that involves each and every one of us, which springs forth from Psalm 67 and from many other prophetic words (see Isaiah 2:1-5; 60:1-22; Job 4:1-11; Zephaniah 3:9-10; Malachi 1:11).
This is also what Christianity proclaims and what St. Paul describes, when he reminds us that the salvation of all people is the heart of the “mystery,” that is, God's plan of salvation: “The Gentiles are co-heirs, members of the same body, and co-partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel” (Ephesians 3:6).
Israel is now able to ask God to let all nations take part in his praise. It will be a universal chorus: the words, “May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you!” are repeated in the psalm (see Psalm 67:4,6).
The hope to which this psalm aspires foreshadows an event described in the Letter to the Ephesians, which probably is a reference to the wall in the temple of Jerusalem that separated the Jews and the pagans: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity … So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:13-14,19).
There is a message for us here: We have to break down walls of division, hostility and hatred, so that the family of God's children can gather together in harmony around one table to bless and praise their Creator for the gifts he lavishes upon us all, without any distinction (see Matthew 5:43-48).
Jesus and Mary
Our Christian tradition has interpreted Psalm 67 in both a Chris-tological and Mariological sense. For the Fathers of the Church, “the earth that has yielded its harvest” is the Virgin Mary who gave birth to Christ our Lord.
Thus, for example, St. Gregory the Great comments on this verse in his Commentary on the First Book of Kings, where this verse intersects with many other passages from Scripture: “Mary is rightly called a ‘mountain rich in fruits’ because she gave birth to a splendid fruit — namely, a new man. Gazing upon her beauty adorned in the glory of her fecundity, the prophet exclaims: ‘But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom’ (Isaiah 11:1). David, exulting at the fruit of this mountain, tells God: ‘May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you! The earth has yielded its harvest.’ Yes, the earth has yielded its harvest because the one to whom the Virgin has given birth was not conceived through the work of man, but rather because the Holy Spirit overshadowed her. It is for this reason that the Lord says to David, his prophet and king: ‘Your own offspring I will set on your throne’ (Psalm 132:11).
‘“It is for this reason that Isaiah affirms: ‘the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor’ (Isaiah 4:2). Indeed, he whom the Virgin bore was not merely a ‘holy man,’ but also ‘God almighty’ (Isaiah 9:5)” (Testi mariani del primo millennio, III, Rome, 1990, p. 625).
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Colombia's Peacemaker Priest's Challenge DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:ROME — Msgr. Héctor Fabio Hanao, the national director of Caritas Colombia and president of the Caritas Internationalis Peace and Reconciliation Working Group, has won international renown for his successful work in hostage negotiations with Colombian guerrillas.
Msgr. Fabio Hanao is currently a key player in a Caritas initiative to bring a just and negotiated peace to Colombia — a country bleeding from a 40-year civil war and regarded as the third worst humanitarian crisis in the world after Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He spoke recently with Register correspondent Edward Pentin in Rome.
What has been the key to the success of your mediation efforts?
Three points were very important to our negotiations. The first was the credibility of the holy Church in Colombia. The people believe in the Church and that was important for the guerrillas — to stay in contact with the Church because the poor people in Colombia know very well the position of the bishops' conference in Colombia in general and the people have a lot of respect for the Church.
The second point was that the message of the Church in Colombia is one in favor of peace. (Colombians) know very well that our position is not in favor of one or the other of the armed groups or the war. But the Catholic Church in Colombia is neutral and in favor of peace. It's working very hard for peace and in favor of the victims. This is important, not just for the kidnapped or hostages but also for the displaced people in the country.
The last point was because we built confidence in the negotiation. The negotiations took more than three months. We had conversations and took a lot of time to build confidence, to stay close to them and to show them that we are very committed to the victims.
So in the end they took the decision at the end to liberate the people because they believe the position of the Church is important for peace.
What has been a major challenge in convincing the conflicting parties to negotiate?
It's difficult to know their goal when they come into contact with us. We must be very careful because we don't know the real purpose of the conversations and what's going on in their minds.
But in principle, we start by having a very strong position in favor of peace and make clear that it's always important to have conversations and dialogue. So even if we're not always clear about their goals, we try to push them into a serious conversation and serious negotiations.
How do you push them?
We try first to convince them that violence is not the way to achieve social reforms in our country. We also try to discover their position, their proposals. It's important to listen for a long time to their ideas, help them have more confidence and to show them that there are other possibilities than using violence.
Is it important that they know that the other side is listening, that you're putting these points across to the opposing parties?
Yes, it's important to know they're listening and well understood by the other one. In my opinion, they feel they have a proposal, something to say and do for the country. And they feel the government and, in general, the institutions are not able to listen to them and not able to have serious talks with them. They feel society, in general, is looking to them just as criminals.
For example, when people speak about the links between drug trafficking and guerrillas and kidnapping people, it's hard to understand and hard to have a conversation in any way. You recognize that, in the beginning, they had political purpose, ideological ideas; it's possible to try to have something.
Do you think the Church has a lot of potential for mediation around the world, but which hasn't been fully realized yet?
I think the Catholic Church in the world has a tradition of negotiation, and it is growing in, for example, Latin America. I think that is important because in the center of the mandate of the Church is the ministry of reconciliation, so the Church must always and everywhere work for reconciliation. Even if you have a lot of people thinking in different ways and it's difficult for them to understand, it is important the Church tries to work on reconciliation, to build bridges.
Pope John Paul II said we are one human family; humanity must grow to be part of the human family. In the end, that is the idea — to convince everybody we are one family and we must try to do something to help the other one in different religions and cultures. To try to help everyone and help them live according to their human dignity.
Would you like to see more Catholics taking an active role in this area?
Yes. Sometimes when you go to high levels in the Church, you can find more people doing work in this area. But when you go to the grass-roots level, to families, neighborhoods, sometimes Catholics don't give that ministry of reconciliation. They are so divided at times. It could be very important in our Church, even at the grass-roots level, if we start living a real commitment to reconciliation. That could be very important, because to have reconciliation in the world doesn't start at the high level but starts from the base, the grass roots.
Do you think the Church should place more emphasis on this part of our faith?
The Church has a mandate which is evangelization, which means celebration, the holy Mass, the sacraments, to preach the Gospel to people, to baptize them. But you have one dimension of this which is very important — the social dimension of the Gospel, and the social dimension of the faith. In that social dimension, you have to work for victims and for reconciliation.
Our Church, and Christians in the world, feel this a lot. We are here to be a witness of reconciliation. Christ gave us reconciliation, and we must cooperate with Christ to be reconciled to one another.
----- EXCERPT: 'We Are Here to Witness to Reconciliation' ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:Call Him Dr. Brubeck
ASCRIBE NEWSWIRE, Nov. 15 — American pianist and jazz legend Dave Brubeck has been awarded an honorary doctorate in sacred theology from Switzerland's University of Fribourg in recognition of his sacred compositions.
Although secular, the university has a theology department under the auspices of the Holy See; it is administered by the Dominican Order.
A California native, Brubeck led the original Dave Brubeck Quartet from 1950 to 1967. The group defined “college jazz” through its albums and hit songs, which included “Take Five” and “Blue Rondo a la Turk,” the latter a re-arrangement of a Mozart sonata.
Brubeck's sacred compositions include the oratorio “The Light in the Wilderness,” based on the words of Christ; “Upon This Rock,” a chorale and fugue written for the entrance of Pope John Paul II; and the Mass “To Hope: A Celebration,” which Brubeck performed in Fribourg Nov. 21.
The citation for Brubeck's doctorate reads in part, “Like the Levites of old who were appointed by God to sing his praises, you have for over 40 years placed your considerable musical gifts in the service of strengthening people's knowledge of God and of helping them to discover their vocation to love God and even their enemies.”
Brubeck, who will turn 84 Dec. 6, responded, “I am both very humbled and deeply grateful to receive this honorary degree. I am very aware how little I know compared to the theologians of the world.”
French Town Fights ‘Da Vinci Code’ Vandals
The book, a lurid compilation of time-worn, anti-Catholic conspiracy theories, has resulted in tens of thousands of devotees arriving in Rennes-Le-Chateau and searching for, among other things, the body of 19th-century parish priest Abbe Berenger Sauniere, a supposed possessor of occult secrets.
After grave robbers attempted to tunnel under the 12th-century church, Mayor Jean-Francois L'Huilier reburied the priest in the museum next door, under a 3.5-ton sarcophagus surrounded by five cubic meters of concrete.
“It'll take one hell of a lot of explosives to get through that,” the mayor said, adding, “It's a well-written book, but it's a novel, not a historical document. It astonished me that some readers get to the end and think it's true.”
Tunisian Catholics Organize Augustinian Celebration
CATHOLIC INFORMATION SERVICE FOR AFRICA, Nov. 16 — The Archdiocese of Tunisia will hold celebrations next month to mark the 1,650th anniversary of the birth of St. Augustine of Hippo.
St. Augustine was born at Tagaste, located in present-day Tunisia, on Nov. 13, 354. The archdiocesan celebration, which will focus on the theme of “St. Augustine: His African Roots and Universality,” will be held at the Acropolis of Carthage from Dec. 15-Jan. 10.
St. Augustine, who converted to Christianity after a dissolute youth, was baptized in Milan, Italy, in 387. He returned to his native North Africa and was ordained in 391.
He became bishop of Hippo (now Annaba, Algeria) in 395.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Moral-Values Debate DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:We left one columnist's views out of our election coverage. A computer glitch kept us from reading it until now. It may be just as well. The subject of her column — moral-values voters — was being hotly debated right after the election.
It all started when exit polls said voters most often cited “moral values” as their reason for voting. The conventional wisdom quickly developed that religious voters gave Bush his win.
But New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer cast doubt on the conventional wisdom. If religious voters put Bush over the top, how come he didn't do better in states where marriage was on the ballot, drawing many religious voters to the polls? And isn't “moral values” too vague a term to tell us anything meaningful about these voters?
Defenders of the moral-values vote answered that more than 80% of these moral-values voters chose Bush. The voters considered the term meaningful enough to make them favor one candidate. This doesn't mean that there is a moral consensus in the country. But it does mean that moral issues matter to voters.
This is where Cathy Cleaver Ruse comes in. She's the director of planning and information of the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. All of this is by way of introducing her column about moral values. It was left out of our election commentary, but now deserves the spotlight as our guest editorial:
For the Republicans this campaign was about fighting terrorism. For the Democrats it was about the president's running of the war in Iraq. The media talked endlessly about the economy.
So who knew? Who knew that, on election night, the news media would announce that there was a more pressing issue that motivated people to vote this year — that the issue most voters thought was most important in this election was “moral values”?
In fact, the National Election Pool, the official election source for broadcast and cable television stations, said that nearly a quarter of all voters cited moral values as the most important issue on their minds. The economy and jobs was the next most important issue, followed by terrorism, followed by the war in Iraq. And while voters were divided almost evenly on these issues, the issue of moral values was different. Of the 22% of Americans citing moral values as their top concern, 80% voted for Bush and 18% voted for Kerry.
Moral values beat out Iraq? Terrorism? The economy? And jobs? How could this be?
President Bush mentioned abortion once during his speech at the convention. He mentioned marriage once. He mentioned both just a few times during the debates. Certainly the president mentioned these issues on the stump. He called marriage and the sanctity of life “the values that are important to our nation.” In speeches he would routinely say, “I stand for marriage and family, which are the foundations of our society. I stand for a culture of life in which every person matters and every being counts.” Even so, these were not the centerpiece of his campaign. Far from it.
For his part, Sen. John Kerry stayed as far from these issues as he possibly could. On abortion, he said things like, “I believe that I can't legislate … my article of faith.” On embryo-destructive research, he vowed to “embrace empirical science based on facts, not ideology.” On same-sex marriage he opposed a constitutional amendment on the grounds that there's already a federal law in place — a law he voted against.
Whether he intended it or not, Senator Kerry became the choice of the Hollywood elites and, through this association, his values were identified as their values. As President Bush said during the campaign: “Most of our families don't look to Hollywood as a source of values.”
The election hit Hollywood hard. The editor of the Hollywood Reporter said, “All the studio execs are bummed. I have to tell you, when gay marriage becomes a bigger issue than the Iraq war, we're missing something.”
Truer words were never spoken. They're missing something. Moral values were not invited into the polling booth, but they managed to elbow their way in anyway. How did this happen? We will no doubt be chewing on this question for weeks and months to come. But there are a few things we ought to remember. Through the grassroots efforts of Catholics and others, 11 states placed initiatives on their ballots to defend traditional marriage. Every one passed handily.
Catholic activist like Karl Keating of Catholic Answers got his pro-life voter guide into the hands of millions of Catholics. And on the fundamental issues of the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage, Catholic bishops from coast to coast spoke out in an unprecedented way. The election was a teaching moment, and they took it.
Come to think of it, we all did.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:When Obedience Is Criminal
I was completely shocked and stunned to read the Sept. 5-11 editorial excusing Judge Richard Casey for his decision striking down the congressional ban on partial-birth abortion (“Judge Casey: Pro-Life, Pro-Law?”).
The judgment of Judge Casey's soul is in the hands of God. We can hope that his attendance at daily Mass and his devotion to the rosary will result in his obtaining the graces necessary to publicly repent of this objectively grave mortal sin, not only of injustice, but also of scandal. However, we are obliged (see Catechism, No. 2480) to avoid words and attitudes that would encourage another in perverse conduct and, thus, we are obliged to tell the truth and not to whitewash the gravity of the offense.
The idea that the “law of the land” required Judge Casey to overturn the ban evidences a completely erroneous view of law. It has long been the Christian tradition, that an objectively unjust law is no law and does not bind. No matter what the Supreme Court said in Stenberg v. Car-hart or elsewhere, it simply has no God-given authority whatsoever to tell a lesser magistrate he must rule in favor of the “right” to kill unborn children. Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton and Stenberg v. Carhart are not acts of law, understood in the proper sense as ordinances for the common good. In fact, they constitute tyranny. Obeying them is not respecting the “rule of law,” just the opposite: This is a case where obedience to an unjust law becomes a crime.
Also, all justices, at all levels of the judiciary, are themselves legally bound by the Constitution and have no right whatsoever, whether moral or legal, to decide that a woman's alleged “right to privacy” should take precedence over the right to life of an innocent. When they attempt this, they are acting ex lex, outside the proper sphere of their judicial authority. Thus a decision by Judge Casey to uphold the ban would have been the legally, as well as morally, correct decision, according to the “rule of law” and the Constitution he swore an oath to uphold — while his unfortunate actual decision is void of legal, as well as moral, validity.
Vincent J. Schmithorst
Cincinnati, Ohio
Natural vs. Man-Made
I found the discussion of the issues involved in Judge Casey's decision interesting (“Judge Casey: Pro-Life, Pro-Law?”, Editorial, Sept. 5-11). I will leave it to the legal scholars to debate whether or not there was a possible legal interpretation that would have allowed Judge Casey to find in favor of the partial-birth abortion ban.
I think the moral situation needs further examination. The Church teaches that we are obliged to obey the just laws of the land, but we are not required to obey manifestly unjust laws. We should oppose them. A soldier is required to obey his commander, but not when commanded to do something clearly evil.
By extension I would propose that, when one takes an oath to uphold the law of the land or interpret the law of the land, this, in reality, only applies to just laws. There is a higher law — God's law or the natural law — that does take precedence. Legislators should not work to pass laws supporting abortion even though it is the law of the land. It also seems to me that judges should not reaffirm abortion laws even though it is the law of the land. I do not think a judge's oath to uphold man-made laws supercedes his or her obligation to uphold the natural law.
Pope John Paul II says in Evangelium Vitae: “Abortion and euthanasia are thus crimes which no human law can claim to legitimize. There is no obligation in conscience to obey such laws; instead there is a grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection.”
James E. Brown Jr., M.D.
Metairie, Louisiana
Pro-Life Infertility
I appreciate the focus that the Register has given to the moral implications regarding infertility treatment (“Helping Fertility the Natural Way,” Oct. 17-23, and “Couples Ask: What's Wrong With In-Vitro Fertilization?”, Aug. 8-14). I also appreciate that you offer information so as to help couples make better moral treatment choices. God bless!
Ten percent of all married couples struggle with some kind of infertility during the course of married life. Most couples will state that it is their “right” to conceive and carry a child to birth. Unfortunately, most married Catholics who struggle with infertility hold a similar conviction.
The personal, spiritual and societal consequences of manipulating reproduction have led to grave and dark behaviors. It has been my experience that the message of personal pro-life choices in the midst of suffering through infertility is still too quiet.
Catholics need to speak out against the horrendous medical practices and, at the same time, offer hope, encouragement and testimony to suffering couples.
Janis Parker
Squaw Valley, California
We Have Prevailed
Regarding “Catholic Voters Score Pro-Life Gains” (Nov. 14-20):
Praise Our Lord, we have prevailed through prayer, correct thinking and action at the polls on Nov. 2. This 84-year-old is left wondering about one specific point. In the days and months and years ahead, will the mainstream media begin tweaking numbers so that poor Ralph Nader — a man of principle, though we may disagree on many points — will be blamed for “costing” Kerry the election as he was blamed four years ago?
If I may belabor another point, why do they still advocate fetal stem-cell research? After well over 20 years, this research is still full of “maybes” and “possibilities,” with no positive results. Use of adult stem cells (and cells drawn from babies' umbilical cords), on the other hand, has resulted in some progress in treatment of 56 diseases. Political and financial considerations — again?
Harriet D. Fox
Mount Sinai, New York
Not-So-Beautiful Noise
I read with interest Barbara Nicolosi's on-target essay, “Beauty Will Save the World” (Commentary & Opinion, Oct. 3-9). It is my opinion that this piece should be required reading for all pastors.
The number of times that I have been distracted at Mass by the cacophonous sounds of a well-intentioned, unprepared, tone-deaf music director are too many to count. When are pastors going to realize that well-performed music enhances the liturgy and has the ability to uplift the soul? It does not take a Ph.D. to realize that a dignified Mass, with a well-prepared homily and good music executed by professional musicians, is certainly going to attract more congregants.
Unfortunately, in order to save a few hundred dollars on the weekend, some pastors would rather settle for the equivalent of Catholic karaoke. The fact that those pastors do not care in what manner the Mass is presented to our Lord speaks volumes.
The sacrifice of the Mass is a beautiful rite. When it is celebrated, it should be done so with the very best that we have to offer.
Regina Harm
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Socialism Suffocates DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:The problems mentioned in “Can St. George's Land Rise Again?” (Commentary & Opinion, Sept. 5-11) result largely from socialism with its rejection of moral principles and emphasis on self-deification.
Pope Leo XIII said of socialism that it is incompatible with the Catholic faith and with a just structuring of civil society. The 94-year history of socialist regimes has proven Pope Leo right on both counts. Wherever socialists prevailed, the “elite” got rich and the poor became more numerous.
Both theory and practice demonstrate the incompatibility of Catholicism and socialism. Catholics believe that, through baptism, Christ establishes a personal bond between himself and the baptized. The remainder of Catholic belief and practice concerns either nourishing that bond or else flows from that bond into the community. When Christ lives in us, he uses grace, faith, trust and love to perfect his image in us and unite us closely to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is the vine, and we are the branches; if separated from him, we are lifeless and useless branches.
Authentic socialists reject not only God, but also any sort of objective morality. The early socialists told their disciples to believe “there is no God but me and the truth is whatever I say it is.” (When I first read that advice many years ago, I thought no one was ignorant enough to take such advice; now network TV has convinced me I was wrong.) Socialists are told to manipulate others by helping them enough to make them dependent on you so that you can control them. Politicians use this ploy often today. Socialists see other people, not as children of God, but merely as pawns to be manipulated or as obstacles to be eliminated.
Catholicism is about serving others; socialism is about dominating others. Socialists hate and try to eliminate all opposition. They especially hate the Church, because in helping the needy, Catholics make people less vulnerable to socialist domination. Socialists have never hesitated to persecute the Church and its members when they could.
Oscar Hudson
Austin, Texas
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: The President and 'First Lady' DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:This Dec. 8, for a change, the ballots are counted, the election is over, and we have re-elected a president.
The bitterly fought campaign highlighted not only the differences between the candidates, but also the differences among the electorate.
It was the first campaign in my lifetime in which Catholic issues so dominated the campaign. Not a week went by without talk of abortion, the Catholic vote and some bishop's pronouncement on the Communion controversy.
The two candidates — the president and the senator — had significantly different approaches to how they used, or did not use, their faith during the campaign. It is a paradox of monumental proportions that Sen. John F. Kerry — who tried so desperately to wrap himself in the mantle of that other Catholic war hero from Boston — could be so unlike him. Sure, the two JFKs shared the same initials, the wealthy wife, the war service and a geographic point of reference, but on matters of faith, they were miles apart.
Throughout the 2004 campaign, I was struck by how one candidate — a Methodist — could be so respectful of the Church's teachings, while the other — raised a Catholic — could have such contempt for those very same teachings.
I couldn't help but notice, too, their different approaches to the woman we celebrate Dec. 8: Christ's mother, Mary.
Perhaps you, too, saw the photo making the rounds on the Internet after the election. Taken the evening of the election, the photograph shows three generations of the Bush family gathered in the west sitting hall of the White House residence, watching the election returns.
There, on the end table, just behind daughter Barbara's elbow, was a framed icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Christ child. White House photographs, like Hollywood films, are usually well thought-out. Each image is there for a reason. That icon was not there by mere happenstance.
Looking through old photographs of the west sitting hall from the Johnson to the Clinton administrations, it became clear to me that the icon is something the Bush family brought with them. The White House's previous occupant had the very same end table decorated with family photographs.
Claire Faulkner, with the White House Ushers' Office, told me the icon was a “First Family personal item” and that she could not tell me anything more about it. Still, one wonders whether it was a gift from a foreign head of state, someone in the Vatican, or a friend or family member such as the president's Catholic brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Whatever its origin, the icon's placement in the photograph is a far cry from the reception that the mother of Christ received by the Kerry staff during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania.
Jeannie McMahon of Upper Darby, Pa., told me of a visit by the Kerry campaign to her home, prior to one of Kerry's front-porch visits. Kerry was considering using the McMahons' porch for a press conference and had sent a Democratic county staffer to visit the home.
While looking for possible television angles, the staffer told McMahon, “This would have to be removed.”
“What? The azalea?” McMahon asked.
“This statue,” the staffer said, pointing to the McMahons' white Our Lady of Grace statue in the front lawn.
“My Blessed Mother statue?” McMahon exclaimed.
“Yes, this is a religious symbol,” he replied.
“Well, I am a religious person,” she told the staffer, informing him that they wouldn't be removing it. Consequently, they were told that their home was out of the running.
These two disparate images serve as an allegory for what happened on election night, when Catholics supported the Republican candidate for the first time in decades. Some peg the percentage of Mass-going Catholics who supported Bush as being as high as 65%.
One candidate seemed to make religion an awkward part of his life. He sometimes self-consciously posed in religious places, even in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary at another point in the campaign. Sometimes he self-consciously removed religious images from the picture. Religion seemed something external to him, something he was using as a tool one way or the other. In the third debate, when he was asked about his faith, he did the same thing.
The other candidate seemed insouciant in his faith. Is the picture on his nightstand meant to reach out to Catholics? Not necessarily. A piece of Western art might do that job better. Is it meant to reach out to Orthodox Christians, then? Not likely. It's probably just something Bush liked — a picture of Christ, his savior, and a work of art. So he, or Laura, put it in a place of honor.
That's what religion should be. It should be something that is part of your life, something in the background, perhaps, but always there.
This Dec. 8, Catholics remember that Mary, the mother of God, is our real “first lady.” May we trust our country and its president to her tender care.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray that faith in your son will always have a natural place in our nation.
Tim Drake's newest book is Young and Catholic: The Face of Tomorrow's Church (Sophia Institute Press, 2004).
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: ANOTHER PASSION CONTROVERSY DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:If you're like many people, you are probably pretty fed up with the seemingly endless controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's blockbuster film The Passion of the Christ.
After ominous predictions that the film would stir up anti-Jewish violence faded into unreality and box-office sales finally began to trail off, it seemed reasonable to think that Passion critics would simply cut their losses and get on with life. Yet, recent events — including the enormously successful release of the DVD version of the movie and the beatification of the visionary German nun Anne Catherine Emmerich, dubbed “Gibson's muse” — have opened old wounds and once again aroused anti-Passion ardor among the embattled few.
This past September, Peter Pettit, director of the Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding of Muhlenberg College, and John Merkle, associate director of the Jay Phillips Center for Jewish-Christian Learning, released a statement condemning the film. Another 139 people, identified as “Christian scholars and leaders,” appended their signatures to the statement, which led a colleague of mine to remark with admiration that, despite the evidence heaped against them, this fringe element of the theologians guild would simply never accept that they were wrong about the film.
One cannot help but think of the heroic-pathetic figure of the black knight in the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, who — in spite of a progressive loss of limbs — valiantly struggles on, assuring his adversary that such losses are “only a flesh wound.”
The paternalistic air of the statement certainly didn't help the signers' cause. Much as an elementary-school teacher must patiently spell out concepts to the slower students in the class, the academics condescendingly “acknowledge that many who see the film are honestly unaware of its anti-Jewish elements.” But they “feel bound by our knowledge and our faith … to alert our fellow Christians to the film's misrepresentations and insinuations.”
In other words, even if our fellow Christians are too obtuse to recognize anti-Semitism when they see it, we — the enlightened few — feel obliged to point it out. Something akin to a theological noblesse oblige of the semi-skilled knowledge class.
I must hasten to add that many of the document's signers were undoubtedly motivated by the noblest sentiments and a sincere desire to enhance Jewish-Christian relations. Following the sterling example of Pope John Paul II, Christians must indeed repudiate the sins committed against Jews by their co-religionists and disassociate themselves from any vestiges of anti-Jewish attitudes that stubbornly persist even today. Unfortunately, the statement's signers have chosen a most wrong-headed path to accomplish their goal.
By smearing a faith-filled representation of Christ's passion as antiSemitic, the statement runs the risk of replicating the syndrome of the boy who cried wolf, who, having repeatedly sounded the alarm without cause, failed to receive help when the real enemy finally appeared.
The space of this column is insufficient to comment on all the errors that the authors managed to pack into their brief statement, but a few examples should suffice. First, the document begins by casting Gibson's film in the tradition of medieval Passion plays, a sort of guilt-by-association ploy unworthy of thinking persons. The only thing the film has in common with Passion plays is the subject matter, and to suggest otherwise is disingenuous. As viewers have recognized, the film deserves to be judged on its own merits, rather than disqualified a priori as hateful or provocative.
Secondly, the document calls into question the historicity of the Gospel accounts, “since the Gospels themselves are products of an historical situation that drew strong contrasts between Jesus and his Jewish kinfolk at the expense of his affinity and affection for them.” While people are free to accept or deny the historical validity of the Gospels, it should be understood that the Catholic Church “unhesitatingly affirms” the historicity of the four Gospel accounts (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 126).
The signers of the statement hail from a number of Christian communions, thus unanimity on this point is not to be expected. Nonetheless, a substantial majority of Christians will clearly identify with the Catholic position here. After all, if Christians are not permitted to evaluate a representation of the Passion by its fidelity to the Gospel accounts, one wonders what source could possibly be fit for such a task.
One thing is certain: Jesus Christ became a sign of contadiction.
Having excluded the Gospels as a historical source, the rest of the deconstruction of the film comes naturally. For instance, the document states that the film “has generated a great variety of responses from viewers, which testifies to the ambiguity of its central message.” I am personally unaware of any film in the history of cinema that generated a homogeneous reaction from viewers, and I am not sure that such a phenomenon is possible, or even desirable.
One thing is certain: Jesus Christ himself (due to no ambiguity of his message) generated an immense diversity of responses, so much so that he became a “sign of contradiction” and divided families down the middle (see Luke 12:51-53). And referring to the diametrically opposed responses to Christ's Passion, St. Paul writes: “We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23-24). If the historical event of Christ's death provoked such diverse and even contrary reactions, then one would expect an artistic rendering of the event to generate a similar response.
Fortunately, this dogged resistance to the film pales in comparison to the overwhelmingly positive response by most scholars and ordinary viewers. On Nov. 7, the movie received its umpteenth prize, this time from the Catholics in Media Associates which gave Gibson its yearly film award at the association's 12th annual Mass and luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Also registering their praise for the film are the droves of DVD buyers, who purchased a record 9 million copies in the first three weeks after its release.
Fortunately, in a free society, people can still make up their own minds.
Father Thomas Williams, LC, is dean of the theology school at Rome's Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University and theological consultant for the making of The Passion of the Christ.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Thomas Williams ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Kinsey and What's Normal DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:A silver lining to the cloud that is Hollywood's Kinsey can be found in how Alfred Kinsey's views on sex are again coming under critical scrutiny, as is the fuzzy thinking often used to propagate them.
Statisticians and researchers can show through detailed analysis how wrong Kinsey's supposedly scientific conclusions were. Here I focus on the question of normality and how we are supposed to readjust our views of morality based on Kinsey.
The famous studies of human sexuality conducted by Kinsey claimed that a high percentage of people engage in what by traditional moral standards is sexually immoral behavior. Many of Kinsey's results have been challenged by other studies and are generally held by many experts to have been refuted. Some scholars argue that Kinsey deliberately skewed the results to advance his sexually permissive worldview.
But what if Kinsey's figures had been correct? The conclusion many people think we must draw from Kinsey — and which many people have drawn — is that traditional moral norms regarding sex aren't good for people. Sexual license, on this view, is actually a good thing.
Let's set aside the pragmatic arguments from the social and personal disasters generated by the sexual revolution. Instead, consider the sheer logic (or illogic) of the argument from statistics for revising sexual morality.
Does it follow that if, say, most married people commit adultery at some point or another — as Kinsey claimed, but other researchers haven't corroborated — that adultery must be moral? In other words, if the normal conduct married people exhibit, whatever they may claim to do, is adulterous, should that lead us to conclude that fidelity in marriage is wrong and adultery is good?
Let's try that logic in other areas of life. How many of us have never told a lie? Does the fact that almost every human being has lied mean that lying is acceptable? Some people justify lying in order to save lives (e.g., hiding Jews from Nazis) or to avoid hurting people's feelings (that “white lie” you told your mother about her new dress). Moralists debate and quibble over whether and the extent to which such things are, in fact, lies. But most people at one time or another have lied for reasons they themselves otherwise acknowledge are wrong. Does this mean lying in this way should be commended because it is, statistically speaking, “normal”?
Or how many of us have never stolen something, even if only a candy bar as a child? Does the fact that all of us or most of us have done it at some level at least make theft morally acceptable, or something to be extolled?
If neither lying nor theft can be justified by an appeal to numbers, why, then, should we conclude that marital infidelity could be baptized if we found — contrary to what researchers seem to have found — that most married men and women are unfaithful to their spouses? One hundred percent of us do something immoral or unethical at one time or another. That doesn't make it “morally acceptable” to be immoral or unethical, regardless of whether we would call doing wrong “normal.”
The problem is, “normal” can mean what everyone or most everyone does. That's what we might call statistical normality. But “normal” can also mean “according to the norm,” the standard concerning the good that ought to be done and evil that ought to be avoided. That's what we might call moral normality. What is statistically “normal” is frequently not morally normal, which is why we exalt the virtuous man. He stands out precisely because he is not “normal,” statistically speaking, but is “morally normal” in that he sets the standard or norm the rest of us should strive for.
It's no good simply looking to statistical normality to determine moral normality — certainly not if traditional Christianity is right about fallen humanity. Most of us are, in varying degrees, hypocrites, saying one thing and doing another. The best most of us can hope for in this life is to become honest hypocrites, people who admit we fall short of the standards we nevertheless insist upon as good and right.
Hypocrisy is, as H.L. Mencken observed, the compliment vice pays to virtue. The moral masks we hypocrites wear reveal what we should look like, even while they conceal, or attempt to conceal, our true faces.
In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis noted how most human beings know at least two basic facts regarding right and wrong: (1) that there is a universal, objective moral law and (2) that we all violate it. This is another way of saying that what is normal, as far as what human beings should do, isn't normal as far as what human beings in fact do. Even if Kinsey had discovered evidence of what is normal regarding sex in the second sense of normal, it wouldn't have undercut the evidence (or the ethical demands) of what is normal in the first sense. To claim otherwise, as Kinsey did, is to voice not a mature sense of morality as some claim, but the most childish of retorts to justify evil behavior: “Everybody else is doing it.”
Mark Brumley is president of Ignatius Press and associate publisher of IgnatiusInsight.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mark Brumley ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: 'If You Build It, He Will Come' DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:“If you build it, he will come.”
For Catholics in Dyersville, Iowa, this oft-repeated phrase points to more than the local baseball diamond made famous in the 1989 movie Field of Dreams.
Just a few miles from the field — which, by the way, still draws fans — the Basilica of St. Francis Xavier beckons even more insistently.
Nor is location the only thing the 115-year-old church has in common with the field. Dyersville's early Catholic settlers surely would have identified with the obstacles that met Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) as he set out to build a baseball diamond in the middle of his farm.
Although the actual pioneer founders of the Dyersville community in 1846 were a small band of Bavarian Catholics, the English Protestant immigrants who arrived three years later deserve the credit for developing the little population center. According to a series of sermons given by the current pastor, Msgr. Edward Petty, “Catholics were not particularly welcome to settle here.”
The tables turned in the 1850s, when the railroad came — and, with it, the Irish Catholics who were building it. The first Mass was offered on Dyersville soil in 1856. But the budding Catholic community was far from home free. The Germans and Irish argued endlessly, which apparently caused the first resident pastor to leave abruptly, and the parish ran out of money halfway through the building of its first church. Four families mortgaged their 200-acre farms to save the project.
Around the same time, the builders discovered that the foundation extended beyond the parish's property. A parishioner stepped forward to offer his life savings so the parish could purchase the surrounding plots of land needed to complete the church. His name? Francis Xavier Bullinger. (His saintly namesake's feast day is Dec. 3.)
Under the direction of a new German pastor, Dyersville's reputation as a thriving Catholic community spread. A school was developed and, by 1868, 25 parish families had multiplied to 250. The church's length had to be doubled.
Twenty years later, overflow crowds had to sit outside and listen to Mass through open windows. It was then that — with no greater technology than the rope and pulley for lifting materials up to 212 feet high — work began on the current structure, which seats 1,285. Dedicated in 1888, it was raised to the rank of minor basilica in 1956 by Pope Pius XII.
Rural Resplendence
Odd as I found the baseball field carved out of a cornfield on my first visit to Dyersville, St. Francis Xavier Basilica's majestic twin spires and Gothic façade seemed even more out of place in the middle of rural Iowa. Of the 50-plus basilicas in the United States, it is the only one outside a metropolitan area.
As I stepped inside, I was grateful for the brochure in my hand. Besides labeling each stained-glass window, painting and statue, the pamphlet also drew my attention to features I would have missed at first glance. These included a marble coat of arms at my feet, a dozen gold-leaf crosses representing the Twelve Apostles along the interior walls, and some traditional symbols shining from atop the arch of each stained-glass window.
As I strolled through the nave, I paused in front of each window to reflect. Upon reaching the depiction of St. Francis Xavier, however, I had to giggle. Apparently the Chicago artist commissioned for the work in the late 1880s misunderstood the early pastor's description of the missionary to the Far East. The only Indians the artist knew about were Native Americans, so he depicted St. Francis Xavier's Asian converts wearing feathered headdresses.
To the left of the main altar is the beautifully carved altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary, standing 36 feet high and 15 feet wide. The central niche contains a set of statues depicting Mary's Coronation; a set of beads given by Pope John Paul II is on the Blessed Mother's arm. She is surrounded by a mixture of small statues, oil paintings and carvings depicting the remaining mysteries of the rosary. I lingered here a long time.
The altar of St. Joseph on the other side yielded similarly fruitful contemplation. Its central niche holds a 1900 Bavarian wood carving of the Holy Family with an angel presenting a small church to the Infant Jesus. It is surrounded by oil paintings of the betrothal of Mary and Joseph, the flight to Egypt, the Holy Family at work and the death of St. Joseph. Below are oils and statues of saints such as Francis Xavier Cabrini (who passed through Dyersville occasionally on the train) and St. Isidore (patron of farmers).
Thank God for ‘Crazy’ Catholics
On either side of the main altar are life-size paintings of the descent of the Holy Spirit and the holy souls in Purgatory. Over the altar stands a 52-foot butternut baldachin and an 1873 crucifix carved by an early parishioner from a walnut tree on his farm.
Looking up, I was captivated by a giant image of the Heavenly Liturgy as described in the Book of Revelation, painted by a Milwaukee sibling duo in 1905. The Lamb of God stands in the center, surrounded by angels and saints — John the Baptist heading up the recognizable Old Testament heroes on one side and the Blessed Mother leading on the other. Two former pastors' faces appear, without halos, in these groupings. What a powerful physical reminder of who accompanies us at Mass each day!
And what a beautiful place this is to be near to, and receive, our Lord in his Eucharistic presence.
Did the early residents of Dyers-ville think the Catholics were crazy for their insistence on building a Catholic community in a primarily Protestant town? Probably.
Thanks be to God for those faithful men and women who, in a certain sense, heard the same message as the fictional Ray Kinsella: “If you build it, he will come.”
They built it. He came. And still does so daily.
Kimberly Jansen writes from
Lincoln, Nebraska.
----- EXCERPT: Basilica of St. Francis Xavier, Dyersville, Iowa ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kimberly Jansen ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Beautiful Moms DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:I had the misfortune of flipping through an issue of Glamour magazine during a recent visit to the dentist. “Do you have this season's hot new look?” a bold headline wanted to know.
Well, let's see. If oatmeal in the hair, dark circles under the eyes and a nursing-friendly, bleach-spattered top are this season's hot new look, then I can say with confidence that, yes, on most days, I've got it.
A quick glance at the beautiful bodies and flawless faces that filled the other pages of the magazine, however, soon convinced me that I do not have it. And, at this point in my life, I probably never will.
When I was younger, I used to look forward to what I thought would be my “glory years,” a magical span of time I figured would fall somewhere between acne and wrinkles when I would look and feel my best at all times.
I recalled my “glory years” theory recently and came to the alarming realization that if I had any “glory years” at all, I likely missed them. I suppose I was too busy scrubbing bathtubs, enforcing naptimes and wiping runny noses to notice just how gorgeous I was.
It is out of necessity that most moms abandon their dreams of glamour and sophistication. One day a few months after our sixth child was born, I piled the kids into the van for an afternoon of errands. I went to three different stores, chatted with clerks and customers and even ran into a couple of acquaintances before returning home. Only then did I find out that I had white dribbles of dried baby spit-up in my hair and a telltale trickle down the back of my shirt.
If incidents like this weren't enough to quash my girlish inclination toward vanity, my recent experiences with a mysterious allergic reaction closed the deal. It's hard to be overly proud of your physical appearance when your eyes are subject to turning blood red and swelling shut at a moment's notice.
Most of us know that God doesn't want us to be overly concerned with our physical appearance. Yet the desire to maintain youth and beauty remains a tricky and emotional issue, even for good Christians. I am blessed to know many devout and holy women. And nearly every one has, at some point, expressed dissatisfaction with her physical appearance.
It can be hard to remember that inner beauty is our most valuable attribute, so it's helpful to recall role models of motherhood like Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Her inner beauty and love always shone through that wrinkled face and shrunken body. And what did her glow radiate from? Her joyfully selfless embrace of her motherly role. (“God's parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood, which emphasizes God's immanence, the intimacy between Creator and creature” — Catechism, No. 239.)
One recent Sunday morning, by some kind of accident, I actually managed to spend 10 uninterrupted minutes in the bathroom getting ready for Mass. I got dressed, brushed my hair, concealed my dark circles and even put on some lipstick. When I emerged from the bathroom, 4-year-old Juliette, an aspiring princess in her own right, looked me over and gushed, “Oh, Mama! You are just too pretty!”
As I knelt to hug her, I looked over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of my husband beaming in our direction. It was then that I realized: These are my glory years and I am every bit as gorgeous as I need to be.
Danielle Bean writes from Belknap, New Hampshire.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Danielle Bean ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: It's Beginning to Sound a Lot Like Advent DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:Hoping to help Catholics who rush toward Christmas as soon as Thanksgiving Day is done — only to miss out on the blessings of a well-observed Advent — the Somerville, Mass.-based Brotherhood of Hope has recorded a new CD.
A mix of hymns, chant, Gospel and contemporary songs, A Season of Hope is a sort of one-stop shop for Advent preparation. It provides not only a soundtrack to the season, but also a reading companion in the form of a 16-page booklet of Scriptures, teachings and meditations.
Fresh from an appearance on EWTN's “Life on the Rock,” Brother Rahl Bunsa, Superior of the Brotherhood of Hope, talked to Register correspondent Joseph Pronechen about the CD.
Why music, why Advent and why now?
Primarily because of a conviction from the Lord. The Christmas-shopping frenzy and today's materialism often overshadow Advent. So we're trying to help people rediscover or reclaim treasures in our tradition that most are unaware of. We're making those gems and treasures available to the Catholic people.
We Catholics have plenty of Christmas music out there, but nobody has Advent music. So the CD fills a void — hence the title and the subtitle, which is Rediscovering our Advent Heritage.
How did you decide which songs to record?
For this CD's song selection I like to apply the Scripture passage where Jesus says, “Every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old” (Matthew 13:52).
Songs range from hymns like “Savior of the Nations” and chants like “Alma Redemptoris Mater” to Gospel and contemporary music. It reflects the Brotherhood's way we use music in our communal prayer life.
A third are traditional hymns, for example, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Another third are traditional hymns with great lyrics that one of our gifted brothers, Brother Joe Donovan, wrote to a more contemporary musical accompaniment. Take the opening song, “Hills of the North Rejoice,” which people can sample on our website, brotherhoodofhope.org. Brother Joe wrote the music to help the 19th-century lyrics come alive. He did the same for another traditional song, “Rejoice, Rejoice Believers,” which we sang on EWTN.
For the final third of songs, we wrote both the music and lyrics, like “I Am Confident and Unafraid,” a Gospel tune by Brother Allen Marquez. It's a song about Mary and John the Baptist, two prominent figures during Advent. They had great confidence the Father would fulfill his promises.
Besides being enjoyable, your Advent CD has the potential to evangelize and catechize.
About half the songs are taken from Scripture, either directly or indirectly. Many of the lyrics and meditations are about genuine hope. Both the album and the jacket seek to enkindle that biblical hope.
Tell us about the extensive notes you've included in your 16-page jacket.
We explain about Advent and the virtue of hope, which is part of our charism and the main virtue the Church holds up for us during Advent. We quote from the Catechism, from Peter Kreeft and from many Scriptures. All the lyrics for the songs are included. Each song also has a 3-to-4-sentence meditation added in order to help people's prayer life. Everyone in the community wrote these meditations as a group effort.
How can families use the album to prepare for Christmas?
For most centuries Catholics didn't sing Christmas carols or put up Christmas decoration before Dec. 24. In others words, Advent was protected. But in the last couple of generations that slowly has been lost, a lot because of the materialism surrounding Christmas. We're trying to give a tool to individuals and families and parishes to reclaim this marvelous season of hope.
In our own community, we don't sing any Christmas carols until Christmas. Parishes can use the music for RCIA and for meditation background. People can use it for Bible study and for small prayer groups
One priest bought over 50 of the CDs to give to his staff, choir, friends and catechists. We have a special discount for bulk orders. He says he plays it all the time.
We've found people are giving it as gifts to encourage their priests, to evangelize others and to spread the gift of hope to a despairing world.
How is it being received?
Very well. We're thrilled that Father Benedict Groeschel, Bishop John Ricard of the Pensacola-Tallahassee diocese, and Martin Doman, who is worship leader for Steuben-ville conferences, have endorsed it. We've gotten many endorsements from priests, housewives, musicians and even prominent evangelical Protestants.
Some evangelicals have told me that they're lacking some of the liturgical richness that the Catholic and Orthodox Churches have. So the album and jacket should also help fill a need there. One of the CD's large distributors is evangelical.
I understand that some of what you earn will go to children in need.
We're giving 10% of the net proceeds to the Village of Hope, an orphanage in Tanzania where we do a yearly outreach. The orphans have HIV. Their numbers are increasing, but funds that come from America go a long way over there.
Are the songs only for Advent?
Just as Easter's resurrection songs can be sung outside of Easter, so too, many of these songs of hope can be just as inspiring outside of Advent. People probably own Christmas music, but what about Advent?
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly DVD/Video Picks DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:Spider-Man 2 (2004)
From the ordinariness of the real person behind the mask to his wise-cracking, playful combat style, Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man has always been to me both the most human and the most colorful of classic comic-book heroes. Nothing in the first Spider-Man movie prepared me for the sheer energy, creativity, wit and daring of this sequel. Going beyond Spider-Man's signature theme of power and responsibility, Spider-Man 2 explores the relationship between responsibility and sacrifice, even to the point of giving up one's hopes and dreams. It also offers a fresh take on the classic dilemma, definitively articulated in Superman II, of the conflicting claims upon a hero by the world and by his best beloved.
Spider-Man's opponent is Dr. Octopus, aka Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina), a brilliant scientist augmented with four tentacle-like mechanical arms. Those menacing tentacles make Doc Ock a far more dramatic foe than the first film's Green Goblin. (They also make Ock more deadly; the action violence is rougher here than in the first film.)
Their most spectacular battle, involving an elevated train, is a breathless action tour de force, and highlights both the antagonists' powers and Peter's true heroism and capacity for self-sacrifice.
Content advisory: Stylized, sometimes intense comic-book violence; fleeting mild profanity.
The Seventh Seal (1956)
Long considered one of the greatest films of all time, Bergman's medieval drama of the soul can be difficult to watch but is impossible to forget. The Seventh Seal is a reflection on faith, doubt and unbelief. Having lost his faith in God, Bergman remained haunted by the horror of existence without God and faith, of life in the shadow of a death that is simply annihilation. The Seventh Seal tells the story of a knight named Antonius Block (Max von Sydow) who holds off Death by playing chess against him. Torn between inability to believe and dissatisfaction with unbelief, Block rails against both God's elusiveness and the God-shaped hole in his own heart.
Though Block longs to hear from God, we never see him do anything by way of seeking him — certainly not the sorts of things we might expect a medieval knight to do, such as praying, fasting or going to Mass. Thrashing in a vacuum, Bergman's protagonist scrutinizes life and death as a philosophy problem rather than living it as a man. Yet Bergman seems comforted by a family of blessed characters whose simple faith he can't share. One of the 15 films on the Vatican film list in the Values category.
Content advisory: Some morbid imagery and violence, references to rape, adultery, and promiscuity; an offscreen adulterous affair; much religious questioning. Subtitles.
Wild Strawberries (1957)
There's an idyllic scene in Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal in which the death-haunted protagonist enjoys a brief respite in a simple meal of wild strawberries. Bergman revisits this theme in Wild Strawberries, the Swedish title of which literally translates as “strawberry patch” — an idiom for sweet memories of some happy time in one's past. For Bergman's protagonist, an elderly doctor named Isak Borg (Victor Sjöström) who significantly shares Bergman's initials, there is bitter as well as sweet in the fields of his mind. Through dream sequences and interactions with other characters, Borg is forced to confront his own coldness of heart and his need for forgiveness.
Unlike The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries isn't greatly preoccupied with the question of God or the afterlife, yet the film bears witness that unconcern for God and the afterlife is no defense against dread of judgment or longing for redemption. With unyielding moral precision no less austere for the lack of religious conviction behind it, Bergman subjects his protagonist to judgment for the crimes of indifference and selfishness, and pronounces a sentence of “the usual” punishment, loneliness — though hope of forgiveness and reconciliation get the last word. One of the 15 films on the Vatican film list in the Values category.
Content advisory: Unsettling nightmare imagery; romantic complications including marital unfaithfulness. Subtitles.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:SUNDAY, NOV. 28
Games We Grew Up With
Home & Garden TV, 9 p.m.
Remember all the fun you had playing games in your sandbox and sandlot days? This nostalgia show will help you relive those happy times.
SUNDAY, NOV. 28
U.S.S. Arizona, with Dennis Haysbert
Discovery Channel, 9 p.m.
“Remember Pearl Harbor!” At 8:10 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1941, a Japanese 1,760-lb. armor-piercing bomb hit the battleship U.S.S. Arizona, causing a massive explosion. The ship sank in just nine minutes. A few of the crew survived, but 1,177 did not. Actor Dennis Haysbert tells the story.
DAILY, NOV. 29-DEC. 7
Novena to the Immaculate Conception
Familyland TV, 12:30 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m.
St. Maximilian Kolbe said Catholics should use the communications media for good purposes, and this Familyland TV feature is an example. Starting Monday, Nov. 29, we can join in this novena leading up to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8. Note: Airs at 5 p.m., not 5:30, on Sunday, Dec. 5.
TUESDAY, NOV. 30
“Mother Angelica Live” Classics: Advent
EWTN, 8 p.m.
Mother Angelica knows what Advent is all about. She says, “I pray every day that all our TV family will have the best Advent and Christmas you have ever had, giving to Him first. Give from your heart to Jesus first and then everyone else will have special value.”
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 1
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
CBS, 8 p.m.
This unforgettable children' classic celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The late Burl Ives provided the voice of Sam the Snowman, the singing narrator.
THURSDAY, DEC. 2
Classroom: The Greatest Journeys on Earth
History Channel, 6 a.m.
You might want to tape this episode, “Spain: Journeys through the Land of the Builders.” It focuses on the autonomous region of Catalonia in northeastern Spain, outlining its Catholic, Greek, Phoenician, Jewish, Roman, Arabic and French heritages.
FRIDAY, DEC. 3
Frosty the Snowman
CBS, 8 p.m.
The late comedian and actor Jimmy Durante narrated this beloved animated classic, which debuted in 1969. Following at 8:30 is a 1992 sequel, “Frosty Returns.”
SATURDAY, DEC. 4
Rescue at Dawn: The Los Banos Raid
History Channel, 9 a.m.
In a dramatic and successful raid in the Philippines on Feb. 23, 1945, U.S. paratroopers and Filipino guerrillas, accompanied by amphibious tanks, liberated more than 2,000 prisoners of war who were facing massacre by their Japanese captors. In this twohour special, four of the rescuers and a freed prisoner return to the site. Advisory: TV-PG.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Daniel J. Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Benedictine Bonanza DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:Stephen D. Minnis was enjoying a successful career in corporate law when he got a call from his alma mater, Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan. It seemed the solidly Catholic school needed a new president. Earlier this year he accepted the position, starting his new job on Sept. 27. Talk about serendipitous timing: This year the school gained international notice after Wangari Matthai, an alumna, received the Nobel Peace Prize.
After majoring in political science at Benedictine, the Kansas City, Kan., native went on to earn a master's in business administration from Baker University and a law degree from Washburn University Law School in Topeka. Husband of Amy, father of three, Minnis spoke with Register correspondent Carlos Briceno.
What are your priorities as you settle in and look ahead?
One of our goals is to be recognized as the best Catholic liberal-arts college in the Midwest. To do that we need to continue to do what we do best, which is educating students in a community of faith and scholarship. Benedictines, by nature, emphasize community. I don't want to sound trite, but we probably do community better than anyone else in the country. So that remains a major strength of ours. We try to educate the total person: mind, body and spirit.
Because of our strength of community, we think being recognized as the best Catholic liberal-arts college in the Midwest is an achievable goal for us. We have a very, very strong student life and a very, very strong faith life here on campus. We will continue to grow that and make that stronger. As an example, seven years ago we had about seven religious studies/theology majors here on campus. Today we have 100. We have grown to be the second largest undergraduate theology program in the country in a matter of seven years.
Do you see room for improving student life on campus?
I feel very fortunate when I came here, as we have a very, very strong student life on campus. I was on the board (of directors) the last 12 years and we have spent a lot of time emphasizing student life and making it a welcoming place for all who come to the college and a place where students can practice their faith freely. We welcome people from all faiths here, but we are never afraid to say that we're a Catholic college and that's what we want to be. Many of our student activities are centered around faith-based activities.
What changes should prospective students look for in coming years?
There will be an emphasis on maintaining our academic excellence. The students will find we will continue to strengthen our student life programs, and we will also spend a lot of energy and time in strengthening our academic programs as well. We have discussed emphasizing what we call our five centers of excellence: the religious studies/theology program, our business program, education program, our sciences and our Discovery College, (which is) a student-centered research program.
What are your thoughts on the relationship between Catholic institutions of higher learning and the universal Church?
One of the goals of the universal Church should be to pass on the faith from one generation to the next, and what better place to do that than at a Catholic college? And what better Catholic college than Benedictine College? Not only to pass on the faith, but train these young people to pass on the faith to the next generation as well. There's no question that Benedictine College educates future CEOs and bank presidents and lawyers and doctors and even Nobel Peace Prize winners.
We also know and understand and take very seriously that we're also educating future youth ministers and parish council members and fathers and mothers. We take that education just as seriously as educating future CEOs and bank presidents and lawyers and doctors. We know that, when we send these young students out, when they leave us, they're going to make their communities and their church stronger and better places.
What do you think of
We are supportive of Ex Corde. We think that this is an opportunity to express our desire to teach theology and commune with the Church. Our theology department went together and knocked on the doors of our archbishop (James Keleher) with the mandatums, saying we embrace the ability to teach in communion with the Church.
This goes with one of our pillars: We're a Catholic college, and we shouldn't be afraid of that. We should be proud of it, and we're not afraid to tell people that we are a Catholic college, and we back it up with our theology department. We believe that, in following Ex Corde, a theologian is free to explore and even help advance the Catholic tradition, because it provides a context in which theology is carried out best in the heart of the Church. So we fully support Ex Corde; we support the mandatum. We will not hire a new theology professor without them signing the mandatum.
What are some of the toughest things your students will face once they graduate?
The college tries to provide them with a foundation so that, when they graduate, our alums will go out into the world and transform their neighborhoods, their parishes and their workplaces into the community we have here at Benedictine. An example of this is VML, an advertising agency in Kansas City whose CEO, Matt Anthony, is an alumnus. They were recently ranked as one of top 25 best places to work in America. Matt has taken the values he learned at Benedictine — hospitality, balance, community — and brought them to the work-place. This has created a fantastic place to work and a successful company.
What is the university's position on inviting speakers to campus who are either pro-abortion or pro-choice?
Benedictine College is committed to clearly and unambiguously supporting the pro-life teachings of the Church. We would not do something that would undermine the college's commitment to our mission as a Catholic college.
Carlos Briceno writes from Seminole, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceno ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Weekly Book Pick DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:ARCHITECTS OF THE
CULTURE OF DEATH
by Donald DeMarco
and Benjamin Wiker
Ignatius, 2004 410 pages, $16.95 To order: (800) 651-1531 www.ignatius.com
Responding to my 1990 op-ed article attacking the Hemlock Society's campaign to legalize physician-assisted suicide in Oregon, a philosopher acquaintance commented: “Your piece is excellent, but it's 130 years too late. You needed to tell that to Schopenhauer.” We talked about how, in that short span, Christian culture had slid steadily back toward the pagan culture of ancient Rome, about how life has been devalued in our troubled society.
Architects of the Culture of Death brought that conversation vividly to mind; there, in the table of contents, are Schopenhauer (the first chapter) and, near the end of the list, Derek Humphrey, founder of the Hemlock Society. The list of these and 21 other “architects” is chilling — only a handful of men and women whose influence shaped the skewed world-view that has disfigured much of the beauty and goodness in our culture, resulted in millions of deaths and filled countless hollow lives with pain and despair.
At first glance, the list seems an odd assortment of bedfellows (say, Helen Gurley Brown and Ayn Rand), and there are unfamiliar names: Francis Galton, Judith Jarvis Thomason and Clarence Gamble, for example. But what DeMarco and Wiker have accomplished is to weave the personal stories of 23 twisted individuals into a tapestry of death in which the whole is far more terrifying than the sum of its parts.
Each life's story is unique; most are bizarre. Each “architect” worked from malformed notions of God and human nature. Many, seeking to legitimize their own immoral and disordered sexual desires, promoted the notion of freedom as license. This, of course, led to the sexual revolution, the legalization of abortion, physician-assisted suicide and same-sex marriage. It's also telling that most endured miserable childhoods.
The 23 biographies are divided into seven sections: The Will Wor-shippers, The Eugenic Evolutionists, The Secular Utopianists, The Atheistic Existentialists, The Pleasure Seekers, The Sex Planners and The Death Peddlers. A provocative introduction and a concluding essay titled “Personalism and the Culture of Life” nicely bookend the bios, placing the subjects in context and historical perspective.
DeMarco is a professor of philosophy at St. Jerome's College in Canada; Wiker, a lecturer in science and theology at Franciscan University at Steubenville. Their academic credentials notwithstanding, their writing is engaging and accessible even to readers with no prior knowledge of the subject.
Writes DeMarco: “John Paul II's Personalism shines the spotlight on who we are and what we should do today. We are persons who need to be liberated from whatever degree of solitude or egoism we suffer so that we can personalize, through love, our relationships with others. This is the basis for building a Culture of Life.”
If some of the words sound familiar, that's because the book had its genesis in an idea Wiker proposed to the Register for a series of essays. Both he and DeMarco are regular Register contributors, and shorter versions of several of these chapters have run in this publication's Commentary & Opinion section. If you've read those entries, don't let that stop you from reading the book: Architects covers more subjects and offers more-complete arguments. To read it through is to spur oneself on to pray for a new crop of architects — architects of the culture of life.
Ann Applegarth writes from Roswell, New Mexico.
----- EXCERPT: Please Pass the Personalism ----- EXTENDED BODY: Ann Applegarth ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:Villanova Blocks ACLU
LIFENEWS.COM, Nov. 8 — Villanova University has blocked a student chapter of the pro-abor tion American Civil Liber ties Union in what the pro-life Internet news site believes may be an effor t to ensure that the Augustinian university “is not linked with pro-abor tion activists and groups.”
While a speaking appearance on campus by pro-abortion Jesuit Father Rober t Drinan in September seems to send an opposite signal, Law School Dean Mark Sargent has argued, a Villanova program “obviously cannot be associated with advocacy for abor tion rights.”
Sargent made his comment last year as he announced that students competing for research fellowships and summer internships would not be permitted to work on pro-abortion issues or for groups supporting abortion.
Ivy League Vocations
ST. THOMAS MORE CATHOLIC CHAPEL, Nov. 10 — In perhaps the first event of its kind on an Ivy League campus, the Catholic ministr y at Yale University has sponsored a vocation night.
The event drew more than 50 students for a dinner and a panel discussion. Speakers included representatives from the Legionaries of Christ, the Sisters of Life, the Dominicans, Mar yknoll Missionaries and the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculata.
In a separate development, the St. Thomas facilities will be getting a $50 million 30,000-square-foot addition to better accommodate the university's 1,250 Catholic students and the numerous activities sponsored by the ministry.
True Dedication
BENEDICTINE COLLEGE, Nov. 8 — Larr y Wilcox, who has not missed a single Benedictine football game since he first wore Raven red as a student athlete in the late 1960s, is working this year without pay as the head football coach and athletic director at the Atchinson, Kansas, college.
The funds are being used to help expand the Amino Center, a classroom building.
“I couldn't have had a more enjoyable life or career,” said Wilcox, who hopes the gesture will inspire other alumni to go beyond the typical financial gift. “I'm happy and I have faith that this is right.”
Mental Health
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Nov. 6 — A sur vey of 3,680 college juniors on 46 varied campuses shows that those with active religious involvement are less likely to experience the psychological problems of the sor t researchers say have risen to epidemic propor tions on college campuses.
The report from UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute found that religiously inactive students were more than twice as likely — 13% to religious students' 6% — to say they frequently felt depressed.
Religious activity was also associated with lower alcohol abuse, another serious campus problem.
Leadership Gene
Sister Linda is the niece of Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, Philadelphia's retired archbishop.
The new president, 63, graduated from Barr y in 1962 and was inspired to enter the Adrian Dominicans, who founded the university in 1940.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:Photos: ‘Legitimate Participation’
LIFESITENEWS, Nov. 5 — A Saskatchewan cour t has reversed a lower-cour t decision that found a local man, Bill Whatcott, guilty of obstructing a police of ficer while holding realistic photographs of abor ted babies so that they could be seen by drivers in rush-hour traf fic. The new ruling says the photos are “legitimate par ticipation in an impor tant political and social debate in Canada.”
A Blasphemy Banned
BRITISH BROADCASTING COMPANY, Nov. 5 — A complaint about a BBC-Three comedy sketch that included a sexually explicit reference to Jesus has been ruled blasphemous by BBC governors. The Governors Program Complaints Committee decided the show breached guidelines by producing “deep of fense” with “profane references or disrespect, whether verbal of visual,” directed at the person of Christ.
A Sign of Porn's Decline?
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Oct. 29 — Internet users are doing far fewer searches for sex and pornography, and more for e-commerce and business, than they were seven years ago, University of Pittsburgh and Penn State researchers say in a new book. “Twenty percent of all searching was sex-related back in 1997; now it's about 5%,” according to Amanda Spink, the University of Pittsburgh professor who coauthored Web Search: Public Searching of the Web with Penn State professor Bernard J. Jansen.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: The Register's Clip-Out, Photocopy and Pass-On Guides for Advent DATE: 11/28/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2004 ----- BODY:Reason 1 The presence of sin can easily lead to depression and anxiety.
Reason 2 You shower to show respect for those around you. Cleansing your soul makes you better to be around, too!
Step 1
Examine your conscience … using the Ten Commandments or an available guide.
Reason 3 Mortal sin, unconfessed, “causes exclusion from Christ's Kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices forever, with no turning back” (Catechism, No. 1861).
Reason 4 As they leave the confessional, people smile a smile of freedom.
Step 2 You have the choice of facing the priest (if he offers the option) or speaking through a screen.
Confession Definition
“For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: ‘Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent’” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1857).
Reason 5 Because love means having to say you are sorry to the one you love.
Step 4 Be concise, clear, complete and contrite. You have to confess mortal sins and give a sense of how often. Don't be embarrassed. You're not going to tell the priest anything he hasn't already heard.
Reason 6 You will grow in humility, sincerity and self-knowledge.
Reason 7 Blessed Mother Teresa thought she had to go. Frequently.
Reason 8 Hoping to convert on your deathbed? That's not very likely. Most likely, you will die as you lived.
Reason 9 It is itself a serious sin to go to Communion if you have serious sin on your soul and have not asked for forgiveness in confession.
Step 3 There are no special words you need to say. Greet the priest, and tell him how long it has been since your last confession. If it's been a while, he'll help you.
Step 5 The priest won't scold you. In fact, if you've had a tough confession, he'll show you extra care. Your penance won't be harsh.
Reason 10 Don't be scared to death of confession. Be scared of death without confession.
Grave Matter What constitutes “grave matter”? Some common sins: Missing Sunday Mass, any sex outside marriage (including pornography and masturbation), serious theft, abortion and contraception, defamation of character, purposely getting drunk.
Step 6 Then you'll make an act of contrition. Look in a prayer book for a longer one, or simply say: “Jesus, I am truly sorry for my sins and, with your grace, I will try to sin no more.”
Step 7 Do your penance right away, before leaving the church if possible.
Reason 11 Be strong. Face your sins, deal with them and move on.
Step 8 Christ has forgiven and forgotten your sins and the angels are having a party to celebrate.
Reason 12 Make sure there are no unpleasant surprises at your particular judgment or at the Final Judgment.
Reason 13 The priest will listen to your sins and will never tell a soul on pain of losing his soul. Priests even learn to forget what they hear.
Content: Martha Fernandez-Sardina (adw.org/evangel/office.html), Father Richard Gill, LC (legionofchrist.org), Father C. John McCloskey (cicdc.org), Matthew Pinto (ascensionpress.org); Edward Sri and Curtis Martin (focusonline.org). Art: Tim Rauch. Photos: AFP. Extra copies: ncregister.com
Concerns & Answers
Can't I talk to God directly, not a priest, to get forgiveness?
Not according to the Bible. Read John 20:21-23; 2 Corinthians 2:10; and 2 Corinthians 5:18.
If God knows everything we do, then how come we have to go to confession?
You may know your younger brother broke your CD player, but wouldn't it be aggravating if he knew you knew, but still didn't say “I'm sorry?”
Doesn't God forgive no matter what?
If we think of sin as merely breaking rules, it is hard to understand why God can't just “look the other way.” But sin is real; it hurts us and makes us distant from him — and unable to enter heaven. We can only be restored if we confess.
Confession just gives people the idea that it's all right to sin as long as you're sorry later.
If a man is confessing drunkenness while he has plans with his buddies to go barhopping and get drunk again the coming weekend, he can't be forgiven. He has to have decided to stop. Confession stops sins; it doesn't start them.
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