WASHINGTON — After years of battling in Congress, a nationwide ban on a procedure that kills late term unborn babies with scissors is expected to be signed by the president and become federal law.
The U.S. Senate passed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act Oct. 21 by a vote of 64-34, three weeks after the House passed its own version on a 281-142 vote.
Longtime champion of the bill Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said, “We have reached a significant victory as we continue to build a more compassionate society and a culture that values every human life.”
“President Bush is to be praised for promising to sign the ban on the horrific procedure known as partial-birth abortion,” William Bennett, co-director of Empower America, said. “This procedure is not only cruel; it is a mainstay of the culture of death. The debate about partial-birth abortion was about building a culture of life. I am proud of this Congress and this president for deciding the question in favor of life and in favor of human rights.”
During his January State of the Union address, the president said, “We must not overlook the weakest among us. I ask you to protect infants at the very hour of their birth and end the practice of partial-birth abortion.”
In a March statement of administration policy, the White House declared the specific ban on partial-birth abortion before Congress to be “morally imperative and constitutionally permissible.”
The bill, Congress’ third try at legislating a prohibition on these late-term abortions, would be the first federal restriction on abortion since the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. President Bill Clinton twice vetoed legislation banning partial-birth abortion.
But it won't take long for the ban to face a challenge in the courts.
Outgoing NARAL Pro-Choice America president Kate Michelman said after the vote, “President Bush has vowed to sign this deceptive legislation, which will make him the first president ever to outlaw safe medical procedures, and the first to sign an abortion criminaliza-tion since Roe v. Wade. No one should be fooled as to the real intentions of this bill's sponsors: They want to take away entirely the right to personal privacy and a woman's right to choose.”
“In 2000, five Supreme Court justices said that Roe v. Wade guaranteed the right of abortionists to perform partial-birth abortions whenever they see fit — but Congress is now inviting the Supreme Court to re-examine that extreme and inhumane decision,” said Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, after the Senate vote.
Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont and a medical doctor, told reporters: “This bill will chill the practice of medicine and endanger the lives of countless women. This kind of legislation serves the sole purpose of chipping away women's constitutionally protected reproductive rights and overturning Roe v. Wade.”
Writing in the online magazine Slate, abortionist Warren Hern made the same argument in a column titled, “Did I Violate the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban?”
But even the largely pro-abortion readership of that magazine had a hard time stomaching his comments.
“I began an abortion on a young woman who was 17 weeks pregnant,” he wrote. “I inserted my forceps into the uterus and applied them to the head of the fetus, which was still alive, since fetal injection is not done at that stage of pregnancy. I closed the forceps, crushing the skull of the fetus, and withdrew the forceps. The fetus, now dead, slid out more or less intact.”
In fact, as written, the ban specifically bans abortions where an infant is literally partially delivered — delivered “past the navel… outside the body of the mother,” or “in the case of head-first presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother,” before the killing. The abortion procedure would be allowed if it were necessary to save the mother's life.
Though opponents of the ban such as Planned Parenthood warned throughout the congressional debate that the bill would “outlaw a medical procedure used primarily in emergency abortions,” abortion opponents remember well that Ron Fitzsimmons of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers said in 1997 that “in the vast majority of cases, the procedure is performed on a healthy mother with a healthy fetus that is 20 weeks or more along. The abortion-rights folks know it, the anti-abortion folks know it, and so, probably, does everyone else.”
“One of the facts of abortion,” Fitzsimmons continued, “is that women enter abortion clinics to kill their fetuses. It is a form of killing. You're ending a life.”
Next Steps
Even before the ban became law, lawmakers and pro-life advocates have been considering the next steps — and challenges.
“Passage of the federal ban draws a bright line between abortion and infanticide and is a great victory for decency,” said Nikolas Nikas, general counsel of Americans United for Life. “The question now is: Will five unelected judges on the Supreme Court continue to reject the will of 30 States, almost two-thirds of the U.S. House of Representatives (281-142) and U.S. Senate (64-34), the president, 70% of the American people, and the weight of medical science?”
“The pro-abortion groups … are likely to find a sympathetic judge who will enjoin enforcement of the law,” conceded Gerard Bradley, a professor at the University of Notre Dame's law school who testified in favor of the bill before a House committee earlier this year. He says that the ban passed “is nevertheless constitutional, for it meets both objections the Supreme Court had against the Nebraska law struck down in Stenberg,” a 2000 Supreme Court decision.
Bradley said, “[O]f the two objections — those being the need for a health exception and distinguishing the prohibited procedure from other abortion methods presumed to be safe from constitutional attack — the former is likely to be the focal point of pro-abortion attack. But Congress found that no case of medical necessity for partial-birth abortion has been identified. And there is none. Almost certainly, the Supreme Court will eventually decide the constitutionality of the new law.”
National Right to Life's Johnson said the litigation will pose the question: “Does the Constitution really guarantee a right to deliver a premature infant to within inches of complete birth, and then kill her?”
Passage of the bill is an obvious win for pro-lifers.
Said Notre Dame law professor Richard Garnett, “It would be nice to think that this law, combined with the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, are important in that they assert that there are lines, somewhere, beyond which even America's strikingly permissive abortion regime will not extend. Certainly, even had the law not passed, the ‘partial-birth issue’ seems to have done a lot to reshape public opinion, in the pro-life direction.”
But he also warned pro-lifers that the ban also brings new problems.
“The ban is not a panacea — and it may not be all good, either,” Garnett said. “I worry that the issue has given people a kind of cover to be untroubled by the vast majority of abortions that occur. Another troubling feature is the realization that there is a strong lobby that is willing to defend even this procedure, in the name of untrammeled autonomy.”
But, as Garnett and other pro-lifers say, despite the challenges ahead, there is clear reason to give thanks.
Said Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, “Sometimes I fear that our country's social discourse has irreparably deteriorated to a point where basic moral values are now shrouded in partisanship and politics. If we cannot come to terms with the clear, undisputable horror of inserting scissors into the skull of an otherwise viable and nearly fully developed child to end her life, without worrying about ramifications to some special-interest agenda, then our great nation is in serious trouble. Luckily, a large, bipartisan majority in Congress has not allowed that to happen here.”
Kathryn Jean Lopez is editor of National Review Online
(www. nationalreview. com).
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kathryn Jean Lopez ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: In the Nick of Time DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — After six days of court-ordered dehydration, the life of Terri Schiavo, a severely disabled Florida woman, was preserved Oct. 21 by an emergency bill of the Florida Legislature and a rapidly enacted executive order by Gov. Jeb Bush.
However, the last-minute action did not resolve the long legal dispute between Terri's husband, Michael Schiavo, who has sought to have her feeding tube removed, and her parents, Robert and Mary Schindler.
The Schindlers claim that Michael Schiavo, who is Terri's legal guardian, denied them visiting rights after she was rushed to Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater to be rehydrated, and then did not tell them when she was returned to a nursing home in Pinellas Park on Oct. 22. They were allowed to visit her in the nursing home and reported to LifeNews.com that the feeding tube was in place.
The law passed by the Florida Legislature, called “Terri's Bill,” is believed to represent the first time a state legislative body has overruled a court in a “right-to-die” case. Pro-life groups see it as a decisive step toward pushing back a medical trend toward causing the death of severely ill or disabled patients through dehydration.
“This is a tremendous victory,” said Lori Kehoe, a spokeswoman for the National Right to Life Committee's department of medical ethics. “No one who's been active in the pro-life movement could believe this has happened in such rapid fashion. People have been starved to death just for being handicapped for the past 20 years, so this is a great reversal.”
Susan Carr, Terri's sister, told the Associated Press that the sudden change in circumstances was “a miracle, an absolute miracle.”
George Felos, a lawyer for Michael Schiavo, who obtained the court order to have the feeding tube removed, called the bill “absurdly unconstitutional.”
Even lawmakers who voted for the bill expressed reservations about meddling in a case that had been through the courts over the past five years. “If we are to err, then let us err on the side of caution,” Senate president Jim King told the Tampa Tribune. “I just hope to God we've done the right thing.”
In signing the bill, Bush acknowledged the unusual precedent it may set but said that “any life or death decision should be made only after careful consideration of all related facts and conditions.”
Michael McCarron, executive director of the Florida Catholic Conference, told the Register that the bill and Bush's executive order fulfilled almost exactly the conditions called for by the state's bishops in a statement two months ago.
The bishops said that the presumption in disputed cases should be to provide nutrition and hydra-tion, and asked that more time be taken to determine more clearly Terri's medical condition and the possibility for her eating on her own.
“Of course, the bishops did not expect the unusual way in which things came about,” said McCarron. “This case has been through four courts, and the Legislature has undone that whole process, and we're not totally comfortable with that. But we do recognize the urgent nature of this case.”
“Terri's Bill,” passed with heated debate by the state's two legislative bodies, gave Bush authority to order the replacement of Schiavo's feeding tube, which had been removed Oct. 15 by a ruling of Florida Circuit Judge George Greer.
Soon after Bush issued his order, the 39-year-old Schiavo, who suffered brain damage after falling unconscious of undetermined causes in 1990, was rushed by ambulance to the hospital from the nursing home in Pinellas Park, where she had been living for years.
The dramatic actions raised a number of medical, ethical and legal questions and marked a new chapter in the prolonged legal battle between Schiavo's husband and her parents. Michael Schiavo has sought since 1998 to have his wife's feeding tube removed, and filed a motion to have Bush's order blocked before it went into effect.
In opposing their son-in-law in court over the past five years, the Schindlers have pointed out that their daughter is not on a respirator or any other life-support machine and can breathe on her own. They have shown video clips of Terri apparently responding to her mother's voice and moving her eyes to follow the path of a balloon as evidence that she is conscious and capable of improvement with the proper therapy. (The video clips can be viewed at www.terrisfight.org.)
Michael Schiavo released a statement Oct. 20 in which he outlined the extensive therapy and testing he had provided for his wife in the years immediately after she fell ill. “I tried desperately to find a cure for her,” he wrote. “I went from one doctor to another. Almost all of them told me there was no possibility she would recover.”
Summarizing the testimony he had given in court that his wife told him “on several occasions before this happened that she would not want to live in her current condition,” Schiavo stated that he had no recourse but “to carry out her wishes. … In fact, it is the hardest thing I have ever done. In the end, I did what I believe Terri would have wanted me to do.”
The Schindlers issued a statement challenging Schiavo's assertions and sincerity.
Possible Abuse?
In another development, the state-sponsored Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities filed suit Oct. 21 for a court injunction to keep Terri alive until the agency could investigate charges of abuse and discrimination against Terri.
Bush had intervened in the case twice before, when he sent letters to Judge Greer asking him to reverse his decision so that more facts about Terri's condition could be ascertained.
His decision to push the state Legislature to vote on the case came after weeks of intensive lobbying and e-mail campaigns by pro-life groups and individuals. The Legislature was in the state capital of Tallahassee for an emergency budget session when the governor urged it to open debate on the Schiavo case. The House approved “Terri's Bill” late on Oct. 20 and the Senate passed a slightly amended version the next day, which the House then approved minutes later.
The narrowly drawn bill gives the governor authority “to issue a one-time stay” to prevent the withholding of nutrition and hydration if the patient has no written advance directive, has been found by a court to be in a “persistent vegetative state,” and a member of the patient's family challenges the withdrawal of a feeding tube. Once the stay is issued, the chief circuit court judge is empowered to appoint a guardian ad litem for the patient to make recommendations to the governor and the court.
David Demeres, chief judge of Pinellas County Circuit Court, ordered lawyers for both side Oct. 23 to reach an agreement within five days to designate an independent guardian. The new guardian would become Terri Schiavo's advocate in legal proceedings, but Michael Schiavo will remain the decision-maker.
The Schindlers have sought to have him removed as guardian, claiming that he is not acting in Terri's best interest. Schiavo is living with another woman who has given birth to one child and is pregnant with a second. The Schindlers also claim that he has not used funds from a $1 million court settlement related to her illness for her rehabilitation.
The Schindlers and their supporters also say that Michael Schiavo instructed staff and guards at the nursing home to stop a priest from giving her viaticum Oct. 18, the final Communion before death.
Stephen Vincent is based in Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: Gov. Bush's Order Saves Terri Schiavo ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Radio Networks Set to Offer Nationwide Catholic Radio DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:SANFORD, Mich. — Like the majority of the nation's 65 million Catholics, Denise Weisbrodt is unable to listen to her favorite Catholic radio station on her home radio.
Ave Maria Communications, EWTN and the Starboard Network hope to change that.
All three Catholic networks are competing to get their programming on one of the nation's two satellite radio networks — Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio. If they are successful, Catholics across the country by the end of the year may be able to listen to digital Catholic radio on inexpensive satellite radio receivers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week no matter where they live.
EWTN, the world's largest Catholic radio network is in discussions with both the New York-based Sirius Satellite Radio network and Washington, D.C.-based XM Satellite Radio to have the networks consider adding a Catholic channel to their lineup. EWTN launched its satellite-delivered radio in 1996 and is also available worldwide on the “Sky” satellite platform.
Ave Maria and Starboard, both of which air original programming in addition to EWTN programming are in discussions with XM Radio.
Weisbrodt, a retired organizational psychiatrist who lives more than 20 miles away from Saginaw's Catholic radio station, WMAX-1440 AM sees the prospect of a Catholic satellite channel as promising. While painting her hallway recently she pulled up the station on her home computer and cranked the volume so she could listen. While it's nice to be able to listen over the Internet, she finds it unde-pendable.
“I kept losing the signal,” she said.
Weisbrodt is not alone.
“Listeners of Catholic radio are the last unserved niche in American media,” said Mike Jones, vice president and general manager for Ave Maria Communications. “Whereas 95% of Americans can tune into Christian radio stations that are not Catholic, Catholic radio currently reaches less than 5% of the nation's population.
“How many radio stations can Catholic philanthropists buy?” asked Jones. “Can they purchase 100 or 500? I don't think there are enough philanthropists to buy 1,600 stations, and that's what evangelical Protestants own. To bring Catholic radio to every Catholic in the country, satellite radio is the platform.”
There's an Audience
Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio are the only two companies that hold FCC licenses to operate a national satellite radio system. Both provide approximately 100 digital channels that can be listened to by using portable, automobile, or home satellite radio receivers.
While both companies provide Christian music and talk channels, neither currently offers a Catholic music or talk channel in its lineup.
The advantages of satellite radio include a wealth of channels, exceptional clarity, nationwide availability, and largely commercial free listening. All of Sirius’ music streams are commercial free, as are half of XM's. Sirius expects to have more than 300,000 subscribers by the end of the year; XM expects to have 1 million.
Both companies are looking at the possibility of adding Catholic programming.
“We are actively seeking to put Catholic specific programming on our service and are in discussion with suppliers of Catholic programming,” said Ron Rodrigues, senior director of public relations with Sirius. “If all of the pieces come together, we may have Catholic programming before the end of the year.”
Ave Maria first began discussing the possibility of satellite radio two years ago. In February, they approached XM.
“We understood that XM had bandwidth available,” said Jones, “so we approached them.”
XM has limited bandwidth for adding new channels. Last year the network added their 101st channel — the Playboy channel — to its radio lineup. The additional channel does not come standard with the service. Subscribers are required to pay an additional fee, above the standard $9.99 monthly subscription fee, to receive the channel.
Ave Maria's Jones estimates that between 6 million and 8 million Catholics might consider subscribing to a satellite radio service if Catholic programming were available.
Currently, EWTN reaches about 8 million homes worldwide. Ave Maria has 300,000 listeners in 19 markets. Starboard airs in 13 markets.
In August, Jones was told by XM executives to put together a proposal. He expects that he will have the opportunity to present it soon.
To support that effort, Ave Maria started collecting signatures on a petition that Jones hopes to present to XM. To date, the group has received more than 6,000 signatures from folks like Denise Weisbrodt who said they would be far more likely to subscribe to a satellite radio network if it had a Catholic channel.
Starboard has not yet sent a proposal to XM, but is talking with the company.
Jack Lusby of Westminster, Md. is an XM stockholder. He believes that the addition of a Catholic channel will increase XM's subscriptions and profitability.
More importantly, he feels that such a channel could have spiritual benefits.
“The addition of Ave Maria Radio to XM would provide all believers and non-believers with another opportunity to hear the Word of God,” Lusby wrote on the online petition.
Chance Patterson, vice president for corporate affairs at XM could not comment specifically on Ave Maria's proposal, but did confirm that they have submitted one.
“We have been in discussion with Ave Maria representatives,” said Patterson. “It's unclear whether there will be an opportunity to bring this programming onto XM. We receive numerous proposals each week and take them seriously.”
Patterson said that once tapes are sent in, XM's executives evaluate them.
“We evaluate what it would sound like on the air, what the idea is behind the show, how similar it is to something we already have, and whether it would attract new listeners,” explained Patterson.
Patterson added that a decision would likely be made in the upcoming months.
The petition effort has received the support of an impressive number of lay Catholics, programmers, and station owners from coast to coast.
Nearly 1,000 signatures alone were obtained through the efforts of St. Joseph Communications’ president Terry Barber.
Catholic radio hosts are also excited by the possibilities.
“A lot of people want to receive Catholic radio, but can't,” said Greg Popcak who hosts the Ave Maria program “Heart, Mind and Strength” with his wife daily on 30 stations nationwide. “This is the same kind of push that Mother Angelica did through the Dish network.”
Each of the Catholic networks is hopeful.
“For some time EWTN has been in discussions with both Sirius and XM,” said Michael Warsaw, EWTN president. “While no final agreements have as yet been reached, these discussions are continuing.”
“Both of these satellite radio providers understand the Catholic demographic in the United States and are genuinely interested in providing Catholic programming,” he added.
Said John Bitting, president of the Eastern region for Starboard, “The satellite networks will add a channel based upon who can bring the best programming with the most listeners.”
Tim Drake writes from Saint Cloud, Minnesota
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Home School Groups Cry Foul After CBS News 'Hatchet Job' DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:LOS ANGELES — Home schooling can kill, reported CBS News in a two-part series Oct. 13-14 that critics decry as a journalistic hatchet job designed to trip up the growing home schooling movement.
“Home schoolers throughout the country are absolutely outraged,” said Kerry Kantor, a Colorado Springs, Colo., public school district employee who works as liaison between the district and thousands of home schoolers in the community. “Essentially, CBS News equated home schooling with child abuse.”
Does CBS News have it out for home schoolers?
“Of course not,” said CBS News publicist Andie Silvers, who deferred all other questions to the network's official statement.
In his first report, titled “A Dark Side to Home Schooling,” CBS News correspondent Vince Gonzales told the story of North Carolina's Nissa and Kent Warren, child abusers who home schooled their children for five years. An anonymous tipster told authorities to check on the household, and police found three dead children who'd been living in squalor. In a bedroom, 14-year-old Brandon had committed suicide with a rifle after killing his brother, Kyle, and sister Marnie.
The second CBS report, titled “Home Schooling Nightmares,” led with the case of Neil and Christy Edgar — Kansas home schoolers who abused and murdered their 9-year-old son.
Introducing the story, CBS anchor Dan Rather said: “It's a shocking case, but as CBS News correspondent Vince Gonzales reports, not an isolated one. A CBS News investigation found dozens of cases of parents convicted or accused of murder or child abuse who were teaching their children at home, out of the public eye.”
Both stories stressed that home schools are largely unregulated by most states, therefore accommodating parents who choose to abuse and even kill their children.
The first report quoted Marcia Herman-Giddens, of the North Carolina Child Advocacy Institute, saying that home school laws “allow persons who maltreat children to maintain social isolation in order for the abuse and neglect to remain undetected.”
Kantor counters that child abusers are criminals who use any means necessary — not just statutes that allow home schooling — to get away with their crimes.
“They took a few sensational, isolated stories about murdered and abused children and exploited those tragedies by tying them in with home schooling,” Kantor said. “What about all the public school children who end up tragically abused and murdered in various circumstances? Where's the series that ties those murders to the proliferation of public schools?”
Kathy Harkins, a leader in the St. Louis Catholic Homeschool Association who home schools seven of her own children, said the CBS story was “just plain nonsense.” She suspects the series will do little to harm the reputations of home schoolers, and much to reveal how out of step the network is with middle America.
“In general, I find that the perception most people have about home schooling is extremely positive,” Harkins said. “The success stories and the standardized test scores of children who've been home schooled speak for themselves.”
All 50 states allow home schooling, but regulations vary from state to state. In 1999, after a decade of growth in the home school movement, the Parent Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program found that an estimated 850,000 children are home schooled in the United States — about 1.7% of the country's population of school-aged children.
In 2001, results of a U.S. Department of Education survey shocked the education establishment by revealing that home schoolers as a whole do better on the SAT and ACT — standard college admittance tests — than students who go to schools outside the home. The survey found that home schooled students average 568 on the verbal test (out of a possible 800), whereas the rest of the schooled population averages 506. For math, home schoolers average 525, while others average 514.
Anecdotal home school success stories abound, such as 11-year-old Andrew Hsu's victory at the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair in April. Hsu — home schooled all his life — shocked judges when he brilliantly defended his self-titled project “Identification, Characterization and DNA Sequencing of the Homo Sapiens and Mus Musculus COL20A1Gene (Type XX Collagen) with Bioinformatics and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).”
Isolating Effect?
Despite the successes, CBS isn't alone in criticizing the lack of state regulation of home schools in most states. Rob Reich, a Stanford University assistant professor of political science, told the Register that unregulated home schooling allows parents to isolate children while indoctrinating them with a single set of values. Such isolation, he argued, threatens to “disable children and render them unable to engage in democratic citizenship.”
“It's not just the Catholic family, or the fundamentalist family that may want to completely isolate a child from competing views,” Reich said. “It's just as likely to be the left wing, New Age home schoolers in Boulder and Berkeley who want to indoctrinate their children with a leftist, pluralist doctrine while isolating them from competing ideologies. What I'm saying is that the right of parents to direct a child's education is only partial. The state may want to backstop the role of parents in order to protect the independent interests of the child. As it stands now, home schoolers have virtually unlimited authority over the child.”
Pete Storz, who founded a Christian home school support network in San Jose, Calif., argues that the free exercise clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows parents to do exactly what Reich opposes: instill in their children whatever religious or moral values they choose, without government interference.
“If government were to exercise such arbitrary, intrusive power, what would protect home schooling parents and their children from abuse by government officials?” Storz wrote in a position paper on Homsechoolchristian.com. He explains that government intrusion into the content of home schooling practices could easily lead to government exclusion of left wing schools, right wing schools, Christian schools, atheist schools or Jewish schools.
Kantor, of the Colorado Springs school district, said Reich's concerns about home school isolation from diversity are sensationalistic just like the CBS warnings of child abuse.
“The vast majority of home schooled children are arguably better socialized than children in public or private schools,” said Kantor, who has constant contact with public school children and home schooled children.
Kantor tells of a home schooling cooperative in Colorado Springs that involves hundreds of families who are secular, Catholic, Jewish, Protestant and atheist, representing a variety of ethnic backgrounds.
“It's one big happy family,” she said. “Children of all ages and backgrounds getting together for all sorts of academic and athletic events. Isolation? Far from it. Home schooled children have the freedom to go anywhere and do anything. That's not possible in the traditional classroom with one teacher and 20 or more students.”
Storz argues that shocking stories of extreme abuse, such as those aired by CBS, are used to stereotype home schoolers and single them out for unlawful government regulation.
“Fear, manipulation and stereotypes make for poor government policy and are insufficient grounds for barring or restricting home schooling,” Storz wrote.
Even if there were sufficient grounds for more home school regulation, Storz writes, it's not the government's role to identify groups of civilian Americans — such as home schoolers — as potential criminals that must be regulated in order to preclude potential crime.
“Second, government is forbidden to invade people's privacy without probable cause,” Storz argued. “Government cannot legally monitor its citizens — nor would it be possible. It is government's role to restrain evildoers. For this, existing community resources such as police, doctors and concerned neighbors suffice.”
In defending its series, CBS released an official statement that says: “These reports examined a group of people who are using home schooling as an excuse to hide the physical abuse they inflict on their children, a disturbing reality in this country. CBS News clearly reported that the majority of parents who home school their kids are doing a fine job of teaching and raising their children.”
Even some of the most vociferous critics of home schooling admit that it's an overall success.
“One of the basic rules to my approach to home schooling is: ignore the extreme cases,” said Reich. “If you listened only to advocates or critics of home schooling, you think that there were two possible results: either the kid wins the national spelling bee and gets into Harvard or Stanford, or the kid is abused, starved and killed by the parents. Of course, the overwhelming majority of home schooled kids fall in the vast middle.”
Wayne Laugesen is based in Boulder, Colorado.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: How a World Series Champion Rediscovered God DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Sal Bando is watching the World Series as someone who's been there, done that.
He was the team captain during the Oakland A's three straight World Series titles from 1972-74.
The third baseman was also an all-star four times, and runner-up for most valuable player in 1971. Bando has been helping American Life League raise money for Campus for Life, envisioned as a national education center teaching pro-life leadership skills as well as philosophical, ethical, scientific, historical and cultural knowledge needed to be effective pro-life spokespersons. Bando spoke to Register correspondent Bob Horning.
You were raised Catholic. How did that affect your growing up?
I come from a blue-collar home in Cleveland, where my dad was a sub-contractor.
Religion was the foundation of our life. I remember my mother forcing me to watch Bishop Fulton Sheen on TV. I fought her every week but I always ended up enjoying the show.
The doctors told my parents they would never have kids, but they prayed to the Holy Spirit and ended up with me, my younger sister and my brother, Chris, who played for the Cleveland Indians for several years. My mom died in 1999, and my dad lives with Chris now.
Did you ever fall away from the faith?
I never doubted or drifted away, and felt that something was missing if I didn't go to Mass. It was often difficult to get to church when we would play Saturday night, then have to be to the ballpark early on Sunday for an afternoon game. I would have to say, though, that baseball was gradually becoming my god.
What changed that around?
In 1975, after we had won three world championships in a row, I got off to a slow start. When my slump continued, I was moved from third in the batting order to near the bottom. That was a blow to my ego, and it caused me to struggle more and put extra pressure on myself. The Baseball Chapel had started the year before, which was a voluntary meeting before games for players to have devotions. Because the guys knew I went to church every week, I was selected to be our chapel leader. The different speakers that came in began to get my attention. I soon realized that, sure, I was a believer, but not very committed.
I gave up trying to control things, and let God be God. I committed my life to the Holy Spirit. I gave my burdens to the Lord, and suddenly I was able to relax. My faith grew on a daily basis, and I wanted to glorify God. I got more balance in my life, so that instead of baseball being my whole life, it became just part of it. I went from having the vague desire to be a good Catholic, to actually making the dedication and daily commitment to becoming a good one.
You are involved with a number of Christian organizations and pro-life groups.
In 1977, I signed with the Milwaukee Brewers as a free agent. My wife, Sandy, and I joined the board of Wisconsin Right to Life. I gave talks, and we hosted functions for fund raising. Now I am also on the board of Cardinal Stritch University and St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care in Milwaukee. I am involved with Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Legatus, and, most recently, became chairman of Battin’1000.
What is Battin’ 1000?
It is a fund-raiser for the American Life League's new Campus for Life. Our goal is to raise at least $1 million dollars for the campus, which will offer courses, online teaching, workshops, and pro-life resources. Battin’ 1000 is structured similar to the major leagues in that we have 30 teams in or near the big league cities, competing to raise the most money. The idea, as the name implies, is to have 1,000 people give $1,000 each (but no amount from anyone will be refused).
And you have endorsements from many ballplayers.
Yes — from 90 former and current players, managers, and owners. We have Hall of Fame players Gary Carter, Robin Yount and Sen. Jim Bunning; former managers Sparky Anderson and Tommy Lasorda; current managers Lou Piniella and Jim Boone; former commissioner of baseball Bowie Kuhn; Jerry Colangelo, chairman and CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Tom Monaghan, who once owned the Detroit Tigers; also, retired broadcaster Ernie Harwell. These are men who are standing for life, even if it may cost them commercial endorsements or other income.
Most of them are not Catholic, right?
Most are evangelicals. They're not afraid to speak out, unlike a lot of us Catholics who sometimes sit on our hands. We are more private and reserved about our faith. We need to be more outspoken like them. If we don't stand up and voice our opinions or displeasures with things we see wrong, we will remain a silent majority.
How can we do that?
One way is to be more involved in issues like abortion, euthanasia, prayer in schools, the political process, and winning back the youth of today. Look to get active locally. We need to win there, and those victories will ripple out nationwide.
Our bishops need to be more vocal, too. That will get more of us stirred up and involved.
If they are trying to be politically correct, it won't work. They need to follow Church teaching and speak out as they try to follow God's will, the Lord will help him.
How has your relationship with Jesus changed since your playing days?
I am getting closer to the Lord, I continue to learn, and I am involved in Bible studies. I am learning to stop being his adviser and be his servant instead. That allows me to listen when he speaks. I want to finish the race in a good way — I want to be as close to the Lord as I can when my time comes.
Bob Horning is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Worth the Struggle: Catholic Bookstore Owners In It for the Faith of It DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:MISSOULA, Mont. — Dairy businessman Curt Pijanowski understands the value of a good Catholic bookstore.
One of only two Catholic bookstores in the state of Montana, St. Gregory's Guild helped Pijanowski return to the faith of his youth after a nearly 10-year absence.
“The role of the Catholic bookstore is instrumental in reviving the Church,” Pijanowski said. “Stores play a dual role. They provide apologetics that Catholics can pass on to non-Catholics, and they help teach cradle Catholics their faith. If I had been taught my faith, I never would have strayed from the Church.”
Pijanowski, who now sits on the store's nonprofit board, said he's constantly buying books and tapes to give to his evangelical friends.
For the majority of the nation's 1,800 Catholic bookstores and online retailers, operating a bookstore is about far more than monetary gain — it's about the salvation of souls. The work is as much an apostolate as it is a business.
“The biggest story is that we are still here,” said Suzanne Winegart, who owns St. Gregory's Guild with her husband, Eric.
St. Gregory's began out of the Winegarts’ home as a video-lending library in 1997. One year later, they opened the retail store.
“It's been an uphill battle the whole way,” Suzanne Winegart said.
The store's customers, such as Pijanowski and retired Helena diocesan priest Father Stephen Tallman, are happy to have a place to purchase Catholic products.
“I come in every couple of months,” Father Tallman said. “Last time I came in to pick up a Catechism of the Catholic Church for a couple. Catholic bookstores must do what they do for the faith, because they don't do it for the money.”
It's a common refrain. Catholic bookstores, in general, find it difficult to stay afloat — 65% close within their first five years of existence.
One Door Closes …
Victor Claveau quit his job at Encyclopedia Britannica to pursue a labor of love — he called it Catholic Footsteps Bookstore. But on Sept. 30, after 13 years of business, he closed the Hesperia, Calif., store for good.
“I'm going out of business to avoid bankruptcy,” said Claveau, a retired naval officer.
During the last six months, Claveau's clientele dropped 25%. Claveau attributed the store's decline to a number of factors. One reason he cited was a lack of backing from local Catholic parishes.
“There hasn't been any support,” Claveau said. “Most Churches purchase from large suppliers, and they do not exhort their parishioners to read or grow in their faith. There's a real apathy and lack of proper catechesis.”
During his best year, Claveau made just $3,200. He said he has made a profit only five of the 13 years he has owned the business, and he has had to refinance his home twice to support the store. Still, he said he wasn't in it for the money.
Claveau said he is aware of five other Catholic bookstores near San Bernardino that have closed within the past 18 months. Another is on the verge of bankruptcy.
“The purpose of this store was not to make money but to evangelize,” Claveau said. “We've been instrumental in at least eight men going to seminary; many people have been brought into the Church, and marriages have been saved just because we are here.”
“It's been a good run,” he added. “Would I do it again? Absolutely.”
… Another Opens
Despite the struggles of some Catholic bookstores, others continue to open.
On Oct. 1, Ian Rutherford expanded his online Catholic Web site, Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, to include a 1,300-square-foot storefront in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Rutherford launched Aquinas’ online presence a year ago. Already it has become one of the most-visited Catholic retailers on the Internet, serving as the official online store for such Web sites as Catholic.org and CatholicLiturgy.com.
The move from an electronic storefront to a physical one was motivated by the lack of a religious-goods store in town.
“There isn't a complete Catholic bookstore in town, and no one supplies Church goods such as hosts, wine and vestments,” Rutherford explained. “There are 15 Catholic Churches around Colorado Springs and they either have to drive to Denver or have things shipped to them.”
Rutherford expects the new shop will help his online business as well.
“The store will serve as a warehouse, allowing us to stock more of the items that we feature on our Web site,” he said. Whereas the online store features approximately 5,000 items, the physical store will carry nearly 9,000.
In addition to books, medals and holy cards, Aquinas and More will be offering services such as a catalog center, custom holy cards, and metal replating and renovation.
Rutherford also hopes to use the store as a place to educate the faithful.
“We're going to host periodic seminars and bring in guest speakers,” he said. “I see our store as not just a place to shop but as a resource and a very important ministry.”
Changing Lives
The idea of bringing in speakers is something other stores have tried as well.
Meat distributor Paul Drouillard and his wife, Carol, opened Drouillard's Catholic Books and Gifts in Maumee, Ohio, seven years ago. The Drouillards haven't been able to make a living off the store. But like others, they see their work as an apostolate.
“It's been a great way of raising our 11 children in the faith,” Paul Drouillard said. “I love to read, and since I can't write, I have the urge to sell books.”
Drouillard's continues to attract customers through special events. In March the store invited Catholic authors Dave Armstrong, Mike Dubruiel, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Stephen Ray and Amy Welborn for a Catholic Authors Night. More than 130 customers came to listen to the speakers.
In June, 150 customers came to hear Catholic author and speaker Matthew Kelly. Other stores bring in speakers during the lunch hour.
“The events bring a lot of attention to the store, and show that we do make a difference in the community,” said Cara Drouillard, the Drouillards’ college-aged daughter, who has helped at the store since age 13.
“Every time we get frustrated and think we should be selling something else,” Paul Drouillard said, “there is a story of how we've touched someone's life.”
He tells the story of one customer, Gregory Oatis, who created a booklet on where to find Catholic doctrine in Scripture.
“We passed the booklet out for free at the store,” Drouillard explained. “The conversions we've heard resulting from that booklet have been fantastic. We've had wives whose husbands were not Catholic who have converted because they were given a copy of the book. One husband, who had refused to allow their children to be baptized, allowed his wife to have their children baptized.”
The Zanesville, Ohio-based apostolate, the Coming Home Network, later published Oatis’ book.
“Stories like that,” Drouillard said, “make it all worthwhile.”
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Kinder, Gentler Abortion Clinics
These new abortion businesses, which for some reason call themselves the “November Gang,” line their walls “with pink paper hearts containing heartfelt messages from parents to their aborted children.”
A journal in the waiting room contains notes written by family members, and “at the end of every pre-abortion counseling session, the patient is given a pretty, colorful stone to take with her” in lieu of her baby.
Glamour —which like most women's magazines has a strong, official pro-abortion stance — wrote glowingly of the clinics in its September issue, noting that they offer “intensive counseling.”
The magazine gave a flavor of this counseling by noting that counselors answer questions about sin and forgiveness. Questions like, “Do you think there are any things that God considers completely unforgivable?”
Clinic employees also suggest to patients, “Can you see abortion as a ‘loving act’ toward your children and yourself?” Colson reported that some of the mothers improvise baptismal ceremonies for their children at the clinic.
Settlement Reached in Boston Abuse Cases
ASSOCIATED PRESS, Oct. 20 — Plaintiffs for hundreds of victims of alleged abuse by clergy in the Boston Archdiocese have reached agreement with the local Church, signing an $85 million settlement for their cases, reports the Associated Press.
Boston's is now the largest such settlement ever in a U.S. diocese.
Plaintiff attorney Mitchell Garabedian, submitted 114 signed agreements to Church attorneys Oct. 20, bringing the ratio of plaintiffs agreeing to settle above 80% — the magic number at which the archdiocese begins to disburse payments.
Roderick MacLeish Jr., an attorney speaking for nearly half of the 552 victims, said he expected only 10 plaintiffs to take their cases to trial. The amounts paid to each victim will be determined by mediators, depending on the gravity of each case.
Catholic League Targets Anti-Gibsonism
CATHOLIC LEAGUE, October — The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights is keeping a tally of “some of the most unfair statements on Mel Gibson and his film, The Passion of Christ.”
Among other things, the list reveals that a handful of critics are showing up in a lot of media complaining about the film.
Paula Fredriksen in The New Republic, Sept. 29 — “I am still counting on the people in the pew who, when they view Gibson's movie, will not recognize any Gospel known to them.”
Paula Fredriksen in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Aug. 21 —“There is no plot, no character development, no subtlety. The bad guys are way bad, the good guys are way good.”
Sister Mary Boys in the Associated Press, Aug. 8 — “For too many years, Christians have accused Jews of being Christ-killers and used that charge to rationalize violence … This is our fear.”
Sister Mary Boys in The Jewish Week, March 28 — “As a member of the Catholic Church, I regard [Gibson's] thinking as bizarre and dangerous, and suggest that Jews judge them similarly.”
The Web site, www.catholicleague.org, begins the feature with the most recent example they have found — a quote Barbara Nicolosi included in her recent Register article about the movie and controversy.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Family-Friendly Movies Sell Better Than R-Rated Ones DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:HOLLYWOOD — A casual drive through Hollywood reveals a city in transition. New theaters and shopping malls have sprung up and ritzy glamour has begun to reclaim what was for years a seedy tourist trap most native Los Angeles residents avoided.
Hollywood's facelift could apply to its primary export as well. Several high-profile religious-oriented movies are premiering in the coming year, including Mel Gibson's The Passion, and The Gospel of John, and though the creation of those films might have been motivated by piety, general Hollywood fare might be getting better, too, though for a different reason.
Though the movie industry is often decried as the enemy of Judeo-Christian values, whatever its ideology, Hollywood pays attention to money, and profit motive might be helping the movie industry clean up its act, some industry analysts say.
“Family product sells, and R-rated products do not,” John Fithian, head of the National Association of Theatre Owners, told USA Today shortly before this year's Academy Awards ceremony in March. “For theater operators, particularly those that operate in the middle of America, this is a very important part of our success.”
Ted Baehr agrees. He produces Movieguide, ”the Christian Film & Television Commission's report card to the entertainment industry,” which seeks to promote a higher level of values-oriented content in films.
“Good guys finish first,” Baehr said in a statement released the day before the Academy Awards ceremony. “Moviegoers seem to prefer movies reflecting the moral, spiritual values and standards of the Bible and Christianity. They do much better at the box office than those that don't.”
While the Motion Picture Association of America rates hundreds of movies annually, designating them G, PG, PG-13, R or NC-17, Movieguide reviews only the top 300 films of each year. It has found that there has been a significant shift away from R-rated films and toward religious themes since 1985, explained Tom Snyder, editor of Movieguide, from his office in Thousand Oaks, Calif., north of Hollywood.
“In 1985 approximately 81% of the movies were R-rated,” he said. Following a downward trend, that number was about 42% in 2002.
Snyder attributes at least some of the shift to profit motive — the lifeblood of the movie industry. “Family movies are bigger [successes],” he said.
Consumer Choice
Gerri Pare, director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Office of Film and Broadcasting, said consumer choice for more family fare is driving the move away from R-rated films. She said she agreed that the motive was monetary, not ethical.
“I think they are realizing that there is a family audience out there,” she said. “There are fewer R-rated movies because there is a financial motive.”
As proof that movies without an R rating perform better at the box office, Pare cited the fact that among the top 10 movies of 2002 and the top 20 of all time, not one was rated R.
In fact, the top-grossing R-rated film of 2002 was 8 Mile, which came in at No. 21 at the box office, according to USA Today.
But Pare sees some problems with the trend.
“There is an acceptance of R-rated movies as being more PG-13 — perhaps the raters have become a little desensitized to some of the sexual situations or the violence,” she said.
However, Movieguide points out that there has also been an increase in “positive Christian content” in movies. According to a statement provided by the Movieguide staff: “When we started in 1985, there was only one movie with positive Christian content; last year there were 135, or 45% of the major movies released.”
In addition, Movieguide estimates that 40% of last year's movies were aimed at families, compared with only six films in 1985.
While admitting the fare Hollywood serves up is still not perfect, movie critic and producer Stan Williams wrote on the Catholic Exchange Web site in July 2002: “What we have seen in recent years is an ever-increasing number of films that clearly communicate positive moral messages in creative and entertaining ways — and they have been hugely popular.”
Catholics in Hollywood
And even the industry's attitude toward Catholics working in Hollywood might be mellowing a bit.
Barbara Nicolosi runs Act One, a training and mentorship program for Christian writers. She also works extensively with Family Theater, a Catholic film production company run by the Holy Cross Fathers.
Speaking to the Register shortly before the March Academy Awards ceremony, Nicolosi said that though some in Hollywood still “believe that inside every pro-lifer is a murderer looking to get out,” things are getting better.
Father William Raymond, the director of Family Theater who works with many in the movie industry, agreed. It is starting to become “cool to be Catholic,” he said.
Still, it is often not an easy road for faith-based films. Gibson's Passion, which is to be released next Ash Wednesday, has been falsely accused of anti-Semitism, and it wasn't certain whether the actor/director would find a distributor for the film. Twentieth Century Fox turned him down in August. Gibson finally clinched a deal with Newmarket Films.
A The Church has long encouraged Catholics to support decent films. The 40th anniversary of Inter Mirifica, the Second Vatican Council's decree on the media of social communications, is coming up in December.
The decree states: “The production and showing of films that have value as decent entertainment, humane culture or art, especially when they are designed for young people, ought to be encouraged and assured by every effective means. This can be done particularly by supporting and joining in projects and enterprises for the production and distribution of decent films, by encouraging worthwhile films through critical approval and awards, by patronizing or jointly sponsoring theaters operated by Catholic and responsible managers.”
One thing everyone seems to agree on: Whether the majority of future movies are more “family friendly” will depend on the choices of consumers at the box office. If people choose moral films, Hollywood will produce them.
Andrew Walther writes from Los Angeles.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Andrew Walther ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Papal Speculation Won't Quit
Reuters quoted “reputed front-runner” Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Brussels with the terse comment, “I say nothing.”
The British news agency reported that another “favorite,” Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, slips out of interviews whenever the subject arises. Reuters noted that Church law has forbidden cardinals from discussing the succession publicly while a Pope is living. (After that, they are sealed in a secret conclave.)
In an interview with CanWest News Services, the popular Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec scorned speculation that he was considered papabile. “I laugh at that. I laugh, you see,” he said. When asked about papal candidates, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., replied, “There are 109 people in the world who cannot answer that question, and you are talking to one of them.”
Only one elector, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, was more forthcoming — predicting that no American would be elected Pope: “Even the appearance of being in some sense captured by … the world's only superpower would not be helpful to the mission of the Church.”
EU Rejects Vatican Claim About Condoms, AIDS
The dispute turns over Cardinal Lopez Trujillo's claim that the AIDS virus is small enough to pass through pores in a latex condom — which the EU and a representative of the World Health Organization deny. The Church promotes abstinence and marital fidelity as the only proven safe responses to the prevalence of HIV infection.
Italian Bishops Exclude Married Eastern Rite Priests
The conference of Italian bishops asked Catholic bishops in Ukraine not to send more married priests to Italy for fear of creating “confusion among our faithful.”
Chiesa.com noted that Ukrainian bishops are displeased at the request — since most of their clergy are married. The site pointed out that Albanian Greek Catholic dioceses in Calabria, Basilicata and Sicily have a dozen married priests functioning in Italy — a prerogative revoked by the Vatican in 1950 but recently restored at the insistence of the local Albanian bishop.
Chiesa.com noted that similar decisions made by American bishops in the early 20th century to exclude married Eastern Rite clergy led to massive defections by Ukrainian Catholics to the Orthodox Church.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Pope Concludes Anniversary Week With 30 New Cardinals DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Closing out the celebrations of his anniversary week, Pope John Paul II added 30 new members to the College of Cardinals Oct. 21. The “consistory” ceremony was held in St. Peter's Square, with the new cardinals from 22 different countries — including one American and one Canadian — becoming members of the Roman clergy, an important bond for those responsible for electing the next bishop of Rome.
Usually a consistory for the creation of new cardinals becomes the major story in Rome. Not this time, as Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia told American pilgrims at a Mass two days after receiving the red hat.
“The overriding event of this week has been the 25th anniversary of our Holy Father,” he said. “And as part of that he has given the Church the gift of a beatification and now this consistory of new cardinals. We see in them in the unity of the Church across many different cultures.”
The new cardinals knelt before the Holy Father to receive the red zucchetto and biretta of their office, and the Pope reminded them in his homily (read by an aide) that the cardinalatial red is “the color of blood and recalls the heroism of the martyrs.”
“It is a symbol of a love for Jesus and for his Church that knows no limits: to love even to the sacrifice of one's life, to the shedding of blood,” the homily continued, perhaps with a special thought for the new cardinals from Nigeria, Sudan and Vietnam.
The consistory ceremony emphasized that among Christians, the leader must be the one who serves.
“The Redeemer asks [his apostles and their successors] to convert themselves to this ‘logic,’ which contrasts with that of the world,” John Paul's homily said. “To die to self and make themselves humble and disinterested servants of their brothers, refusing every temptation of careerism and personal gain.”
“Our only ambition is to contribute to the development of the Church in the third to put at the disposition of the Vicar of Christ our good will and our experience,” said Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the former Vatican “foreign minister” who spoke on behalf of all the new cardinals.
As each cardinal received his red hat, he was assigned a “titular church” in Rome, thereby becoming a member of the clergy of Rome — a symbolic parish priest as it were. The cardinals who elect the next bishop of Rome are symbolically from the same diocese.
Titular churches are often chosen to reflect the circumstances or history of the cardinal. Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the archbishop of Quebec, was assigned Santa Maria in Traspontina, a church near the Vatican that previously belonged to the recently deceased Cardinal Emmett Carter of Toronto — the church passing from one Canadian to another.
In the afternoon after the consistory the new cardinals traditionally greet well-wishers in the Apostolic Palace and the Audience Hall. The bedlam of the “courtesy visits” brings out local pride, genuine homage and, on the negative side, a fair dose of clerical bonhomie in welcoming the newest members of a very exclusive club. Some of the new cardinals looked upon their new admirers with self-deprecating humor.
“Those who support me are happy because they think I will revitalize the Church,” said Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia. “Those who are against me are also happy because they think in my new role I will kill the Church.”
While 30 new cardinals were announced, there were actually 31 nominated, with the name of the last one being reserved in pectore, or kept secret. Speculation on who it might be was widespread. Some observers thought it might be a Chinese bishop, as John Paul made an in pectore Chinese cardinal in 1979, revealing the name only in 1991.
The favorite, though, was Archbishop Tadeusz Kondru-siewicz of Moscow, as a sign of the Holy Father's esteem for Russia. In 1998, John Paul named two in pectore cardinals from Orthodox countries, but reserved the names to avoid offending Orthodox sensibilities. He may have done something similar with Moscow this time, leaving the name to be revealed either at a future consistory or in the last days of his life.
Father Raymond J. de Souza filed this report from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Raymond J. De Souza ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Pope Exhorts Next Pope With Echoes of First Homily DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:On Oct. 22, the exact anniversary of his inaugural Mass and homily as Bishop of Rome, John Paul spoke again of how the experience of Peter lives in his heart.
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
He opened his first papal homily with those words, and did so again 25 years later at the “Mass of the Rings,” in which the Pope gives each new cardinal a ring symbolizing their love for the Church and the Roman Pontiff.
The exchange between Jesus and Peter continues with the words that are the foundation for the papal office in the Church: “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.”
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” the Holy Father repeated, going back to the beginning. “In these 25 years of my pontificate, how many times I have repeated those words! I have pronounced them in the principal languages of the world in many parts of the Earth. The Successor of Peter can never forget the dialogue that takes place between the Master and the Apostle: You are the Christ… You are Peter…”
Indeed, John Paul has pronounced them to the ends of the Earth. But now, he is unable to pronounce them at all, leaving to another archbishop the task of reading the homilies. But the determination to, like Peter, preach until to the very end, remains.
“Courage in proclaiming the Gospel must never diminish,” the Pope told the cardinals during his anniversary celebrations. “Indeed, until the last breath it must be our principal duty.”
Until the last breath. The message was not lost on the cardinals. From among them will come the successor, and he will be expected to do as John Paul has done, proclaiming the Gospel to the end, even when the breath is not sufficient to pronounce the words:
You are the Christ.
— Father Raymond J. de Souza
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Raymond J. de Souza ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: No Let-Up In His Schedule DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Vatican and papal observers have noted that, notwithstanding his apparent fragility, Pope John Paul II often appears rejuvenated when in the presence of the faithful, even though the event that brings them together might be a taxing liturgical celebration such as those of the week marking his Silver Jubilee, the beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the consistory for the creation of new cardinals.
Whether events will strain or invigorate the Pope, his calendar for November is barely a beat off the rhythm of October. On his agenda are visits by three heads of State (Presidents Mary McAleese of Ireland and Russia's Vladimir Putin on the 6th and Vladimir Voronin of Moldova on the 28th), four Wednesday general audiences, the recitation of the Angelus on Nov. 1, 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30, ad limina visits by bishops from France and Belgium, a beatification on Nov. 9, and two concerts (Nov. 22 and 29).
Nov. 1, 2 and 4 are Vatican holidays. On All Saints Day, as is traditional, the Pope will spend some time in the Vatican Grottoes in private prayer for his deceased predecessors. On All Souls, he will appear at his study window to pray the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.
The 4th is the Holy Father's onomastico or name day: he was named Karol for St. Charles Borromeo).
On Nov. 8 in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope will welcome pilgrims from Croatia — in Rome to repay him for his visit to their country in June, the historic 100th foreign trip of his papacy.
The following day in St. Peter's Basilica, he will beatify Servants of God Juan Nepomuceno Zegri y Moreno, Valentin Paquay, Luigi Maria Monti, Bonifacia Rodriguez Castro and Rosalie Rendo in the 142nd beatification ceremony of his pontificate.
On Nov. 10, there will be an audience for the pilgrims who came to Rome for the beatification. The following morning in the Paul VI Hall, Pope John Paul is scheduled to welcome a pilgrimage from his native Poland.
Nov. 13, in St. Peter's Basilica, the Holy Father will preside at the annual Mass for cardinals and bishops who died during the past year. Two days later he will welcome a pilgrimage from the Italian National Union for the Transportation of the Sick to Lourdes and International Shrines, which is celebrating its centenary.
The first of two scheduled concerts for the Holy Father will take place in the Paul VI Hall Nov. 22, with music performed by the Italian Association of St. Cecilia. A week later a Requiem concert will be performed by the Ukrainian National Orchestra to commemorate the great famine — the Holodomor — of 1932-33.
Though not yet written in stone, the Holy Father will likely have audiences in November for members of the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity who will meet in Rome from Nov. 3 to 8 on ecumenical spirituality; participants in the 18th International Conference of the Pontifical Council for the Health Care Ministry, scheduled to meet Nov. 13-15 on the theme of depression; participants in the Fifth World Congress for the Pastoral Ministry of Refugees and Migrants, organized by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples Nov. 17-22, on the theme “Starting again from Christ: for a Renewed Ministry of Migrants and Refugees,” and for members of the Nov. 20-22 Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council ‘Cor Unum’ who will meet to discuss “The Dimension of Religion in Our Charitable Activity.”
It is also expected that the Pope will grant an audience to participants in the Nov. 15 study seminar organized by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Rome's Gregorian University on “Leo XIII and Peace,” in the centenary year of that Pope's death. The seminar will look at the presence of the Holy See in an international context and on its activity in the service of peace during the reign of Leo XIII, the third longest pontificate in history.
From Nov. 7 to 11 in the Vatican Gardens in the recently restored Casina Pius IV, built in 1561 as a summer home for Pope Pius IV and now the seat of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Academy will hold its annual plenary assembly on the theme “Mind, Brain and Education.” The meeting this year takes on special significance as the Academy commemorates its 400th anniversary. It is expected that John Paul will receive members of the Academy during this plenary session.
Joan Lewis works for Vatican Information Service.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joan Lewis ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Calcutta Celebrates Beatification of a Nun Who Was 'Mother to All' DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:CALCUTTA — The Nirmal Hriday home is a place where more than 36,000 destitute have died in peace here in the last 50 years. Were it not for the Missionaries of Charity nuns and foreign volunteers who run the home, they might die alone on the streets of Calcutta.
It was the first charity center Blessed Teresa of Calcutta set up in 1952 and is known as her “first love.”
Dr. Alessandro Guglielmini could have gone to Rome for the beatification of Mother Teresa. He came here instead. In fact, he comes to India once a year as a volunteer.
Speaking to the Register while feeding a dying destitute man at Nirmal Hriday, a name which means Clean Heart, the doctor from Milan, Italy, said Oct. 19, “I did not want to be in Rome. Mother lives here.
“I find God in these people,” he said.
The hymn 'Rejoice in the Lord Always” reverberated from Nirmal Hriday as the Church worldwide celebrated Mother Teresa's beatification.
And the mood among the people of this city of 3.3 million was summarized by a headline in The Sunday Times of India: “Blessed Kolkatta (Calcutta) of Mother Teresa.”
“When Pope John Paul II today declares Mother Teresa ‘Blessed Teresa of Calcutta’, it will be the city that will be actually blessed,” said the Times report.
At Nirmal Hriday, nuns and volunteers began work at dawn to finish the routine medical dressing of those with festering wounds in time for a 9 a.m. Mass to celebrate the beatification.
True to the simplicity which is the hallmark of the charity work started by Mother Teresa, the altar was decorated with a white cotton sheet with a sketch of Mother Teresa with a dying man in her hands. Evoking the Gospel, a caption read, “You did it to me.”
After Mass, a couple of the younger residents who could stand on their feet joined the volunteers and street children there in dancing as the local youthful choir members sang hymns of thanksgiving. But the nuns slipped out to attend to the more needy residents, some of whom had soiled their beds in the meantime.
Soon, the choir left and the volunteers too were back to their routine — changing bed linen and feeding the “poorest of the poor” who are near death.
Mother's Tomb
Meanwhile, the Motherhouse of the Missionaries of Charity, where the newly beatified lived and is buried, had been a beehive of activity since the previous evening with the nuns decorating Mother Teresa's white marbled tomb with jasmine flowers.
The Albanian nun, who came to India in 1929 as a Loretto Sister and founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950, has rested here since her death in 1997.
Surprising the nuns, over 100 TV crewmen and photographers took up positions in the private chapel above her tomb before dawn to report the 6 a.m. Sunday Mass attended by the nuns, foreign volunteers and local Catholics.
After Mass, an endless stream of visitors from all walks of life — including Catholics, Protestants, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs — started lining up to touch and pray at the tomb of the diminutive nun who was affectionately called by the people 'ma,’ which, as in many languages, means “mother” in the local Bengali tongue.
“She was a mother to all, and everyone loves her. That is why I am here,” said the Rev. Brojen Malakar, a bishop of the Anglican Church of North India.
For Sharbani Paul, a Hindu, the reasons to visit the tomb on the day were born out of respect: “She looked upon every individual with equality, and I wanted to pay respect to Mother on her special day.”
Sukhnandan Singh, a follower of Sikhism, also cited Blessed Teresa's quality of mother to all people, adding, “This is a day for all of us to rejoice.”
The spartan Missionaries of Charity homes had a pleasant surprise with TV sets temporarily installed by donors to enable the nuns and residents to view the telecast of the ceremony at the Vatican.
When the solemn ceremony got underway in Rome, it was 1:30 p.m. in India. Street children and others gathered at the motherhouse to pay tribute to the woman once called “saint of the gutters.”
More than 500 children joined dozens of street children in a mile-long march from the motherhouse to Sishu Bhavan, which cares for 300 orphan children. Many held placards hailing Mother Teresa as “enduring love.”
“Mother was one who cared for the orphans. So, it is time for these [orphans] to pay her tribute while she is being beatified,” said Herod Mullick, general secretary of Bangiya Christian Parisebha — the ecumenical Bengal Christian Council.
The council also organized over two dozen street marches across West Bengal state over the weekend leading a “people's celebration” of the beatification with the participation of Christians, Hindus and Muslims.
After the live telecasts, the focus of attention was the Sishu Bhavan where a statue of Mother Teresa holding a child in her arms was unveiled while orphans under six staged dances to honor the nun.
Later in the evening, the alumni of the prestigious Don Bosco School in Calcutta organized a concert in homage to Blessed Teresa, led by two popular singers. A large photo of the blue-and-white-clad nun graced the stage, and marigolds decorated the walls. Over 100 Missionaries of Charity nuns sat in the audience.
The Catholic hierarchy of India was at the Vatican Oct. 19, so the official Catholic celebrations of the beatification are scheduled for the first week of November on the return of the Catholic leaders.
The Archdiocese of Calcutta has planned several programs, including a solemn Mass of thanksgiving, a film festival on Mother Teresa, an exhibition on her life, an interfaith meeting, and a public meeting to pay tribute to the Nobel Laureate nun who adopted Calcutta as her home caring for the poorest of the poor.
Anto Akkara is based in New Delhi.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Anto Akkara ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Bolivia: Catholic Radio and TV Stations Bombed
Radio PIO XII in Oruro, named for Pope Pius XII, and Channel 13 University Television station were both subject to bombs aimed at their broadcasting transmitters.
SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication, sent a message of solidarity to the staff of both stations: “We support them and all Bolivian communicators who have been subjected to threats and violence while covering the current social conflict. We encourage them to continue to build through their work a culture of peace, justice and respect for human rights. We call upon the Bolivian authorities to guarantee the freedom and integrity of the communicators … and of all journalists.”
Bosnian Islamist Leader's Nazi Ties Rate a Yawn
The paper spoke instead of his “dream of a Muslim-led independent Bosnia and Herzegovina,” admitting that the Bosnia which resulted from the clash among Muslims, Catholic Croats, and Serbs was “an international protectorate with few prospects for future unity.”
Mentioned only briefly in Izetbegovic's Times obituary was his involvement with Nazi collaborators during World War II — a charge which has widely (and falsely) been made against the recently beatified Croatian Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac. Cardinal Stepinac resoundingly condemned the atrocities committed by the self-styled “Catholic” regime which the Nazis had imposed upon the conquered Croats.
The Times wrote blandly of Izetbegovic: “During World War II, when Bosnia became part of the puppet-Nazi state of the Croatian Ustashe, Mr. Izetbegovic joined the Young Muslims, a group torn between siding with the German-sponsored Handzar divisions organized by the German SS or with the Yugoslav Communist partisans led by Josip Broz Tito. Mr. Izetbegovic supported the Handzars.”
The paper did mention that Izetbegovic's embattled Muslim government received aid from Osama bin Laden — who visited him in Sarajevo in 1993, and carried a Bosnian passport.
The Christian Martyrs of India
CHIESA.COM, Oct. 16 — The Italian Church news Web site Chiesa.com reported that Christians in India may feel uplifted by the beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta — but they have few other consolations. It cited ongoing attacks sponsored by Hindu fundamentalist groups — some associated with the ruling party of India, the BJP. It noted that on Oct. 7, Father Sajeevanand Swami, 52, of Kerala, was killed by a gang of six Hindu activists, who opposed his work to help local farmers.
Chiesa.com quoted Archbishop Vincent Concessao of Delhi, who told Pope John Paul II during an “ad limina” visit Sept. 6, “We have had martyrs who have lost their lives and those who have been brutally beaten up and imprisoned and at times have to live under constant threat and danger of being attacked particularly in the remote rural areas of our dioceses where they are very poor and few in number.”
Archbishop Concessao said that where laws have been passed restricting conversions, evangelization has become extremely difficult and even human development work is looked upon with suspicion.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Schiavo: The Moral Dilemma DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Was it wrong to pull Terri Schiavo's feeding tube?
The ethical question is not as clear cut as it may appear.
On the one hand, the Catechism teaches that euthanasia is murder:
“Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable. Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded” (No. 2277).
On the other, the Catechism would not condemn a family that avoided using extraordinary means to preserve the signs of life in a person:
“Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of ‘over-zealous’ treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected” (No. 2278).
In the Catechism, one of the key concepts in such cases is “ordinary care”:
“Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted” (No.2279).
Dr. Daniel Sulmasy, a Franciscan Brother who is head of medical ethics at St. Vincent's Medical Centers in New York, said the Schiavo case is not simple.
He said that Catholic teaching does not demand that patients be kept alive as long as possible. Although some Catholic ethicists insist that medically assisted nutrition and hydration is always obligatory, he told the Register, “my view is that it falls under the category of ordinary or extraordinary care, and therefore is not always obligatory.”
Determining the difference would be a prudential judgment, according to Dr. Sulmasy, and would have to consider whether nutrition and hydration were doing the patient any good.
He could not make a judgment in the Schiavo case because he didn't know all the medical details, he said. At the heart of the case, he added, was a “bitter dispute” between family members who both claim to speak for the interests and intentions of Terri.
The Catholic Medical Association, with access to more information, was less unsure.
In an Oct. 17 resolution passed at its annual meeting and conference in Philadelphia, the Catholic doctors’ group condemned the court order that the feeding tube be removed. “The court decided to remove the feeding tube without first undertaking rehabilitation therapy to ascertain her ability to swallow and digest nourishment,” the resolution said. The court order amounted, therefore, to “depriving her of life without due process of law.”
— Stephen Vincent
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Pray - Then Vote DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Florida courts tried to starve a woman to death and Florida's lawmakers stopped them. Gov. Jeb Bush's order, like a last-minute stay of execution, saved Terri Schiavo with only a few hours remaining before she passed the point of no return.
But pro-lifers don't credit Jeb Bush alone. The case was the principal intention in weeks-long prayer vigils. In last week's issue, the Register's headline was: “Pro-lifers Mourn; Schiavo's Family Prays for a Miracle.” This week, the headline is: “Saved in the Nick of Time.” “It has restored my belief in God,” said Terri's father, Bob Schindler. “This is blessed.” Her sister Suzanne called it “a miracle, an absolute miracle.”
Terri collapsed in 1990, the year she turned 27, from mysterious, sudden heart failure. She slipped into a coma but, according to her family, she has shown signs of alertness. Famously, she smiled for her mother in a photo advocates for her life have used to plead their case.
When Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, ordered her feeding tube to be removed, her parents objected. Terri's parents accuse Mr. Schiavo of being interested in the $1 million damages that medical services have paid out in connection with Terri's treatment at the time of her heart failure. They also say Mr. Schiavo wants to marry the woman he is living with, but can't while Terri's alive.
So he took his case to the courts. He says Terri once told him she would rather die than linger in a coma. That was good enough for the courts and, after months of legal battles, her feeding tube was ordered removed Oct. 15.
Terri was expected to die, but lawmakers tried one last-ditch effort. It worked. On Oct. 21, Florida House and Senate Republicans passed a bill that “authorizes the Governor to issue a one-time stay to prevent withholding of nutrition and hydration under certain circumstances.” Michael Schiavo is suing the state over the law.
There are two lessons voters in every state should learn from Terri's story.
Pro-life politicians matter. If Terri had been allowed to die, it would have set a horrifying precedent. A woman would have been killed against her family's wishes despite evidence that she is alert and responsive. It took a pro-life governor — a recent Catholic convert at that — to stop it.
The Associated Press ran down the list of the governor's pro-life accomplishments: His first year in office, he approved a “Choose Life” license plate vetoed by his predecessor. “He has persistently fought the courts to enact tougher abortion laws,” said the report. And earlier this year, Bush appointed a guardian for the unborn child of a severely retarded woman who was raped while in state care. Ultimately, the woman gave birth.
“I am pro-life and I believe in the sanctity of life and I don't think that's a surprise to anybody,” said Bush. “It's been my view. I think life is innocent, life is precious.”
Legislators needn't cede important matters to the courts. There has been a tendency among lawmakers to treat the courts as if they were infallible interpreters of the laws of the land. They forget that the three branches of government have equal authority. In fact, in his encyclical Centesimus Annus, Pope John Paul II points out that states become totalitarian if they fail to balance the legislative, executive and judicial branches. It is often easy for lawmakers to side-step controversial matters like abortion by claiming the courts are responsible.
But Terri's case shows just how much the legislative branch can do in cases like these. We saw the same thing earlier this fall when a judge tried to put a stop to the federal “do-not-call” list. Consumers could put their names on the list to stop calls by telemarketers. It didn't take long for the U.S. Congress to override the judge on behalf of consumers.
We need more lawmakers have the integrity and courage to represent their constituents and stand up to the courts — not just when it's easy, but also when it's difficult.
We can start by doing what the Schiavo family did: Pray for help in these life-and-death situations. But prayer, in this case, should lead to voting — and to convincing as many other people as possible to vote — for more such heroes.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: LETTERS DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Perfect Score
I would like to thank Marge Fenelon for her wonderful article on Molly Fitzpatrick and her 800 SAT score and, in particular, St. Peter Academy (“Catholic School Generates Perfect SAT Score,” Sept. 28-Oct. 4).
I have two daughters attending the school (kindergarten and second grade). We enjoy the family atmosphere at the school. An 800 SAT score is very impressive, but I was more impressed with Molly's comments. My wife knows her and says she is a very nice young lady. The school is very proud of her.
I know how hard many people work for the success of the school. Sr. Barbara, Sr. Jean and Teresa Donohue (HSA) don't ask for pats on the back, but is nice to see them get some compliments. Sr. Barbara, the principal, knows each child by name.
It is an uphill battle to keep Catholic schools in business. This article boosts the spirits of everyone involved with the school.
JOHN P. MCGURN
River Edge, New Jersey
Who Let the Cardinal In?
What happened? How did he get in? I just read about the newly appointed Cardinal Keith O'Brien of Scotland, who has called for “full and open discussion” about Church teaching on birth control and a reconsideration of the requirement for clerics in the Latin rite to be celibate (”Scots Cardinal Professes Loyalty to Church,” Oct. 26-Nov. 1).
I can't believe that our dear Holy Father knowingly selected such a man, but I guess mistakes do happen. Now it's up to the “good folks” like Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow, who has issued a letter to be read aloud at all Masses in his diocese reaffirming Church teaching on sexuality.
God bless him! (Do you suppose someone got the dioceses mixed up and he was the one who was supposed to be made a Cardinal?
Hmmm. Let's say a whole lot of prayers for Cardinal O'Brien. I think he needs them.
MARY WHITE
Editors Note: As a later Media Watch noted, the Cardinal says his remarks were misconstrued.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Terri's Plight DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Certainly the headline for the front-page article, “Terri Schiavo's Bishop Warns Against Removing Feeding Tube,” by Stephen Vince (August 24 - 30) took the most positive view possible of the long awaited statement by the bishop of St. Petersburg.
But those words emerged as a terrible life and death vigil was rapidly coming to an end and follow language which indicates a husband who has abandoned his marriage vows, is living with a woman not his wife, who has borne him a child, is still to be recognized by the Catholic Church as having his legal wife's best interests in mind.
This, in spite of the fact that money given him to provide medical and rehabilitation services for that wife have been paid to lawyers and doctors noted for their support of the culture of death. Small wonder that people with disabilities are puzzled and wonder if the Catholic Church really cares about their lives.
That August 12th statement notes that “her family has not been able to come together to make a single, unified, mutually agreed upon decision concerning Terri's situation.” Terri's family is totally united and includes a mother, a father and siblings who have been struggling to end the fabrication that Mr. Shiavo is concerned about Terri's continued welfare. Anyone concerned should certainly review the real family's Web site: terrisfight.org.
As the executive director of a national Catholic office charged with promoting respect for the lives of people with various disabilities, I am receiving dozens of e-mails every day asking how the Catholic Church can say it is pro-life, yet fail to support the lives of those of us with disabilities. Yes, Terri is neurologically disabled but a number of medical and rehabilitation specialists not associated with the pro-euthanasia movement have affirmed she is not in a coma or persistent vegetative state.
These individuals ask why the Catholic press doesn't ask “us” about such cases. Thousands of us with disabilities have had the personal experience of receiving negative judgments of the quality of our lives. At one point I was urged to accept death rather than request antibiotics to cure pneumonia.
This was justified on the basis that “pneumonia is an easy way to go.” I had the ability to fire those doctors. Terri does not.
MARY JANE OWEN
Washington, D.C.
The writer is the executive director of the National Catholic Partnership on Disability.
Thrownback to Florida
I ask you for your prayers and support, as I am now in St. Petersburg, Fla., to be of assistance to Terri Schindler-Schiavo's family and supporters.
I arrived on Wednesday afternoon, after being asked by Bob and Mary Schindler and Msgr. Thaddeus Malanowski (who has been friends with the Schindlers for years) to come down. I became acquainted with them through several people I know who have been very active in the efforts to save Terri's life. I have been following her situation for a couple of months now and have written about her plight on my Web log (www. thro wnback.blog spot. com).
The idea was first proposed to me over last weekend, and I consulted with my bishop, James Murray of Kalamazoo, who gave me his permission to go. Once he gave the okay, I made my arrangements.
I'm here primarily to assist Msgr. Malanowski. He has been a pillar of strength for the family, but he is over 80, and was getting tired out. When I arrived, he hadn't gotten more than 4 hours of sleep in the past two days. Unfortunately, Bishop Lynch, the bishop of St. Petersburg, has ordered the priests of his diocese to stay away and not get involved with Terri or her family, so Msgr. was pretty much on his own.
FATHER ROB JOHANSEN
St. Joseph, Michigan
‘We Tried’
After too many sleepless nights waking to the thought of Terri Shindler-Schiavo slowly being starved to death, I took the 7 a.m. flight to Tampa to pray outside the hospice in which her husband, Michael Schiavo, fights to have her starved to death. At the end of the day, a devout Father Raymond Vega, SCJ, told me, “Well, you have had a good pilgrimage.”
A large group of Terri's exhausted supporters had been keeping vigil since the feeding tube had been removed Oct. 16. People prayed from all denominations. A young priest led the rosary. These faithful friends have been personally riding the roller coaster of hope, continual resistance through the courts and disappointment. Michael wrote in the Tampa Tribune: “Reality is that Terri left us 13 years ago.” He has been struggling to make this a reality — the euthanasia movement to eliminate the “unfit” is strong. But for 13 years Terri's family and friends have fought courageously to provide the necessities of life for her.
As Patricia Anderson, the Schindler's attorney, stated, “Terri will only be out of danger when Michael is no longer her guardian and no longer has access to her.” Judge Greer's court refused to consider sworn testimony proving Michael lied in the original trial. What the press needs to report is that there is no court order to deny Terri oral feeding. This was Michael's wish, which is a direct violation of previous court orders to provide therapy and rehabilitation for Terri. Nurses’ statements show that, although Terri enjoyed taking pudding orally, Michael threatened them to stop. Judge Greer's order that immediate cremation of the body will insure all criminal evidence of possible spousal abuse will be destroyed.
Terri's parents and siblings have been barred from seeing her. So has Msgr. Thaddeus Malanowski, whom Schiavo's attorney felt was “not the kind of person that he wanted visiting Terri or that he felt comfortable visiting Terri.” What is it about this 81-year-old priest that makes Michael feel “uncomfortable”? He has been Terri's pastor for 13 years. He is that kind of priest you just want to be near — holy, joyful, serious about winning souls, prayerful. Michael would only allow the family in when there was someone there whom he does trust — the mother of his mistress.
My brief encounter with Msgr. Malanowski was grace-filled. Michael had him barred from giving Terri the Viaticum, proving again that Church-state barriers only work to the benefit of the secular. After he led the singing of the Divine Mercy and prayers before Communion, Msgr. gave us the Precious Body, a great joy to these struggling Catholics. The Eucharist is the greatest weapon we have in fighting the culture of death.
Our modern Calvary is at the death mills that exist today, where innocent lives are being taken. Just as there were few at the foot of the cross, there are few who stand to witness to the sanctity of life. But it is in front of the abortion mills and it was truly in front of Terri's hospice that Christ revealed his presence. It was in the faces of these suffering souls struggling in prayer and works for Terri's life. They are doing this as Mother Teresa asked: small things with much love. The silence from our Church leadership frustrates and saddens the “little ones” who have no authority to right these grievous wrongs, but they have the faith to endure, knowing that the Blessed Mother is still with us as model and intercessor.
On our pilgrim path, the journey appears lonely in the silence of our shepherds, scandalous as pro-death politicians are honored in the name of “helping children,” treacherous in the face of immoral judiciaries, but full of hope in the promise that Christ has not left us as orphans, but children of an all-loving and all-powerful Father. We must “run the race and fight the good fight,” trusting in God's mercy, with the angels pleading for us, just because “We tried.”
CATHY ROTH
Germantown, Maryland
Unfortunate Interference
I am saddened by the Terri Schiavo situation but am angered by the outside interference and opinions. Even your article (”Pro-Lifers Mourn; Schiavo Family Hopes for a Miracle,” Oct. 26-Nov. 2) implied that artificially extending a life is always good. Being truly pro-life is to respect God's will with both life and death. God's will allowed her to become brain-damaged and incapable of eating.
Throughout history, death would have come soon. Only modern medicine can extend life for years.
Sometimes that is good and sometimes it may not be. Do we know for sure that God wants us to keep her alive artificially? Is it maybe possible that God wants her to die so she can come home to God? I don't know any of the answers but why does Florida Gov. Jeb Bush think he knows?
Why do the Florida bishops believe 13 years is not enough time to know her condition? Why does your article ignore medical evidence and state the parents’ views as true?
All Christians should respect God's will on life, but I am very offended that Catholics are pressured to take a radical unsubstantiated stance!
KEN TAUER
Minnetonka, Minnesota
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: What Terri Schiavo's Fight for Life Tells Us About Us DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:We face a modern paradox that's difficult to reconcile. Animals are treated like persons, while human beings are treated as non-persons.
We have only to look at the battle taking place for Terri Schiavo's life in Florida to see that this is true.
Because of her disability, Schiavo's husband and the Florida courts decided that it was permissible to end a woman's life by starving her to death. Right-to-die advocates say that, in the case of Terri Schiavo, the courts have spoken. In the nick of time, Gov. Jeb Bush, a Catholic, was able to intervene.
Sometimes it seems our culture treats our pets more humanely than we treat our fellow human beings. We could never imagine starving an animal to death. So why is it okay to starve a human being?
Sadly, our culture's attitude toward life and the actions of the Florida court are frighteningly similar to the attitudes and court actions taken by another culture 70 years ago. That culture, too, had elevated the treatment of animals while at the same time demonstrating a tremendous lack of respect for human life.
In 1933, at the same time the German courts were passing laws against cruelty to animals, they were calling for the sterilization of all psychiatric patients and codifying laws that would eventually lead to the deaths of 275,000 handicapped and mentally disabled patients. And we know what that was the prelude to.
How painfully similar the scene looks today. We have certainly elevated the status of animals.
Pet owners can now purchase health insurance for their animals, even while 42 million people in our country are still without health insurance. In one case I recently came across, a family chose their dog's health ahead of the _ health of their own two preschool children. They bring their cancer-ridden dying dog to the vet for weekly chemo treatments, even though it means the animal's toxic excrement will end up in their yard.
Pet owners concerned about their pets’ behavior can hire a pet psychologist or psychic to explore the animal's psyche. Pet owners who are on vacation can have pet limousines pick up their pets for a week-long stay at a pet spa where the animals are treated to three-course meals and piped-in music.
On the Animal Planet, television programs such as “Animal Precinct” and “Animal Cops” follow animal cruelty investigators as they track down animal abusers and bring them to justice. Princeton's Dr. Peter Singer goes furthest: He wants to grant apes the same basic moral and legal protections afforded human beings.
Meanwhile, in Clearwater, Fla, without the benefit of a human cruelty investigator, a disabled woman would have starved to death if the governor hadn't intervened. The moral: When you try to raise animals to be equal to people, you only succeed in lowering the status of people below that of animals.
Secular media reports describe Schiavo as being in a “vegetative state.” But she's a human being, not a cabbage.
In his 1995 book, Dehumanizing the Vulnerable: When Word Games Take Lives, St. Louis University professor William Brennan outlined how the “semantics of oppression” have been used to justify the killing of Native Americans, blacks, European Jews, women, the unborn, and dependent or disabled persons.
The same terminology is being used today. As an example, Brennan quotes philosopher John Lachs who said, “I cannot make myself believe that the unconscious vegetables in our hospitals are in any sense human.”
Applying such language “to humans whose bodies are damaged or unconscious can change our whole willingness to care for and give to them of our best,” said Dr. R. Lamerton, a medical officer with St. Joseph's Hospice in London.
Disabled activist Mark Pickup, of Human Life Matters, told the Register of a telephone call he recently received from an aged Canadian woman who was born in Germany in 1940.
“I've been disabled all of my life,” she told Pickup. “My parents had to hide me for three years before they snuck me out of the country. The government would have killed me.
“Nothing has changed,” she continued. “The only thing that has changed is the country. It's no longer Germany, but the U.S.”
Thankfully there are heroes in the United States, too. They have been willing to confront the Florida courts, and they include the prayerful protestors, the pro-life and anti-euthanasia advocates and attorneys, Florida speaker of the house Johnnie Byrd and Gov. Jeb Bush.
Their presence calls to mind the words of another hero, Count Clemens August von Galen, the Bishop of Munster, Germany.
In remarks delivered on Aug. 3, 1941, in the Cathedral of Saint Lambert, von Galen spoke out for the handicapped and mentally ill.
He explored the reasons “that these unhappy patients are to be killed” and concluded: “It is simply because in the opinion of some doctor, in the view of some committee, they are ‘unworthy to live’ … and that they are like old machines which can no longer work, like an old horse which has become incurably lame or like a cow which can no longer give any milk … .We are not here dealing with machines or horses or cows …. We are speaking here of human beings, of our neighbors, our brothers and sisters, poor people and invalids.”
Tim Drake is the Register's staff writer.
He writes from St. Cloud, Minn.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Keep Your Eyes on the Prize DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Pro-lifers should borrow a page from the civil-rights movement: Mobilizing grass-roots supporters and using technology.
This has been a frustrating year in Washington for pro-lifers. Thirty-one years after the Supreme Court's infamous decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, their legislation still can't see the light of day. No unborn victims of violence act (the so-called Laci and Conner law). No child custody protection act. Few pro-life judges.
Thank heaven for progress on partial-birth abortion.
This sad fate can be blamed partly on the nation's Founding Fathers, who designed the U.S. Senate to be a brake on simple majority rule. Its rules and procedures, especially the filibuster, give enormous leverage to a determined minority.
“It's still like hacking your way through the jungle with a dull machete,” Doug Johnson, legislative director of National Right to Life, said of legislation buried in the upper chamber. “When a minority really wants to tie things up (in the Senate), they can.”
But those legislative woes can also be blamed on something else: a strategic flaw in the pro-life movement. Ever since the emergence of the New Right in the 1970s, most pro-life leaders have hitched their star to the Republican Party. Once Republicans control the White House and Congress, according to this strategy, the legislation will follow. But things have not worked out that way. As Johnson acknowledges, “I don't think [pro-life legislation] has been a top-tier Republican issue.”
To be sure, if Democrats controlled the White House and Congress, the anti-abortion agenda would face much greater hurdles. Contrary to the opinion of pro-life writer Joseph Sobran, it does matter who controls the legislative and executive branches.
But while an elect-Republican strategy may be a necessary condition for pro-life success, it's not sufficient. Politics alone will not solve a social problem. As Senator Paul Douglas, a pro-civil rights Democrat from Illinois, once wrote, “[I]t was hard to arouse the general public to a realization that the walls of Jericho could not be leveled by a mere blast of the senatorial trumpets.”
What should the pro-life movement do?
At the risk of sounding like every would-be social reformer from the past 40 years, I think it ought to borrow a few pages from the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s.
After all, it already shares the same philosophic goal: expanding the social definition of personhood. (Pope John Paul II, in a statement read three years ago at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., said issues such as abortion were “the civil rights issue of our time.”)
Now it should employ two of its key strategies: mobilizing grass-roots supporters and harnessing the power of a major new technology.
Although we think of the struggle for civil rights as ancient, the actual movement didn't exist until fairly late in the game. In 1896 the Supreme Court handed down Plessy v. Ferguson. Not until more than half a century later, in the early 1950s, did black leaders really try to mobilize ordinary citizens. And once they did, in Baton Rouge and then Montgomery, Ala., the movement gained steam.
By applying constant pressure to local authorities and, by extension, the nation, the cause made heroes of ordinary people like Rosa Parks and Emmett Till.
By contrast, the pro-life movement sits at about where the civil rights movement did before the early’ 50s. The grass roots haven't been mobilized. With the notable exception of the annual march on the Washington Mall and occasional letters to Congress, there's not much for ordinary pro-lifers to do politically.
Nor is there much for them to do socially. Although plenty of pro-lifers pray in front of abortion clinics and work in crisis-pregnancy centers, they don't as a rule spread their message to the wider public. You never hear about people running marathons or bicycling 50 miles on behalf of a pro-life cause. Nor do you hear, among the working classes, about people bowling or going to fish fries on behalf of the same.
Granted, even a newly energized pro-life movement couldn't fully imitate civil-rights era protesters. Because of a series of court rulings and legislation passed in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, pro-lifers face major hurdles in trying to block or shut down abortion clinics. Nonetheless, there is nothing from stopping the pro-life movement from a host of other things. Catholics could be urged to pray at Mass and school every day on behalf of the gospel of life. A political candidate's views on the major issues should be made known to churchgoers.
Techonology
For if ordinary pro-lifers were mobilized, they could borrow another page from the civil-rights movement: harnessing the power of technology.
In the early 1960s, black leaders used television to advance their cause. By showing innocent black protesters getting attacked by German shepherds and beaten up, the movement was able to humanize blacks in a way not possible before.
They became men and women and children, not just Negroes or “coloreds.”
As Coretta Scott King said, “Little would have been accomplished without television. When the majority of white Americans saw on television the brutality of segregation in action … they reacted … with revulsion and sympathy and with demands that somehow … this must stop.”
Today the pro-life movement should try to do something similar with ultrasound or sonogram images. As was the case with television 40 years ago, ultrasound is just now entering the mainstream. This year alone Time and Newsweek have had cover stories with powerful images of pre-natal life.
No longer are they regarded as “products of conception” or “the blob” but rather pre-born children. As the June 9 Newsweek story put it, “Recent dramatic breakthroughs in fetal and reproductive medicine only add to the confusion [over the abortion debate]. Once just grainy blobs on a TV monitor, new high-tech fetal ultrasound images allow prospective parents to see tiny fingers and toes, arms, legs and a beating heart as early as 12 weeks.” (Actually, sono-grams can show images of the enwombed child as early as the 10th week of pregnancy.)
One way the pro-life movement can put this technology to use is by supporting federal funding of it. Rep. Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican, is sponsoring legislation that would spend up to $3 million a year in order to buy ultrasound machines at crisis-pregnancy centers.
There seems to be little question that, if abortion-vulnerable women see an ultrasound image of their child and receive the proper counseling, many of them will choose life. Take the results of a three-year study by Dr. Eric Keroack, the medical director of A Woman's Concern in Boston. He found that; before the clinic used ultrasound, about three fifths of the women aborted; afterwards, fewer than one quarter did. That's an extra one in three women who ended up choosing life.
To be sure, ultrasound can't help the cause in as immediately dramatic a way as television did. For starters, only 376 out of 1,900 crisis pregnancy centers have ultrasound or sonogram machines, according to Heartbeat International. Even if all 1,900 centers had one, they still couldn't serve most women considering abortion.
Right now a good medical clinic will use ultrasound on only 100 to 200 women a year.
Another problem is timing: Women can learn about whether they're pregnant as early as six days after conception, but can't start to see their child on the ultrasound until the start of the 10th week. That's more than two — literally vital — months.
Still, ultrasound, combined with major support from ordinary citizens, could represent a major breakthrough for the pro-life cause. Pro-life legislation in Congress would likely pass freely. More children would be born instead of aborted. And wonder of wonders, we would have a viable and major pro-life movement.
Mark Stricherz writes from Washington.
----- EXCERPT: Pro-life lessons from the civil rights movement ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mark Stricherz ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Oct. 16, 1978: The Day I Met Virtue DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Me and the Pope. Fate brought us together on Monday, Oct. 16, 1978, though we were oceans apart.
That's because, the day of Pope John Paul II's election was also my first day as a full-time reporter for a suburban daily newspaper that served the Hudson River towns north of New York City.
I learned, as I got ready for my first day on the job, that, after two ballots, we still had no pope. This was of note because recent papal elections had been decided on the first ballot I wondered how long it might take and if this “story” might have a local angle.
It was a cool morning, but, as happens this time of year, it would turn into a sunny, warm afternoon. The foliage was just reaching its seasonal peak.
The morning was filled by meeting new colleagues and settling into my new desk. As lunch started, we heard over the radio that a new pope had been elected, an unknown Polish cardinal.
We scurried around and found a Polish woman (a Baptist, unusually enough) and I interviewed her about how the surprise election was likely to play back home. I also did a “roundup” of local clergy reaction. The next day, I had two page-one stories in The Citizen-Register of Ossining, N.Y., that appeared above the fold on either side of the now-familiar photo of John Paul II extending his arms in greeting to his new diocese.
I spent my whole first day on the job describing some aspects of the Pope's first day on his new job! It was a good start, I thought, for two rookies.
John Paul has now been the leader of the Roman Catholic Church for my entire working life, for all of my adulthood. I did not “grow up” during his papacy but I did mature into manhood with this Holy Father as a constant presence and guide. Starting on that day in 1978, he began to model the qualities that I would need for work and, even more so, for a meaningful life.
Building on a natural and appropriate manliness, those virtues include humility, charity and simplicity.
The Pope is also pious, but without ever giving piety a bad name, and without using it to avoid the hard work for which he is also justly known. His spirituality evokes romantic adventure, the kind that the young always find appealing.
If there is certain mystery about the man, it is the good kind, the sort that tells you he's a thinker. It only makes you want to learn more about him and his ideas.
Yet, John Paul is also transparent, and this is the quality that has served him best as Pope because it makes him accessible, known and admired by people everywhere.
On that first evening, as he stood before the people of Rome and broke with tradition by briefly speaking with them in a conversational manner, even the Eternal City's atheists and communists took him for a good man. As did some newsroom cynics.
In the autumn of 1978, I spent little time thinking about virtue, much less desiring it. I was beginning a journalistic career, on my way to a Pulitzer Prize, or something. Many disappointments and failures would have to be endured before the important lessons of life would be learned, and then only gradually.
John Paul II, the first subject of my first day's work as a cub reporter, attracted my attention and respect. I thought and wondered about the new bishop of Rome as I did my interviews, reviewed wire stories, and filed my copy during that first hectic afternoon of real, full-time news reporting.
He had, I thought, “something,” and I wanted it too.
For a while, I thought it was the priesthood. This is not unusual, as John Paul has probably inspired thousands of men the world over to test this vocation. A stint in seminary taught me a great deal, including that marriage and a family is my true vocation.
I was not drawn to greater faith by the Holy Father's philosophical erudition, and my checkered following of Catholic moral teaching would not be erased by his encyclicals and sermons. But John Paul has helped me achieve a stronger faith, and to embrace the Church's teachings fully.
It all has to do with those virtues of the Pope that, even on that first day, were not without an impact. A man gifted with character, intelligence and many natural talents, Pope John Paul displayed an array of deeper qualities — infused virtues — that are attained only through God's action through prayer, and the person's compliance and obedience.
And God is generous with these virtues, if we seek them. You can tell that he is starting to impart them when you find yourself suddenly drawn to things like Gospel charity, humility and simplicity, and just plain liking them. It seems as though you had never heard of these ideas before.
We had an inkling on Oct. 16, 1978, that the Church would now be led by an especially holy pastor, a dynamic missionary who was also a contemplative. His is the kind of holiness that ordinary people can see and appreciate because it really comes from God. John Paul made this possible by cooperating with grace, by going to God in prayer and by following wherever that prayer led him, including the Chair of Peter.
I did not realize it at the time, but, as I watched the sun set over the western bank of the Hudson on my drive home, I was longing to pray. I wanted to learn to pray, but for what? The prayer welling up in me was for change, for conversion, so as to become new. Somehow, I wanted to be like this man from the East, this novice Pope “from a far country.”
Former associate editor
Joe Cullen writes from New York.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joe Cullen ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: All Souls Grieve DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:My sister's tumor markers went up again recently. Her doctor says the chemotherapy isn't working because, at a certain point, the body becomes immune to it. They have changed her chemo several times since her illness began four years ago, with no success in halting the cancer in her liver.
Because she's been battling the illness for so long, I've had time to adjust. First there was the shock. Then denial. Then faith kicked in. And now I'm more at peace; I've been striving to accept God's will in all that happens to me and my loved ones. And so every conversation with Nancy has been precious. It's like I record every word she's been saying lately. Storing up memories, in a sense.
I've been doing the same with my elderly parents, both of whom have been slowed by serious illness in the past two years. Nancy's cancer has saddened them to the point of depression. No parent wants to see their child die before they do.
With all these angles to ponder, I feel like I've been pre-griev-ing for the past several months. So this All Souls Day, Nov. 2, has new meaning for me.
I have always prayed for the dead in years past and will continue to do so. But I will also ask God and the communion of saints to fortify my faith so I can deal with any future losses.
And I will look to others who have more experience in dealing with grief than I. In fact, I've already begun doing so.
Father Terence Curley is a pastor at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Nahant, Mass. He's been involved in bereavement ministry for more than 20 years. For those who are grieving, he gives wise advice: Find someone who will hear your pain.
“I call it seeking out a compassionate listener,” says Father Curley. “I call it practical Christianity. Christianity really is how we practice our faith, how we do it together, how we console one another. We need to console one another.”
One of the areas that I've been working on in my marriage has been communication. I thought I did it well — until I got married five years ago. Then I realized how little I communicated. It's an area that I've worked hard to improve, and I'm glad I have because my wife is my number-one consoler and listener, especially in the pre-grieving anxiety I have felt.
In speaking to others about grief, I heard something that was very consoling: No matter how grief-stricken you get, God's presence helps you go on. Elaine Stillwell's two children, college-age students, died in a car accident 17 years ago. Driving on a foggy, rainy night, they hit a draw bridge they didn't realize was up.
Stillwell reflects back during that tragic period of grief and said her faith saved her.
“It's a faith that's inborn in you,” says Stillwell, who is the bereavement coordinator for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y. “I didn't tap it and say, ‘Oh, now you're going to help me, faith.’ It was something that was there. It was unconscious. It just came to the fore — all the rosaries, everything you say. The liturgies, the communion of saints, everything that [helped me] say goodbye helped my heart.”
When I heard that, I felt joy in being a believer in God and in Jesus, and it's that kind of faith that comforts me during the times my heart is filled with sadness at the thought of my 44-year-old sister dying too young. Or my parents dying of broken hearts.
It's the kind of faith that, this All Souls Day, reminds me that the pain of Good Friday is always followed by the joy of Easter Sunday.
Carlos Briceno writes from Seminole, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceno ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Moments of Grace with the Motor City Capuchin DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Here's an unexpected find in an unlikely place: a $13 million, 40,000-square-foot facility honoring a humble Franciscan friar in the heart of America's automotive industry.
It's the Father Solanus Casey Center, dedicated to telling the world about the Capuchin who became the first American-born male raised to the honor of “venerable.”
Right now is a fine time to visit the site, whether vicariously or actually, as the Church officially remembers Casey Nov. 5. But first, a recap of his life.
Bernard “Barney” Casey was born near Prescott, Wis., in 1870. One of 16 children in an Irish-immigrant family, he long dreamed about becoming a priest. For many years, it looked as though his dream would never come true.
Casey first left the family farm so he could work various jobs to help support his family. Then, when he was finally able to pursue the priesthood, he struggled with his studies. Rather than give up his dream, however, he agreed to be ordained a simplex priest, a designation that meant he couldn't preach a formal sermon or hear confessions.
Father Casey's initial assignment was in New York, where he served in Yonkers, Harlem and New York City. A doorkeeper and sacristan, he attracted others who were struck by his charity toward the sick, children, non-Catholics and the poor. He was also widely known for his listening skills and great compassion; people visited and prayed with him in droves, and soon began receiving healings, spiritual favors and the restoration of their faith. His superiors were so amazed by how many favors were being answered through his intercessions that they asked him to keep a daily journal of the people he saw and what transpired.
In 1924, Father Casey was transferred to St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit, and again quickly attracted a large following of folks reporting favors granted through his prayers. In addition to this ministry, he began handing out food to Detroit's poor during the Depression, which inspired the creation of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in 1929. It served more than 5,000 people a day in those difficult days. (Today the Capuchin Soup Kitchen has two facilities serving 2,500 meals a day, plus a service center that distributes 300,000 pounds of food monthly.)
Father Casey died in 1957 at the age of 87. Since they could no longer visit him, people began to request his intercession. The favors continued to flow. Eventually the Fr. Solanus Guild was formed to continue Casey's work and promote his canonization.
Solidarity
The new Solanus Casey Center is located next to the sprawling, red-brick Capuchin Monastery and Chapel, built in 1883 along eastern Detroit's Mount Elliott Avenue. One of the Capuchin Soup Kitchens is just one block away. A previous Solanus Casey Center, a makeshift collection of exhibits, managed to attract an impressive 55,000 visitors annually; nearly 200,000 people are expected to visit the new center each year.
Once in the new center, start your tour in the commons area, where statues of exemplary Christians, including Blessed Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr., remind visitors of contemporary Christians who put their faith into action. The commons area feeds into the rotunda, which contains a wooden replica of the tiny chapel that was originally on this property around 1883. Displays showcase Christianity as expressed in religious life, namely Capuchin life.
Enter the auditorium on the right to learn about Father Casey's life, either via video or through a talk given by a staff member. Walk next door to the display and gallery areas, which contain information and artifacts reflecting the various aspects and stages of Father Casey's life. Look for Father Solanus’ books, clock, skullcap and rosary, plus the harmonica he played and the vestments he wore at his last Mass. A recreation of his monastery room is also there; its door and frame were taken from Father Solanus’ actual room.
Progressing deeper into center, you'll see a beautiful Hall of Saints, whose glass walls recall Father Casey's role models — the Blessed Mother, St. Joseph, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Martin DePorres, St. Katharine Drexel, St. Claire of Assisi and St. Thér`se of Lisieux. The glass wall looks out onto a meditation garden perfect for a quick reading or prayer.
The curving Hall of Saints leads to Father Casey's tomb, which is actually located in St. Bonaventure Monastery Church (the two buildings are connected). His casket is below ground, while the plain oak box sitting on the ground is his monument. Take a moment to kneel or sit in his presence, touch the tomb or invoke his intercession for a particular prayer request.
Carefully brushing off construction dust with my hand, I reverently placed it on Father Casey's tomb. Bernard, a simple farm boy who longed to serve at Christ's altar, humbly accepted his role as a simplex priest. In doing so, he was afforded the gift of time. This he shared with others who were in need of a good listener. By means of the center that bears his name, he's all ears even today.
Melanie Radzicki McManus writes from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.
----- EXCERPT: Father Solanus Casey Center, Detroit, Mich. ----- EXTENDED BODY: Melanie Radzicki Mcmanus ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Smile! You're on Digital Camera DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:When Brother Mark joined our community, he brought along a couple of identical $50 digital cameras.
Why two? Because when he bought them on QVC (Quality, Value and Convenience, an Internet and cable-TV retailer), he thought they were such a bargain — one could always be given as a gift to someone. It soon turned out that he wished to give one to our community. I soon learned why he'd gotten such a “good deal”: no flash and only manual-focus settings.
For outside shots in good light where the distance was known, the pictures came out reasonably sharp. And the camera was good for about 120 pictures on its medium-quality setting. Unfortunately, the Florida weather did in both of Brother Mark's digital cameras. My guess is that moisture got in behind the camera lens. Every picture comes out blurry.
Not long ago, a photographer for a newspaper came to shoot us (not literally) in front of our land for our future new monastery. He had what looked like an expensive digital camera. After taking the pictures, he took out his wireless laptop, plugged in the camera and e-mailed the digital images to his newspaper. Not bad for a day's work.
With our community soon to begin the construction of this new monastery, I thought having a digital camera would be a real plus. I could snap pictures as the construction progressed, download them into the computer and then upload them to the Web site. No waiting for film processing and then scanning prints into the computer. As we had a benefactor who was willing to buy us a digital camera, I went to Walmart to pick one out.
Now if you are thinking I did extensive research on digital cameras beforehand, you would be wrong. I wanted a cheap one, as I was mainly going to use it for the Web. Just to be on the safe side, I grabbed the latest copy of PC magazine, hoping to quickly look over their digital-camera recommendations. Wouldn't you know it? That issue had no reviews. Being totally ignorant on cameras, I was totally at the mercy of the salesman at Walmart.
The cameras ranged in price from $70 to more than $500. I noticed that price went right along with resolution — from 1 to 4 megapixels (MP). The salesman told me that 1 MP would be good enough for the Web, but not for making prints. I would need at least 2 MP for that, so that's what I went with.
The salesman recommended a $125 Kodak CX6200, as it was their hottest-selling camera. I went with it, figuring Kodak has been making cameras for years and other people apparently thought this particular one was a good buy. The 90-day money-back guarantee sealed the deal.
The camera itself was easy to use. The first time I turned it on, it asked for the date and time, which I set without having to refer to the user's guide. I then turned the mode dial to auto and began shooting pictures with the default settings. A review window in the back of the camera allowed me to see the pictures taken immediately after each snap for a few seconds — a real advantage for those shots that are not easily repeatable. I took one picture in low light and the flash automatically went off, producing a clear picture. I was impressed at how sharp the pictures looked with the camera just out of the box.
The user's guide was very helpful in exploring the camera's full functionality. I had difficulty installing the included “EasyShare” software, however. I kept getting one of those vague error numbers from Windows. I went on the Kodak Web site and was able to successfully download and install the software from there. When the camera was connected to the computer, it appeared as a hard drive under “My Computer.” From there I could directly save images to the computer hard drive or delete images from the camera. EasyShare allowed picture adjustment and special effects as well as an easy way to share pictures, as the name implies.
The software had a tab for ordering prints online. However, it was easier just to put the photo I snapped on a floppy disk (with more photos, one could burn a CD) and get it developed at Walmart for 27 cents — not bad, considering you can print and pay for only the pictures you want. Try doing that with a standard roll of film. And the prints looked as good as any film camera could produce with automatic processing.
Are digital cameras going to replace traditional film cameras? I think so. We finally decided to go that way. That will mean returning this digital camera for a slightly more expensive camera with more features, like zoom and macro capabilities. We hope some people still like using and buying film cameras — we have a 35mm film camera that will soon be up for sale on Ebay!
Brother John Raymond, co-founder of the Monks of Adoration,writes from Venice, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Brother John Raymond ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Monthly Web Picks DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Let's look at information on the gift of papal infallibility. Why call it a gift? Can't we just believe anything we want? See the following links for the answer.
It's always a good idea to start with the Catechism. Look at paragraph No. 890 and following for the different ways the Church proclaims infallibly at scbor-romeo.org/ccc/p 123a9p4.htm.
The First Vatican Council proclaimed Papal Infallibility in 1870. To read about this in detail see Session 4, Chapter 4 at piar.hu/councils/ecum20.htm.
Catholic Answers addresses misconceptions our separated brothers and sisters in Christ have about the doctrine at catholic.com/library/ papal_infallibility.asp.
The Immaculate Conception was infallibly proclaimed by Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1854. You can read about what he said in proclaiming it at papalencycl icals.net/Pius09/p9ineff.htm.
So important to the Church is preserving and guarding the teachings handed down to us by the apostles that the Roman Curia has a Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. You can read about their purpose and statements on the Vatican site at vatican.va /roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/index.htm.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Brother John Raymond ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video\DVD Picks DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (1999)
Based on Hilde Eynikel's biography of Blessed Damien de Veuster, Molokai tells the edifying, at times wrenching story of the 19th-century “Apostle to the Lepers,” who for 15 years lived and finally died in a leper colony on the Hawaiian island of Moloka'i.
The edifying, episodic biopic depicts Father Damien (David Wenham, Faramir in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings) as a man consumed by a singular sense of duty and obligation, lacking any thought but the spiritual and temporal good of those in his care and the good of his own soul.
To Church and state leaders in O'ahu he ceaselessly campaigns for more funds and medicine, nuns to help with the care of the sick, and his own desire for confession. To his charges he is uncompromising about proclaiming to them their spiritual needs as well as attending their physical needs.
Apart from two brief, inexplicable scenes — involving a bizarre reference to Hawaii's “old gods” and a presumably invalid wedding Damien initially refuses to permit — Molokai offers an inspiring, challenging depiction of Christian service, charity and sanctity. It's worthwhile viewing, especially for All Saints Day.
Content advisory: Images of disfigurement and death; a brief, shadowy depiction of a small-scale massacre; minor profanity; a restrained depiction of resistance to sexual temptation; a reference to impure thoughts and actions; two strange, brief scenes involving seemingly out-of-character, impious behavior and comments from Damien.
Maximillian: Saint of Auschwitz (1995)
In 1994 my wife and I attended a performance by Catholic dramatist Leonardo Defilippis (director of next year's film Thérése) of his one-man play on St. Maximillian Kolbe, the Polish martyr-priest of Auschwitz and founder of the Immaculata Movement. As recent converts from Protestantism, we were much struck by Kolbe's profoundly Marian spirituality as evoked by Defilippis's powerful, prayerful performance.
This video adaptation from Defilippis's St. Luke Productions and Ignatius Press captures the impressionistic, meditative quality of Defilippis's one-man show. Flexing his Shakespearean talent and versatility, Defilippis plays a number of roles besides Kolbe, including a Franciscan carpenter reminiscing about Kolbe, a number of Nazis, and even Satan himself offering a twisted commentary on Kolbe's life.
With effective sets and costumes, lighting and sound effects, and some scenes edited to allow Defilippis to appear to interact with himself, the production approaches full-dress drama while retaining the intimacy and stylized quality of a one-man play. From the visitation of our Lady to Maximillian in his youth to the fateful moment when he stepped forward in Auschwitz to take a condemned prisoner's place, Defilippis challenges viewers to contemplate the link between Kolbe's boundless Marian devotion and the extraordinary fullness of grace in his own life.
Order from www.stlukeproduc-tions.com (800-683-2998) or www.ignatius.com (800-651-1531).
Content advisory: Brief, stylized evocations of beatings and martyrdom; imaginative depiction of Satan and hell.
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
A Vatican film-list honoree in the category “Religion,” The passion of joan of Arc available in magnificently restored it DVD and VHS versions from Home Vision.
To witness Carl Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc is to glimpse the soul of a saint in her hour of trial. More than a dramatization, more than a biopic, more than a documentary, it is a true spiritual portrait of a Christ-like soul sharing in the sufferings of Christ. Watching it is an experience analogous to praying the Stations of the Cross or the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary. Constant extreme close-ups create a fearful intimacy and counterintuitive editing, like reverse perspective in iconography, challenges the viewer to watch this film differently from other films.
Maria Falconetti's transcendent performance has been called the greatest ever filmed; crushing exhaustion, visionary ecstasy, peasant cunning, and open terror wash with heartbreaking authenticity over her features.
The dialogue, though adapted from the historical records, is not always theologically transparent. It may sometimes leave viewers confused, though it seldom seems to matter. Before our eyes, Joan again stands accused, the badgering and harassing voices of her ecclesiastical tormentors are again heard, and Joan's long silences and simple answers continue to frustrate and confound.
Content advisory: Intense, prolonged distress and anguish; threat of torture; scenes of rioting and violence; execution by burning at the stake.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:All times Eastern
NOVEMBER, VARIOUS DATES
Kitty Hawk: The Wright
Brothers’ Journey of Invention
PBS, check local listings
Orville and Wilbur Wright were master inventors, not the amateurs and tinkerers of popular lore. This exciting documentary features hundreds of rare photos, plus interviews with experts and film footage of flights by replica aircraft. The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, and America's first man in space, John Glenn, do the voices of Orville and Wilbur in narrative sequences.
SUNDAY, NOV. 2
Franciscan University Presents
EWTN, 7 p.m.
Saints of the Jubilee, a book edited by Register correspondent Tim Drake, features brief biographies of new saints such as Sister Faustina Kowalska (of the Divine Mercy devotion), Sister Katherine Drexel, martyrs of China and Mexico, and the 11 Holy Family of Nazareth Sisters of Nowogrodek, whom the Nazis executed in 1943. Drake speaks with Father Michael Scanlan, Regis Martin and Scott Hahn. Re-airs Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 3 a.m.
MONDAY, NOV. 3
Guts and Bolts
History Channel, 8:30 p.m.
The military hardware that Tim Beggy gamely tries out in this episode includes an ejection seat, a flight simulator and a centrifuge that introduces fighter pilot trainees to high gravitational forces.
TUESDAY, NOV. 4
NOVA: Welcome to the 11th Dimension
PBS, 8 p.m.
This is the final installment of “The Elegant Universe,” based on Brian Greene's book of the same name. The show discusses M-theory, a version of string theory that Edward Witten and others came up with in 1995. M-theory unites five previous theories and speculatively posits the existence of 11 dimensions.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 5
Benediction
EWTN, 4:30 a.m., 6 p.m.
This 30-minute film, in Bulgarian with English subtitles, tells the inspiring story of Archbishop Angelo Roncalli (1881-1963), who became Blessed Pope John XXIII, and his links to Bulgaria. He served with the Holy See there, 1931-1935; and later, from Istanbul, he helped thousands of Bulgarian Jews escape the Nazis in World WarII.
FRIDAY, NOV. 7
Nazi POWs in America
History Channel, 10 a.m.
Not everyone today realizes that, during World War II, the U.S. military confined 400,000 Axis captives in hundreds of POW camps across the United States. This documentary is an account of the German army and air force prisoners.
SATURDAY, NOV. 8
The Well-Seasoned Traveler
A& E, 1 p.m.
In this episode, chef and restaurant owner Doug Duda scours the Big Apple on an enjoyable taste-tour of New York-style pizza.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dan Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Home Schoolers Learn Outside the Home, Too DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:MILWAUKEE — Home schoolers aren't just at home anymore.
Granted, the core subjects are mostly taught around the kitchen table or on the living-room sofa, but today's home-school families are increasingly on the road taking advantage of extracurricular activities offered specifically for home schoolers in their communities.
Like their traditionally schooled counterparts, home-schooled kids enjoy sports of all kinds. Many flow into the mainstream by participating in community leagues, parks and recreation department programs, or joining public or parochial school teams. Others belong to home school sports leagues organized by volunteers with a background in athletics.
Some, like the Rosien children in North Chile, N.Y., take lessons from friends or neighbors.
“I found out that my neighbor is a jujitsu expert,” said Mary Lou Rosien, who, along with her husband, Igor, home schools five of her seven children. “So, I asked him if he would teach my children. Now he gives them lessons in his basement and they absolutely love it.”
In addition to sports teams, most YMCAs offer swim and physical education classes formulated for home schoolers. The YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee South Shore Branch has twice-weekly gym classes for kids age 5 through 14.
“It's wonderful to see how the older kids, even if they don't have younger siblings of their own, will help out the younger kids during class,” said Janice Rozga, home school coordinator. “In the meantime, the moms can relax, talk and form bonds themselves.”
Fine arts possibilities are limitless. Dance, theater, music and art are all readily accessible in anything from private lessons to professional-level participation.
At the Fine Arts Institute of Edmond, Okla., for example, home-schooled kids in grades one through eight learn drawing, painting, sculpting, printmaking and various other art techniques and styles as well as study famous artists.
According to Executive Director Mitzie Hancuff, opening classes specifically for home schoolers gives the institute an opportunity for growth while at the same time serving a need in the community.
“We aim to bring out a talent in each child,” said Jean Marie Madlo, who along with her husband, Jim, home schools their three children in Superior Township, Mich. “We want to give them an area of success using their bodies. Their academic success is brought out during the school day, so we look for activities that will boost the children's confidence by knowing that they have some area of expertise.”
For the Madlo children, that includes ballet, gymnastics, theater, keyboarding, hiking and camping.
Field Trips
Museums and zoos all over the country also realize the potential benefits of creating programs for home schoolers.
Plimoth Plantation, a 17th-century living history museum in Plymouth, Mass., offers home-school field trips, all-day programs and overnights as well as on-site presentations. It also offers discounted teaching materials at the museum and free teaching resources on its Web site.
SeaWorld in San Diego holds monthly home-school field trips attended by an average of 1,500-2,000 home schoolers each trip. The park is closed to the general public and home schoolers have the opportunity to learn about ecology, conservation and animal training and behavior at learning centers staffed by SeaWorld educators.
SeaWorld and Plimoth Plantation are a mere sample of the expansive list of art, science and history museums, nature centers, planetariums, aquariums, zoos and conservation parks nationwide that offer special home-school schedules and discounts.
By banding together in support groups, home schoolers form their own clubs and organizations to facilitate any imaginable activity — drama, chess, geography bees, spelling bees, science fairs, cultural events, discussions, sewing circles, choirs, Little Flowers, Blue Army Cadets, rosary devotions, public speaking, Scripture studies, park play dates, field trips, crafts and much more.
Many of these activities are held in homes, but others are held in parish halls, library meeting rooms or Catholic retreat centers. Learning co-ops run by home-school parents allow home-school kids to learn skills from someone with in-depth knowledge of the subject such as creative writing, biology or auto repair.
Any home schooler can join the mainstream — and countless do — by signing up for civic organizations. Boy and Girls Scouts, Toastmasters, 4-H, Civil Air Patrol and St. Vincent De Paul Society are just a few. It's not unusual for home schoolers to become deeply involved in parish life by doing things such as working in food pantries, ushering, visiting the home-bound and teaching CCD.
Physical Education
Of course, home schoolers aren't all work and no play. Ice and roller skating rinks, bowling alleys, ski lodges and a variety of entertainments give home schoolers special times and discounted rates.
During the last week of August each year, Six Flags Elitch Gardens in Denver is thronged with 2,000-3,000 home schoolers being scooped, swirled and twirled on the theme park's amusements for less than half of the normal admission. Similar home-school events are held at other Six Flag parks across the United States.
“We approached some of the home-school groups about doing a physics education program for them,” said general sales manager Jeffrey Roolf, “but they declined. They simply wanted a special time to have fun with other home schoolers and we're happy to provide it to them.”
It's easy to become overwhelmed or burnt out with the enormous number of possibilities for home schoolers. That happened to Theresa Rugel-The, a Huntington Beach, Calif., mom who home schools her four children. The Thes began home schooling last year and were eager to become deeply involved in the home-schooling community and lifestyle, so they signed up for a large number of activities.
“In retrospect,” she reflected, “I can see that it was too much, but I still don't regret it. It was a good experience for all of us.”
Now Theresa Rugel-The judges each activity based on three criteria: the morality of the content and the people involved, the interest level of the child and the enhancement it offers to their academic goals.
Mary Lou Rosien agrees. She and her husband feel strongly that the Catholic Church has given them the responsibility to guide their children toward sanctity. All academics and extracurricular activities must be judged with the skills and character formation of the child in mind.
“We want to teach our children to be saints first and scholars second,” she said. “That's what home schooling is all about.”
Marge Fenelon writes from Cudahy, Wisconsin.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Marge Fenelon ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Deft, but Definitely Not Dumbed-Down DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:CATHOLICISM FOR DUMMIES
by Father John Trigilio Jr. and Father Kenneth Brighenti
John Wiley & Sons, 2003
414 pages, $21.99
Available in bookstores and at www.dummies.com
Despite the lighthearted title, this book is not Catholic Lite. And it's definitely not for dummies. Written by two priests who host shows on EWTN, Catholicism for Dummies is based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, with some humor, cartoons and oddball graphics thrown in. It carries an imprimatur and a nihil obstat and is a solid primer on the Church's faith and practice.
The familiar “for dummies” format that has sold millions for explaining in breezy terms the complex aspects of modern life, from the Internet to gourmet cooking, is bound to attract many bookstore browsers who would never peruse the religion/theology aisle.
Fathers Trigilio and Brighenti hit the ground running in Chapter 1, “What It Means to be Catholic,” with a no-nonsense style. The first paragraph is worth quoting in full:
“Being Catholic means living a totally Christian life and having a Catholic perspective. To Catholics, all people are basically good, but sin is a spiritual disease that wounded humankind initially and can kill humankind spiritually if left unchecked. Divine grace is the only remedy for sin, and the best source of divine grace is from the sacraments, which are various rites that Catholics believe have been created by Jesus and entrusted by him to his Church.”
There you have it: original sin, fallen mankind, grace and redemption, the centrality of the sacraments, intimations of heaven and hell, and the Catholic Church as Christ's own. This is followed by the “general ground rules” laid out in the precepts of the Church and the four marks of the Church: one, holy, catholic and apostolic. Somehow I don't think the “for dummies” originators had this kind of information in mind when they began the book series for computer illiterates. Yet the two priest-authors score a bull's eye (one of the familiar “for dummies” icons that set off paragraphs for special consideration) for using the conventions of the world to advance the Kingdom of God.
Speaking of those icons, it may seem incongruous at first to see a time-bomb “warning” next to a paragraph explaining Sunday Mass obligation, but when you consider the grave consequences of mortal sin, the icon seems more appropriate. A warning bomb also appears by a section on Catholics who attend Mass but fail to practice charity. You can almost hear the kaboom coming from the words of Jesus condemning those who appear outwardly pious but are dead within.
Chapter 2, “Who's Who in the Catholic Church,” deals with the public, human, often worldly side of the Church. Even knowledgeable Catholics may pick up some new information, such as the mallet that is used upon a dead pope. “The most senior-ranking cardinal enters the room of the dead pontiff and gently strikes his forehead with a silver mallet, calling the pope by his baptismal name,” the book states. “If he doesn't answer by the third time, he's pronounced dead.” Lest readers accuse the Church of skullduggery and medieval antics, the authors explain that today the mallet is simply a ceremony and the pope's own doctor officially determines death.
Throughout, information is broken into easily digestible chapters and subsections, so readers can thumb through and pick topics that catch the eye. Some may be inclined to start near the back of the book, with the lists of tens: 10 famous Catholics, 10 popular saints, 10 favorite pilgrimage sites.
Of course, the book has its weak points. As the authors state at the start, some subjects are passed over lightly. It is a popular guidebook, not a catechism. I would like to have seen a chapter on social justice, yet the topic is covered only in relation to the cardinal virtue of justice. Relating the faith's dogmas and dictates to the visible aspects of the Church that most everyone likes — the thousands of Catholic hospitals, schools and inner-city outreach programs — would have made for a fine additional chapter to this outstanding book.
Stephen Vincent writes from Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Grieving Process
The preparation of lay leadership has been avoided, he said, because “many [religious] are simply grieving” the rapid decline in their own numbers, said Father Heft, Dayton's chancellor.
To truly prepare the laity would “appear as admitting defeat, and even the death of their beloved orders,” said the priest, according to the account of his address in the Telegraph, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
Father Heft is also the director of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California.
‘Double Agent’
CHRONICLE.COM, Oct. 14 — A Syracuse University official criticized Boston College as a “double agent among us” for defecting to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) after participating in strategy sessions with other Big East Conference schools on how to check the ACC's wooing of Big East schools.
“We were working to reconstruct a conference, and we had one of the members that was attending and participating, but working another agenda,” Shaw told the Web site of The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Italian Nuns to Kansas
The sisters have been at the Newman Center of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign since 1999, where 55 students are exploring whether they have a call to a religious vocation.
The discernment process is a key part of the sisters’ apos-tolate, which incorporates spiritual direction and vocational awareness regarding all states of Christian life. The sisters also encourage Eucharistic adoration, the sacrament of reconciliation, and the importance of following a daily pattern of prayer.
Golden Jubilee
SETON HALL UNIVERSITY, Oct. 16 - An Oct. 31 conference on the “Foundations for Jewish-Christian Dialogue” with a keynote address by Baltimore Cardinal William Keeler will initiate Seton Hall's celebration of the 50th anniversary of its Institute of Judaeo-Christian Studies.
The institute was founded on the South Orange, N.J. campus in 1953 by Msgr. John Oesterreicher, an expert in Christian-Jewish relations who participated in the writing of the section on relations with the Jews that forms part of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on the Church's Relation to Non-Christian Religions.
Social Scientists
FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY, Oct. 16 — Dr. Warren Carroll, a historian and the founding president of Christendom College, was scheduled to present the annual Christopher Dawson Lecture on “John Paul II: History Maker” at the 11th annual Society of Catholic Social Scientists National Conference at the Steubenville, Ohio, university.
Joe Cullen writes from New York
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joe Cullen ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Family Matters DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Bring Work Home
Q
My husband works long and hard, and comes home exhausted. When I try to make conversation about his day, he just says I wouldn't understand. I feel left out of his life and his world.
A
Here's what we hear in the counseling office all the time: Dad is working too hard and too long. (I'm going to pick on the men here, for they seem to be the culprits.) Passion and enthusiasm are reserved for work. The folks at home get the worn-out, half-a-man leftovers. Think Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman and you get the idea.
I already gave at work. Now I want to relax. Leave me alone and please pass the remote.
That's bad enough. To make things worse, the dads/husbands not only deprive their families of time, but they also deprive them of any words: There's no sharing of successes, victories or even problems. No one at home gets a sense of exactly what he does and how he does it. There are no stories.
As you may have noticed, kids love stories. Why, even wives love stories. They particularly love stories about their hero: you.
When we talk to the men about this they usually say, “I keep work at work. She can't help me with my problems anyhow. I'm in trouble for working too much. I would only make it worse if I started talking about work.” Spoken like a true man. Unfortunately, the silent treatment compounds most any bad situation.
Tell them about your life! Tell them about your projects, dreams, goals, customers, bosses, co-workers, disappointments, successes. Tell them who you are and what you do when you are gone for 10-plus hours each day. Tell them how you rescued an account that was floundering. Tell them about an HR decision that helped people. Tell them about the chapter in the proposal you're writing, the hire you made, your sadness about the person you fired, the five-year plan, the quality of your products, the lessons you learn every single day. Share your life with them and do so with gusto, enthusiasm and pride. How else are they going to know you and appreciate you? Give them a guided tour of your life.
Share your day. You can't be like most parents who only talk to their kids 30 seconds a day. You are better than that. Besides: Inquiring minds want to know. Tell them the story and the glory of your life. You should even ask for their prayers if you have a particular struggle that they can understand.
Then, when you're on a roll, do something else remarkable. Ask about the best thing and the worst thing that happened to each of them that day. Listen with eyebrow-raising interest, as if it's your boss or your most important customer you're talking to.
Better yet, listen as you're hearing from the most important people in the world.
Art Bennett is director of Alpha
Omega Clinic and Consultation Services in Vienna, Virginia, and Bethesda, Maryland.
Reach Family Matters at familymatters@ncregister.com
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Art Bennett ----- KEYWORDS: Culture Of Life -------- TITLE: GOD IN PUBLIC DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Facts of Life
The majority of Americans have no problem allowing references to God in the public square, according to a USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll released Sept. 30. No fewer than 90% said they approved of the inscription “In God We Trust” on U.S. coins, while only 8% disapproved and 2% had no opinion. Also, 71% said that, if they walked into a public school classroom and the teacher's desk had a Bible on it, they would consider that to be a good thing — compared to only 18% who said it would be a bad thing and 9% who said it didn't matter.
Register illustration by Tim Rauch.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture Of Life -------- TITLE: Pray for the Holy Souls ... and They Will Pray for You DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:“Offer it up for the holy souls in purgatory.”
In years past, many of us who attended Catholic schools heard those words every time something bad happened. Not a few of us followed through on the advice even though we weren't sure what to make of it.
How many know that it was St. Nicholas of Tolentine who, perhaps more than anyone else, showed just how much those prayers really do help the holy souls — and us? His own feast is celebrated Sept. 10, but there's no better time than All Souls’ Day, Nov. 2, to remember him — and them.
In 1884 Pope Leo XIII declared St. Nicholas the Universal Patron of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. The saint's devotion began one 13th-century night when the voice of a departed brother begged him to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass the next day for his soul and many others. It would deliver their souls, the voice said, from purgatory.
But Nicholas, an Augustinian friar, was assigned to say the community Mass. The voice pleaded, “Then at least come with me … see our suffering … pity these unfortunates who await your help.” Nicholas was then shown a great sea of souls stretching across the land.
He began saying Masses at once. Shortly, the brother appeared again — this time, accompanied by a triumphant multitude.
Nicholas was born in 1245 in Sant'Angelo, Ancona, Italy, and died in 1305 after spending 30 years at the Tolentine monastery. Even before he was ordained, he was already working miracles.
The saint was even more a miracle worker for the departed. “He prayed for the souls in purgatory incessantly with Masses, Divine Office, penances and charity,” says Father William Hodge, pastor of St., Nicholas of Tolentine Church in Atlantic City, N.J. During one Mass, Jesus appeared “to thank him for the fervor he brought to his Masses and gave him an apparition of the holy souls in purgatory released by the graces of his Masses.”
But the sea of these souls isn't waiting for the super-saints alone. Praying for them should be a joyful part and parcel of our spiritual lives everyday. Says Father Hodge: “Don't we want anyone to remember us when we die?”
In a letter last September, Pope John Paul II reminded us that “Christian love knows no boundaries and goes beyond the limits of time and space, enabling us to love those who have already left this earth.”
Why purgatory? “God's justice demands expiation for sins,” observes Susan Tassone, author of the books Praying the in the Presence of Our Lord for the Holy Souls, Praying the Rosary for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and The Way of the Cross for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. ”God gives us the ability to release souls from purgatory,” she adds. “They're part of the Mystical Body of Christ.”
Tassone explains that the flames of purgatory are not the flames we know on earth, but the burning interior desire for God.
Purgatory isn't a cruel concept, but a most humane doctrine of the Church, notes Father Hodge. “Even after death,” he says, “God's mercy and compassion don't end but follow us.”
Franciscan Father Benedict Groeschel expands on this idea. “It's very important to say the joy of the holy souls in purgatory is exceeded only by the joy of the saints in heaven,” he says, referring to the beautiful teachings of St. Catherine of Genoa (born 1447, the year of Nicholas’ canonization). These define purgatory as a ‘place of healing and purification.’ She doesn't say it's a pushover, but it's cleansing.”
Prayers to Purgatory
In contrast, “These people who go about making purgatory sound as horrible as hell violate the decrees of the Council of Trent,” says Father Groeschel. Since Vatican II, he believes, purgatory has too often been neglected. “Most people just reject the whole thing,” he says.
“Just because we don't see the word ‘purgatory’ in the Bible doesn't mean it does not exist,” says Father Hodge. “The same for the word 'Trinity’ — you won't find it in the Bible.”
The foundation for purgatory is laid out in the Old Testament. Judas Maccabeus took a collection for prayers and sacrifices to be offered at the Temple in Jerusalem for the fallen soldiers. “Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be delivered from their sin” (2 Maccabees 12:43-46). In Matthew, Jesus talks of sin forgiven or not forgiven in this age and the age to come.
In purgatory, souls can't pray for themselves — but we can. It's our duty to help all fellow members of Christ's Mystical Body, starting with our loved ones, says Father Hodge.
The number-one way to do that is to have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered for the Holy Souls. You can also make it your personal intention at any Mass you attend. “That's the most efficacious way to get the souls out of purgatory or relieve their pain,” says Tassone. “You're offering the Body and Blood of Christ, with its infinite merits.”
The Church is resplendent with writings about offering Mass for the dead, says Franciscan Father John Grigus of Marytown, spiritual director of the Chicago archdiocese's Eucharistic-adoration program. “We have clear evidence of prayers for the dead being offered from the earliest times on.” He points out one directive from 140 A.D. that states: “When the faithful dies, obtain salvation for him by celebrating the Eucharist and praying next to his remains.”
Obtaining Graces
The Blessed Virgin Mary is mother of the entire Church, of the living and deceased, reminds Father Grigus. Mary's own Immaculate Heart aids us to obtain these graces for the holy souls.
“The Stations of the Cross are richly indulgenced; they're another means of offering the Passion of Christ,” Tassone points out. Most people don't realize, she adds, that they can gain a plenary or partial indulgence meeting the Church's conditions and apply it to a soul or souls in purgatory to remit their temporal punishment still due for sins already forgiven.
“The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance on behalf of the dead,” affirms the Catechism (No. 1032). Even little sacrifices help immensely. Fast not only from foods, “but from vices with the conscious intention I'm helping my brothers and sisters,” says Father Grigus. Almsgiving to aid the living poor is “also meritorious when done for the benefit of the holy souls,” he says, citing God's call in Isaiah to redress wrongs by giving alms.
If, for example, a deceased person's particular problem was not wanting to share money with the Church, a loved one can give offerings to the Church and for the holy souls on that person's behalf. “That's the most direct, practical way,” says Father Grigus.
All this help is a two-way street. Devotion to the holy souls benefits you because their big job is to help us. “We should implore their prayers,” says Father Groeschel.
“They pray unceasingly for you every day of your life, until you're safely home in heaven,” says Tassone. “Do everything you can to help the souls in purgatory and they will help you avoid [that place].”
“You can't fail if you take your petitions to the holy souls in purgatory,” adds Father Hodge, “because they'll never forget what you did for them.”
Finally, we're obliged to pray for the most forgotten souls in purgatory, says Father Grigus. Many have no one to pray for them, including people not of our tradition who don't believe in purgatory, and those who have not learned about Jesus but who have attempted to live good lives.
Like Nicholas of Tolentine, we can come to their aid and get them an earlier ticket to heaven.
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture Of Life -------- TITLE: 'The Luckiest Man in the Universe' DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Priest Profile
He was only a small child — as young as 4, perhaps — when the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist first made a deep impression on him.
To this day he remembers thinking, as he watched Father Jon Cantwell of St. Michael's distribute Communion: “The priest must be the luckiest man in the universe to be able to hold God in his hands and give him to others.”
One day, as his pastor was “putting Jesus back in the tabernacle,” he now recalls, “I asked God to give me the vocation to be a priest.” It was to become a regular prayer — one that God would honor.
Today, 33-year-old Father Roger Landry is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Mass., serving at St. Francis Xavier Church in the town of Hyannis on Cape Cod.
The route to his 1999 ordination by Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley, who was then the bishop of Fall River, is impressive. Educated at Harvard, Landry held leadership positions in pro-life groups in Washington, D.C., conducted medical research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and studied theology in America and at the Angelicum, Gregorian and Lateran Universities in Rome.
He concentrated on marriage, family and sexual issues. Later he studied bioethics at the John Paul II Institute for the Study of Marriage and Family.
Despite the extensive and intensive preparation for the priesthood, Father Landry insists that “the greatest seminary I ever attended was my home in Lowell, Mass. My dad showed me that real love is capable of bearing any sacrifice for those you love. He translated very clearly for me Christ's commandment to love others as he has loved us.”
Father Landry explains how his father endured a grinding daily commute to work a job that didn't please him. Whether sick or healthy, and no matter the weather, off he'd go each day — “without ever complaining, humbly working to support those he loved.”
His father's example, he later realized, taught him that “a priest needs to be a father of a parish family and needs to love with the same sacrificial love with which my father loved me. The priesthood at its deepest level is giving up your whole life for those you love.”
What's more, his earliest memory is of his mother praying the rosary. “One time as a young child, I surprised my mother when she was full of tears,” he says. “I was worried and asked what was wrong. She said, ‘I'm praying about Jesus’ receiving the crown of thorns.’ It engraved in my mind the living reality of prayer and the meaning of Jesus’ suffering for us.”
Christian Soldier
What made such a devout young Catholic choose militantly secular Harvard for his college? The advice of a parish seminarian who advised him that, as high school valedictorian, he should go where he would best learn how to preach the Gospel to the contemporary culture. While at the Ivy League institution, he co-founded a magazine, Peninsula, ”to influence Harvard's culture with ideas grounded in the faith.”
One issue of the publication looked at homosexuality; it attracted major media attention and helped spur production of a PBS documentary. The experience provided Father Landry with key pastoral insights he applies today as spiritual director to men and women in Courage, the organization of men and women striving to live chaste and holy lives despite their feelings of attraction for people of the same sex.
Besides his full parish schedule, Father Landry frequently speaks on bioethical issues and on Pope John Paul II's teachings on marriage. Recently, he was asked to pinch-hit for George Weigel and present John Paul's theology of the body at a national meeting for the Engaged Encounter movement.
“The first thing that strikes anyone about Father Landry is his acute intelligence,” says Weigel. “He combines this with a genuine pastoral certainty. I saw that in Krakow where he was a very congenial companion to younger students and popular with them as a counselor and confessor.”
This dynamic young priest credits Pope John Paul II and Archbishop O'Malley with influencing his approach to his priesthood. Both “are witnesses of hope to me,” he says, “and have inspired me to try to be a witness of hope to others.”
Father Landry preaches primarily by example, according to parishioners of his past and present. “He feels the world needs more prayer, so he scheduled more benedictions for more times to sit in front of Jesus,” says Beverly Tavares Father Landry's former parish, Espirito Santo Church in Fall River.
Tavares marvels over Father Landry's efforts to raise funds for a youth-group trip to World Youth Day 2000. He led 20 kids in a walk-a-thon, she recalls, “in pouring rain 15 miles to all the churches in Fall River. … He's willing to do whatever he asks you to do.”
Godly Matchmaker
Anna Halpine, founder of World Youth Alliance, has worked with him on life issues in her work with the United Nations. “He always asks the question: ‘Will this make you a saint?’ And he tells you, do not be afraid to say Yes to God in realizing the answer to that question. He's making sure everyone sees they're called to be a saint.”
Halpine also points out that “Father Roger is doing a lot of this through Mary. He is an extremely Marian priest. He taught me the whole Totus Tuus prayer of the Holy Father. It's something I've said every day.”
It all fits into one of Father Landry's greatest joys of parish work: “to be able to match-make God with those he loved so much to die for, to open people's minds and hearts to the greatest love story every told and make them aware they're a central character in it.”
The other is preparing young people for marriage. He says he strive to help them “enter into God's love for them so that they might fully love each other and bring each other through this wonderful sacrament closer to Christ and closer to heaven.”
“He's a genuine scholar of the Holy Father's thought, but he also lives the Holy Father's thought,” says Peter McFadden, founder of the Love and Responsibility Foundation in New York City. Last year, he asked Father Landry to join the group's leaders for a weekend in the Catskill Mountains. He went the extra mile, says McFadden, “eager to spend a whole week with us.”
Every morning he'd lead not only Mass, but also a two- to three-hour discussion. With afternoon came hike time, “just as the Holy Father would do as a young priest.”
Everyone was fully prepared to be deferential to a priest, McFadden says. “But who signed up to clean dishes? Father Landry. He truly sees himself as a servant. Father Landry exemplifies the gift of self.”
Oh, and one other thing. Father Landry knows nine languages — “so I can understand better God's revelation and converse more effectively with those to whom the Lord wants that revelation preached. But,” he adds with a grin, “I speak all of them with a New England accent.”
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture Of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 11/02/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: November 2-8, 2003 ----- BODY:Adult Cells Heal Burns Faster
BETTERHUMANS, Oct. 10 — The burn-damaged skin of rats heals faster when stem cells from their own bone marrow are used for treatment rather than stem cells from embryos.
The finding, presented by scientists from Russia's Scientific Research Institute of Transplantology and Artificial Organs, could translate into better treatments for burn victims while avoiding controversy over embryonic stem cell use.
The rats that received cells from their own marrow healed in slightly over a month, making the quickest recovery.
Rats that received transplantation of embryonic stem cells healed five times more slowly.
O'Malley Leads the Way
“Abortion is violence — we want to be people of peace,” said O'Malley, who received the loudest ovation of the dozen or so speakers who addressed the annual rally and walk on Boston Common.
The president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, Peg Whitbread, said Archbishop O'Malley's ability to “calmly and unequivocally” focus on the issues struck exactly the right tone.
Sextuplets in Lebanon
Doctors delivered the babies by Caesarean section 30 weeks into Soumaya Ghosson's pregnancy.
Mother and babies, who weigh between 1.1lbs and 2.4lbs, are doing fine, said a hospital official.
Tiny Baby Goes Home
BBC NEWS, Oct. 10 — The UK's smallest surviving baby has been allowed to go home after four months in the hospital. Aaliyah Hart weighed just 12 ounces when she was born 12 weeks premature in May, having grown too slowly in the womb. She was given only a 10% chance of survival.
Staff at the hospital's neonatal unit decided Aaliyah, now weighing five pounds, was strong enough to go home for the first time.
Aaliyah's mother, Lorraine Hart, 37, said, “She will always be a little miracle because she's come so far from so tiny and doing really well and I'm really proud of her. I'm just happy she's here, she's alive and we're going home.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture Of Life -------- TITLE: To Live and Die in Iraq DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — The terrorist attacks that have shaken Baghdad over the last few weeks threaten to undermine the Pentagon's strategy for extricating U.S. troops from Iraq, senior U.S. officials and independent experts said Oct. 27.
The brazen and well-coordinated strikes, they said, could prevent an accelerated handover of security duties from American to Iraqi forces and the creation of a new Iraqi government.
“What it means is that we're stuck,” said one senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The strikes, the worst since the Iraqi capital fell to U.S. troops in April, included the suicide bombings on Monday of three Iraqi police stations and the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and a rocket attack Oct. 26 on the heavily fortified al Rasheed Hotel. The violence on Oct. 27 alone killed at least 35 people and wounded about 230 others, mostly Iraqis.
Almost daily reports of U.S. soldiers getting killed in Iraq as the U.S. coalition tries to rebuild the country has led some people to question the wisdom of U.S. involvement there.
The Register interviewed Franciscan Friar of the Atonement Father Kenneth Cienik about the conditions there.
A chaplain in the U.S. Naval Reserve since 1986, Father Cienik saw Iraq from the inside, both in Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and Operation Iraqi Freedom this spring.
A native of Pittsburgh, he's the vocation director for the Atonement Friars, working out of Washington, D.C. He's also a former rector of the Church of Sant'Onofrio in Rome.
Just before Veterans Day, Register correspondent Joseph Pronechen spoke with Father Cienik about his five-month tour of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom — and about prospects for peace and the role of Islam in the conflict.
This wasn't your first trip to the Middle East.
I served on board the battleship U.S.S. Wisconsin in Desert Storm, then aboard the U.S.S. Saipan, an amphibious assault ship of 3,200 Marines and sailors, in Operation Iraqi Freedom. I was in the North Arabian Gulf and went into Iraq to minister to our personnel.
Were you close to combat?
I was in harm's way but not in combat. Helicopter pilots from the Marine Air Wing saw combat up close and personal. The grunts, the infantry Marines, were in some of the worst combat in Al Nassariya. I did a lot of personal debriefing with these guys. They are the new veterans who saw their fellow Marines killed or injured in combat.
There was one occasion in late April when we had to fly two helicopters together in case one went down. One did go down in Al Nassariya — not mine. We had to sleep three nights under the helicopter with the Marines protecting our perimeter.
What did you observe in our service personnel?
My experience in the two wars is the old adage, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” Everyone looks at their personal values more deeply and clarifies them. Even nonbeliev-ers have values challenged and have to come to grips with the reality of their mortality. My three values of faith, family and friends were clarified, too.
One young Marine came to Mass and, being a Pittsburgher, we talked. This was the first time he had a chance to talk to somebody about that. He saw combat, people injured and killed, and bullets flying all around. He said his faith sustained him as well.
My opportunity for ministry was very rewarding because there was lots of openness and appreciation of the chaplain. Especially in this last deployment, with 3,200 on the ship, a number of Marines and sailors were especially active practicing their faith. On the ship we had active participation in daily Masses. At weekend Masses the sailors and Marines were tremendous putting together a choir.
We had weekly classes on the sacrament of reconciliation and the opportunity for confession. We had the rosary and the Stations of the Cross. A large group prepared for confirmation.
Everybody wanted to read the six copies I had of the book The Grunt Padre, the life of Father Vince Capodano, who was given the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for the Vietnam War. The Marines and sailors were impressed by his dedication and self-sacrifice. I'm convinced there are a number of people there who have a vocation and can respond to the call.
I feel my priesthood in all its richness being in the most needed of circumstances. A lot of Catholics look to the priest for moral guidance. However, much of the ministry is not sacramental but pastoral counseling. A difference with this war was that we had e-mail. News would come that someone had died or a spouse was leaving.
What were some of your other adventures?
I took an inflatable boat from a ship to the Min Al Bakar oil transport station to say Mass on two occasions for the Catholic Coast Guard personnel. The SEALS and Marines overtook the station because we knew it would be blown up at the start of the war.
In Al Kut, we reclaimed a cemetery of 420 graves of the Indian Expeditionary Force from the time the British were in Iraq in World War I. It was a garbage dump. The Marines, Navy SeaBees and British worked to clean out dead animals, garbage and weeds, and clean the tombstones. The queen sent her military bishop for the reclamation ceremony.
One different kind of surprise were the 6,000 cookies my community at Graymoor [headquarters of the Friars of the Atonement in Garrison, N.Y.] baked for us. I took half into the desert for the Marines and the other half for the sailors and Marines aboard ship watching the NCAA game.
How do you see the situation in Iraq?
In many respects the war went quickly. We were braced for the worst — biological, chemical, nuclear. That didn't happen. The problem is not that we didn't win the war but that we're fighting to win the peace. In my mind there's no doubt we acted appropriately from the get-go. How much we were prepared for the postwar liberation is another issue.
Was the mood in Operation Desert Storm the same?
When I served aboard the Wisconsin, the sense when the war ended was it really didn't end. A lot of the officers said this isn't over; either we or our kids will be back.
When we went to Desert Storm, most people serving in the military never thought they'd be involved in a war. But once it became apparent we'd be in the war, the morale was good and continued to an impressive homecoming into Norfolk, Va. The ship pulled into Norfolk on Holy Thursday.
Is the conflict between Islam and the West?
It's a hot-button item. My ministry is basically pastoral care. There is a religious aspect to the war, but it's not mainline Islam; it's the radicals.
As Friars and Sisters of the Atonement our charism is rooted in reconciliation. We work and pray for unity of the Christian churches. We're engaged in dialogue not only with Christians but also with Jews and Muslims.
As a Friar of the Atonement, I can't help but think of the witness of Pope John Paul II in his appeal to religious leaders to speak out against terrorism.
You've certainly had your share of the desert, but you also served in Antarctica. What was that like?
Cold! I was on Operation Deep Freeze at McMurdo Station and at South Pole Station. The survival training was memorable because it was 44 degrees below zero. A helicopter crashed and we had two killed and seven injured, and I gave pastoral care.
I celebrated the closing of the Marian Year on Jan. 1, 1988, at the South Pole with Mass, and I placed in the archives there an icon of Our Lady of the Atonement.
Joseph Pronechen is based in Trumbull, Connecticut.
(A wire story by Warren P. Strobel and Dave Montgomery of Knight-Ridder Tribune contributed to this report.)
----- EXCERPT: A veteran and chaplain tells his story ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Boys Only? DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:TOLEDO, Ohio — For 12-year-old Greg Metcalf, being an altar server is “a guy thing.”
And he and his fellow servers at St. Joseph Parish here want to keep it that way.
Although other parishes in the Toledo Diocese — like most of those in the rest of the United States — have girls serving at the altar, Greg likes the fact that his parish maintains the long-standing tradition of an all-male altar server corps.
“I feel very uncomfortable [serving with a girl] because as soon as one girl starts serving, there's going to be a lot of them,” he said, adding that he thinks the more girls serve, the fewer boys are likely to be around. Other servers at St. Joseph agree and say if girls started serving in their parish, they probably wouldn't be interested in continuing.
The question of altar girls has been in the news again after a leaked draft document on liturgical abuses suggested the Vatican would be ending the provision it made almost 10 years ago for bishops to extend permission for girls to serve Mass.
But the bishops of England and Wales said Oct. 21 after meeting with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments that the Vatican was not about to ban altar girls.
According to a 1994 letter from the congregation issued to clarify the question of girl altar servers, girls may serve at the altar, but bishops are not bound to permit them to do so. Another letter in 2001 said priests are not compelled to have girls serve at the altar, even when their bishops grant permission.
“It will always be very appropriate to follow the noble tradition of having boys serve at the altar,” the 1994 document said. “As is well known, this has led to a reassuring development of priestly vocations. Thus the obligation to support such groups of altar boys will always continue.”
Only two dioceses in the country place restrictions on female servers: Arlington, Va., which allows them only in certain settings; and Lincoln, Neb., which prohibits them in all instances.
For many in the Church, the prevalence of girl altar servers is cause for concern. They say the 1994 document never intended to alter the tradition of male altar boys so that altar girls became the norm, and they worry that the practice is having an adverse effect on the Church and priestly vocations.
Among those who are troubled by the trend is Dominican Sister Mary Augustine, president of the Australian Association for the Promotion of Religious Life and author of the 2002 article “Girls Serving at the Altar and the Vocations Blight.”
In the article, Sister Mary Augustine said the 1994 document makes clear that the Church is not advocating girl altar servers.
“It affirms the strong, time-tested link between the practice of serving at the altar and the emergence of a priestly vocation,” she wrote, adding that the document allows a bishop to permit female altar servers only for special reasons.
Sister Mary Augustine said the Church allows female altar servers for the same reasons extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist are permitted: “to cover exceptional situa-tional exigencies.” She cites as an example a religious sister assisting an elderly priest during Mass at a retirement facility.
In an interview, Sister Mary Augustine said she would like to see bishops reverse the trend toward girl servers.
“The [1994 document] puts firmly on the shoulders of the bishop the responsibility of encouraging boys as altar servers — and of fostering vocations to the priesthood, which the [document] points out have so often been the fruit of faithful service at the altar,” she said. “The fact that girls serving along with boys dilutes the significance of the boy's role in this matter also dilutes the chances that boys will want to continue serving and see the priesthood as a vocational ideal that may follow from service at the altar.”
Father Paul Check, a priest in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., where girls are allowed to serve, voiced similar concerns. He said having girls as altar servers could contribute to the impression that the sanctuary and religion are predominantly the enclave of women.
“Let's face it, in a lot of sanctuaries today the only man there is the priest,” he said. “And that's a vocation killer. What high school boy who is a football player and is otherwise a good, solid young man looks up at that scene and says, ‘I could see myself there’?”
At St. John the Evangelist Parish in Stamford, Conn., where Father Check is parochial vicar, only boys comprise the altar-server corps and serving is so popular with them that the parish never has to schedule servers.
“We find that particularly for major ceremonies, they all want to serve,” Father Check said. “We can have as many as 18 to 20 for Holy Week.”
He said he believes boys find the all-male server ranks appealing because young men, particularly those in the preteen years, don't want to do things they perceive to be activities for girls.
When girls serve at Mass, he said, “It is quite possible that in many cases [they] are going to be better and more attentive altar servers than boys are, so they wind up chasing the boys away.”
Father Stephen Majoros, pastor of St. Joseph in Toledo, agreed.
“When women enter into a particular area that has been previously male only, there's a tendency to drive the men out,” he said.
Father Majoros added that he also believes serving at the altar develops in boys a sense of responsibility.
“At that age — junior high school age — they need that development, that somebody's depending upon them and they are making a positive contribution to something bigger than themselves,” he said. “Girls don't seem to need that, but boys seem to need training in this direction. ... It has a maturing effect on them.”
Father Check said he also believes allowing girls to serve is an injustice to them because they can never be priests.
“It puts them in the position of being in a profession where they can be an apprentice but never the master,” he said.
Although Lincoln, Neb., Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz has been in the forefront of continuing the custom of using only boys as altar servers, he declined to talk about his diocese's policy.
“The bishop really doesn't see the benefit of making a big deal out of it,” said Father Mark Huber, secretary to the bishop.
Father Huber said the question of whether girls can serve at the altar is not an issue in the diocese, which has a high priestly vocations rate for its size. Thirty-five men are currently in formation, he said, and the diocese had 13 new seminarians this year.
In the Arlington Diocese, Bishop Paul Loverde has said he is open to extending the permission, granted by his predecessor, Bishop John Keating, for women to serve in liturgies on college campuses, in convents and home Masses, and at retreat houses, hospitals and nursing homes.
Father Robert Rippy, chancellor of the diocese, said Bishop Loverde is seeking an approach that will cause the least amount of hurt and disruption, especially in light of directives that seemingly allow each priest to decide whether he wants to use female servers.
Father Rippy said priests and lay people have frequently expressed opposite preferences regarding the altar girl issue with some wanting the present policy retained and others seeking an expansion.
“People who come to this diocese from nearby dioceses and from those far away find it confusing to have had both men and women serving in those places and to have here only a very limited number of places for women to serve at the altar,” he said.
Those who favor continuing the current policy, he said, cite their belief that vocations thrive when altar servers are boys and point out that other ministries are open to women. Those who want the policy expanded claim that vocations are flourishing even in places where female servers are allowed. They also say that serving can deepen women's love for the Mass and that service at the altar could even inspire vocations to the religious life.
“There are arguments on both sides — those that want this expanded and those who want the current policy maintained,” he said. “There are strong feelings on both sides of the issue.”
Judy Roberts writes from Millbury, Ohio.
----- EXCERPT: Vatican Rumors and American Doubts Surround Altar Servers ----- EXTENDED BODY: Judy Roberts ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Marriage, No; Benefits, Maybe - Did the Bishop Back Down? DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:BOSTON — The bishop said he wanted to “join the discussion” on benefits for homosexual couples and boy, did he ever.
Worcester Bishop Daniel Reilly started a whopper of a discussion.
Speaking in front of a legislative committee in Boston on behalf of the state's four bishops, Bishop Reilly urged the politicians Oct. 23 to defeat any bill that would make same-sex marriages or a civil union equivalent to marriage lawful within the state.
Several such bills are up for consideration, in addition to a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman. The Church supports the constitutional amendment.
During his prepared remarks, Bishop Reilly said marriage is possible only between a man and a woman.
“Marriage precedes the state and even precedes the Church,” he said. “We elevate the relationship between a man and a woman not because we judge any human being to be unequal to another but because we recognize the special public value of this particular relationship ... Only this relationship affords children the gift of both a father and a mother.”
He ended his testimony by saying that the Church would “join the discussion” about benefits for homosexual couples only if the “goal is to look at individual benefits and determine who should be eligible beyond spouses.”
Headlines the next day trumpeted that change was in the air. One in the Cape Cod Times read: “Church Open to Benefits for Gays.”
Responding to the media buzz and to the confusion by some Catholics about the bishop's comments, the Massachusetts Catholic Conference released an Oct. 28 statement that was approved by the state's bishops and published in diocesan newspapers.
“Contrary to the headlines, the Roman Catholic bishops upheld Church teaching on marriage at last week's state House hearing and did not announce a change in their opposition to domestic-partnership legislation,” the statement opened, adding later: “Many press reports interpreted this as a signal of new support for same-sex relationships and 'domestic-partnership benefits.’ That interpretation is wrong.”
The statement made three points:
• Bishop Reilly did not make any direct reference to bills dealing with same-sex domestic partnerships, which were not before the committee.
• The Church objects to any civil-union and domestic-partnership bills since they equate unmarried relationships to married spouses.
• Because the Church respects and recognizes that all human beings have civil rights and dignity as individuals, it “has participated in and will always participate in any public discussion about the civil rights of individuals.”
Richard McCord, director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Office of Laity, Women, Family and Youth, said, “Matters of granting benefits are distinct from, and can be made distinct from, the issue of making same-sex union the equivalent of marriage, and we've never said anything different.”
Father Christopher Coyne, a spokesman for Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley, said Church officials want to be involved “at the table” discussing benefits whenever that takes place.
“There must be a way of taking care of children and families that doesn't involve a redefinition [of marriage],” he said. “If, for example, children are being taken care of by a single parent and they're not receiving the kind of benefits that children would receive if they were in a complete family situation, is there any way that child could receive benefits?”
However, as the Massachusetts Catholic Conference's statement makes clear, those considered as individuals and those who see themselves as part of a relationship are separate matters.
“When individuals get together, however, and ask for benefits by virtue of a particular relationship,” the statement said, “the issue moves beyond individual rights.”
Some Catholics in Massachusetts were still concerned about Bishop Reilly's remarks a week after they were published.
Laurie Letourneau, president of the Life Action League of Massachusetts, a pro-life, pro-family organization in Worcester, commented, “How can you look at individual benefits on anything if someone is practicing a homosexual relationship? What benefits was he talking about? I think that's the problem a lot of people are having.”
Letourneau said she was “slightly annoyed” there wasn't some kind of statement made right away.
“I think waiting a week and then sort of saying the media misinterpreted when it's out there doesn't help. It's sort of backtracking,” she said. “What should have happened is a letter should have appeared in the Boston Globe the following morning letting people know.”
She said she has spoken to many people about the situation and they were “really upset.”
“Everyone had great concern that the Catholic Church was selling them down the river,” she said. “If the Massachusetts Catholic Conference says that's not what the bishop meant, then certainly I understand people misspeaking.”
She pointed out a Boston Globe headline that appeared two days after the bishop's comments that concerned her: “Chance to Expand Gay Benefits Seen — Bishops’ Decision Plays Critical Role, Lawmaker Says.”
Bishop Reilly could not be reached for comment.
In the year 2000 document, “Family, Marriage And 'De Facto’ Unions” the Pontifical Council for the Family seems to reject legal arrangements that treat non-married unions like families. Says the document:
“The most effective way to watch over the public interest does not consist in demagogic concessions to pressure groups that promote de facto unions, but rather the energetic and systematic promotion of organic family policies, which consider the family based on marriage as the center and motor of social policy, and which cover the extensive area of the rights of the family. The Holy See has dedicated its attention to this aspect in the Charter of the Rights of the Family, going beyond a merely welfare conception of the State.”
Inconsistent?
Daniel Avila, the associate director for policy and research for the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, said Bishop Reilly's testimony was consistent with the Church's teachings, which were detailed this year by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
“The Church teaches that respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behavior or to legal recognition of homosexual unions,” according to the document, “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons.”
Avila added that Bishop Reilly's reference to “individual” benefits was also consistent with an earlier Vatican mandate. In 1992, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released a document called “Some Considerations Concerning the Response to Legislative Proposals on the Nondiscrimination of Homosexual Persons.”
He pointed out one particular paragraph, which states: “Homosexual persons, as human persons, have the same rights as all persons including the right of not being treated in a manner that offends their personal dignity. Among other rights, all persons have the right to work, to housing, etc. Nevertheless, these rights are not absolute.”
Individuals, then, have rights and can be eligible for a particular benefit, he said. But if someone deserves a particular benefit by virtue of his or her relationship with a same-sex partner, then the Church is against that recognition, Avila said.
However, the document from this year also states that the respect due to homosexuals does not include giving them the benefits of marriage:
“The principles of respect and nondiscrimination cannot be invoked to support legal recognition of homosexual unions. Differentiating between persons or refusing social recognition or benefits is unacceptable only when it is contrary to justice. The denial of the social and legal status of marriage to forms of cohabitation that are not and cannot be marital is not opposed to justice; on the contrary, justice requires it.”
Avila said the media's spin to Bishop Reilly's testimony was not surprising.
“We were saying earlier in the office that the Church's position on many issues is usually more nuanced than the public media has space for,” Avila said. “It's difficult to put into a sound bite sometimes, especially in debates as heated as these are. Everyone is looking for a way to get an angle on this thing, and what better way than to have a new story about the Church changing its position on something.”
Carlos Briceno is based in Seminole, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceno ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: His Fight to Give Terri Schiavo Communion DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:Msgr. Thaddeus Malanowski, retired chaplain and brigadier general, spent 28 years in the Army, but his biggest battle came later.
Msgr. Malanowski has been providing spiritual care to Terri Schindler-Schiavo and her parents for the past three years. On Oct. 18, after Terri's feeding tube was removed, Msgr. Malanowski was prevented from giving Terri viaticum — Communion for the dying. He spoke with Register staff writer Tim Drake.
How long have you been a priest?
I've been a priest for 56 years. The Diocese of Hartford, Conn., originally ordained me. I spent 28 years as an Army chaplain for the Office of Chaplains in the Pentagon. I had four tours of service in Germany and also served in Korea. Fortunately, I never served in combat. I was alerted during the war with Vietnam but had a gall bladder operation. By the time I recovered, the war was over.
My fellow classmate, W. Thomas Larkin, was bishop of St. Petersburg, so I came to Florida in 1984. I've been here ever since and have spent nearly 12 years working with St. Brendan's Parish on the beach. I'll be 81 in November.
What led to your vocation?
I came from a good, solid, Catholic family and home. My mother had 14 living children. I have nine sisters and four brothers. We lived close to the church. I was an altar server, was active with the Catholic Boy Scout group and played the fife in the church's drum and fife corps. From fourth to ninth grade I attended a Catholic Polish school and then entered the Catholic seminary high school at age 13.
How did you come to know Bob and Mary Schindler and their daughter Terri Schindler-Schiavo?
During 2000, a family that knew the Schindlers approached me. At that time, Terri was in nursing homes, but during the summer of 2000 she was moved to a hospice. Once she went to the hospice, the court allowed me to go see her. Terri's husband, Michael, created a list with the names of 47 people he would allow to visit his wife. For the past three and a half years I would accompany Terri's parents nearly every Saturday. About 75% of the time that I've gone to see Terri, I've been with her parents. That's how I came to know the family.
You've spent a great deal of time with Terri Schindler-Schiavo. There has been much discussion about whether or not she is in a permanent vegetative state. What can you tell us based upon the time you've spent with her?
Terri's family and I, and some doctors, believe that Terri is not in a permanent vegetative state. I've been spending nearly an hour with her every week, and she is responsive. One time I told her, “Terri, you know that I come here every week and pray for you in English. Today, I'm going to pray for you in Polish,” and she laughed. Another time, the family and I were visiting on St. Patrick's Day. I told her, “Your mother and I are going to sing ‘When Irish Eyes are Smiling.’” Not only did we forget the words, but we were also off tune. Terri laughed. On Oct. 4I visited Terri with her parents. I told her, “Terri, this is your mommy,” and she gave her mother a big smile.
CNN has been telling the world that Terri is comatose. She's not comatose; she's never been comatose. She's never been on life support aside from a feeding tube. She laughs, she cries, she looks around, she smiles, she sits up, and she experiences pain. Sure, Terri's brain is damaged. She went 10 minutes without oxygen. But her brain is not damaged entirely. When doctors took tests in 1997, they showed she had developed brain cells.
How is Terri doing now?
The governor's executive order is in effect. They're feeding her and she is out of danger. She looks wonderful, and she's smiling. She's back at Woodside Hospice, a place for terminally ill people. She shouldn't be there. We visited her last Tuesday after they had given her a bath. At that time, she was sleeping on and off.
In the six days she was denied food or nourishment, you would think it would have damaged her liver and kidneys, but it didn't damage either. To me, that's a little miracle.
When Terri was being withheld nourishment, you attempted to give her viaticum but were denied the ability to do so. Can you tell us what happened?
Because of a court order, I have never been allowed to give her anything by mouth. They are afraid that she might choke and die.
However, once they removed the feeding tube, Terri began dying from lack of food and nourishment. Catholic teaching states she has the right to viaticum. One of the family's lawyers asked Michael Schiavo's lawyers if I could give Terri Communion. Michael said, “Yes, he can give my wife Communion.”
When Michael's attorney Deborah Bushnell asked how this would be done, I explained that I would dip the index finger of my right hand in holy water, use it to pick up a small particle of the host and place it on her tongue. That's when the battle began. They told me I could not do that.
Bushnell suggested I take the host, touch Terri's lips and consume it myself. I explained to her the Catholic teaching regarding the Real Presence. I told her, “It looks like bread, smells like bread and tastes like bread, but it's the Body of Christ.”
She responded, “Well, that's nice.”
The hospice Catholic chaplain suggested I do the alternative, saying the spiritual communion prayer over Terri. I've been doing that for three years. I insisted that now that she's on her deathbed it is her constitutional right to receive Communion.
When I went to Terri's room it was more like a prison. Three police officers stood outside of her room. Two stood beside her bed. I asked, “What would happen if I put the consecrated host on her tongue?” They told me, “We will deny you access to her mouth. We will resist you.” I was with Terri's brother at the time, and he suggested that we leave.
That's when I spoke with the media.
What happens next?
The battle is in the court system now. The opposition, attorney George Felos, submitted his 44-page brief. Now the governor and his lawyers have a week to submit their brief. Then the circuit judge will have a hearing. It's likely that each side will make an appeal to the appellate court and that it may again go to the Florida Supreme Court. Last time the court approved the appellate court's decision to remove the feeding tube. This time it's likely to go to the federal Supreme Court.
In the meantime we're battling to get a guardian ad litem for Terri. The judge wants both sides to agree to a person and has said he will appoint someone if we do not agree. There has been talk that the person he will appoint is an attorney on the faculty of the University of Florida who stated he supported the removal of Terri's feeding tube.
Do you draw any lessons from all of this?
There has been a tremendous amount of good this event has brought about. The most important value of this has been a greater appreciation for the value of life from the unborn to the handicapped. We've received ecumenical support from ministers and people of all faiths.
We've brought the precious gift and dignity of life to the attention of the world. Who are judges to determine who should live and die? That belongs to God.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: RU-486 Death Is Just One Example of the Greater Dangers of Abortion DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:SAN FRANCISCO — Abortion can be deadly — and not just to the child — according to a growing body of medical literature.
When Holly Patterson died Sept. 17 after having a chemical abortion, debate swirled regarding the safety of abortions done using the RU-486 regimen, but articles published recently in major medical journals have shown that all types of abortion increase long-term health problems for women who abort.
“There is a statistically significant increase in morbidity and mortality among women who have abortions,” said Ronald Connolly, a doctor who has been practicing medicine near San Francisco for more than 30 years.
Connolly cited an article that appeared in the August 2002 issue of the Southern Medical Journal as part of a growing wave of studies showing that while few women might die during the abortion procedure itself, the long-term effects of abortion are harmful to women both physically and emotionally. Additional studies have been published in The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons and the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
According to the Southern Medical Journal article, a study in Finland showed that in the first year following an abortion, “women who had had an induced abortion were 76% more likely to die than women who had not been pregnant, 102% more likely to die than women who miscarried and 252% more likely to die than women who carried to term.”
The authors of the article then examined statistics from California and looked at the eight years following their abortions or child-births to see if a similar increased mortality rate among women who abort was prevalent in the United States.
Higher Risk
The article's researchers concluded that “deaths from all causes in the eight years after the first known pregnancy outcome were significantly higher among women with a known history of abortion.”
David Reardon, founder of the Elliot Institute in Springfield, Ill., which does research on the effects of abortion, was the lead author of the Southern Medical Journal article. Reardon, who holds a doctorate in biomedical ethics, told the Register that not only are women more likely to die in the years after an abortion but “the number of deaths directly attributable to abortion are also underreported.”
Connolly agreed. He pointed out that Holly Patterson, who died from complications that occurred shortly after her chemically-induced abortion, would not count statistically as an abortion-related death since she did not die during the actual procedure.
The problem with such underreporting, according to Reardon, is that the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade “accepted the argument that abortion is safer than childbirth.” However, when the years following abortion are factored in, he said, the statistics tell a different story.
The NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation's Web site claims statistics linking women's health problems to abortion are unfounded: “Anti-abortion forces are making unsubstantiated claims that legal abortion is harmful to a woman's health.”
Ignoring Evidence
The group claims “the risk of death from abortion is lower than that from a shot of penicillin.” The site also denies there is a significant percentage of women who experience psychological problems after having an abortion.
NARAL Pro-Choice America did not return the Register's request for comment on the recent studies showing long-term health risks from abortion.
Reardon said the evidence definitely shows mental-health problems among women who abort.
“Women after abortions have a greater tendency to be suicidal,” he said. Women who abort “also have higher rates of psychiatric hospitalizations,” he added.
Denials of the evidence, he said, are based on ideology. “It gores the sacred cow — they have been telling women abortion is safe, and [these studies] run counter to their interest.”
Reardon also noted that although there might be a lower risk from an abortion than from childbirth during the actual procedure, “over the course of a year or even over 90 days, the risks [for women who abort] are much higher.”
Connolly agreed with Reardon's assessment. “The medical and scientific data is overwhelming that abortion is absolutely devastating to women,” he said.
Connolly said political correctness has stifled the debate on the medical evidence. He said if Planned Parenthood and the media “were really concerned about women,” they would look seriously at the evidence linking abortion to problems with women's health. As it is, he said that even his local paper would not publish a letter to the editor detailing the risks of abortion he sent in the wake of Holly Patterson's death.
According to Connolly, evidence such as that presented in the Southern Medical Journal article simply proves the Catholic Church knew what it was doing in its consistent opposition to abortion.
Citing the Second Vatican Council, Pope headded. John Paul II wrote in 1995 in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life): “Thirty years later, taking up the words of the council and with the same force-fulness I repeat that condemnation in the name of the whole Church, certain that I am interpreting the genuine sentiment of every upright conscience: ‘Whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia or willful self-destruction ... poison human society, and they do more harm to those who practice them than to those who suffer from the injury. Moreover, they are a supreme dishonor to the Creator.”
Connolly said he hopes the Church in the United States will provide a conduit through which people can learn that abortion is not only a great moral evil but also a great physical harm to both child and mother.
Andrew Walther writes from Los Angeles.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Andrew Walther ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:A Senator and Her Dead Constituent
LIFENEWS.COM, Oct. 20 — California's Barbara Boxer touts herself as a voice for women in the U.S. Senate. But at least one woman may be dead because of Boxer's meddling with the Food and Drug Administration, LifeNews.com has suggested.
The FDA and California state officials are looking into the death of Holly Patterson, 18, who died days after taking the abortion drug RU-486. Citing a report by Concerned Women for America, the news site pointed to a June 2000 letter by the senator asking the FDA to relax its testing standards to speed the approval of RU-486. The agency approved it only months later.
Concerned Women for America president Sandy Rios suggested the letter might have encouraged the FDA to loosen its safety standards.
“Sen. Boxer's eagerness to carry water for the abortion lobby may very well have contributed to the death of one of her own constituents,” Rios said. “Certain patient safety standards were eliminated by the FDA — standards that Sen. Boxer insisted be eliminated.”
The safeguards removed included limiting the pill to doctors trained to handle complications — such as those that may have killed Patterson.
Exhausted Church and Pope?
That's Jane Kramer's assessment of the Bride of Christ as she celebrated Pope John Paul II's silver anniversary.
For Kramer, the Pope today is not so much a Pope who can be credited for the New Evangelization as one who is “in every way incapacitated, beholden to his oldest obsessions, his harshest dicta and his most reactionary keepers.”
He's not the Pope who helped free millions of people living under the Soviet Empire but a Pole who has filtered the world through the lens of his experience under a Stalinist police state back home. That's why he condemned Latin American liberation theology, she said.
But if the magazine's columnist's hopes for a humble Pope were dashed by the shape of one of the longest pontificates in history, it's not stopping her from echoing the wishes of those who look forward to the next successor of St. Peter, one who may let the Church relax a bit.
The Church exhausted? Kramer seems to have ignored the worldwide outpouring of love for a Pope — and his choice to beatify, during his own celebration, a woman whose life reminded millions of people of how to live the Gospel.
Church Closings Ahead for Archdiocese of New York
The church review will use data collected in parish surveys of 2001-2002, employing four benchmarks to determine the viability of parishes: daily and weekly Mass attendance, the number of parochial school students and the number of baptisms.
The Times reported that 149 of the 413 parishes in the archdiocese fell short on all four of these criteria and may be targets for closure, noting that “at least 17 churches reported an average of fewer than 100 worshipers each weekend.”
The paper predicted that “nowhere near 149 churches will close” and noted comments by archdiocesan officials who said numbers alone would not determine a parish's fate.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Catholic-Orthodox Statement Calls for 'Uniform Practice' on Nicene Creed DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — In an effort to overcome centuries of division, the North American Orthodox-Catholic Consultation has called for “uniform practice” with regard to the ancient Nicene Creed.
This means Catholics would use translations only of the original text, dropping the subsequently added filioque (“and the Son”) clause, when reciting the Creed at Mass or using it for catechetics.
The dialogue group also called on each side not to describe the other as heretical and said a 13th-century Western council condemnation aimed at the Orthodox should be declared “no longer applicable.”
It urged new joint study and in-depth Catholic-Orthodox dialogue “on the theology of the Holy Spirit, based on the Scriptures and on the whole tradition of Christian theology.”
It said this study and dialogue should “distinguish, as far as possible, the theological issues of the origin of the Holy Spirit from the ecclesiological issues of primacy and doctrinal authority in the Church.”
At the same time, it is “crucially necessary” that “both our Churches persist in their efforts to reflect — together and separately — on the theology of primacy and synodality within the Church's structures and teaching and pastoral practice,” the group said.
For nearly 1,000 years the Catholic Church in the West and the Orthodox Churches of the East have had as one source of division the fact that the West inserted the word filioque in the profession of faith commonly referred to as the Nicene Creed — or more properly as the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed.
That Greek-language creed, which dates to the Council of Constantinople in 381, said the Holy Spirit takes his origin from the Father (in Greek, ek tou patros ekporeuomenon). In Latin, the Greek phrase was translated as ex patre procedit (proceeds from the Father). Under the influence of that translation, churches in the West gradually began to insert filioque into the creed, saying the Spirit “proceeds from the Father ‘and the Son.’”
The North American Orthodox-Catholic Consultation is an official theological dialogue sponsored by the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the Americas, the Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Its 10,000-word joint statement, “The ‘Filioque’: A Church-Dividing Issue?” was released Oct. 28 following a meeting in Washington on Oct. 23-25. It was the result of four years of study and dialogue at the consultation's twice-yearly meetings, beginning in October 1999.
The statement outlines the long history of the filioque controversy, including the 1995 Vatican clarification that affirmed the “conciliar, ecumenical, normative and irrevocable value” of the original Greek version of the creed.
The Vatican document argued that the Latin procedit (proceeds) has a slightly different meaning than the Greek ekporeuomenon (originates). It sought to explain to the Orthodox that in addingfilioque after the Latin verb, the Church in the West did not intend to — and indeed cannot — contradict the earlier “expression of faith taught and professed by the undivided Church.”
The joint statement of the North American consultation pointed out that in the course of growing disagreement over the diverging practices with the creed during the two-and-a-half centuries preceding the East-West schism of 1054, the conflict over the creed became increasingly bound up in politics — “in the growing rivalry between the Carolingian and Byzantine courts, which both now claimed to be the legitimate successors of the Roman Empire.”
Especially after 1014, when “the creed, including the filioque, was sung for the first time at a papal Mass,” the issue also got increasingly tied to disputes over the exercise of authority in the Church, the statement said.
“Orthodox theology has regarded the ultimate approval by the popes, in the 11th century, of the use of filioque in the Latin creed as a usurpation of the dogmatic authority proper to ecumenical councils alone,” it said.
On the other side, it said, “In recognizing the universal primacy of the bishop of Rome in matters of faith and of the service of unity, the Catholic tradition accepts the authority of the Pope to confirm the process of conciliar reception and to define what does not conflict with the ‘faith of Nicaea’ and the apostolic tradition. ... Catholic theology has seen it [papal adoption of the filioque insertion] as a legitimate exercise of his authority to proclaim and clarify the Church's faith.”
The joint statement said Catholic and Orthodox theologians need to work together to seek a way to resolve differences between the Orthodox view of councils or synods as the highest Church authority and the Catholic view of the primacy of papal authority. But they said dialogue and study on what the Church believes about the origin of the Holy Spirit ought to be methodologically separated from that issue.
The Orthodox and Catholic theologians acknowledged that “the Greek and Latin theological traditions clearly remain in some tension with each other on the fundamental issue of the Spirit's eternal origin as a distinct divine person.”
“These differences, though subtle, are substantial,” they said.
Taking their lead from the Pope and the doctrinal congregation document, the participants recommended “that the Catholic Church, as a consequence of the normative and irrevocable dogmatic value of the creed of 381, use the original Greek text alone in making translations of that creed for catechetical and liturgical use.”
They also called on the Catholic Church, “following a growing theological consensus,” to declare no longer applicable the condemnation, by the Second Council of Lyons in 1274, of those “who presume to deny that the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son.”
They asked theologians on both sides to “distinguish more clearly between the divinity and hypostatic identity of the Holy Spirit, which is a received dogma of our Churches, and the manner of the Spirit's origin, which still awaits full and final ecumenical resolution.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jerry Filteau ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Season's Greeting to Advertisers: Use Your Power Wisely, Archbishop Advises DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:BRUSSELS — For advertisers, ‘tis the season to overwhelm consumers with glitzy messages intended to persuade them to buy as many Christmas presents as humanly possible.
But even as advertisers throughout the United States and Western Europe were preparing to unleash their annual explosion of clever commercials, Archbishop John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, cautioned them about their responsibility to adhere to principles of ethical marketing.
At the same time, Archbishop Foley noted that the Church can benefit by employing the tools of successful marketing.
Addressing the World Federation of Advertisers amid its 50th anniversary celebrations Oct. 28, Archbishop Foley stressed the need for advertising to pursue the common good.
“I am a fan of advertising, even though I'm not much of a consumer,” said the archbishop, speaking to a group that included about 50 national associations of advertisers and about 30 international corporations.
“Because you're really trying to get people's attention, advertising is among the best communication being done in the world today — through production values, through design, through choices of words and images,"” he told the conference.
Marketing Jesus
Archbishop Foley said the Catholic Church has been engaged in a form of advertising — evangelization — for 2,000 years.
The Church, he said, has the advantage of really believing in its message and offering “much more than a lifetime guarantee.”
However, Archbishop Foley said, Church members could benefit from the expertise of the advertising business to improve the way they share the Gospel message.
While Jesus was an expert communicator, “We who follow himhave often been guilty of the fault which many consider the greatest sin of all in the modern world — we are often dull,” the archbishop said.
“Since I believe that we have the most important message in the world, please help us to be interesting in making it better known,“ he said.
In his talk, titled “A Good Name is the Best Advertisement,” the archbishop said he wanted to underscore several principles and concerns, the Vatican Information Service reported.
The first is that “being is better than having.” Our God-given dignity depends on the former, not the latter, Archbishop Foley stressed. Archbishop Foley also pleaded with the advertisers to be more vigilant in showing respect for human dignity, particularly for the dignity of the poor.
“Our dignity is not enhanced by the shirt we wear or the car we drive but by the virtues we manifest and by our authenticity and integrity,” he said.
Too often, he said, vulnerable people feel bad about themselves when they are bombarded by advertising that appears to be telling them they are “bad or unworthy” if they cannot afford to buy the products or services being advertised.
“Emphasize quality, emphasize efficiency, emphasize even better grooming and cleanliness and good appearance — but please do not suggest that a possession is going to make one person better than another person,” the archbishop told the advertisers.
“A second principle is: Each person must be treated with respect,” the archbishop continued. “We resent it as employees if we are treated as factors of production rather than as persons; we can resent it in advertising if individuals depicted are portrayed as objects rather than as persons and, indeed, if we — the audience of consumers — are treated as so many numbers to be reached instead of as persons to whom an important message is to be communicated.”
Archbishop Foley also repeated a call for reforms in political campaign financing and advertising laws, including those in the United States.
While political advertising can help create a more educated electorate, the high price of advertising effectively can shut valid candidates out of the race, he said.
“A third principle of ethics in communications is the common good,” Archbishop Foley said. “A growing concern in democratic societies is the ethical aspect of political campaigning” when, for example, “the costs of advertising limit political competition to wealthy candidates or groups,” thus obstructing the democratic process.
“As you know, advertising profoundly affects the values and the morals in society — and not just people's buying habits,” the archbishop concluded. “I hope you realize your own power — and that you continue to use it responsibly, as so many of you do.”
(Zenit amd CNS contributed to this report)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:Pope Grateful for Kind Words from Leaders
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Oct. 27 — On Oct. 26, Pope John Paul II publicly thanked leaders of foreign countries and other faiths for their words of congratulations on the anniversary of his election as Pope.
The Associated Press reported that the Holy Father addressed worshipers gathered at St. Peter's Square for afternoon prayers, thanking “heads of state and government leaders of so many countries who sent me their congratulations, and for... the witness of Christians of other denominations, as well as those of other faiths. The intense emotions experienced in recent days when so many were assembled around me for the 25th anniversary of my pontificate are still very alive in my mind. I thank God for these 25 years of service to the Church ... and commit my life and my ministry to the Virgin Mary.”
Scotland Celebrates Papal Jubilee
BBC, Oct. 26 — To mark the papal 25th anniversary, the Church in Scotland held a national thanksgiving, according to the BBC.
The celebration was led by Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow and Cardinal Keith O'Brien of St. Andrews and Edinburgh. It began with a Mass at St. Andrew's Cathedral in Glasgow, then a reception in the city chambers, which was widely attended by government leaders and representatives of other churches.
“I am delighted that so many people representing so many areas of national life will be present to celebrate the Holy Father's silver jubilee and a series of other anniversaries,” Archbishop Conti said.
The event also commemorated the 125th anniversary of the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy to Scotland; bishops had been driven out and the faith persecuted during the Protestant Reformation.
New Cardinal Discusses Vatican Ties With Switzerland
SWISSINFO, Oct. 26 — Newly-elevated Cardinal Georges Cottier, 82, Pope John Paul II's longtime personal theologian, told the online news site Swissinfo the Pope has given three cardinals to that small country as a sign of his faith in its future.
In an interview, he answered a wide range of questions about the Church, which is distrusted by some democratic-minded Swiss.
“The Church is by its very nature hierarchical,” Cardinal Cottier explained. “And many people are prejudiced against it. For instance, there is a tendency to exaggerate the centralization of the Church. I've been at the Vatican 14 years, and I can confirm that there are plenty of meetings and commissions. What's more, the Pope takes his decisions after speaking to various people, not all of whom share his opinions or his outlook.”
Summing up the themes that unify the pontificate of John Paul, the cardinal said that “the Pope is always preoccupied with the faith of Christian people. ... [T]his pontificate, like that of Pope Paul VI, is marked by a clear wish to apply the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. Also, the Holy Father pays a lot of attention to the problems in our society. He has made considerable efforts on behalf of the family and peace.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: The Rosary: A Prayer Centered on Christ DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:Register Summary
Register Summary
Pope John Paul II met with 16,000 pilgrims during his general audience Oct. 29. Although the Holy Father had planned to meet with the pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, the audience was moved indoors due to bad weather. To accommodate the large group, he first met with some of the pilgrims in St. Peter's Basilica, then gave his teaching to the remaining pilgrims in Paul VI Hall.
The Pope's teaching centered on the rosary as the Year of the Rosary drew to a close. “ 'To contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.’ These words, which are repeated throughout my apostolic letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, have become, so to speak, the 'motto’ for the Year of the Rosary,” the Holy Father explained. “They express in a nutshell the true meaning of this prayer, which is both simple and profound.”
John Paul reiterated his two major intentions for the Year of the Rosary: peace and the family. Peace, he emphasized, starts in the family and the rosary is the best prayer for achieving a lasting peace. “The rosary is 'Mary's way’ and, therefore, a very special way to achieve this twofold objective,” the Holy Father noted. “Praying the rosary is not some kind of retreat into ourselves; it is a conscious choice of faith.”
The Holy Father encouraged Catholics around the world to continue to pray the rosary as they journey along the path of holiness in order to find the peace of Christ.
The Year of the Rosary draws to an end with the month of October.
I am profoundly grateful to God for this time of grace, during which the entire Church community has been able to closely examine the value and importance of the rosary, a prayer that is Christ-centered and contemplative.
'Mary's Way’
“To contemplate with Mary the face of Christ” (Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 3). These words, which are repeated throughout my apostolic letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, have become, so to speak, the “motto” for the Year of the Rosary. They express in a nutshell the true meaning of this prayer, which is both simple and profound. At the same time, they emphasize the continuity between what I proposed in my letter on the rosary and the path to which I pointed the People of God in my preceding apostolic letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the Beginning of the New Millennium).
If, indeed, Christians are called at the beginning of this third millennium to grow as “a people who contemplate the face of Christ” (Novo Millennio Ineunte, 16) and Church communities are called to be “genuine schools of prayer” (ibid., 33), the rosary is “Mary's way” and, therefore, a very special way to achieve this twofold objective. With its desire to reveal more and more the “mystery” of Christ, the Church enters the school of Mary in order to meditate on the “mysteries” of his Gospel. This is “Mary's way” (see ibid., 24), the way in which she carried out her exemplary pilgrimage of faith as the first disciple of the Incarnate Word. At the same time, it is the path for an authentic Marian devotion that is completely centered on the relationship that exists between Christ and his most Holy Mother (see ibid.).
The Way to Peace
During this year, it was my desire to commend two important prayer intentions to the People of God: peace and the family.
Unfortunately, I the 21st century, I born under the I sign of the Great I Jubilee Year of I reconciliation, has I inherited from the past century numerous and persistent hotbeds of war and violence. The disconcerting attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and everything that has happened in the world since then have increased tension on a global level. As we face these troubling situations, praying the rosary is not some kind of retreat into ourselves; it is a conscious choice of faith. By contemplating the face of Christ, who is our peace and our reconciliation, we wish to ask God for the gift of his peace, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin. We ask her for the strength we need to be peacemakers, beginning with daily life in our families.
The Family
The family! The nucleus of the family should, in fact, be the first place in which Christ's peace is welcomed, cultivated and guarded. In our days, however, it is increasingly difficult for the family to live out its vocation without prayer. This is why it would be truly useful to revive the beautiful custom of praying the rosary at home, as was the case in past generations. “The family that prays together stays together” (Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 41).
I entrust these intentions to Our Lady, so that she will protect families and obtain peace for individuals and for the whole world.
Together with the Virgin, I hope that all believers will make a decision to set out on the path to holiness, keeping their gaze fixed on Jesus and meditating on the mysteries of salvation through the rosary. This will be the most precious fruit of this year dedicated to the prayer of the rosary.
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Interview with Pupi Avati Italian Film Director DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:ROME — Pupi Avati is one of Italy's only practicing Catholic film directors. He writes and directs all his own films, which have won awards at the Cannes and Venice film festivals. Avati has won best director, best screenplay and best art direction at Italy's version of the Academy Awards (which are called the David of Donatello awards).
His current film, Enchanted, won Italy's Donatello Award for best director in 2002. Avati is president of Cinecitta, Italy's version of Hollywood. He also produces programs for the Italian bishops’ conference.
Enchanted is about Nello, a brilliant schoolteacher, beloved by his students but hopelessly awkward around women. He meets Angela, a beautiful blind woman, at a dance, and she feigns affection for him in order to make another man jealous. Their subsequent romance, doomed to failure, hurts him deeply and causes him to lose his job. Nello's ultimate victory is that he manages to maintain a positive attitude toward life, begging the final question: Who was really the blind one?
Avati spoke to Register correspondent Sabrina Arena Ferrisi in Rome.
Has being a practicing Catholic hurt your career?
My faith has helped my career, not hurt it. It is helpful when identifying a director. You have to differentiate yourself from the rest.
In this field, it's hard to have a singular point of view. To be different — going to Mass, having ties to the transcendental — this has given me strength. Some people have laughed at me. But it has helped me because it isolates me. I needed to fight for interior strength.
The element that helped me was the sense of Providence. My mother taught me that. She was wonderful. She always said that no matter what happens, the situation would always get better. Someone was always protecting us. She had this sense of optimism. My profession is made up of many victories and failures. If you don't have optimism and confidence that you are loved by something bigger than yourself — it would be difficult to do this job.
Are there certain elements that you avoid in filmmaking?
I have a certain modesty with regard to violence and sex. I believe these are used as instruments against the audience. Many times, sex has nothing to do with the story.
It doesn't add anything. I know that I can sell more tickets by including a strong love scene, but I feel a great responsibility. It seems dishonest to me. A story must not speculate on these aspects. It doesn't educate the young. I always keep in mind that I have nephews and nieces.
I don't have anything against sex. I think sex is a good thing. But I don't want to exploit it for ends outside of the story.
Why has the Italian film industry — once known for its great directors and films — deteriorated so much?
First of all, we make far fewer films than we used to. During the ‘60s, they used to make 350 a year. We now make about 100 films a year. This decrease is due to a flagging interest in Italian films by Italians and people around the world. We used to have a stronger identity. But we've become colonized by a strong American culture. We lost the characteristics that were the reason why our films were loved.
Today, the quality of Italian films has deteriorated. The great Italian directors of the past — of the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s — disappeared. America has a film industry with great technology and enormous budgets, which we can't compete with. What they lack in ideas, they make up with special effects.
What do you try to transmit to the audience in your movies?
I try to talk about normal human beings. I try to tell stories that show my understanding of these human beings in their most intimate part — their aspiration to happiness. I make normal people heroes. People who see my films will think, “I am like that, too. Maybe the world is better than I thought.” I reassure the weak that they aren't alone.
What about trying to transmit the Catholic faith?
Here in Italy there has recently been a trend in making movies about the lives of saints. I think it is better and more effective to make movies about ordinary people and give examples of how to act — telling stories about people who act positively.
What was the main message of
The important message is that despite all the bad experiences that my main character has, he remains coherent at the end.
He will never be someone who sings in the choir — who will be like everyone else. But his personality, his purity and naivete remains integral at the end of the movie — he is not contaminated. He is able to be happy and autonomous, and ready for the next experiences in his life.
Are there certain themes or topics you look for?
Actually, the themes find me, not the other way around. Stories find me. It is normal this way. I am a receiving instrument. I find stories in my life; I write and bring them alive.
Tell me about the programs you are producing for the Italian Bishops?
I produce programs for the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI). We do a talk show on the Church's point of view. We are currently doing a program on how one enters the seminary — we try to show what kind of man goes in. It is really fascinating.
As for yourself, where did you first learn the faith?
My family has strong roots in the Catholic tradition, especially on my mother's side. Her family was made up of farmers from the countryside. Catholicism was seen as something which gave strength, especially during WWII when I was born. It was a way of teaching during my childhood in Bologna, and it has been imprinted in me since those days. This culture and education was very widespread. Families without this were rare in the 50s and 60s.
People from my generation began to rebel against this tradition and embraced an agnostic/atheistic culture — rejecting the Catholic culture. I represent an exception among my friends and colleagues, especially in the film industry. All have abandoned the faith.
Sabrina Arena Ferrisi writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Sabrina Arena Ferrisi ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: China's Catholics Face Repression DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:SHIJIAZHUANG, China — China has resumed the systematic arrest of Catholic priests and seminarians whose meetings are not sponsored by the government-sanctioned “patriotic” Church, the Connecticut-based Cardinal Kung Foundation has reported.
A dozen underground priests and seminarians were attending a religious retreat Oct. 20 in the Hebei province. The government of China raided the retreat and arrested the participants, who are now being kept in a detention house in Gaocheng County. Among the arrested are Father Li Wenfeng, 31; Father Liu Heng, 29; Father Dou Shengxia, 37; and seminarians Chen Rongfu, 21; Han Jianlu, 24; and Zhang Chongyou, 23, the Kung Foundation said. Names of others arrested are unknown.
The Kung Foundation also reported that a Catholic church in Hebei was demolished by the Chinese government June 21, just two weeks after its construction was completed. This church was located in Liu Gou village and had about 150 parishioners, mostly new converts.
A priest of the government-approved church confirmed the demolition to UCA News, an Asian Church news agency based in Thailand. The priest, who asked not to be named, told UCA News on Oct. 28 that underground priests had asked government-approved personnel for their help before the demolition, and negotiations with government officials were held.
According to the priest, the church was built without proper legal papers and was not registered as a religious venue. He said that for these reasons and others, which he would not disclose, the church was finally torn down. He added that it was not yet in use when it was demolished.
The press release said the church was completed only two weeks before the demolition, and most of its 150 parishioners were new converts.
(From combined wire services)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:Mexican Prelate Case Taps into Old Scandals
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS SERVICE, Oct. 24 — Older Mexicans can remember when priests and bishops were prosecuted simply for preaching the faith. But a new investigation reported by Knight Ridder news service hinges on a mundane financial scandal with vast potential for political repercussions.
Cardinal Juan Sandoval of Guadalajara, 70, who disburses spending by the Holy See in Mexico, has been accused of using gifts from known drug traffickers to build churches in Ciudad Juarez near El Paso, Texas. At the request of Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha, investigators have subpoenaed Church bank records as part of their investigation into the widely publicized allegations.
Prosecutors are also looking into the cardinal's ties to José María Guardia, a horse- and dog-racing magnate in Ciudad Juarez and longtime friend of Fidel Castro.
Cardinal Sandoval denies any impropriety, stating that factions in Mexico are trying to discredit him because he has questioned the government's account of an older crime: the assassination of Cardinal Juan José Posadas Ocampo, who was shot in 1993 by drug traffickers.
Iraqi Christians Seek Unity to Defend Religious Rights
FIDES, Oct. 25 — The first Christian Congress in Iraq convened in September, bringing together leaders of several churches in the quest to preserve Christians’ religious liberty under whatever state inherits the country after American occupation, the Vatican's missionary news service reported.
“The purpose of this congress is to form an independent church council to present the Christian thought and word to the government and the people and cooperate with everyone to build a new Iraq,” explained Bishop Shlemon Warduni of the Chaldean Catholic Church.
One speaker at the conference was Patrick Kanadi, delegate of Paul Bremer, the U.S. “civil administrator” of Iraq.
“Christians in Iraq have a very ancient civilization and a great history in their language, heritage and religions that dates to the time of Abraham, our father in the faith with the Muslims,” Kanadi said. “Today I honor this ancient church, which has retained its heritage and traditions despite years of difficulties and persecution.”
British Library Offers ‘Virtual’ Canterbury Tales
INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC NEWS, Oct. 28 — One of the great classics of Catholic literature is Chaucer's Canterbury Tales — a best seller since it was first printed by William Caxton in the 15th century. Independent Catholic News reported that the book — recently adapted for the BBC — is now available in a new form: online.
For the first time, Internet users will be able to see the complete original printed editions, page by page, by visiting the Web site of the British Library at www.bl.uk. The online tour also features the woodcuts that accompanied the text, depicting each of the pilgrims en route to the shrine of St. Thomas Beckett at Canterbury. Some 1,300 high-resolution images are included in the tour.
“One million people visited our digital copy of the Gutenberg Bible in the first six months,” said Kristian Jensen, who oversees Early Printed Books at the British Library, “and we hope that The Canterbury Tales will be even more successful.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Father Cienik and the Future of the Priesthood DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:In his interview about Iraq, Joseph Pronechen also asked Father Kenneth Cienik about his vocation and the vocation crisis.
What led you to the priesthood?
I come from a Polish ethnic background where the Catholic faith was very much a part of our daily family lives. My family roots were supportive in responding to the grace of the Holy Spirit.
I credit my pastor, Father William Savage, with planting the seed. I remember looking up to him. He was an impressive man. He had his act together. He was a very balanced person. He played basketball at Duquesne, was a World War II chaplain and at home with young and old, rich and poor. Even as a kid I saw he had a holiness about him.
St. Francis attracted me because he was a blend of contemplation and action. I discovered the Friars of the Atonement in a copy of The Lamp magazine in my parish church.
And the chaplaincy?
There were three things. As a young priest, I became very much aware of the tremendous need for priests in the Military Archdiocese. I enjoyed working with young men and women in high schools in Ontario and North Carolina, and the bulk of people you minister to in the military are young people — average age is 21.I love to travel and this was an opportunity to do that.
What is your outlook as a vocation director?
Two issues that need to be addressed are generational and cultural. I firmly believe that many are being called to priesthood and religious life, especially among the young.
I think there's something to be said about revisiting the 19- to 29-year-olds. Look at Franciscan University and Texas A&M and the response to the call to service in the Church there. The young are enthusiastic and devoted to the sacraments, Our Lady, the Holy Father and the magisterium, and evangelization.
Over the last few years a significant number of vocations have been foreign nationals, primarily Latinos and Asians, among others, who serve as an important source of vocations.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Male Chauvinist Pigs DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:Male chauvinist pigs. They are the bigoted sexists caricatured in the 1960s or 1970s who thought the only thing women were good for was cooking, cleaning and bearing children. Women have won many battles against the male chauvinist pigs in the past century. They have gained the right to vote, the ability to have a variety of careers and the possibility of financial independence.
Yet in the 21st century it looks like the male chauvinist pigs won the war after losing all those battles. Consider these three ways.
Women are sex objects at their beck and call.
The syndicated “Annie's Mailbox” advice column recently featured letter-writers who were trying mightily to make pornography look like a benign part of life. But one letter-writer's opinion cast a pall over the others:
“Personally, I like porn because I don't like live women. I find females to be obnoxious [and] demanding ... At least with porn, when I'm done watching the video, I can turn it off. Women don't come with a shut-up switch.”
However you try to explain it otherwise, in the end, the (mostly) male consumers of pornography come to it with a purely chemical interest and are trained by it to disrespect women. And the (mostly) women who are its subjects are mostly miserable.
The Evening Standard of London recently reviewed a documentary that attempted to make the claim that women in the pornography industry found the job exciting and empowering.
But the writer starts to wonder if the documentary isn't just propaganda. “When one of the women ... talks with miserable precision about her traumatic and exhausting experiences ... and says, ‘Inside, you're screaming,’ it comes as a surprise. When she goes on to talk about how she regrets what she does ... you start to feel rather uncomfortable. But that discomfort is all very quickly smoothed over as the editor cuts to an enthusiastic [performer] telling us how she loves her career.”
The huge pornography industry (it makes more money than football, basketball and baseball combined) is just the most obvious manifestation of the 21st century's treatment of women as sex objects. The movie Searching for Debra Winger highlights Hollywood's sexism: Careers for women actresses, even talented ones, are likely to end when their sex appeal ends. A similar movie could be made about the music industry.
Nothing could be better for the male chauvinist pig.
Even fatalities don't deter society's embrace of abortion.
In this week's National News section, Andrew Walther reports on the deadly effects of abortion. Worldwide, medical journals are starting to admit the toll abortion takes on women, physically and emotionally. According to one study, women who have had an abortion in the past year are 76% more likely to die than women who haven't been pregnant at all. They are also 102% more likely to die than women who miscarried and 252% more likely to die than women who carried their babies to term.”
Feminist leaders claim abortion is an empowering choice that allows them to follow their chosen paths unencumbered by unwanted children. The male chauvinist pig likes it for the same reason — in the words of one bumper sticker, “Irresponsible Men Love Abortion.” One men's pro-choice Web site echoes feminist language in its statement of support for abortion: “It should not be my problem, your problem or the father's problem. It would be hers. Her body, her choice — her life, her decision.”
Women left in poverty.
Last, in the old days, the male chauvinist pig was blamed for keeping women down by preventing them from seeking financial autonomy. Today, women have more opportunity to establish their own incomes, but men also have more opportunity to force women into situations where they must.
According to the Census Bureau, in 2001, only 6% of married-parent families lived in poverty, compared with 33.6% of single-parent families.
“Lone-mother families are at increased risk of psychosocial difficulties,” said Dr. Ellen Lipman in a letter in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Single mothers “constitute a large segment of the population [and] experience extraordinarily high poverty rates and are at elevated risk of depression and other mental-health problems.”
Women being used as sex objects, women dying in the most common medical procedure performed on women under 50, women forced into poverty when their husbands leave them. These are things only a male chauvinist pig could love.
Catholics should take the lead in defending society against them — and against their enablers, whoever they are.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:Big Family Brouhaha
We enjoyed Tim Drake's column on large families ("The Family as a Sign of Contradiction,” Commentary & Opinion, Oct. 19-25).
We were blessed with five sons and three daughters who now range in age between 26 and 41. Our son Mike told me that, when he relates that he is one of eight siblings, he usually hears, “You must be Catholic!” ("Fortunately, yes,” would be a good response.)
We are contributing to society: one career U.S. Army West Point graduate, one electrical engineer, two teachers, one registered nurse, a computer expert, a human-resources manager and a second-year medical-school student. All this and 11 grandchildren, too (so far).
When my husband was confronted by a fellow carpenter who told him that it was people like us who were a drain on society — he said it cost him money to educate our children — my husband let the fellow worker know how wrong he was. “Our children are educated in Catholic schools,” he told him. Meanwhile we were supporting, through our payment of real-estate taxes, the fellow worker's children's education.
We thank God for the blessing of children.
CONSTANCE L. EARL Lombard, Illinois
The Other Side of Family Size
In regards to Tim Drake's commentary on “The Family as a Sign of Contradiction” (Oct 19-25) and the letters that followed, I could also be rich if I had a dollar for all the times I've heard Catholics comment on my one child. God and I know the reason why I have only one, but I repeatedly see an attitude in our Church that having a large family somehow makes you holier. Or the attitude that, as long as you're still young, you should be having more children.
There are many reasons why people don't have children, why they have one or two, or why they have many. The secular society may have its ideas about family size, but Catholics also exhibit some hard-line attitudes. This is a lesson to everyone to be careful about comments made one way or the other.
And, Tim, God bless you and your family.
SANDY WESSELMAN Little Falls, Minnesota
Fox News: Fair on Life?
In an Oct. 12-18 letter, “Unfair and Unbalanced?,” Francois Quinson cited Fox News Channel commentators Mara Liasson and Morton Kondracke for their unprofessional statements that the Supreme Court legalized abortion for only the first three months of pregnancy. They made these remarks during a broadcast of the “Special Report” newscast on Jan. 22, 2003.
These commentators have heard a good deal since (including Mr. Quinson's letter) proving the Supreme Court legalized abortion for the entire term of pregnancy and there was no way a competent commentator would say such a thing 30 years after the fact.
On Oct.21, during a discussion of the partial-birth abortion bill, Mr. Kondracke changed his position and correctly stated that abortion is legal even after the baby is viable. Ms. Liasson, although not explicitly saying so, seemed to agree. Of course, they would have sounded foolish if they restated their January position during a discussion about late-term abortions.
Fox News says it is “fair and balanced,” but not all its journalists are. Alan Colmes maintains that the pre-born are not human and that science proves it, although he offers no proof. Bill O'Reilly claims that the pre-born are only “potentially human.”
Throughout history when one group is targeted for killing or subservience, their humanity is denigrated or denied. The Nazis called the Jews unter menchen (subhuman):
“The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but not human” (Adolph Hitler, 1923).
“A parasite in the body of other peoples” (Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1925).
“The sub-human, that biologically seemingly complete creation of nature with hands, feet and a kind of brain, with eyes and mouth, is nevertheless a completely different, dreadful creature. He is only a rough copy of a human being, with human-like facial traits but nonetheless morally and mentally lower than any animal ... For all that bear a human face are not equal” (From the German Race and Settlement Main Office, 1942).
Colmes and O'Reilly may not realize they are treating the pre-born as the Nazis did Jews, but in truth they are. They are certainly being unprofessional by misinforming viewers. Their ignorance of the life of the pre-born, however, is culpable, certainly not “fair and balanced.”
CAROLYN NAUGHTON Silver Spring, Maryland
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Food for the Poor Responds to Critics DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:We at Food For The Poor offer our thanks to the National Catholic Register for being so interested in our work that they sent a reporter with us on a pilgrimage visit to Haiti. What one experiences in Haiti cannot easily be described in words — it is a measure of human suffering far beyond anything that those of us living in the United States have ever seen or even envisioned. It blows away all the petty cares and concerns of everyday life, and makes one so grateful for the blessings that God has provided to the people of this nation.
Your recent article highlighted our efforts in the Caribbean and Latin America, described our Haitian feeding, housing and medical programs, and spoke of our new facility for the prevention of mother to child transmission of AIDS. As our time in Haiti was limited, they were able to see only a small fraction of the work being done — Food For The Poor has over 680 Haitian nationals employed throughout the country, assisting in feeding and housing programs, medical facilities, educational programs and micro-enterprise projects.
The article also spoke about old news, namely, the resignations of Ferdinand Mahfood and the three bishops who had subsequently become part of the board of directors. All of those facts were merely a restatement of news that was published years ago, and omitted the fact that Bishop Paul Boyle — former superior-general of the Passionist order, past president of the Canon Law Society of America, former provincial of the Holy Cross Province of the Passionists, past president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, founder and superior of the Mandeville Mission Society, apostolic vicar of the Mandeville, Jamaica Vicariate prior to becoming its bishop — was then and continues to be vice president of our board of directors.
Today, Food For The Poor has emerged as a leaner, stronger organization — the new leadership has used the past difficulties to guide this ministry through its successful growth process.
Our mission to assist the poorest of the poor has never changed, and God has blessed our work abundantly. Over the last three years, we have become larger, stronger and increasingly more efficient and transparent; our ability to aid more and more of God's poor has continued to increase. We have been blessed by both our loyal donor base as well as by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in such measure that it can only be attributed to God's providence.
In the Chronicle of Philanthropy's ranking of all U.S. charities, Food For The Poor has gone from the 99th largest in the country in 1998 to the 23rd largest in the 2003 report. Surely this continuous growth is a reflection of the confidence that our donors and our government agencies place in our ability to reach and help those who need it the most — God's poorest children.
Our prayer is that all who consider themselves to be seekers of God's Kingdom will open their hearts to the words in the Gospel of Matthew for which Food For The Poor stands: “As often as you did it to one of the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40).
Let us share some our most significant accomplishments with you:
Since its founding in 1982, Food For The Poor has distributed more than 23,000 tractor-trailer loads of aid.
More than 94 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to programs that help the poor. The operating expense ratio for 2002 was only 5.6%
Since inception, Food For The Poor has built more than 19,000 homes for those in need of shelter — over 2,600 built during 2002.
Food For The Poor provides food, medical supplies and medicine, educational supplies, housing, skills training and micro-enterprise assistance to 16 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America.
In a 2002 survey of the top 200 charities, Forbes magazine reported a national average of 84% for the measure of charitable commitment, which shows how much of the money a nonprofit spent went to its charitable purpose, as opposed to management, overhead or fund-raising. Food For The Poor's charitable commitment ratio was an impressive 93%. Food For The Poor's fund-raising efficiency ratio of 94%, contrasted with an industry average of 89%, reflects the percentage of funds raised from gifts that remains after subtracting fund-raising expenses.
Food For The Poor received the highest possible financial efficiency ratings from Charity Navigator and Ministry Watch, the watchdog organizations for Christian charities.
We have recently received notification from the Better Business Bureau that Food For The Poor has met all 23 of their standards covering governance and oversight, effectiveness, finances, fund-raising and informational standards, and will be listed in their Wise Giving Alliance.
As responsible stewards of our donors’ trust and contributions, we strive to be open in all we do. We invite whoever wishes to respond to the cry of the poor to travel with us and see firsthand the mission of Food For The Poor. It will change your life.
ANGEL ALOMA
Deerfield Beach, Florida
The writer is executive vice president of Food For The Poor, Inc.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: The Glamour Of Abortion? Hardly. DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:At his pre-Halloween press conference, President George W. Bush told reporters, “I don't think the culture has changed to the extent that the American people or the Congress would totally ban abortions.”
He's probably right — most polls have the majority of Americans preferring restrictive abortion to a total ban. But that doesn't mean the culture isn't gradually becoming increasingly ill at ease with legal abortion.
It's gotten to the point where the most dyed-in-the-wool abortion advocates are having trouble ignoring — or covering up — the ugly realities of abortion. Some certainly try — a new Media Research Center study finds that of the Big Three news networks, two of them have not actually described a partial-birth abortion since 1998. (They know they couldn't possibly win if they did. So they try to keep people in the dark.)
But even the women's glossies are having their issues — it's just not possible in a culture of easily accessible information to hide the truth. So you find stories like one that appeared in Glamour's September issue, “Are You Ready to Really Understand Abortion?” The article is about a group of abortion clinics where “clients grapple openly with their feelings about having an abortion.” A subhead reads, “To fully understand this politically embattled procedure, every woman should spend a day inside these walls.”
Indeed. It would be hard to walk away from the exhibit and write a check to Planned Parenthood.
On the walls of the waiting room of Pittsburgh's Allegheny Reproductive Health Center are pink construction-paper hearts. “To my little angel,” one begins. “You will always be my baby. I will see you in heaven, sweetheart. I love you.” Another says: “I have a lot of goals to fulfill ... and with a child right now, those goals would be impossible. We all have freedom of choice, and my choice is to wait until I want a child and am married — not now.”
They're heartbreaking and maddening — especially when you see them; a few are reproduced in the magazine. Juvenile handwriting from mere girls who suffered through — and probably are still suffering — their exercise in “choice"; they are the pro-choice feminists’ trophies. “The mom you'll never meet” is how one mother signs her heart, to her fetus, her blob of tissue — spilling out her heart — “Each tear I cry will help me erase the memory of this day but not of you. You will always be a part of me even though you are not here with me.”
Glamour also reports that at these particular clinics, women ("girls” is probably more accurate in many cases) “pray over their fetuses, even to sprinkle them with holy water in impromptu baptismal rites.”
A culture exposed a little more to pain like this is bound to start to wonder — if it hasn't already.
Not even the abortionists themselves can finesse what they do, it seems. Walter Hern, director of the Boulder Abortion Clinic in Boulder, Colo., wrote the following in Slate, an online magazine, after the passage of a federal partial-birth-abortion ban in October (this one, this time, to be signed by the president): “Earlier this year, I began an abortion on a young woman who was 17 weeks pregnant. ... I inserted my forceps into the uterus and applied them to the head of the fetus, which was still alive, since fetal injection is not done at that stage of pregnancy. I closed the forceps, crushing the skull of the fetus, and withdrew the forceps. The fetus, now dead, slid out more or less intact.”
That was a physician writing, with no sense of irony or shame. I suspect relief and gratitude would not be the mother's reactions if she actually got the full rundown Slate readers got from Hern.
And ask the women whose writing is on the wall of the Allegheny abortion clinic if they didn't feel their abortions — and don't still feel them.
Of course, the battle is far from over. There are still the activists for one reason or another who will keep trying (covering up their own pain, in some cases) to avoid getting into the specifics of life with abortions. Kate Michelman, outgoing head of NARAL Pro-Choice America, told Glamour that “the pro-choice movement's job is not to wear every woman's feelings publicly.” (Don't ask her to take responsibility for what she's helped wrought.)
What we may be witnessing — despite Michelman's disregard or protest — is the beginning of a backlash. We've accepted, as a culture, some terrible evils — crimes against life — and allowed them to become mainstream. But, before we dig ourselves even deeper into the culture of death (cloning), now is the time for the culture to stop, lift the fog of doublespeak and reconsider its commitment to life. We all have a huge stake in it, as it so happens.
Toward that goal — of an embrace of a culture of life over death — Step One might be encouraging Hern to keep writing. The gospel of life clearly works through what's available.
Kathryn Jean Lopez is the editor of National Review Online.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kathryn Jean Lopez ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: The All-Spin Zone? Catholicism According to Bill O'Reilly DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:Love him or hate him, it's hard not to admire the scrappy charisma of Bill O'Reilly.
The Fox News Channel superstar handily leads the pack of American news commentators. His steady rise from working-class Levittown, N.Y., to hosting both a nationally syndicated radio show ("The Radio Factor” on Westwood One) and “The O'Reilly Factor” on Fox News Channel as well as writing best-selling books epitomizes the American dream. You have to marvel at the man's interviewing prowess, the sheer ease with which he jolts his subjects off rehearsed talking points and the way he somehow comes across as avuncular and pugilistic at once.
Conservatives rightly see an ally in O'Reilly, who peppers his commentary with jabs at gangsta rap, ACLU secularism, activist judges, Jesse Jackson's iffy tax status and other peeves. He says he's an “independent,” which is smart marketing, since it gives license to gore the oxes of both right and left. He's “looking out for the folks,” a Ralph Nader sans the green politics and the rumpled suit, combing the landscape for cultural Corvairs. Regardless of your opinion of his opinions, give the man credit for the sheer pace of preparing for three hours of radio and an hour of television per day, five days a week.
But there is one noticeable misstep in the swagger. A major, ungainly misstep. And he doesn't even know about it.
Though taught by dedicated nuns in a robust blue-collar Catholic upbringing and a graduate of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, he has an unusually poor grasp of his religion. While it would be wrong to attack sincerely held beliefs, the fact is many basic teachings of his Church are lost to him. Not just this or that part. He seems spectacularly unaware of the whole: the Church's self-understanding as the repository of Christian faith, her teachings on sexuality and the sacredness of human life, even the basic duties of a practicing member of the Catholic Church.
Space forbids a complete list of examples, but for starters O'Reilly believes that for him (the “for him” being key to his subjectivist viewpoint) being a Catholic is purely a matter between Bill and God. No need for any binding earthly authority, no necessary mediating community and certainly no filial regard for the bishops. Not to be unecumenical, but this is essentially mainline Protestantism. In his first book, The O'Reilly Factor, he says flatly, “My religion is Roman Catholicism. I go to church, but I'm an independent thinker” (p. 183). This is code for, “I disagree with a ton of Church teaching, but it's okay because it's really just the Church of Me.”
The wintry climb to the Church of Bill required the use of philosophical ice picks. “And if there is a God at the end of it all,” he asks in a stab at theodicy as touching as it is adolescent, “What does it matter? You're in the ground or scattered to the winds. If the deity is a fraud, you won't possibly care” (p. 168). His odd preference for the word deity is telling. It is not a part of the linguistic patrimony of Catholic theology as a God reference, belonging more in an encyclopedia than a prayer book. It may even reflect some dim uncomfort-ableness with the whole organized religion thing. Indeed, he says, “Religion is primarily a way to examine my conscience and spend some time thinking about things more important than my own conscience” (p. 187). The identity of the “something more important” he keeps from us.
Yet despite the theological miss-hits, it is not quite accurate to lump O'Reilly in with other public figures who pledge allegiance to an unspecified Catholic “identity/heritage/tradition,” a la the Kennedy, Schwarzenegger, Kerry, Sheen, Madonna and Daschle set. Rather, one gets the sense that he perhaps wants to be closer to the bosom of the Church. He says he goes to Sunday Mass “when he can” and fondly remembers the wrist-rapping nuns of his boyhood classrooms. Which is something.
But an identity crisis is an identity crisis. And symptomatic of this one is his schizoid confusion over abortion. When it comes to abortion, the No Spin enforcer spins like a whirling dervish. It is fascinating to watch. He bullies pro-abortion guests, cataloguing the horrible aftereffects of abortion in the lives of the women the procedure is alleged to help. He is appalled by partial-birth abortion and was pleased President Bush signed the partial-birth abortion ban. He mocks the National Organization for Women and other pro-—g t o abortion groups that protest the charge of depth double homicide in the famous Laci Peterson murder case because her slain son, Conner, had yet to be born alive.
Take another example — the Elizabeth Ehlert murder trial. The Illinois woman was twice found guilty of drowning her baby girl in a garbage bag. The body was found four days later. A doctor testified that there was air in the baby's lungs at the time of death. Ehlert's boyfriend testified that he heard the baby cry. You can guess the rest: A three-judge panel ruled that the umbilical cord might not have been severed at the time of death, based on a criterion dredged up from an 1820 law. To these learned justices, a crying baby is not necessarily alive. So Elizabeth Ehlert was acquitted. The case might go to the Illinois Supreme Court.
Understandably, O'Reilly was incensed. “Come on,” he protested. “This has nothing to do with being pro-choice. America simply cannot be a country where a woman is allowed to execute a baby, tethered or not. This is a major human-rights violation. It's barbaric ... The brutal killing of a defenseless baby should sicken all people of conscience, yet the legal system may exonerate the killer and the media stands mute.”
Execute. Major human-rights violation. Barbaric. Brutal killing. Defenseless baby. Killer. Mute media. How eagerly O'Reilly applies these adjectives to the type of infant killings that boyfriends can hear. But, ah, that bright and sacrosanct line between infanticide and abortion: Bill O'Reilly is a dutiful supporter of Roe v. Wade.
Just how strong a supporter is another question. The Fox News star said he was “stunned” to learn that an exit poll taken in California on Oct. 7 found 30% polled believed it was okay to kill a baby at any time before birth. “What can these people be thinking?” he thundered. “How could any feeling human being come to that conclusion? Have they ever seen a sonogram?” Yet he seems blissfully unaware of the implications of his outrage, unable to connect the dots.
But he might not be a true Roe v. Wade believer. You can pick up the way abstract illogic trickles down into concrete body language. There is an unease in his treatment of it. Fifty percent of his passion is spent on loathing how abortion scars women; the other 50 is left to prop up the “right-to-choose” rhetoric. It's hard to tell where his real center of gravity lies: Is he a pro-choicer who's embarrassed by the extremes of his fellow travelers or a diffident pro-lifer who recoils from where he knows his principles will lead him?
It's as though he's having an ideological affair with Roe, has a hunch it's wrong but doesn't know how to break it off. Were he to become consistently pro-life, he might jeopardize his “independent thinker” status, so essential to his image as an agent provocateur. Perhaps it's simply about the bottom line: The coffee mugs, books and doormats that bear his name do not make Bill O'Reilly less rich. Or perhaps it's the long shadow of the Fox brass. Indeed, former Fox newsman Matt Drudge quit/was fired from Fox News over his intention to use in order to illustrate the human face of abortion the now-famous photo of a fetus grasping the finger of his surgeon.
The closest O'Reilly comes to affirming the sanctity of unborn life is in his pet term, “potential human being,” a slogan drawn from the language of Roe v. Wade. No guest has told him he has it exactly backward: A fetus (or embryo, or zygote, or blastocyst, depending on nearness to conception) is not a potential human being but a human being with potential. Biologically, the actuality begins at conception. Blessed Mother Teresa cut through the inane idea that abortion is somehow a “complex issue” when she said, “If abortion is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”
It would show consistency and courage if O'Reilly allowed an actual abortionist to explain in detail, with slides and video footage, exactly how the various abortion procedures (D&E, saline, RU-486 and partial-birth abortion) accomplish their tasks. Now that would be No Spin. But, like most Roe v. Wade fans, O'Reilly doesn't want to know. Such a show ‘n’ tell might make drowning in a garbage bag seem relatively humane.
Then there is Pope John Paul II, whom O'Reilly has denounced repeatedly as complicit in the American priestly scandal and who earns his special wrath. Papal coverage invariably comes with a note of irritated condescension. To him, the Holy Father is a sad, dithering letdown. He agrees with the Pope on the death penalty, albeit for a different reason: He thinks the criminal will suffer more by harsh prison conditions than by lethal injection.
Finally, as regular viewers know, O'Reilly is always up for bishop bash, a set of gripes not unconnected to their moral credibility as teachers. The game goes like this: Call the bishops craven, criticize them, then find vindication in their silence. From one angle, at least, he has a point. While there are many forest fires in chanceries these days, Catholics who were adults during Vatican II will tell you that the sounds of episcopal silence would have been unthinkable a generation or two ago. If radio and TV pioneer Edward R. Morrow was a Catholic and began distorting or disparaging Catholic teaching a la O'Reilly to his legion of listeners, chances are slim that a Cardinal Spellman, Cardinal Cushing or an Archbishop Sheen would say nothing. Forget the bishops — lay Catholics from Jersey to Juneau would be in an uproar.
But times, and “ministry styles,” have changed. A modest start might be for someone to hand O'Reilly a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, where he would discover that the Church, being an organization founded strictly for sinners, requires neither sanctity nor perfection for membership. But there is some indispensable minimum standard, which is obedience to the Church's moral and spiritual teachings, at least in principle if not always in practice.
To his credit, O'Reilly has built his show into a powerful bully pulpit, and he uses it to shame his enemies and praise his allies. This news-as-moral-bullhorn idea reflects a social conscience that is surely not unrelated to a Catholic upbringing, and it even embodies what the fathers of Vatican II had in mind for the right use of media in the decree Inter Mirifica.
The problem is, the pick ‘n’ choose “cafeteria Catholicism” of the Church of Bill is not to be mistaken for the Body of Christ. One can only imagine how much sharper his rhetorical blades would become if he could “come and see” this (John 1:39). The barbarism of a newborn baby being drowned in a creek has nothing do with being pro-choice?
To employ an O'Reillyism, that's the most ridiculous item of the day.
Patrick Coffin writes from Los Angeles.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Patrick Coffin ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Three Kinds of Orthodox You Don't Want to Be DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:More than ever, young people today look for role models who “walk the talk,” whose lives in a sense sacramentalize their message.
Pope John Paul II has emphasized that people today won't listen to teachers unless they are first and foremost witnesses. And yet, at the same time, our society has a perverse desire to see good people fall from grace. Take the moral high ground and you become a target.
Our zeal for the truth of Jesus Christ impels us to stand with the Holy Father and with the Church. This is of course the right and noble thing to do. Yet it also singles us out as targets, especially when we defend the Church's moral teachings on hot-button issues such as contraception, abortion and euthanasia. If there is any discernible inconsistency between what we say and how we act, we're dismissed as hypocrites and held up to ridicule or worse.
Our orthodoxy, then, must be authentically lived and expressed in our lives. In this regard, there are a few pitfalls that should be avoided.
First, we must avoid a selective or “cafeteria” orthodoxy. Our faith must be coherent, embracing all that God has revealed and the Church proposes for our belief (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2088). This can be challenging when we encounter certain Catholics who uphold Church teaching on “peace and justice” issues but who outright dissent from Church teaching on abortion and other “conservative” issues or who relativize such teaching to an intolerable degree. It should also be challenging when we encounter Catholics who do the opposite — favoring “conservative” but not “liberal” issues. Our rejection of such denials and distortions of Catholic teaching can, unfortunately, lead to our not paying sufficient attention to the social teachings of the Church and the plight of the “poorest of the poor” in our midst.
Our belief system is expressed in the Catechism — all of it — and not in a political platform.
Second, we must avoid a self-defeating, obnoxious orthodoxy. Our demeanor should reflect joy, patience, kindness and indeed all the fruits of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23), which are contagious signs of the life of Christ in us. A relentless antagonism toward the local Church, setting oneself up as the local “piety police” or maybe using our apologetics skills as a contentious sword rather than as a constructive ploughshare are all ways we can let style get in the way of our substance, creating an unnecessary stumbling block for those whose faith is less informed than ours.
There is, after all, no legitimate basis for assuming an air of superiority, for our faith is not something we earned but an undeserved gift from God. In fact, the Lord expects more from those to whom he has given more (see Luke 12:48). And Vatican II reminds us that Catholics who do not persevere in charity cannot be saved (Lumen Gentium, 14).
Third, we must avoid a compartmentalized orthodoxy. In this regard, it's crucial to understand that our Christian discipleship is 24/7. Our faith must inform every aspect of our lives. We can't check our faith at the door when we take to the highway, go to the movies, file our tax returns, log onto the Internet or retire to the privacy of our bedrooms. Do we attempt to justify holding on to our “favorite” vices and sins? Are we truly “orthodox” when others aren't watching?
Contradictions between our faith and our actions must be countered with daily prayer, spiritual discipline, cultivation of virtue and regular recourse to the sacrament of confession. Otherwise, we're spiritually blind and ill equipped to help others find the way (see Matthew 7:4-5).
Clearly we have to lead lives worthy of our calling in Christ, not only for its powerful witness but also because that's what the Lord expects of his disciples.
Even when our orthodoxy is lived with integrity, we will be attacked. Dissident Catholics will accuse us of homophobia, pre-conciliarism, anti-Semitism, misogyny, intolerance and other sins for no other reason than because we stand with the Church.
All the same, we need to continually examine ourselves to ensure that there aren't elements of truth in these outrageous personal attacks. Yes, we hate the sin, but do we manifest the same zeal and commitment in loving the sinner?
The havoc wreaked upon the Church from within in recent decades by dissenting Catholics in leadership positions can be very distressing. However, through the eyes of faith we must give thanks for this opportunity to grow in our own faith and to bear witness to Our Lord and his Church in the face of persecution and ridicule. We cannot be truly committed to ecumenism, to inter-religious dialogue or to missionary activity if we're not serious about bringing “back” (even when they don't think they've “left") our own Catholic brothers and sisters who have gone astray. We can't give up on them. Indeed, we might just be the ones who are supposed to welcome them home.
In all this, we must take the high ground, which is nothing other than the way of charity — not a soft, “nice” charity but a charity that's tough as nails. The definitive high ground, after all, is a hill on Calvary.
Leon Suprenant Jr. is the president of Catholics United for the Faith and the editor of Lay Witness magazine.leon@cuf.org.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Now Playing DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS (Warner Bros) Directors: The Wach-owski Brothers. Keanu Reeves, Carrie Anne-Moss, Laurence Fishburne. (R)
Take One: The third and final film in the biggest action-sci-fi phenomenon since Star Wars, Revolutions promises sensory-overloading battle sequences — and answers to the riddles and puzzles of Matrix Reloaded six months ago.
Take Two: Compared to Reloaded, Revolutions mercifully lightens up on the pseudo-philosophical gibberish, avoids the outright sleaze and delivers bona fide thrills in the effects-laden battle scenes. Nor are innocents gratuitously slaughtered this time around. Problematic content, which includes some profanity, is less an issue here than in previous films.
Final Take: Revolutions has the makings of a good “middle” film lacking in Reloaded — but this was supposed to be the finale, and the story lacks a satisfying resolution. The philosophical riffing takes an existential turn, as autonomous choice becomes the hero's defining virtue.
LOVE ACTUALLY
(Universal) Director: I Richard Curtis. Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Kiera Knightley. (R)
Take One: Screenwriter Curtis (Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral) directs a huge lineup of stars in an offbeat romantic comedy loosely structured around nearly a dozen storylines, aiming to show that love, not hate, actually makes the world go ‘round.
Take Two: With its attention divided among so many storylines, few of the characters and situations rise above emotional button-pushing — often silly, contrived button-pushing at that. Profanity, frequent crass behavior and vulgarity, depictions of movie-set bedroom-scene shoots with excessive nudity and additional sexual encounters contribute to a view of humanity more degraded than inspiring.
Final Take: Despite a few bright spots — such as a raw, heartfelt exposé of adultery — Love Actually seldom feels honest or real, and ultimately succumbs to its offensive content.
BROTHER BEAR (Disney) Directors: Aaron Blaise, Bob Walker. Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Suarez. (G)
Take One: It's the end of an era: After Brother Bear, for the first time in who knows when, Disney has no new traditional hand-drawn/2D animated features in the works and no plans to begin any. Take Two: With a script dating to the New-Age/ultra-PC heyday of Disney's ‘90s renaissance, Brother Bear outdoes even Pocahontas and Atlantis: The Lost Empire with its eco-spirituality and tree-hugging Gospel message that animals are people too — and kind, wise people living in harmony, at that — whereas humans are scary killers.
Final Take: Not only objectionable but just plain boring — and at times too frightening for the youngest children — Brother Bear brings Disney animation's attempts to recover from the collapse of its ‘90s formulas to an end not with a bang but with a whimper.
RADIO (Columbia) Director: Michael Tollin. Cuba Gooding Jr., Ed Harris, Alfre Woodard. (PG)
Take One: From the screenwriter of The Rookie comes another uplifting, down-home, sports-themed drama based on a true story, this one about a sweet-natured, mentally handicapped black man named Radio taken under the wing of a small-town high school football coach.
Take Two: Despite the movie's conviction that it's celebrating Radio's virtues and all he has to teach others, Radio is really just a passive recipient of kindness or cruelty, not an active player in a movie that's really about congratulating everyone else on how kind they are to Radio. Limited profanity and some crass language; brief maltreatment of a mentally handicapped individual.
Final Take: It's not an unpleasant movie, just an unconvincing one, and not in The Rookie's league. The Rookie was a solid triple if not a home run. Radio fumbles on the 45-yard line.
PIECES OF
Take One: Indie/art-house attitude meets Thanksgiving-movie dysfunctional-family comedy-drama as a domestically uninclined city girl, the black sheep of a quirky suburban family, struggles vainly to prepare her first Thanksgiving dinner while her apprehensive family drives in for their first visit.
Take Two: Like April's dinner, the story starts unpromisingly: April's cohabitation with her boyfriend, including brief restrained sensuality and intimacy (no nudity), is taken for granted, along with some objectionable language. Yet as the film develops into a parable about taking steps in the right direction, one starts rooting for the imperfect, wounded characters, hoping to see them overcome past mistakes.
Final Take: Though flawed, April's heart is more or less in the right place, and mature viewers may appreciate the message of giving others the benefit of the doubt and putting family first even in problematic circumstances.
Steven D. Greydanus writes from Bloomfield, New Jersey
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Kill Bill: Indefensible - or Just Indecent? DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:With just four films to his name, Pulp Fiction director Quentin Tarantino is one of Hollywood's most respected and controversial directors. As critics squared off in opposite corners over his latest, ultraviolent martial-arts bloodbath Kill Bill Vol. 1, a funny thing happened: Both fans and detractors used strikingly similar language to describe the film, likening it to depraved sexual acts.
The most scathing denunciation came from San Francisco Chronicle critic Mick LaSalle, who ended his blistering review with the words: “Let's just call it pornography. And let's just admit it's indefensible.” A similarly dismissive note was struck by atheist critic Mary Ann Johanson of FlickFilosopher.com, who derisively and elaborately compared Tarantino's film to an act of public self-abuse.
Strangely, many of the film's strongest advocates seemed to agree. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone enthusiastically called the film “an act of indecent exposure,” rhapsodizing in unprintable language about Tarantino as a “flasher” and about the experience of seeing the film being reminiscent of going to an adult theater. Waxing Freudian, Victoria Alexander of Films In Review raved: “Awesome! Breathtaking! Tarantino shows off his libido and his id.” She went on, “All the women are seething with anger. It is female cruelty as art form. The women in Kill Bill embody my favorite Hindu goddess — who graces my desk — Kali The Destroyer.”
Underground film writer “Moriarty” of Ain't It Cool News matched Rolling Stone's crudeness, similarly likening the film to an act of indecent exposure before describing it as “a love letter from Quentin Tarantino to Quentin Tarantino.”
Boston Globe critic Wesley Morris calls Tarantino “the movies’ sadist laureate. His brand of violence has the uncanny ability to seduce without desensitizing you to pain.”
Yikes. With friends like these, who needs to listen to Tarantino's enemies?
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video/DVD Picks DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:Finding Nemo (2003)
Pixar's fifth computer-animated film is another gem. A deeply affecting, stunningly animated father-son fish story, it not only features the first onscreen Pixar dad but also actually focuses on the parent-child relationship. (Compare this finned father with the surrogate-adult figures Woody and Buzz in Toy Story, and Mike and Sully in Monsters, Inc.)
Even more remarkably, papa clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) remains sympathetically and positively depicted even though young Nemo is reasonably frustrated by Marlin's overprotectiveness, unlike, say, fellow undersea dad King Triton (The Little Mermaid), who was basically a frustrating obstacle for Ariel to overcome. Marlin's concern is actually quite understandable: In an early Bambi-like tragedy, a predator devours Nemo's mother and hundreds of his unhatched siblings, leaving even Nemo partly crippled. (Marlin and his mate's lovingly protective concern for the clearly visible, embryonic fries in their translucent eggs is strikingly resonant for pro-life viewers.)
When Nemo's willfulness results in his being snatched far away from his father, there seems no hope of their being reunited. As events unfold, though, Nemo comes to see his father in a whole new light, while Marlin learns to give Nemo room to grow and face his own challenges. Dare I admit I cried throughout the second half?
Content advisory: Animated high excitement and menace; parental separation theme. Could be frightening to sensitive youngsters.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1982)
The good news: Raiders is finally on DVD, and in wide-screen! The bad news: You can't buy it alone. It ‘ comes in a four-pack with the two sequels (the dark, inferior Temple of Doom and the enjoyable but flawed Last Crusade) as well as a fourth disc of extras.
It can, of course, be rented alone and may become available for individual purchase in time.
Still the standard by which cliffhanger action-adventures are measured, Lucas and Spielberg's hugely entertaining throwback to old matinee serial cliffhangers combines classic action set pieces, Harrison Ford at his swashbuckling best, Old Testament spirituality and a satiric jab at Nazi anti-Semitism.
Daredevil archaeologist Indiana Jones is pitted against Nazi treasure hunters in a race to find the lost ark of the covenant, which Hitler superstitiously believes will give him the military indomitability of the ancient Israelites — Hitler apparently having missed 1 Samuel 4-6, in which the ark is captured by Philistines, who are subsequently plagued by boils and rats until they return it to the Israelites.
Fortunately, the filmmakers know exactly what they're doing, and — in contrast to Last Crusade, which had no clue what to do with the Holy Grail — the ark itself satisfyingly provides Raiders’ numinous, spectacular finale.
Content advisory: Stylized action violence, mayhem and menace; some drunkenness; limited profanity and crass language; some gruesome images.
Duck Soup (1933)
The greatest and funniest film from one of the cinema's funniest acts, Duck Soup is as absurdly nonsensical as come-dy can be and still be about something.
A satire of fascism, Mussolini-style dictatorship and the banality of war, the Marx Brothers’ masterpiece is best remembered for Groucho's blistering throwaway witticisms, a classic broken-mirror scene with Harpo posing as Groucho's reflection and a surreal slapstick hat-switching sequence.
The premise involves Groucho as Rufus T. Firefly becoming dictator of Freedonia at the behest of dowager Mrs. Teasdale (Margaret Dumont, Groucho's indefatigable foil), whose millions the ailing country badly needs. Groucho's ideas for running the country consist largely of wooing Mrs. Teasdale in an effort to get the rest of her millions and of insulting Trentino (Louis Calhern), the scheming ambassador of neighboring Sylvania. Trentino, meanwhile, hires Chico and Harpo as spies and sends a sultry Mata Hari (Raquel Torres) to draw Groucho away from Mrs. Teasdale, hoping to marry her himself and gain control of Freedonia's pocketbook.
A unique product of their era, the Marx Brothers combine silent-comedy slapstick with Groucho's trademark verbal comedy ("If you can't get a taxi, you can leave in a huff. If that's too soon, you can leave in a minute and a huff"). Their goofiness doesn't get any better than this.
Content advisory: Double entendre and mild innuendo; comic war scenes.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:SUNDAY, NOV. 9
The Weekly Roman Observer
Familyland TV, 4:30 p.m.
This timely show helps everyone keep up with current Catholic topics.
MONDAY, NOV. 10
A Grave in Perm: The Fr. Walter Ciszek Story
EWTN, 4:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m.
This video on the holy and heroic life of Polish American Jesuit Father Walter Ciszek (1904-1984) shows why his cause for beatification is underway. Captured while an underground missionary in Soviet Russia, he spent the years 1941-1963 in communist prisons and slave labor camps. His family and the Church thought him dead.
TUESDAY, NOV. 11
Nova: Wright Brothers’ Flying Machine
PBS, 8 p.m.
Experts say the Wright Brothers’ plane had every fundamental technical feature that subsequent aircraft needed. This special will show flights by replica planes built from materials identical to those the Wrights used. Re-airs Tuesday, Dec. 16, at 8 p.m.
TUESDAY, NOV. 11
American Valor
PBS, 9 p.m..
You understand much about the Medal of Honor — there is no “congressional” in that title, by the way — when you learn how many receive it posthumously. This Veterans Day special interviews recipients and the comrades who witnessed their gallantry.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 12
Joshua & the Walls of Jericho
Discovery Channel, 10 p.m.
The Book of Joshua, chapters 1 through 6, relates the Israelites’ conquest of Jericho when God put that pagan city in their power and caused its walls to collapse. This show tells the story and mentions modern investigations and speculations.
THURSDAY, NOV. 13
Mysteries of Noah's Flood The Learning Channel, 9 p.m.
Chapters 6 through 9 of the Book of Genesis tell us about the flood, the ark and Noah and his family. This show describes searches for the ark on Mount Ararat, in Turkey.
FRIDAY, NOV. 14
Save Our History: The Declaration
History Channel, 7 a.m.
The Declaration of Independence reminds us that our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness come to us from God, not government. This special tells the history of the copy of the Declaration that rests in the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
SATURDAY, NOV. 15
An Empire Conquered
EWTN, 8 p.m.
Filmed on location in Rome, this documentary uses archaeological evidence, early Catholic writings and art, and live-action re-creations to tell the stories of St. Agnes, St. Apollonius, St. Cecelia and Pope St. Clement, all brave martyrs for Jesus and the faith.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dan Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: The Joy of Confession DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:By today's standards, I'm a frequent confessor — in a confessional every couple of weeks.
To some folks that probably sounds terribly frequent. But for me, it probably is like my bucolic ancestors who claimed they took a weekly bath every Saturday night whether or not they needed it.
I probably wouldn't go to confession at all were it not for the late Father Paul. He was associate pastor at our parish. Lance, you were a very little boy then; Adrienne, you were still a star in heaven.
I was a convert to the faith who had not practiced very hard but was on the road back. I had progressed from Christmas/-Easter Catholic to attending weekly Mass, had joined the church choir and was starting to show an interest in my religion. It had been a decade since I had been to confession, which by any standards surpasses the category of infrequent confession. But I had reached the point where I knew it was time. (Obviously, it was well past time.)
Father Paul was a priest who skillfully combined orthodoxy, compassion and common sense. So I gave him a call and explained that I had some confessional catching up to do.
He asked where I was and what I was doing. I explained that I was about to leave my office and take the commuter train home. He asked when the train would get to our little town. I said about 6 p.m.
The train station being just a block from the church rectory, he suggested I just stop by when I arrived. I quickly explained that I wasn't quite prepared, had really just wanted to set up an appointment, probably shouldn't rush into this so quickly and blah, blah, blah.
He replied that I sounded plenty ready and he looked forward to seeing me at 6 and hung up the phone. That was just great; I had a 40-minute train ride to figure out how to explain everything I had done wrong in my life for the last 10 years.
I arrived at the rectory unsure of what to expect. After all, I was a tad out of practice. But Father Paul put me at ease, sat me down at the kitchen table and, well, talked to me. In fact, we talked for a couple of hours. It was sort of a combination of soul cleansing, spiritual direction and honest friendship — culminating in sacramental confession and absolution.
Then there was the matter of penance. I figured I had earned something like 1,798,427 Hail Marys and double that in Our Fathers. Father Paul had other ideas.
He told me that of my many sins, the most harmful probably was that I tended to get awfully involved in my career and spend too little time with my family — you, Lance, and mom — with Adrienne added later. He was right, of course. And he had a penance he thought to be quite appropriate.
“Jim, I want you to take you family on a vacation,” he instructed. “I don't care where it is, but it has to be for at least a week and far enough away that you need to take a plane.”
We ended up on a beach in Florida for a week. It was relaxing, fun and very much a time for family togetherness. We started a tradition that week of lighting a candle and saying a prayer for Father Paul whenever we traveled as a family. He knew confession was a good thing. And he shared the value of the sacrament with me in a way that has lasted.
Jim Fair writes From Chicago.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jim Fair ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: St. Mother Cabrini's Rocky Mountain High-Away DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:On a hillside overlooking Denver, in a spot not far from Buffalo Bill's grave and the famed Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater, there's a peaceful place of Catholic prayer and contemplation.
It's the Mother Cabrini Shrine in Golden, the original capital of Colorado, and it was founded by the tough-loving saint herself. As her feast day is upon us — Nov. 13 — now is a good time for a virtual visit to this Rocky Mountain haven.
Visiting friends in Denver gave me the opportunity to learn how a 22-foot Sacred Heart statue came to be atop a mountain, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. It is a clear sign of an act of God: The foundress wanted to go one way with her life, but God sent her in the complete opposite direction.
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was schooled in her native Italy by the Daughters of the Sacred Heart and grew up in awe of missionary tales involving far-off lands. She, too, wanted to be a missionary, so she became a teacher and tried to join their order. They refused her due to poor health. At age 30 she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Traveling to Rome, she asked Pope Leo XIII to send her and her sisters to China. Noting that Italians were emigrating by the thousands to America, the Pope said, in so many words: China would be fine, but you're more needed in New York.
Mother Cabrini arrived in the United States on March 31, 1889, and got right to work setting up schools and orphanages in and around New York. But her drive was such that no one part of the country could contain her. Bishop Nicholas Matz invited her to Denver in 1902 to begin a school in the parish of Mount Carmel. She built the Queen of Heaven orphanage for girls in 1905 and bought land in Golden, on the outskirts of the city, to create a summer orphan camp. Today the stone house and original barn are still there — the first things you see, in fact, as you ascend the mountain road. A sign is visible from the highway; it shows a flaming, crowned heart and urges pilgrims to “make Christ the heart of the world.”
Farther along, the main building consists of a church upstairs and a gift shop, museum and cafeteria downstairs. The museum displays some of Mother Cabrini's belongings: her desk, bed, dresser and wash basin, some clothes, a chair and cane. The church contains a representation of the Sacred Heart set on the wall behind the main altar. Christ stands atop the globe as the Holy Spirit descends upon him. A statue of Mother Cabrini stands to one side. She's always recognizable standing in a long black dress, cape and bonnet tied in a bow at her neck. Her hands are folded in prayer above a large silver cross.
In a large side chapel, a series of stained-glass windows depicts key moments in Mother Cabrini's early life — her birth, first Communion, experiences as a young girl and as a new religious. Another section shows her sitting aboard the ship coming to America, writing a letter on deck as seagulls fly above the waters. In the next she arrives in New York with an immigrant child at her side, the Statue of Liberty and ship in the background.
Three central windows show the Assumption, Pentecost and Our Lady's Coronation by the Trinity. My favorite windows were of Frances kneeling below the Sacred Heart, a white ribbon above reading, “Take courage, I am with you” and of Frances at the knee of Pope Leo XIII, who sits on a throne and places one hand on her head. The white ribbon here says, “Not to the East but to the West.”
The last cycle shows Frances on horseback in the mountains, her death in Chicago, aiding a family with her portrait on their wall and her glory in heaven.
Atlantic Crossings
In the church vestibule is a Sacred Heart statue brought to Colorado by St. Frances Xavier Cabrini herself, opposite old pictures and newspaper articles, including one showing her canonization at the Vatican on July 7, 1946, by Pope Pius XII.
Mother Cabrini had become a missionary, traveling through Europe, South America and across the United States in response to the need for schools, hospitals, child care centers and orphanages. Some 67 houses and 24 transatlantic journeys later, Mother Cabrini died on Dec. 22, 1917. How many times Frances must have invoked the Sacred Heart, in all her travels to and from Europe and across the United States. How fitting it was, then, that on her last visit to Golden, where she had created a summer camp, she climbed the mountain and left stones in the shape of a heart.
Today, atop the same mountain, a wide heart formed of stones rests under glass as a memorial to this humble daughter of Italy who abandoned her lifelong dream to become a missionary in another land. Near this heart is a small chapel with a relic of Mother Cabrini, above which rises a 22-foot statue of the Sacred Heart. Surrounding this area, the Ten Commandments are set in picturesque stone alcoves.
From this square atop the mountain, you can see Denver and the beautiful mountains for which it's famous. Benches invite pilgrims to relax after climbing 373 steps (with a bench on each) wending up the Way of the Cross and mysteries of the rosary.
Along the 373 steps, I found hearts and crosses formed out of a variety of materials: stones, wood, memorials left by families and groups, flowers and plants, tiny angel statues. One particularly memorable plaque said, “Love is the measure of the journey.”
Below is the grotto, a candle-filled votive shrine with a Mother Cabrini statue inside and Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette outdoors. From the Mother Cabrini Spring here, visitors may drink or bottle some of the miraculous water Frances discovered on this lonely site. (There's a one-quart limit and you must bring your own container.)
The shrine is still run by Mother Cabrini's nuns, who offer all a place of warm hospitality, refreshing rest and contemplative prayer.
Mary Soltis writes from Parma, Ohio.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mary Soltis ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Students Launch Eucharistic Adoration at Catholic Schools DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:MANASSAS, Va. — Catholic colleges and universities throughout the country are becoming more than centers of higher education — they're becoming centers of the Eucharist as well.
Thanks to the efforts of the Cardinal Newman Society's Eucharistic Adoration Campaign, more and more Catholic institutions of higher learning are growing in fervor for Christ in the Eucharist through adoration.
The Cardinal Newman Society celebrates it's 10th anniversary this year, it is a grass-roots organization dedicated to the realization of Ex Corde Ecclesiae (On Catholic Universities), Pope John Paul II's 1990 apostolic constitution in which the Holy Father exhorts Catholic universities to “be dedicated to the research of all aspects of truth in their essential connection with the supreme Truth, who is God” and to do so “without fear but rather with enthusiasm, dedicating itself to every path of knowledge, aware of being preceded by him who is 'the Way, the Truth and the Life’”
The Eucharistic Adoration Campaign is an effort of the Association of Students at Catholic Colleges, a loose fraternity of Catholic student leaders who are determined to build Christian campus life on America's Catholic campuses. It provides support and materials to any group or individual interested in promulgating Eucharistic adoration on campus. These how-to kits include ideas for generating enthusiasm for Eucharistic adoration as well as step-by-step instructions for initiating or expanding an existing program.
“Eucharistic adoration is so highly regarded by the Holy Father,” said Eucharistic Adoration Campaign Director Adam Wilson, a freshman at Christendom College in Front Royal, Va. “And it's extremely important in the wake of Ex Corde Ecclesiae, which parallels [the Pope's April encyclical on the Eucharist] Ecclesia de Eucharistia (The Church of the Eucharist). Catholic colleges were born to be at the heart of the Church, and the Church draws life from the Eucharist.”
According to Cardinal Newman Society records, more than 60 of the nation's 223 Catholic colleges and universities currently have ongoing Eucharistic adoration programs. The campaign's goal is to disseminate information about the importance and benefits of Eucharistic adoration so that, eventually, all Catholic institutions of higher learning have some form of Eucharistic adoration on campus.
Drastic Changes
Anecdotal evidence suggests Eucharistic adoration programs bring about drastic changes in the moral and intellectual climates on the campuses on which they are held.
An article in the April/May issue of Lay Witness, written by Cardinal Newman Society president Patrick Reilly, said the increased enthusiasm for Eucharistic adoration has yielded greater and more reverent attendance at daily and Sunday Mass, retreats and conversions to the Catholic faith as well as a higher quality of academics. In some cases, students have reported mystical experiences in their prayer lives.
At Marquette University in Milwaukee, Eucharistic adoration began three years ago with just one hour a week. Today it's expanded to nearly 15 hours, plus a weekly holy hour called “The Hour of Power,” which includes praise and worship: a decade of the scriptural rosary, petitions, singing, lighting candles, talks, Benediction and reposition.
“Since I started with the program in 2000,” said Jesuit Father Will Prospero, director of the Eucharistic adoration program at Marquette, “I've seen six people enter the priesthood or religious life and every one of them was involved in the Eucharistic adoration program.”
Father Prospero has also witnessed the students’ greater devotion to holy Mass and an increased courage to speak out on moral issues on campus.
“The ones involved in Eucharistic adoration are the ones speaking out,” he observed.
Lora Helm, a senior at Marquette, coordinates the sign-up for Eucharistic adoration. She depends on Eucharistic adoration to give her strength; it's her refuge from the stresses and activity of college life, she said. It's also drawn her more deeply into prayer and contemplation, especially during holy Mass.
“It gives me a time slot each week during which I can sit in the presence of Christ,” Helm said. “It's good to have some quiet time each week, but it's magnified in the Eucharistic presence. And it helps me to experience more fully Christ's presence in the Mass.”
Non-Catholic Schools
Devotion for the Eucharistic presence is growing in non-Catholic universities as well.
A group of Harvard University graduate students have begun a Friday night holy hour with Benediction and reposition at nearby St. Peter Parish in Cambridge, Mass.
The program has already begun to attract other parishioners, said first-year divinity school student Bronwen McShea. She coordinates the program along with Michael Lorelli, a second-year law student; Christina Hip-Florez, a second-year student in the school of government; and the parish's pastor, Father Kevin O'Leary. The group is exploring the possibility of getting the parish's high school students involved as well.
Once the Eucharistic Adoration Campaign has expanded, the Association of Students at Catholic Colleges hopes to offer formation programs that will help students integrate Catholic teachings faithful to the magisterium into their curricula and campus life, according to Notre Dame sophomore and the association's president, Chris Christensen.
“We'll do anything we can to help make the college more Catholic,” he said. “And so we approach both the administration and the students in order to encourage the administration to help the students and the students help the administration.”
Marge Fenelon writes from Cudahy, Wisconsin.
Eucharistic adoration programs bring about drastic changes in the moral and intellectual climates on the campuses.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Marge Fenelon ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: There Be Saints Among Us, Even Now DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:MODERN HEROES OF THE CHURCH
by Leo Knowles
OSV, 2003 186 pages, $13.95 To order: (800) 348-2440 www. osvpublishing. com
Not all of the spiritual heroes featured in this collection of biographical sketches are canonized saints. Some of them are on their way to attaining that distinct honor. Still others among them probably never will get there. But all stand as unique and compelling witnesses to the power of a life lived in faith and love.
Many of the heroes Knowles tells us about in Modern Heroes of the Church will be familiar to most readers. But it's hard to get tired of reading about true heroes such as St. Edith Stein and Archbishop Oscar Romero.
As often as I have read the words, I am always tempted to stand up and cheer at Romero's 1980 radio address in which he spoke directly to members of El Salvador's armed forces: “Brothers, you come from our own people. You are killing your own brothers. Any human order to kill must be subordinated to the law of God, which says, 'Thou shalt not kill.’ No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God.... In the name of God, in the name of this suffering people, whose cries rise to heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I command you: Stop the repression.”
More obscure figures, such as Franz Jagerstatter and Edel Quinn, deserve to be more familiar to us, and one suspects they will be among future generations of Catholics. Jagerstatter was an uneducated German farmer who saw — when all those around him failed to see — that the times he lived in demanded a choice between loyalty to Christ and loyalty to Hitler. He refused to register for military service, rejecting the pleas of his bishop, several priests and his own wife. Even the officers of the military tribunal that condemned him to death pleaded with him to change his mind.
“Since the death of Christ,” Jagerstatter wrote in a letter to his young godson, “almost every century has seen the persecution of Christians. There have always been heroes and martyrs who gave their lives — often in horrible ways — for Christ and their faith. If we hope to reach our own goal someday, then we, too, must become heroes for the faith.”
The portraits that emerge in Modern Heroes are not hagiogra-phies, one-dimensional descriptions intended only to inspire veneration. We get a glimpse of the subjects’ idiosyncrasies and weaknesses. Knowles even allows us to hear from their critics from time to time. We see the arrogance of Tom Dooley, the occasional unkindness of Brother Andre, the impatience and irritability that Charles de Foucault often had with lesser men. This is one of the book's strong points.
If there is one major flaw here, it is probably that Knowles has set his bar too low. If the chapter on Cardinal Basil Hume, for example, offers the best there is to say about him, then surely there are other modern heroes more deserving of space in this book. Meanwhile two indisputable heroes are notable for their absence: How in the world did Blessed Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II get overlooked (or fail to make the cut)? One is tempted to make similar observations about a few of the book's other inclusions and omissions.
Despite my disappointment over what I thought the book could have been, I can recommend Modern Heroes of the Church as a worthwhile read. It will reacquaint you with old friends about whom you'd like to learn more and introduce you to some new friends with whom you'll want to keep company for years to come.
Barry Michaels writes from Blairsville, Pennsylvania.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Barry Michaels ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:by JOE CULLEN
Crucifix Banned
Although it applies to a single classroom in only one school, the ruling “has set off a storm of debate and recrimination in Italy,” the Post said.
“I am speechless,” Cardinal Ersilio Tonini said. “The majority of the Italian people [are] offended by this verdict.”
“This is an outrageous decision,” said Labor Minister Roberto Maroni, commenting on behalf of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government. The justice ministry is ordering an inquiry into the legality of the judge's decision.
Oct. 16, 1978
The visit had special meaning for the O'Donnells.
“We were [in St. Peter's Square] the night the Pope was elected,” said Cathy O'Donnell about the evening of Oct. 16, 1978.
Timothy O'Donnell was a doctoral student in theology at Rome's Angelicum University at the time, and the recent Star article included a photo of the O'Donnells being received in audience by the vigorous John Paul during the first months of his papacy.
New Dean
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, Oct. 17 — Australian Salesian Father Francis Moloney, a well-known Bible scholar and author, has been named dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies, the university announced. He will serve in the post through the 2004-05 academic year.
Father Moloney, 63, has taught New Testament studies at the university since 1999. He is a long-serving member of the Vatican's International Theological Commission, and in 2001 he was the first non-American ever to be elected president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America.
He replaces Msgr. Stephen Happel, who died suddenly Oct. 4.
Student Leader
NATIONAL CATHOLIC STUDENT CONFERENCE, Oct. 22 — The coalition's executive board announced it has chosen Kimanh Nguyen, a junior at the University of Southern California, as its new chairman.
Nguyen is an active member of the Catholic community at her university, occasionally serving as lector at Mass.
The coalition, founded in 1982, works to represent the needs of students to campus ministry organizations and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Hardship Pregnancy
CHRONICLE.COM, Oct. 24 — Tara Brady has settled a lawsuit in which she accused Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., of dismissing her from its basketball team and rescinding her scholarship because she became pregnant.
Sacred Heart admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to include in student manuals an explanation of the “hardship waiver” that allows students to retain their scholarships despite a number of circumstances, including pregnancy.
Even though the university agreed to reinstate the scholarship before the suit was filed, Brady was not welcomed back to the basketball squad and she transferred to another school.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Family Matters DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:BY PHIL LENAHAN
Most Precious Gift? Your Time
Q My wife and I are trying to get on a budget for the first time in our lives. Unfortunately, we've chosen the holiday shopping season to do it. Many of our family members will expect gift exchanges to all other members and we just aren't in a position to afford that this year. Still, it's important to us to create family memories. How far should we tighten our belts?
A Maybe you should have waited until the new year to start your budget! Seriously, 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 of these families will succumb to this pressure and find their credit-card balances ballooning because of it.
Often these gifts individually amount to $10-$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. It's important to share in
a spirit of generosity during the Christmas season. It's just I think we need to re-examine what it means to be truly generous.
I've counseled many families to reconsider what they choose to give at Christmas. Rather than a $25 trinket, what about something that will be treasured because of the personal touch involved? That might be a homemade Christmas card or a gift of time (maybe in the form of babysitting for a new set of parents).
Be creative. It's so easy to fall into the trap of our consumer society that we fail to give gifts with greater meaning.
One of the things I enjoy when I give a seminar is the interaction between the 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 the gift-giving.”
We all get a laugh out of the discussion, but the point gets made that 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 be the moments we spend reflecting on the awesome wonder and joy of the Incarnation. Certainly the sharing of gifts plays a role as we share with those we love. Yet many of our most enjoyable times as a family occur because we're spending time with one another, not because we're spending money on one another.
So work to keep the real meaning of the season in perspective and you and your family will truly have a blessed and merry Christmas.
God love you!
Phil Lenahan is director of finance at Catholic Answers in El Cajon, California.
Reach Family Matters at familymatters@ncregister.com
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: IT'S TRUST BY A LANDSLIDE DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:Facts of Life
The Josephson Institute of Ethics polled 619 people in late August. The question: What would you most like other people to think and say about you? The responses:
You're trustworthy. (252 votes) 41% You're caring. (151) 24% You're responsible. (60) 10% You're respectful. (56) 9% You're a good citizen. (42) 7% You're fair. (35) 6% None of the above. (23) 4%
Source: CharacterCounts.org Register Illustration by Tim Rauch
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: When Parents Cry the Bitterest of Tears DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:Michelangelo's famous sculpture “The Pieta” has special meaning to Sally Westfall.
A holy card depicting the masterpiece, which shows a mournful Blessed Mother holding her deceased son across her lap, still hangs on the bulletin board in her son's room, two-and-a-half years after his death.
Nathan Westfall had just been confirmed and, at 16, was looking forward to a drivers license and a first job. He was starting to think about choosing a college. About a month after his confirmation, Nathan died in his sleep of an epileptic seizure, an affliction he had borne for several years. In the weeks before his death, he had been studying “The Pieta” at school. One morning just before he died, he told his mother he had fallen asleep looking at the holy card she had given him.
“I knew he wanted me to know that it was important to him,” Sally says. “In fact, it had been significant and he had obviously been thinking about it.”
A year after Nathan's death, Father Mark Innocenti, the pastor of her parish, Our Lady of Lourdes in Little Falls, Minn., told her it was striking for a teenager to be drawn to that picture, but it was an image meant for her.
“He said to me, 'Mary is inviting you to approach her because she went through the same thing, and you can seek her comfort because she is your Mother,’” Sally recalls. “It was the beginning of my devotion to Mary. I had never learned to say the rosary, because I didn't grow up Catholic. Now it's an important part of my life.”
In the time since Nathan passed away, both Sally and her husband, Don, have grown deeper in their faith and more appreciative of the little things in life. They give more than they used to and are more involved in the life of their church. Don has even applied for the diaconate program through the diocese of St. Cloud, Minn. Both have also observed that they more readily face things that used to frighten them, such as flying, terminal illness and even death.
“I don't feel like the other side is that far away anymore,” Sally says. “It feels like we're all part of God's Kingdom and some of us are here and some of us are there. I feel differently about heaven and earth — they're not that far apart.”
Don says he has grown stronger in the faith and less concerned about things in life.
“You reassess all of that, of course,” he says. “We're on a journey to God, and this life is very temporary. But the communion of the Church is so much more real.”
Close at Heart
The Westfalls have both had a strong sense of Nathan's presence at times, but Sally feels closest to Nathan at Mass, because he is with God, and God is in the Eucharist, she says.
“What a beautiful way to remember him,” says Ann Peters Miller, a Catholic therapist who works with Catholic Social Services in Lincoln, Neb. “When we take the Eucharist, we are in union with Christ, in communion with all the saints.”
Miller describes how the sacraments and other elements of the Catholic faith can help people heal during the grieving process.
“When we go through grief, we often feel as if God has abandoned us, and often the person turns away from God,” she says. “But that's exactly the time when we need to dig in even deeper — go to Mass more, read Scripture more, pray more, go to confession. Receive the grace that is available to us in the sacraments”
In his encyclical The Christian Meaning on Suffering, Pope John Paul II discusses the human tendency to ask, “Why?” But there is often no answer, Miller says.
“The Pope recognizes the human condition and that it is so normal for us to wonder why,” she says. “He talks about uniting our sufferings with Christ on the cross. There is nothing that is missing from Christ's suffering, but we can enter into that.”
Father Innocenti echoes those same feelings. “When we can't make sense of suffering, we need to look to Jesus on the cross,” he says. “There is no explanation for why a perfectly righteous person was crucified. We can also look to his sorrowful mother holding Jesus after he was taken down from the cross. Our Blessed Mother knows our pain and we can go to her for consolation with the loss of a loved one, especially a child. She suffered it in a real and powerful way.”
Guilt and Grief
Miller says the stages of grief are common, but there's something “unnatural” about losing a child. Many parents will be angry with God or have a sense of guilt for not being able to prevent the death. Others might wish God had taken their own life instead of the child's.
But everyone experiences grief in his or her own way, and spouses need to be patient with one another. One might be feeling better while the other is not. It's also difficult to continue parenting other children because a parent is going through his or her own process. A faith community is very important during this time because it can offer prayers, comfort and practical support.
“When you're grieving, even the simple task of making a meal can be difficult,” Miller says. “It's important to take care of yourself and let other people help you. Get into a grief group so you can share your story and also listen to other people's stories about how they dealt with it. You need to be able to cry in front of each other and show your pain. It also gives the other children permission to grieve.”
The Westfalls say they read many books on losing a child, but the psychological answers did not help as much as those that offered spiritual guidance.
“What was helpful to me was to get as close to God as I could, and to me that was the Mass and prayerful people,” Sally says. “That's where I go to find comfort.”
Miller says people eventually do accept that the loved one's death was supposed to be — but that is the end of the journey, not the beginning.
Barb Ernster writes fromFridley, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Barb Ernster ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Keep on Rockin' in the Pro-Life World DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:Anyone who attended the March for Life in Washington last January had to notice the large number of young people asserting their respect for life in all stages of its development. Many of these young right-to-life supporters are members of Rock for Life, an organization that has quickly become one of the loudest voices calling for the end of abortion.
The organization was founded in 1993 when Bryan Kemper set up a one-day concert called “Rock for Life” to raise money for a pregnancy help center and to raise awareness about the horrors of abortion. Rock for Life grew in size and, in 1998, became part of the youth outreach program of the American Life League, the nation's largest pro-life educational organization.
In the four years since, Rock for Life has expanded from 20 chapters to 127; most are in the United States but some are in Canada and Africa. The exact number of members isn't known, but in 2001 the group delivered more than 80,000 signatures of a “Pro-Life Youth Pledge” to a member of the U.S. Congress, according to former co-director Eric Whittington.
The group's mission is to educate young Americans — primarily of high-school age — about abortion, infanticide and euthanasia through music and ministry. Among its efforts, Rock for Life hosts concerts featuring pro-life bands, presents educational booths at concerts and festivals, produces pro-life compilation CDs, supports more than 100 Christian and secular bands in presenting a pro-life message, and provides literature to students and youth groups.
Its outreach efforts also include encouraging and participating in peaceful activism. Activities include distributing literature near high schools, holding prayer and worship services in front of abortion clinics, participating in national pro-life events and activities, and providing alternatives for girls with crisis pregnancies. According to its Web site, Rock for Life “is dedicated to this fight until abortion is abolished and a respect for the gift of life is restored.”
Some Catholic members of Rock for Life say their involvement has helped them grow in faith.
“It's given me more courage to stand up for my faith,” says Matt Sciba, a 23-year-old junior at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., who is co-director of a local chapter. “It's hard sometimes to do that if you're outnumbered. But I'm not afraid to stand up and be firm in my beliefs.”
Babies Change Everything
Sciba, from Plano, Texas, first learned about Rock for Life when he went to the March for Life in January 2001 and saw members of the group marching. “They wanted to tell people that it's okay to stand up for pro-life,” he says. Sciba was intrigued. Shortly after he formed a chapter near his north Texas home and later started the chapter at his college in Kansas.
The group sets up activities such as a guest speakers and benefits for a local crisis-pregnancy center. At one recent event, supporters collected a carload of baby items for the center. Sciba tries to encourage other young people to join the movement.
Jennifer Nelson, director of the Wayne County, Mich., chapter, joined Rock for Life in September 2001 and started the chapter in March of the following year. The 23-year-old senior at Wayne State University, who hails from Wyandotte, Mich., was “always pro-life” but didn't give the abortion issue much thought until she became a mother.
“When I had my baby everything changed; I got more involved in the pro-life movement,” Nelson says. “Most abortions happen to people our age, 15 to 25, and it's important that youths get involved because it's our generation” being affected. The Wayne County chapter, which has about 25 members, organizes events such as pro-life concerts. Nelson, who is Catholic, says the group prays for strength before and after every meeting.
Nelson, like Sciba, is confident Rock for Life efforts will contribute to bringing an end to legalized abortion.
Mushroom Effect
Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, considers Rock for Life a critical element of the pro-life cause.
“It's important not just for the American Life League but for the future of our country,” she says. “One of the things our youth outreach program pursues is the formation of leadership-type individuals who will carry this battle forward and hopefully live to see the end of this terrible scourge of abortion. They are the future of the pro-life movement.”
Brown says that by actively pursuing pro-life activities in their communities, the young people in the Rock for Life chapters are influencing many others. “It has a mushroom effect through their families and schools as well,” she says.
Rock for Life includes people of different religions, Brown says. She is encouraged by how many of the youths have become stronger in their Catholic faith and by how many have converted to the Catholic faith since getting involved in the organization.
“Young people are open to the truth,” Brown says, “and the fullness of truth is the Catholic faith.”
The American Life League has launched other efforts to draw young people into the pro-life movement. These include a publication aimed at young people called Reality Check and Crossroads, a program in which pro-life college students spend the summer walking across the country and praying in churches and outside abortion clinics. The walk starts in San Francisco on the feast of the Ascension and ends in Washington, D.C., with a Mass in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on the feast of the Assumption.
Brown says the growing involvement of young people in the pro-life movement is evident at the March for Life held in Washington every January.
“I've been at the march for the last 20 years, and it has steadily gotten younger and younger,” she says. “That's a tremendous inspiration to us.”
Bob Violino writes from Massapequa Park, New York.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Bob Violino ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 11/09/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 9-15, 2003 ----- BODY:Muscular Stem Cells
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL, Oct. 20 — A new University of Texas study indicates cells taken from a patient's own blood could one day be able to repair that person's damaged heart tissue.
While other researchers have shown stem cells derived from bone marrow and umbilical-cord blood can regenerate cardiac tissue, the new study demonstrates that adult stem cells circulating in blood can also repair a heart.
The research, which took place on mice, has been published online in the current issue of the journal Circulation.
Nigerian Nurses vs. Abortion
The National President of the Guild, Mrs. I.L. Amaseimogha, said at its 17th national conference held in Benin City recently that “the guild follows the doctrines of the Church strictly and condemns mercy killings or euthanasia ... We believe in preserving human life; the Catholic nurse never gets involved in criminal abortion.”
Abortion-Cancer Settlement
COALITION ON ABORTION/-BREAST CANCER, Oct. 21 — The first U.S. abortion-breast cancer lawsuit has been settled for an undisclosed amount, according to the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer.
The plaintiff in the case, filed in a Philadelphia County court, was a woman who when 17 years old had a second-trimester abortion in New Jersey without parental knowledge or consent.
Although she hasn't developed breast cancer, she sued her abortion provider, Charles Benjamin, for neglecting to warn her about the physical and emotional risks of abortion.
Karen Malec, the coalition's president, said, “This settlement will teach the medical establishment that it can no longer profit by keeping women in the dark about the breast cancer risk.”
Patricia Ireland Dismissed
Members of the YWCA's National Coordinating Board had first asked for her resignation, but Ireland declined.
Audrey Peeples, spokeswoman for the YWCA, said the organization and Ireland were committed to the same goals but that “the YWCA was really just not the best place for [Ireland's] platform.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Right to Truth, Right to Know DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:CENTER VALLEY, Pa. — When it came time for Susan and Joseph Lawruk of Middletown, Pa., to choose a college for their son, James, they considered several Catholic universities.
In the end they chose DeSales University because of its adherence to Church teaching. Not only did James' time at DeSales deepen his faith, but it strengthened the faith of his parents as well.
“James graduated having read over half of Pope John Paul II's encyclicals,” Susan Lawruk said. “His time at DeSales also led me to learn more about St. Francis de Sales and deepened my own devotion and prayer life.”
James graduated with a degree in computer science in May 2002. According to his mother, James was looking for a college where religion was important.
“He wanted to be able to express himself and be accepted,” Lawruk said. “I'd hate to have him go to a Catholic school where they were not teaching the proper tenets of the faith and have him be confused. I would rather have him attend a secular school.”
Thankfully, that wasn't a concern at DeSales.
“When I read what president Father Bernard O'Connor wrote in the school newsletter about the university being completely in accordance with Ex Corde Ecclesiae [the Pope's 1990 apostolic constitution on Catholic universities], I said, ‘Hurray!’ and later told the president how glad I was to see that.”
Ranked 54th among northern master's universities by U.S. News and World Report's 2004 Guide to America's Best Colleges, DeSales' (formerly known as Allentown College) approach to the mandatum stands in stark contrast to the majority of the nation's Catholic colleges. Whereas the mandatum is handled secretly at most other universities, DeSales' approach is transparent.
Allentown Bishop Edward Cullen, university president Father O'Connor and theology faculty Larry Chapp and Rodney Howsare all felt free to talk to the Register about the mandatum's importance to the university.
Their transparency is in itself unusual.
The Register is investigating Catholic colleges and universities featured in U.S. News & World Report's college guide, asking: Are parents allowed to know whether those who teach theology intend to teach in communion with the Church? Or has the opposite happened — is the canon-law mandatum being used to protect dissenters?
During his meeting with U.S. cardinals last year, the Holy Father said parents “must know that bishops and priests are totally committed to the fullness of Catholic truth on matters of sexual morality, a truth as essential to the renewal of the priesthood and the episcopate as it is to the renewal of marriage and family life.”
Canon law requires university theologians to have mandatums. Canon 812 reads: “It is necessary that those who teach theological disciplines in any institute of higher studies have a mandatum from the competent ecclesiastical authority.”
Yet most universities the Register has contacted in this investigation refuse to discuss their mandatum policies.
“The diocese requested that we as individual professors apply for the mandatum,” explained theology chair Chapp. “The process started in the fall of 2001 and was completed by the end of the summer in 2002. We have all received the mandate from the bishop.”
‘Catholic theology is what we teach here. The mandatum would be mentioned as part of the hiring process. We're clear from top to bottom.’
“The theology faculty at DeSales were seeking a kind of recognition even before it was absolutely necessary,” Bishop Cullen said. “I received a letter from the faculty along with an endorsement from Larry Chapp and the president seeking the mandatum. If every bishop had that, I think they would find the faithful of their diocese much happier. Parents want to send their children to an orthodox school and have a right to.”
Not only have all the theology faculty received the mandatum, but the faculty and administration also are proud of that fact and willing to speak about it publicly.
“We market ourselves as the Catholic university for the LeHigh Valley,” Father O'Connor explained. “We're ‘out of the heart of the Church’ and proud of it.”
“In the future there will be two types of Catholic colleges,” Father O'Connor said. “There will be the purely secular — which now includes many of the schools that had a religious founding — and there will be those that are clearly religious. We want to be part of the clearly, purely religious institutions … not presenting the secular story but an explicitly Catholic story.”
Father O'Connor isn't afraid to tell the public that the school's theologians have the mandatum.
“I wrote in an editorial in a secular newspaper that Ex Corde Ecclesiae was brilliant,” Father O'Connor said. “It makes perfect sense to keep these Catholic schools authentically Catholic.”
“There is a sizable group of parents that do care” about the mandatum, Father O'Connor said. “More than ever, there is a sizable group of young people that know what they are looking for and want the real thing.”
Chapp also said he would have no qualms about telling them he has the mandatum.
“The spirit of the canon is involved. This isn't the messianic secret here,” Chapp said. “There is supposed to be a public witness. Parents should be able to know what the product is that they are buying for their kid. It is utterly deceptive for a Catholic university to advertise itself as Catholic only to have students show up to lose their faith.”
Likewise, Bishop Cullen said he is happy to tell parents about the mandatum.
“They have a right to know,” he said. “I might not go into particular people, but the expectation is that everyone on the theology faculty should have the mandatum. If they do not, that's what I would say, and that would be a matter for the president to deal with.”
Theology junior Eric Lipscomb of Budd Lake, N.J., said he appreciates the fidelity to Church teaching found at DeSales. Lipscomb originally examined the Catholic University of America and King's College but eventually chose DeSales because it offered a theology program as opposed to a comparative religion program.
“The teachers are not trying to teach dualism or Buddhism,” Lipscomb said. “You get an understanding of the essential teachings of the Church.”
Lipscomb said his three years at DeSales have helped him to discern a possible religious vocation. After graduation, he hopes to pursue a vocation with the Capuchin Friars.
Right to Know
According to canon law, fidelity to the Church is something that is the right of any lay Catholic.
Canonist Pete Vere said canon 217 is very specific with regard to the rights of lay Catholics concerning a Catholic education. It states that Christ's faithful “have the right to a Christian education, which genuinely teaches them to strive for the maturity of the human person and at the same time to know and live the mystery of salvation.”
“Thus the right to an orthodoxy within one's Catholic education is a universal right in the code,” Vere said. “It applies to all of Christ's faithful, whether lay, religious or clergy. And it applies at every level of education, whether primary, secondary, post-secondary or even Sunday CCD. Dissent within our Catholic faculties, if brought into the classroom, deprives the faithful of their right to a Catholic education.”
In November 2001, Archbishop Daniel Pilarcyzk, chair of the committee that drafted the U.S. implementation of the mandatum, told a meeting of U.S. bishops that the mandatum “has no teeth.”
“This is not about hiring and firing,” Archbishop Pilarcyzk said.
Truth in Advertising
Father O'Connor sees it differently. “Catholic theology is what we teach here,” he said. “The mandatum would be mentioned as part of the hiring process. We're clear from top to bottom — in our mission statement and our board — what we are looking for. Unless the candidate is of a similar type of view of life, he or she wouldn't fit in very well.”
Theology chair Chapp agreed.
“As the chair, I have a right to know who has the mandatum,” Chapp said. “I don't want anyone teaching here who has a problem with it.”
Despite the common objection of most Catholic colleges, faculty at DeSales do not find the mandatum an infringement upon academic freedom.
“There is no such thing as pure academic freedom,” said Chapp, dismissing the idea that there is a dichotomy between faith and freedom. “The Catholic faith enlivens truth, it does not suppress it. The faith liberates us because it is true. It makes us more free, not less. As soon as an academic liberates himself from the faith, he simply becomes a slave to the culture.”
“It seems like a no-brainer,” said theology faculty member Howsare, an Episcopal convert to the faith. “If I didn't want to teach Catholic theology, I would be a Methodist. It just makes sense.”
“No matter what perspective you come from, you are influenced by some worldview,” Howsare continued. “It's a strange notion of freedom that says that the only threat to academic freedom is the Church's notion of freedom.”
Father O'Connor also sees the mandatum as truth in advertising.
“You can't legitimately use the word Catholic,” he said, “unless you have something similar to what we have here.”
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: DeSales Is Proud Of Mandatum ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Anglican Unrest Follows New Bishop DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:DURHAM, N.H. — On Nov. 2, the Episcopal Church in the United States consecrated Gene Robinson as its first openly homosexual bishop.
While the event could destroy any hope for formal Anglican-Catholic unity in the near future, some believe it will also serve to drive many Anglicans “home to Rome.”
How likely is an Episcopal schism? What will the effects on the Catholic Church be?
To investigate these questions, the Register talked to Episcopalians, former Episcopalian ministers and Cardinal Walter Kasper in Rome.
Some say Robinson's consecration threatens to permanently sever the 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church and the 77 million-member worldwide Anglican Communion to which it belongs.
Robinson, a 56-year-old divorced father of two, has been living openly with a male partner for the past 14 years. In June, the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire elected him bishop.
At a general convention in August, the Episcopal Church consented to Robinson's election. The convention also allowed same-sex blessing rites, a kind of liturgy for homosexual unions.
After the convention, conservative Episcopalians as well as Anglican leaders across Africa and Asia — where two-thirds of Anglicans live — vehemently warned that Robinson's consecration would force schism.
At Robinson's Nov. 2 consecration ceremony, three people came forward to object formally, the Associated Press reported.
David Bena, assistant bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany, N.Y., objected that Robinson's “chosen lifestyle is incompatible with Scripture and the teaching of this church.” Bishop Bena spoke on behalf of 36 bishops in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada.
The Rev. Earle Fox from the Pittsburgh Diocese was another objector. But when Rev. Fox cited sexual practices engaged in by homosexuals, the Associated Press reported, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, leader of the Episcopal Church, interrupted, saying “please spare us the details and come to the substance.”
After the objectors spoke, Robinson's consecration was completed to the applause of 4,000 worshippers in attendance at the ceremony, which was held in the University of New Hampshire sports arena.
The American Anglican Council, a conservative Episcopalian group, coordinated Bena's objection, said the group's president and chief executive officer, Rev. David Anderson. The council represents approximately 10% to 20% of Episcopalians, Anderson estimated.
“The teaching of the Roman Catholic Church is the same as Anglican teaching on homosexuality,” Rev. Anderson said.
He described Anglicans as teaching that “homosexuals are loved by God and deserving of ministry and love by the church, but homosexual behavior is wrong.”
Robinson supporter Rev. William Tully, rector of St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in New York City, has known Robinson since seminary, he said.
He stressed that the Robinsons' divorce was amicable and said the couple had a liturgical ceremony to dissolve their vows. Tully called the election of Robinson “prophetic.”
“We realize that not everybody will accept it… but a majority in the [Episcopal] Church feel that it's an idea whose time has come,” he said.
American Anglican Council president Rev. Anderson said “no matter how capable [Robinson] is, he can never overcome the fact that the way he is ordering his life is in defiance of God's will.”
Rowan Williams, who as archbishop of Canterbury serves as senior primate for the entire Anglican Communion, expressed concern in a Nov. 3 statement.
“The divisions that are arising are a matter of deep regret; they will be all too visible in the fact that it will not be possible for Gene Robinson's ministry as a bishop to be accepted in every province in the communion,” he wrote.
Benjamin Nzimbi, primate of the Anglican Province of Kenya, reacted to Robinson's consecration more strongly, saying, “The devil has clearly entered the church. God cannot be mocked,” Reuters reported.
Father George Rutler, pastor of the Church of Our Savior in New York City and a former Episcopal minister, surmises that “the whole ecumenical dialogue [with Anglicanism] is over. … These people have shown total contempt of the faith.”
American Anglican Council president Rev. Anderson agreed, saying, “We do really wonder how the existing [Anglican-Catholic ecumenical dialogue] can go forward with Griswold as leading Anglican on that conversation … We don't see how that can continue.”
Indeed, both Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, have warned that Robinson's installment as bishop creates a grave hurdle to unity.
At an Oct. 4 meeting with Archbishop Williams in Rome, the Holy Father said “new and serious difficulties have arisen” between Catholics and Anglicans. “These difficulties are not all of a merely disciplinary nature,” he said. “Some extend to essential matters of faith and morals.”
Further evidence of high-level Vatican interest came through a letter from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, that sent the Catholic Church's “fraternal regards” to the American Anglican Council's “A Place to Stand” gathering in Dallas. The meeting was convened to organize opposition to Robinson's consecration and the approval of same-sex “blessings.”
“The significance of your meeting is sensed far beyond [Dallas], and even in this city [Rome] from which St. Augustine of Canterbury was sent to confirm and strengthen the preaching of Christ's Gospel in England,” said the letter as released by the American Anglican Council.
Speaking to the Register on Nov. 5, Cardinal Kasper said, “We have to wait for what will happen in the Anglican Communion, but there is no doubt that the problem can be church-dividing.”
One Anglican group still holds out hope for future unity, however.
Representatives of the conservative Anglican group Forward in Faith North America have traveled to Rome twice in the past month for conversations with Vatican officials, according to the group's director Rev. Dr. David Moyer. Rev. Moyer said the conversations were on behalf of Forward in Faith International.
Forward in Faith International represents 12,000 to 15,000 Anglicans plus an additional 200,000 members of the Traditional Anglican Communion, a break-away church, Moyer said. Forward in Faith North America represents approximately 25,000
Episcopalians, he said.
Rev. Moyer would not name the people involved in the conversations “out of respect for both sides,” he said, although he did state that representatives of Forward in Faith Australia were involved as well.
Rev. Moyer would not confirm the involvement of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. In his interview with the Register, Cardinal Kasper specifically denied Rome's participation in such talks.
“We are seeking to be in communion with the Roman Catholic Church … that's what we long for,” Rev. Moyer said. But Forward in Faith does not want “total uniformity of doctrine and discipline,” he added.
“There are many uniate churches,” such as the Ukrainian Catholic Church and the Serbian Catholic Church, Rev. Moyer noted. “They have their own tradition, their own liturgical expression of faith, their own bishops and their own governing authority,” he said.
Forward in Faith North America hopes “that a grouping of orthodox Anglicans would be looked upon by Rome in the same way” as the uniate churches, he said.
But “the first step is the [Vatican's] recognition of the legitimacy of orthodox Anglicans” as “the people who are really true to the Anglican heritage rather than the Episcopal Church,” he said.
Cardinal Kasper said the idea of an Anglican rite was possible “in principle” but could not be considered so long as fundamental doctrinal issues remain unresolved. Moreover, the cardinal said, such a rite could be established only if “a whole province or a diocese comes to the Catholic Church.”
Two weeks prior to Robinson's consecration, the primates of the Anglican Communion met in London to discuss the crisis and issued a statement requesting that the Episcopal Church “make adequate provision for episcopal oversight of dissenting minorities … in consultation with the archbishop of Canterbury on behalf of the primates.”
The American Anglican Council has already prepared an application for congregations requesting adequate episcopal oversight, meaning that conservative parishes could come under the jurisdiction of conservative bishops.
The American Anglican Council has received between 75 and 100 applications from U.S. parishes, Rev. Anderson said. They expect to receive many more, he added.
When the Anglican primates met, they also asked Williams to establish a commission to analyze the crisis and report its results within 12 months.
Archbishop Williams established the commission in late October with a mandate to report “on the canonical understandings of … impaired and broken communion” and on how provinces that are not in full communion with each other can still relate to the Anglican Communion as a whole.
Events appear to be outpacing the commission, however.
On Nov. 3, Peter Akinola, Anglican primate of Nigeria, issued a statement declaring that “a state of impaired communion now exists both within a significant part of ECUSA [Episcopal Church USA] and between ECUSA and most of the provinces within the communion.”
Mark Dyer, a member of the commission, explained that “impaired communion” means that if an Episcopal minister who supported Robinson went to Nigeria, he or she could “receive communion at the altar, but there's no way you'd be allowed to celebrate.”
In response to Robinson's consecration, Primate Nzimbi of Kenya announced that his province is cutting all ties with the Episcopal Church, according to Reuters.
Also in response to Robinson's consecration, a spokesman for the Anglican Province of Uganda told the Associated Press that the province would break communion with the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire and would refuse to recognize Robinson as a bishop, The New York Times reported.
Broken communion is “equivalent to excommunication in the Roman Catholic Church,” Dyer said.
Rev. Bill Atwood, general secretary of the Ekklesia Society, a conservative Anglican group whose members include 17 Anglican primates and another 160 Anglican bishops, mainly of the Global South, agreed that the Global South primates will wait for the primates' commission to act before they do anything “final” and “irrevocable.”
Nonetheless, Atwood said he was talking to primates who were drafting statements with language “even stronger than impaired [communion].”
Williams' predecessor as archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, said Nov. 6 that Robinson's consecration had caused “incalculable” damage to Anglicans.
“I can only share the principled distress of the primates of the Global South and others who have expressed themselves so strongly in recent days,” Archbishop Carey wrote in a letter published by The Times of London. “They are surely right to do so. The damage done to ecumenical relations, interfaith dialogue and the mission of the worldwide church is incalculable.”
Father Rutler predicted that what would happen to the Anglican Communion eventually is “what happens inevitably in all Protestant sects — fragmentation, schisms upon schisms.”
“All the Catholic Church can do now,” Father Rutler said, “is say ‘renounce the errors of the past 500 years and become Catholic.’”
Katharine Smith Santos writes from Garden City, New York.
(CNS contributed to this story.)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Katharine Smith Santos ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Anglican and Episcopalian Unrest Follows Bishop's Consecration DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — As president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, Cardinal Walter Kasper is the Vatican's point man in discussions with leaders of the Anglican Communion.
Cardinal Kasper spoke Nov. 5 with Register correspondent Edward Pentin regarding the consequences of the consecration of openly homosexual Gene Robinson as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire.
Do you think there is a possibility now of any real unity within the Anglican Church?
I can only repeat what we have told the new archbishop of Canterbury when he was here a few weeks ago — that in Anglican affairs we will not directly interfere.
But in the meantime, the ecumenical network is so tied that decisions they make touch also our relations and our position and the whole question of homosexuality is clear. It's in the Catechism of the Catholic Church*, and we referred to it and we said to him we would be very sad if the Anglican Communion would break away from a common tradition because up to now we had a common position in this matter.
Now we have to wait for what will happen in the Anglican Communion, but there is no doubt that the problem can be church-dividing. The archbishop understood very well our position, and he was very clear in saying that in this ecumenical situation, no church can take one-sided positions; the churches are too close together.
Some have been suggesting that there is a possibility of having an Anglican rite similar to the Eastern rite. Is that being considered?
It's not directly considered at this moment that such a thing is possible. As such, an Anglican rite implies that there are no contradictions, and in matters of faith and morals homosexuality could be such a point of contradiction.
There can be an Anglican rite but this would presuppose that a whole province or a diocese comes to the Catholic Church. Up to now it has been single persons who joined the Catholic Church.
----- EXCERPT: Cardinal Kasper: Homosexual Anglican Bishop Is 'Church-Dividing' ----- EXTENDED BODY: German Archbishop Walter Kasper ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Prime Time Fiasco: ABC Takes on 'Jesus, Mary and Da Vinci' DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:Prior to its Nov. 3 airing, the ABC news special “Jesus, Mary and Da Vinci” was described in The New York Times as “amusingly audacious and profoundly irritating.” In retrospect, the description was dead-on.
Trading in on the success of The Da Vinci Code, a novel that has sold more than 3.5 million copies since April, the network had promoted its show as a “respectful” and exhaustive examination of whether or not Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. This premise is central to the plot of the novel, written by Dan Brown, which is a pretentious mixture of romance novel, murder mystery, conspiracy theory and “religious exposé.”
Between and during travels to Italy, Scotland, France and parts of the Holy Land, reporter Elizabeth Vargas interviewed Brown along with feminist writers Elaine Pagels (author of The Gnostic Gospels), Karen King (The Gospel of Mary of Magdala), Margaret Starbird (The Goddess in the Gospels) and Henry Lincoln
Oh, and Vargas interviewed one Catholic, too: Father Richard McBrien, a Notre Dame theology professor who appeared unwilling to uphold the Church's belief that Jesus was celibate and never married. He did, however, insist that Jesus was “a great religious leader … who broke through the barriers of cultural bias.”
For his part, Da Vinci Code author Brown was treated as though he were both historian and scholar. Never mind that he is neither. He offered clichés (“Our history books have been written by the winners”) and falsehoods (Leonardo Da Vinci lived in “an age when science was synonymous with heresy”) without eliciting so much as a blink from Vargas. In over her head, the reporter attempted to appear studiously intent while entertaining theories that no reputable scholar would take seriously.
In a Beliefnet.com interview, Vargas defended the fairness and balance of her investigation, stating: “We spoke with a lot of scholars. [But] we couldn't have 10 people saying the same thing; we had to pick one voice for each point of view.”
So why did the show feature at least six feminist scholars but no Catholic scholars who know, understand and uphold orthodox Catholic teaching?
Unquestioned Audacity
This glaring lack was doubly irritating in light of The Da Vinci Code's unrelenting polemics against the Catholic faith, including ridiculous accusations that “the Church burned at the stake an astounding 5 million women” in the medieval era and that no one believed Jesus was divine until “Constantine turned [him] into a deity” in 325 A.D.
The novel never acknowledges the existence of Protestants or the Eastern Orthodox — only of the Catholic Church, often referred to as “the Vatican.”
These issues were never raised in the ABC program, even though Brown repeatedly made comments that begged for strong follow-up questions.
His comment about Leonardo Da Vinci and heresy was just one of many examples.
The Renaissance, in fact, was a time of notable scientific advancement, much of it directly encouraged and financed by the Catholic Church. Brown's remark even flies in the face of his novel's (completely incorrect) assertion that the famed artist accepted “hundreds of lucrative Vatican commissions.”
Consistency was in as short supply as clarifying information. In one section Brown explained how an art professor showed him that Da Vinci's painting The Last Supper depicts Mary Magdalene, not John, seated at the right hand of Christ. Later, when asked by Vargas why art historians and critics don't see Mary in the painting, Brown responded, “We see what we've been told we see.”
Are we to accept without question that this applies to trained scholars and historians but not to the brash writer of pulp fiction? Brown (whose wife is an art historian) also expressed puzzlement about why there is no chalice in The Last Supper, even though the masterpiece depicts the moment of Judas's betrayal of Christ as described in John's Gospel (John 13:21).
As if to cover her professional integrity, Vargas regularly intoned that “there is no evidence” for all of these claims and admitted there is no proof that Jesus and Mary were married, that Mary fled to France, that her child by Jesus married into the Merovingian dynasty or that these “secrets” have been protected for centuries by an underground society, the Priory of Sion.
A Novel Approach
Part of the special's bent was revealed when the reporter suggested that the topic is important for what it says about the possibility of a female priesthood.
Reinforcing that remark, King and Starbird longed for the day when women will be truly liberat- ed, while Father McBrien and Griffith-Jones praised the goodness of sex and condemned the Church's “unhealthy attitude” about sexuality.
Not surprisingly, there was no explanation of Church teachings on Jesus as divine bridegroom, the meaning of celibacy or the high regard the Catholic faith has for Mary Magdalene, whom it considers “the apostle to the apostles.”
Evangelicals Bock and Bingham offered intelligent, solid comments and Eco provided a moment of levity when he compared the legend of the Holy Grail to stories of Pinocchio and Little Red Riding Hood. Beyond that, enlightening points were hard to come by.
Wrapping up the assignment, Vargas commented that “we did learn a lot more about a man who changed history and a woman who was very important to him.” On the contrary, viewers learned only about the unsubstantiated opinions and sensationalistic beliefs of a novelist and his literary mentors.
In the final analysis, “Jesus, Mary and Da Vinci” was a shallow and tendentious exercise, a pseudo-intellectual shot in the dark that offered no insight into the person of Jesus, his life or the Gospels. In short, the show proved audacious and irritating — but there was nothing amusing or profound about it.
Carl Olson, editor of Envoy magazine, writes from Eugene, Oregon.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carl E. Olson ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: The Good News on the Network News DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:In an interview on Fox radio, ABC reporter Elizabeth Vargas — host of the Nov. 3 news special “Jesus, Mary and Da Vinci” — remarked, “I think it is rare for network television to be discussing Jesus and the Bible in depth, and I think it's great to provide this kind of discussion and debate. I don't think that could ever be a bad thing.”
It's debatable that Vargas' special was “in depth,” but she is correct: Major networks rarely examine the roots and history of Christianity.
Then again, maybe we're better off that way: When they do turn their attention to Christ and Christianity, the big broadcast-news organizations almost always slant their coverage toward studied skepticism. Usually they tip their hand by lining up a familiar cast of “experts” as their primary sources.
In June 2000, ABC anchorman Peter Jennings presented “The Search for Jesus” (abcnews.go.com/ onair/jesus). The show was heavily criticized by many Catholics and evangelical Protestants for its heavy reliance on members of the Jesus Seminar, the group of scholars who famously set out to determine the historical accuracy of Christ's words in the Gospels by taking a vote. The seminar's conclusion: The Gospel accounts are fine works of fiction.
Nor is the Public Broadcasting Service above the proclivity for promoting the doubters' side of the story. In 1998, PBS aired a four-hour series titled “From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians”; it was augmented by an extensive Web site, complete with study guides (www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion). The radical ideas of Jesus Seminar participant John Dominic Crossan — a former Catholic priest best known for dismissing the Resurrection with the claim that Jesus’ body was eaten by wild dogs — and Elaine Pagels, feminist author of The Gnostic Gospels, were on full display, alongside the observations of other “progressive” scholars.
The Arts & Entertainment channel aired a four-part documentary series, “Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years,” in 1998; this was followed in 2000 by the second part, “Christianity: The Second Two Thousand Years.” Like the Jennings and PBS programs, A&E relied disproportionately on members of the Jesus Seminar as well as media darling Pagels.
There have been some signs of hope. In April, the History Channel aired a four-part series, “In the Footsteps of Jesus,” which examined the “lost youth” of Jesus, his ministry and his passion. This series was praised for being far more balanced than the ABC and PBS programs. Whether this ends up being the start of a trend in the right direction or an anomaly remains to be seen. Unlike the Gospel, the history of the network news organizations is a work in progress.
— Carl E. Olson
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carl E. Olson ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Bush Signs Ban; What's Next For Pro-Life? DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush signed, pro-lifers celebrated and the courts fought back.
On Nov. 5, Bush signed the Partial-Birth Abortion Act of 2003, declaring: “For years, a terrible form of violence has been directed against children who are inches from birth while the law looked the other way. Today, at last, the American people and our government have confronted the violence and come to the defense of the innocent child.”
After eight years of battle, an enthusiastic and emotional group of pro-life activists — which included New York Cardinal Edward Egan — gathered in the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington, D.C., for the signing of legislation similar to that which President Bill Clinton, Bush's immediate predecessor, twice vetoed.
The partial-birth abortion procedure, used only in the second half of pregnancy, is defined in the law as the partial delivery of a fetus from the womb “for the purpose of performing an overt act that the person knows will kill the partially delivered living fetus” and then performing that act, killing the partially delivered fetus instead of delivering it alive.
“Partial-birth abortion exposed what abortion actually is and took it out of the realm of rhetoric and arguments,” said Wendy Wright of the pro-family group Concerned Women for America, who was at the bill signing. “While pro-abortionists argue ‘right to choose,’ we simply describe the procedure and the potential harm to the mother. This is a lesson that can be applied to other battles for the sanctity of life.”
Not everyone was delighted by the bill signing.
“Today, we saw the real George Bush,” said Kate Michelman, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “If we could afford to, we would put that speech on television every day from now until the election … Any shred of doubt that this is the most anti-choice president this country has ever had has been convincingly erased.”
Bush had concluded his speech with these words: “The late Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey once said that when we look to the unborn child, the real issue is not when life begins but when love begins. This is the generous and merciful spirit of our country at its best. This spirit is reflected in the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, which I am now honored to sign into law. God bless.”
But not an hour passed after the bill's signing before a federal judge in Nebraska blocked the prohibition.
The suit was brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of Dr. LeRoy Carhart of Bellevue, Neb., and three other abortionists. Carhart's earlier fight against Nebraska's partial-birth abortion ban led to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2000 Stenberg v. Carhart decision overturning the state law.
As the hearing began, U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf said the federal legislation had “serious vagueness problems” and expressed concern that there was no exception for a mother's health.
“It seems to me that the law is highly suspect, if not a per se violation of the Constitution,” the judge said.
“Partly born, premature infants may continue to die at the point of seven-inch scissors because of the federal judge's order,” said Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee.
At the bill's signing, the president had pledged his support in any court struggle in support of the ban.
Judges in California and New York soon followed the Nebraska court's lead.
Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said Nov. 9, “With these three temporary restraining orders, the majority of abortion providers in the nation can continue to provide safe abortion care to their patients without fear of prosecution.”
Supporters of the partial-birth-abortion ban were disappointed but not shocked by the judicial action.
“I'm not surprised by the quick moves to the courts, nor by the quick decisions by the judges,” said Richard Garnett, a professor at the University of Notre Dame law school. “Nor am I surprised by the fact that the judges [seemed to] key in on the ‘health of the mother’ issue. As I understand it — for better or worse — that is the par-tial-birth abortion ban's greatest vulnerability, under current law. That said, it is not entirely clear to me that, in Stenberg, the five-justice majority set down the ‘health’ exception as an absolute requirement for any partial-birth-abortion ban. I think [for example] that Justice [Sandra Day] O'Connor could — if she wanted to — vote to uphold the present law, notwithstanding her vote in Stenberg.”
“It's no surprise that abortion advocates rushed to their favorite turf — the courts,” said Cathleen Ruse, pro-life spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. (Ruse is the new married name of Register columnist Cathleen Cleaver.) “The fact that the district court in Nebraska held a hearing on the question of enjoining the law before it was made law gives some indication of the uphill battle we always face with pro-life laws in federal courts today.”
She said the partial-birth abortion fight could be scored as a pro-life victory regardless of what the courts ultimately decide.
“The effort to ban partial-birth abortion has achieved victories no court can take away,” she said. “It has moved opinion in this country away from abortion as Americans were faced with the brutal reality of abortion and did not like what they saw. It has helped to educate the American people about how radical Roe v. Wade really is. And it is a clear expression of the desire of the people — through their elected representatives — to do what is in their power to end this barbaric practice.”
Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, was also at the signing.
The pro-life committee and the Knights of Columbus published full-page ads in USA Today and Roll Call newspapers Nov. 5 thanking Bush and “members of Congress on both sides of the aisle” for approving the ban. “[T]oday our nation is one step closer to a culture of life,” the ads said.
“We believe that this law will ultimately be reviewed by the Supreme Court, where five justices in 2000 said Roe v. Wade guarantees the right to perform partial-birth abortions at will,” the National Right to Life Committee's Johnson said. “We can only hope that by the time this law reaches the Supreme Court, there will be at least a one-vote shift away from that extreme and inhumane position.”
Though the partial-birth-abortion battle is not over, pro-lifers are working on other battles simultaneously — re-engerized by Congress's first successful limitation on an abortion procedure.
Kathryn Jean Lopez is the editor of National Review Online.
(Catholic News Service contributed to this story.)
----- EXCERPT:Federal Law Targets Partial-Birth Abortion ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kathryn Jean Lopez ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: How to Get to Heaven and What to Expect DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:Anthony DeStefano has never been to heaven, but he's written a travel guide for those who hope to get there.
Executive director of Priests for Life, DeStefano embarked on a 10-city tour at the end of October to promote his new book, A Travel Guide to Heaven.
DeStefano spoke with Register staff writer Tim Drake from Long Island, N.Y., about the book.
Tell me about your family growing up.
I'm the oldest of five children. There are four boys and one girl. I've lived in New York all my life. We grew up in Brooklyn and later moved to Staten Island, N.Y. When I got married I moved to Long Island. My father was an accountant and my mother was a homemaker.
Have you always been Catholic?
Yes, but my family wasn't particularly fervent or devout. My parents were down-to-earth, skeptical people with a lot of respect and loyalty for the Church. My father's mom died when he was 17 years old, and for a time he fell away. We weren't very good Catholics as far as taking the sacraments. We didn't always go to Mass.
As so often happens, one person in our family became more fervent and brought the rest of the family along. That was my sister Elisa. It took years, but now my dad is at the adoration chapel nearly every night. My sister and I both work for Priests for Life, and one of my brothers is in seminary at [St. Joseph's Seminary in] Dunwoodie, N.Y.
How did that happen?
I made my first Communion and confirmation at Holy Ghost Parish, but we moved to Staten Island and attended St. Charles when I was 16. Three years later my sister said to me, “Come on. You have to come over here to hear this young priest. He's brilliant.” She dragged me to hear a Latin Mass at St. Charles.
When I got there, here was this priest, fresh out of seminary, who looked younger than I was. It was Father Frank Pavone. When he celebrated Mass he bowled me over with his homily. I knew I wanted to ask him all of the questions I had about the faith, and so I made an appointment to meet with him. I went through a laundry list of questions and he answered them one by one.
I understand that the idea for
I've always been aware of the disparity between the greatness of the teaching on heaven and the low level of enthusiasm for the subject. I always thought the greatness of the teaching wasn't being communicated as well as it could. Certain elements of the theology of heaven — those points that are most consoling and exciting — weren't being taught.
During Father Pavone's first year as a priest he gave an incredible homily on heaven. It was only 10-15 minutes long, but in that homily he summed up the Church's teaching on heaven, emphasizing that heaven is going to be physical as well as spiritual and there are certain common-sense deductions anyone can make. Using a bit of imagination and a lot of theology, you can come up with a very exciting idea of the hereafter.
Father Pavone's homily was enough for me to catch the vision. I didn't do anything with it for 10 years. One year I had a really bad year — attending 15 funerals over the course of several months. During that time I had the opportunity to hear all kinds of homilies and eulogies. It was as if God was hitting me over the head with a hammer. I tried to write a straight book on heaven but couldn't get excited about it.
Later, while on vacation with my wife, Kimberly, I surprised her by taking her to the Beverly Hills Hotel for our fifth anniversary. When we got there, they had lost my reservation. The only room available was the presidential suite, and they gave us the room for the night.
The room was incredibly opulent with a Steinway piano, his and her bathrooms, a gigantic kitchen, a fireplace in every room and a terrace that extended the length of the hotel. While on the terrace I made a comment about this being “heaven on earth” and knew immediately that this would be the way I could write a book on heaven and make it exciting and accessible to a wide range of people. I ran into the room and wrote down the title and some chapter headings. I wrote the book in three months.
So what will heaven be like?
If the world we're living in now is real, the life we're going to have in heaven is not going to be less real than this. If anything, it will be more real. It's going to be physical as well as spiritual. It won't be just clouds and disembodied spirits floating around. We won't enter heaven as Casper the Ghost. We'll have bodies, but they will be different. Because it will be real we can make deductions. All the things from the world that we love now will be there — oceans, mountains, grass and sky. There is no reason to believe that God will get rid of these.
There will also be a city there. It won't be just a nature preserve. We won't be resting in peace. We'll be more active there, not less active. In heaven, there will be more life, not less life. All of the people from our families who make it will be there and we will be able to have physical relationships with them. We'll see them and hear their voices again. There's no reason to believe that there won't be animals and new creatures as well. God is the God of creation. He won't stop creating things just because our world comes to an end.
How do you know?
I'm not a New Age guru and this is not the Gospel according to Anthony. I would never write anything that was not founded 100% on Scripture and correct Christian theology. Anyone reading it will see the Catholic influence. I used the Bible and the Church Fathers, and that's where it all comes from. I used my God-given imagination and indulged in some speculation, but it was all common sense.
Every single idea in the book comes right out of Scripture or commonly accepted Christian theology.
Do you think there's been an increase in things spiritual since Sept. 11, 2001?
These questions are always going to be talked about because as long as people experience death in their families and there is a fear of death, it goes to the core of our experiences. It's harder to live in denial about these kinds of questions in a post-Sept. 11 world. I can look out the window and see that 3,000 people died in 10 seconds. When you witness tragedy on a massive scale it's harder not to ask yourself questions about death and the afterlife.
The problem is that you have unscrupulous groups and individuals who try to take advantage of that by writing books and producing television programs where they claim to talk to the dead. People are so hungry to talk to their dead relatives that they will believe in anything.
While doing the research for the book, what surprised you most about heaven?
What I found most exciting was all the research in Scripture and the Church Fathers that confirms the physical nature of heaven. When we experience the resurrection we are going to get our bodies back and God is going to make them perfect. We're not going to get amnesia in heaven. When I looked at the writings of Justin Martyr and Augustine and Aquinas, I found so much theological evidence for that.
What do you have planned next?
I'm not writing a travel guide to hell. I'm through with the afterlife until I have to experience it. Doubleday has asked me to write a book on prayer. My next book will be 10 Prayers that God Always Says Yes To!
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Sex Ed 'Safety' Program in Dioceses Raises More Concerns DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:BOSTON — The controversial Talking About Touching curriculum introduced in some U.S. dioceses as one component of a “safe-environment” initiative has raised fresh concerns.
In response to the sex-abuse scandal in the Church in the United States, the bishops adopted “The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.” When the Archdiocese of Boston mandated the use of the Talking About Touching curriculum for the 2003-2004 school year as part of its effort to satisfy the charter requirements, some parents objected, citing a link the curriculum's developers had with an organization that supported prostitution.
The developers of the curriculum, Seattle-based Committee for Children, was linked to Coyote, a “prostitutes’ rights” organization.
The shared history of Coyote (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics) and the Committee for Children of Seattle was posted on the Committee for Children Web site until recently. After Boston-area parents flooded the archdiocese with complaints, protesting the use of Talking About Touching in their schools, the history was deleted from the Web site.
But several parents already had downloaded the original history, which read, “1976: Seattle Coyote changes name to Judicial Advocates for Women … and identifies its mission: to educate the public about the realities of prostitution.”
By 1979, according to its own published history, Judicial Advocates for Women initiated a “curriculum review committee” to research child-abuse prevention, changing its name to the Committee for Children.
Jennifer James has served on the board of directors for the Committee for Children since its inception. She and close friend Margo St. James, founder of Coyote, have tried through the years to decriminalize prostitution.
According to St. James, Coyote organized the 1984 Hooker's Convention and drafted a bill of rights, the basis of the “World Whores Charter, drawn up by the International Committee for Prostitute's Rights in the European Parliament.” She credits James for the inspiration to decriminalize prostitution.
Charges alleging Committee for Children's link with the prostitution-rights group were dismissed by diocesan officials in Boston and in the Diocese of Orlando, Fla., where Talking About Touching also has been mandated.
Father Christopher Coyne, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston, told the Register the archdiocese thinks the program is within the bounds of Church teaching and is an excellent way to promote the protection of children.
Harry Purpur, superintendent for schools in the Orlando Diocese, insisted he'd done “due diligence” during his review of Talking About Touching.
No Moral Context
Talking About Touching is taught in more than 5,000 public schools nationwide and more than 20,000 schools globally, according to Joan Duffell, director of community education for Committee for Children. It costs a diocese anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000 for the initial year.
Samples from the controversial Talking About Touching program lessons for 5- to 7-year-old children include scenarios of a babysitter or a mother's boyfriend sexually propositioning children.
The graphic depictions and the lack of any moral context disturbed Father David Mullen enough to share them on Fox News Channel's “O'Reilly Factor” in October. When reached by the Register, Father Mullen, pastor of St. Brendan's parish in Bellingham, Mass., declined to discuss Talking About Touching, since he had agreed with the suggestion of Auxiliary Bishop Walter Edyvean that he not speak further with the media.
Earlier, Father Mullen had tried to persuade the archdiocese to discontinue the Talking About Touching program. He wrote to newly installed Archbishop Sean O'Malley Sept. 29 that he was “distressed” that the archbishop decided to impose the “evil” Talking About Touching program on parishes.
Several parents have insisted Talking About Touching violates the precepts set forth in the Pontifical Council for the Family's document “Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality,” where the latency period of childhood is to be protected.
The 1995 document states: “This period of tranquillity and serenity must never be disturbed by unnecessary information about sex.” The document also prohibits improper forms of inculcation, including dramatized representation, mime or role-playing that depicts genital or erotic matters; making drawings, charts or models, etc., of this nature; and seeking personal information about sexual questions or asking that family information be divulged.
David Vise of Franklin, Mass., a father of five, says sex education is the job of parents, not schools. He attended a weekend parent-training workshop given by Talking About Touching personnel.
“I recall from the video that parents are instructed to tell their children that ‘two people who love each other go into the bedroom and take off all their clothes and rub their private parts against each other,’” he said. “It does not even say a mommy and daddy or a husband and wife or, for that matter, two persons of the opposite sex, just ‘two people who love each other’ in such salacious and unnecessary detail.”
Archbishop's View
Vise approached Archbishop O'Malley with his concerns about Talking About Touching at a pro-life rally in October. The archbishop agreed that parents had legitimate concerns and said he had asked Auxiliary Bishop Richard Malone to review the curriculum.
Bishop Malone told the Register that “the concern of our parents must be honored.” But he noted that the “majority of parents seemed pleased” with Talking About Touching.
But Carol McKinley, who lobbies at the state House on behalf of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference for “opt-in” policies for sex education in public schools, sees irony in the situation.
“For public schools, the conference wants me to testify before the Senate committee in favor of parental rights — instituting opt-in rather than opt-out policies — but in our schools the material parents find most objectionable is mandated,” McKinley said.
Father Coyne noted that Boston parents do have the option to remove their children from Talking About Touching.
A few dioceses have understood the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” to give bishops room to develop their own programs. About half of U.S. dioceses have a working relationship with Virtus, a service provider that assists dioceses to meet the requirements of the National Catholic Risk Retention Group, a program designed to limit liability.
Virtus had adult-training programs (to manage sex-abuse risks) in place before the clergy-abuse scandal reached national attention. Because of the perceived need to have a school-based segment in order to meet charter guidelines for “safe environments,” Virtus is considering developing a school-based program for its clients. Such a program would be ready in February.
Mary Jo Anderson is based in Orlando, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mary Jo Anderson ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:What About the Next Terry Schiavo?
Gelertner wrote: “When we have condemned a criminal to death, it is remarkable how patient we are in extending his life. So long as there are legal paths to follow, we follow them, and the courts are apt to postpone the execution. Both aspects of the process speak well for us: that we are willing (however painful it may be for us — and it gets more painful every year) to execute murderers, and that we are in no hurry to, and will search on and on for a convincing reason not to.
“With the likes of Mrs. Schiavo, we are a lot less patient. The governor can grant a stay of execution when a condemned murderer's life is on the line. Mrs. Schiavo's stay required that the whole Florida Legislature mobilize for action. The frightening question is: What happens to the next Mrs. Schiavo?”
Two Catholics Vie for Louisiana Governor's Mansion
The two candidates who made the cut and will duel for executive power in the state are Kathleen Blanco, a Cajun Catholic Democrat, and Republican Bobby Jindal, a whiz-kid Indian immigrant and Catholic convert.
The Times-Picayune pointed out that either way, the state will have a Catholic governor — a rare event in that deep-Southern state despite its large Cajun population. The paper noted that since 1888, there has been exactly one self-styled Catholic governor of the state, the convicted felon Edwin Edwards, who publicly questioned the resurrection of Christ and dabbled as a Protestant preacher.
The suspicion between the state's Protestant-Republican northern half and its Catholic-Democratic south has been diminishing recently.
“The coming together to support unborn human life has done a lot to blur those [sectarian] boundaries,” said Sally Campbell, former head of the Louisiana Christian Coalition. “The religious right, has traditionally … been more of a Protestant evangelical outgrowth. But now it enjoys many, many Catholics in its ranks.”
Goretti Schoolgirls Bash Sexual Predator
REUTERS, Nov. 3 — Rudy Susanto, 25, has learned not to mess with Catholic schoolgirls.
The repeated sexual predator allegedly exposed himself to female students at a local high school Oct. 30, and more than 20 of them turned on him, chasing him down the block, kicking and punching him until police took Susanto to a hospital.
According to Reuters, he is being held on “14 criminal counts including harassment, disorderly conduct, open lewdness and corrupting the morals of a minor.”
It was the eighth time Susanto had victimized the girls at that particular school, and they were apparently fed up. The school happens to be named for St. Maria Goretti, who submitted to death rather than agree to premarital sex.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Legislators Introduce 'Holly's Law' to Suspend Use of RU-486 Abortion Drug DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:LIVERMORE, Calif. — Monty Patterson could not wait any longer when he threw back the curtain surrounding his daughter's hospital bed where a half-dozen medical personnel were trying to resuscitate her.
“I will carry that image in my head for the rest of my life,” he said later. “All the instruments were buzzing. She was flatlined. I just walked out of the room crying. I knew she was dead.”
That was Sept. 17. Holly Patterson had turned 18 just two weeks earlier. She was living at home with her father, working at Macy's and saving for college. Her father learned only hours before she died at ValleyCare Medical Center in Pleasanton that she had gone to a Planned Parenthood Golden Gate clinic a week earlier, about seven weeks pregnant, and had begun a “medical abortion” — a controversial combination of two drugs known as RU-486. He was told she was suffering a massive infection caused by fetal tissue fragments that had not expelled from her uterus.
Two weeks ago the Alameda County coroner's office issued an interim finding on Holly Patterson's death stating it had been caused by “septic shock due to endomyometritis [inflammation] due to therapeutic drug-induced abortion.” The final coroner's report was released Nov. 7 and stated that the case was closed.
Now the blonde, blue-eyed young Californian has become the most visible abortion death in American history. And her father, Monty Patterson, has joined a growing chorus to have RU-486 immediately withdrawn from the market.
Holly's Law
On Nov. 5, U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., and Rep. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., introduced the RU-486 Suspension and Review Act of 2003, dubbed Holly's Law. They cited Holly's death and “other deaths and severe complications resulting from RU-486” as reason to “re-examine the procedures the Clinton administration FDA used to approve RU-486 in [September] 2000” and to suspend the drugs’ sale. The bill had 59 original co-sponsors, including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas; and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
“This is a young, healthy 18-year-old. She takes the two drugs and she's dead,” Bartlett told the Register. “I don't know how often this could be expected to occur again, but one case certainly demands our attention.”
Monty Patterson and his wife, Donna, sent a letter to Capitol Hill endorsing the bill.
“As parents, we cannot allow our beautiful Holly's horrible death to be in vain,” it read. “The FDA has failed to carry out its mission of ensuring RU-486 is a safe and effective abortion-drug regimen. Holly has already paid the ultimate price. The RU-486 abortion drug should not be either a pro-life or a pro-choice issue. The most primary concern here must be the health and welfare of our children and young women.”
Bartlett is especially bothered that the FDA approved RU-486 under a special category of regulations reserved for dangerous drugs used to treat “life-threatening and serious illnesses” such as AIDS and cancer.
“I don't know when a healthy baby was considered a life-threatening illness,” he said.
Incorrect Use
But the paramount question that has emerged following Holly's death is why abortion clinics commonly use the drugs in ways the federal Food and Drug Administration has not approved.
At the Planned Parenthood Golden Gate in Hayward, Holly was required to sign a “Patient Agreement” provided by the drug distributor Danco Laboratories outlining the FDA-approved regimen. Then she was given an “alternative” agreement drawn up by the abortion clinic. Holly was administered mifepristone by “mid-level clinicians,” according to a statement made by Planned Parenthood Golden Gate spokeswoman Erin Brooks, and then she was sent home with instructions to self-administer vaginally the second drug 24 hours later.
Following FDA regulations she should have returned to the clinic 48 hours later and been given the second drug orally. Holly also received significantly different doses of the drugs than those the FDA approves.
Wendy Wright, a senior analyst with Concerned Women for America, a pro-family group, speculates that so-called “off-label” use of the drugs may just be abortionists cutting costs of chemical abortion.
“The first drug [for which clinics commonly decrease dosage to one-third] costs about $90 per pill,” Wright said. “The second drug, misopristol, [for which clinics commonly double the FDA dose] only costs pennies.”
Planned Parenthood representatives did not return calls for comment, but they have defended using “alternative” RU-486 regimens because they are based on more up-to-date trial data than the data the FDA used when it approved the drug in September 2000.
But in April 2002, Danco Laboratories and the FDA issued an alert to physicians, reporting serious complications suffered by RU-486 patients. The letter denied a “causal relationship” between the events and RU-486 but described women who had ruptured ectopic pregnancies (pregnancies outside of the uterus), including one who had died; two women who had experienced life-threatening bacterial infections, including one who died; and a 21-year-old woman who suffered a heart attack.
The letter included a stern reminder to abortion practitioners: “The FDA has not reviewed or approved other dosing regimens for early termination of pregnancy.”
Complications
At least 400 serious complications have been reported with use of the drug since its approval three years ago.
Asked why RU-486 prescribers are allowed to continue neglecting the “Prescriber's Agreement” outlining FDA protocol they sign before ordering the drugs from Danco, company spokeswoman Heather O'Neill said: “That's a question for health care providers and clinics.”
Danco only endorses the FDA regimen, she added, and referred to a page on the FDA Web site about doctors having freedom to prescribe drugs for “off-label” uses.
FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan referred to the same FDA question-and-answer page and added, “The FDA advises that people use [RU-486] according to its distribution plan.”
A citizen's petition by two doctors groups and Concerned Women for America that demands RU-486 be shelved was filed with the FDA in August 2002 and cites Danco's right to cancel orders to RU-486 prescribers who fail to abide by FDA regulations.
The petition also documents the FDA's ability to withdraw RU-486, including an October 2000 letter from an FDA official to a Congressman stating: “If restrictions are not adhered to, FDA may withdraw approval.”
Holly Patterson's death and Holly's Law are pressuring the FDA to respond to that 15-month-old petition. “It's under active review,” FDA spokeswoman Cruzan said. “That's all I can say.”
For Monty Patterson, however, that time can never be made up.
“How many more teen-agers and young women will have to pay the price,” he asked, “with their health — or with their life — before the FDA decides to act?”
Celeste McGovern is based in Victoria, British Columbia.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Celeste Mcgovern ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Italian Court Decision Sparks Controversy Regarding Crucifixes in Public Places DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:ROME — A 33-year-old judge sent shock waves throughout Italy when he ruled in late October that crucifixes had to be removed from a grammar school in a small town near Rome. In fact, the reverberations reached right to the top of the Catholic Church, provoking comment a few days later from Pope John Paul II himself regarding the importance of displaying the cross publicly as a symbol of Christian faith.
The judge's decision was quickly denounced by the prime minister, politicians from the left to the right and even famous intellectuals known to be atheists. President Carlo Ciampi told the press that the symbol of the cross was not just something for the religious — it belonged to the Italian culture.
The Oct. 29 Italian edition of L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican's daily newspaper, joined the fray, publishing testimonies opposing the judicial order. The testimonies were headlined: “We Will Not Let Them Take the Cross Away from Us.”
The controversy began when Adel Smith, a Muslim convert who heads a group called the Union of Muslims in Italy, demanded that his children's public school hang an Islamic symbol next to a crucifix. When the school refused, he went to the local court to demand the crucifixes be taken down. In the past, Smith had been quoted in the press as saying that crucifixes scare little children and are “miniature cadavers.”
Judge Mario Montanaro ruled on Oct. 25 in Smith's favor. He wrote, “The presence of the cross leads to a grasp of the expression of religious faith that is deeply wrong because it manifests the state's unequivocal desire to put the Catholic faith at the center of the universe as an absolute truth, with the least respect for other religions.”
Montanaro based his decision on the 1984 concordat between Italy and the Holy See, whereby Catholicism ceased to be the state religion. He ordered the school to remove the crucifixes within 30 days. He also said that the 1920s norms, whereby Italian law dictates that every school and court have crucifixes on the walls, were out of date.
Italy's justice minister, Roberto Castelli, immediately ordered the decision to be reviewed and is threatening disciplinary action against Montanaro.
The case is now being examined by a tribunal of three judges, who ruled on Oct. 31 to call off Montanaro's 30-day deadline for removing the crucifixes. In the meantime, the grammar school in Ofena — which found itself at the center of media frenzy — closed down for a week.
Precedent?
Italy's legal system does not have the force of precedent. Therefore the case only affects one grammar school and does not have a legal impact across the country.
“However, socially, it does have an impact,” said Paola Maria Zerman, legal counsel to Italy's vice president, Gianfranco Fini. “The danger is that it [sets] a precedent.”
Zerman believes other people might feel inspired by the Smith case to protest the various Christian symbols that permeate most public buildings. The separation of church and state in Italy, as is obvious to any visitor, never translated into the absence of Christian symbols in the public square.
“Italy used to be a Catholic country under fascism. It was the state religion,” Zerman said. “But now, even though it is not the religion of the state, the culture is still permeated by Catholicism. The cross is seen as a powerful symbol.”
If the tribunal decides Montanaro was right, the case can be appealed.
Italy's bishops have strongly protested Montanaro's decision. The secretary of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Msgr. Giuseppe Betori, said this event could open the way to Islamic religious fundamentalism.
“If it is true that the crucifix is a symbol of Christian faith,” Msgr. Betori said, “it is also true that it is the image in which the Italian people recognize the very roots of their civilization — which are not renounce-able.”
Professor Adriano Guarnieri, spokesman for Cardinal Giacomo Biffi of Bologna, said, “Society's reaction is due to the fact that even nonbelievers see the cross as part of the Italian people's identity for the last 2,000 years.”
The government's main defense against Montanaro's decision are fascist-era laws: article 118 in 1924, which states that every public office expose the image of the cross; and decree 26 from 1928, which demands that every grammar-school classroom have a crucifix on the wall. These laws have never been revoked, but they are not strictly enforced anymore.
Minister of Education Letizia Moratti has supported the presence of crosses in the classroom as a way of valuing the nation's Christian roots. In 2002, she sent a letter to all public schools reminding them that crucifixes were required by law and that they replace those that had been removed. In the same letter, she authorized schools to set aside a “prayer room” for non-Catholic students to be used as requested.
Muslims React
Catholics are not the only ones who have reacted with dismay to the Smith event. Italy's Muslim community, which numbers 800,000 people, has by and large rejected Smith's actions.
After Sept. 11 and the roundup of a few Al Qaeda-linked terrorists within the country, many Muslims say they feel increasingly discriminated against. Experts believe Smith's legal maneuverings against the cross will only hurt the acceptance of Muslims into the mainstream.
None of the Muslim associations in Italy contacted for this article would comment.
The average Italian, meanwhile, is offended that an immigrant who came to live in Italy should complain about a religious symbol held dear by most of the population.
“Taking away the cross is a negative. It should not be allowed to happen,” said Giulia Baldi, a housewife who lives in Leghorn. “I've always had one in the house. In any respectable house or school, you have it. I wouldn't send a child to school unless there was a crucifix on the wall.”
A few Italians, however, applauded the decision. One was Armando Catalano, head of Italy's largest trade union, who told the press it was “a brave and modern decision.”
The Pope reminded his general audience Oct. 29 that the image of Christ on the cross is a source of consolation. Speaking in response to the judge's order to remove the crucifix, the Holy Father urged believers to be “builders of the civilization of love, of which the cross of Christ is an eloquent symbol, source of light, of consolation and hope for men of all times.”
Sabrina Arena Ferrisi writes from Rome.
(Zenit contributed to this story.)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Sabrina Arena Ferrisi ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:Islamic ‘Tolerance’ Questioned by Jesuit Journal
The article, by Jesuit Father Giuseppe De Rosa, noted that “in all of its history, Islam has shown a warlike and conquering face” and pointed out that much of the Islamic world today consists of countries that were once Christian — where the local populations were either converted by force or subjugated, humiliated, segregated and heavily taxed for hundreds of years until they shrank to tiny minorities or disappeared.
“Obedience to the precept of the ‘holy war’ explains why the history of Islam is one of unending warfare for the conquest of infidel lands,” Father De Rosa wrote. “… In particular, all of Islamic history is dominated by the idea of the conquest of… Christian lands.”
A Modern Church Rises in Rome
The paper noted that a recent building campaign by the Archdiocese of Rome, designed to suit suburbanites who live far from the historic chapels that adorn the holy city, has recently been completed. Its keystone is Dives in Misericordia, also known as the “Jubilee Church,” which was designed by Richard Meier, builder of the Getty Center in Los Angeles. Its most prominent features are three soaring “sails” of white concrete, the paper noted.
The New York-based architect, who is Jewish, had his strikingly modern design approved by Pope John Paul II himself, who wanted the church to stand as a symbol of renewal, according to the paper.
The architect discussed his sources of inspiration: “The central ideas for creating a sacred space have to do with truth and authenticity …” Maier said. “And to express spirituality, the architect has to think of the original material of architecture, space and light.”
Pope Misses All Saints’ Service in Grotto
REUTERS, Nov. 1 — Pope John Paul II decided not to attend an evening prayer service for All Saints’ Day in a grotto underneath St. Peter's Basilica because it was too difficult for him to enter, Reuters reported.
The service invokes prayers for past popes — many of whom are buried in the grotto. However, the specially designed wheeled throne the Holy Father uses to move was unable to enter the grotto, so he decided to miss the service, according to Reuters.
However, the Pope had appeared earlier on the feast day and spoken without interruption to a group of pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, asking them to prayer for the dead.
“In particular, I raise my prayer of intercession for those nobody thinks of anymore,” John Paul said, “like the many victims of violence.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Icon Helps Bridge the Divide Between Rome and Moscow DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — With a gesture of reverence for a famous Russian icon, Pope John Paul II and Russian President Vladimir Putin underscored their commitment to improving relations between the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches.
After the Nov. 5 meeting, Putin telephoned Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II, and an aide to the patriarch expressed hope the next day for better relations with the Vatican, Russian news agencies said.
The ongoing tension between the Vatican and the Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow was one of the major topics of discussion during the Pope's Nov. 5 meeting with Putin, said Vatican spokesman Joaquín Navarro-Valls.
“The Holy Father wanted the sacred icon of Our Lady of Kazan to be present during this meeting,” Navarro-Valls added.
John Paul had his aides bring the icon of the Mother of God of Kazan, an icon revered by Russian believers that usually hangs in the Pope's private chapel, into the Vatican Library for the meeting. The Holy Father repeatedly has said he wants to deliver the icon personally to a top official of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Putin watched as the Pope blessed the icon, and then the Russian leader himself kissed it, Vatican interpreters said.
According to Russian reporters who were in the room, the Holy Father then said in Russian, “I want to thank President Putin for everything he has done to bring the Russian Orthodox and Catholic Churches closer together, and for peace in the world.”
Patriarch Alexei
Putin's spokesman, Alexei Gromov, told Russian reporters that Putin telephoned Patriarch Alexei from Rome to report on his Vatican meeting with John Paul, Itar-Tass news agency reported.
Father Vsevolod Chaplin, No. 2 in the patriarchate's Department of External Relations, told Interfax he saw signs of “changes for the better in the position of the Vatican in relations with the Russian Orthodox Church.”
Relations between the two Churches, strained since the collapse of communism by disputes over Church property and alleged Catholic proselytizing, worsened in February 2002 when the Pope created four full-scale dioceses in the Russian Federation. Russian Orthodox officials have protested the establishment of the dioceses in Russia as a sign that the Catholic Church considers Russia to be mission territory.
The Orthodox have similar jurisdictions outside Russia.
“We know that there are people in the Vatican who show good will toward our Church. They say that the Catholic Church will be our partner, not a rival, and does not intend to convert the Orthodox faithful to Catholics,” Father Chaplin said. “A change of this kind in the Vatican position and the practice of the Catholic Church would open the way to reconstruction of good relations between the two Churches.”
No Invitation
The Russian reporters present at the Vatican meeting said Putin did not invite John Paul to visit Russia. Patriarch Alexei has said repeatedly the Vatican must first take “concrete action” to meet Orthodox complaints.
Before leaving on his state visit to Italy, Putin told Italian reporters in Moscow he wanted to help end the dispute between the Vatican and the Orthodox Church but that Russia would defend its faith and identity.
“I see my task not in ensuring the Pope's visit to Russia but in helping these steps toward unity,” Putin said before leaving. “Naturally, it would be possible only if the Churches reach an agreement.”
The Vatican was not surprised or disappointed that Putin did not renew the invitation his predecessors had made, said a Vatican official involved in relations with the Russians.
“The Pope has never said, ‘I must go to Moscow,’ but he has insisted that Christianity itself and the European continent need to breathe with two lungs — that of the Christian East and the Christian West,” the official said.
While Putin and the Pope were meeting, Navarro-Valls said, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, met with Igor Ivanov, the Russian foreign minister.
“Also in that meeting,” the spokesman said, “there was an exchange of opinions about the situation of the ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox.”
(CNS, RNS and Zenit contributed to this report.)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: God Protects Us From Evil DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:Register Summary
Pope John Paul II met with 20,000 pilgrims in St. Peter's Square for his general audience Nov. 5. Speaking in a frail voice, the Holy Father gave his first teaching on one of the psalms from evening prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours — a series he began a few weeks ago after completing a long series of teachings on the Church's morning prayer.
His catechesis centered on Psalm 141 in which the psalmist calls upon the Lord in a time of danger as he faces a difficult moral choice. “The psalmist asks the Lord to not let his lips or the feelings of his heart be attracted and lured by evil, thereby leading him to yield to sin,” the Holy Father noted. “Words and deeds are, in fact, the expression of a person's moral choice.
“It is easy for evil to be so attractive that it drives even the faithful to taste the ‘fine food’ that sinners can offer if the faithful sit down at their table and take part in their perverse actions.”
The psalm is, John Paul noted, “a hymn of faith, gratitude and joy, with a certainty that the faithful man will not be engulfed by the hatred that the perverse reserve for him or fall into the trap they set for him.”
The faithful man, he said, expresses “in a concrete and even picturesque way hostility to evil, choosing good and the certainty that God intervenes in history with his judgment, severely condemning injustice.”
The Holy Father skipped some of the paragraphs of the address he had prepared and ended his talk with a request: “Pray for me.”
Nonetheless, afterward he spent 50 minutes greeting the faithful and posing for group photographs.
In our previous catecheses we examined the overall structure and meaning of the liturgy of vespers, the most important prayer of the Church in the evening. Now we will proceed to a closer examination. It will be like going on a pilgrimage to a sort of “holy land” that the psalms and canticles comprise. Every now and then we will reflect on one of these poetic prayers, which God has sealed with his inspiration. They are prayers that the Lord himself wants us to address to him. He loves to listen to them, for he hears in them the heartbeats of his beloved children.
We will begin with Psalm 141, which is the opening prayer for evening prayer on Sunday of the first of the four weeks according to which the Church's evening prayer was structured after the Council.
A Sacrifice of Prayer
“Let my prayer be incense before you; my uplifted hands an evening sacrifice.” Verse 2 of this psalm can be considered as the mark that distinguishes this whole song and the obvious reason for the fact that it is included in evening prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours. The idea that it expresses reflects the spirit of prophetic theology, which intimately unites worship with life and prayer with existence.
This very prayer, when prayed with a pure and sincere heart, becomes a sacrifice that is offered to God. The whole being of the person who is praying it becomes a sacrificial act, thereby foreshadowing everything St. Paul suggests when he invites Christians to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God: This is the spiritual sacrifice that God accepts (see Romans 12:1).
The hands raised in prayer are a bridge for communicating with God, as is the smoke that rises as sweet fragrance from the victim during the evening's sacrificial rite.
As the psalm continues, it takes on the overtones of a plea, which has been passed down to us in a text that presents several interpretative difficulties and obscurities in the Hebrew original (especially verses 4-7).
Protection From Evil
Nonetheless, we can identify the general meaning of the psalm and transform it into a meditation and a prayer. Above all, the psalmist asks the Lord not to let his lips (see verse 3) or the feelings of his heart be attracted and lured by evil, thereby leading him into “sin” (see verse 4). Words and deeds are, in fact, the expression of a person's moral choice. It is easy for evil to be so attractive that it drives even the faithful to taste the “fine food” that sinners can offer if the faithful sit down at their table and take part in their perverse actions.
The psalm almost takes on the flavor of an examination of conscience, which is followed by a commitment to always choose God's ways.
At this point, however, the psalmist has a shocking realization that causes him to launch out in a passionate speech where he rejects any complicity with evildoers: In no way does he wish to be a guest of the wicked or allow the perfumed oil they reserve for their guests of honor (see Psalm 23:5) be a sign of his connivance with evildoers (see Psalm 141:5). In order to express more vehemently his radical dissociation from the wicked, the psalmist then proclaims his scornful condemnation of them, which is expressed by his use of colorful images of angry judgment.
This is typical of curses found in the Book of Psalms (see Psalm 58 and 109), whose purpose is to affirm in a concrete and even picturesque way hostility to evil, choosing good and the certainty that God intervenes in history with his judgment that severely condemns injustice (see verses 6-7).
A Hymn of Faith
The psalm closes with one final confident appeal (see verses 8-9): It is a hymn of faith, gratitude and joy, with a certainty that the faithful man (after having noted his decisive choice for good) will not be engulfed by the hatred that the perverse reserve for him or fall into the trap they set for him. Thus, the just man will be able to escape unharmed from every deceit, as another psalm says: “We escaped with our lives from the fowler's snare; the snare was broken and we escaped” (Psalm 124:7).
Let us conclude our reading of Psalm 141 by returning to the image at the beginning of an evening prayer that is a sacrifice pleasing to God. John Cassian, a great spiritual master who lived between the fourth and fifth centuries and who came from the East and spent the last part of his life in southern Gaul, read those words in a Christ-centered light: “In them, in fact, we can understand more spiritually an allusion to our Lord and Savior's evening sacrifice during his Last Supper, which he entrusted to the apostles when he sanctioned the beginning of the holy mysteries of the Church, or (we can perceive an allusion) to that same sacrifice that he himself offered the following day in the evening, by raising his own hands, a sacrifice that will continue until the end of time for the salvation of the whole world” (Le istituzioni cenobitiche, Abbazia di Praglia, Padua, 1989, p. 92).
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:Plot to Kill African Cardinal Uncovered
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Nov. 3 — The government of Ivory Coast discovered a plan to assassinate the leading Catholic bishop in the country, Cardinal Bernard Agre, along with a list of other civic and Church leaders, according to the Associated Press.
The plotters had hoped through the murders to discredit the government of President Laurent Gbagbo, who has negotiated a settlement with Islamic rebels in that west African country. Minister of Security Martin Bleou said the plotters were “trying to plunge Ivory Coast into chaos. The government demands that these individuals regain their self-control and abandon this project.”
No arrests have yet been announced, but heavily armed police have fanned out around Cardinal Agre's residence at St. Paul's Cathedral in Abidjan. The country is still bitterly divided between the mostly Christian and animist south, and the predominantly Muslim north.
Ivory Coast is home to one of the largest Catholic churches in the world, the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, modeled after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Afghan Constitution Will Found ‘Islamic Republic’
BBC, Nov. 3 — According to the recently released draft of a new constitution for Afghanistan, which was wrenched from the extremist Taliban by the United States and coalition forces in 2001, the country's unity will be anchored on its Islamic identity, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported.
The draft constitution acknowledges its debt to Islamic principles and declares that no law may be passed which contravenes the teachings of the Koran. It's unclear whether this will mean that abortion and other practices contrary to Islam will be prohibited.
The constitution makes no mention of Shariah, the comprehensive, theocratic system of laws that have been imposed in other Islamic nations with religious governments. The country will be renamed “The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.”
Western sponsors of the new Afghan government have stressed that the regime must protect the rights of religious minorities and offer Afghan women far more freedom than previous Islamist fundamentalist regimes have done.
Bishops of Europe Call Christianity a Force for Unity
INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC NEWS, Nov. 3 — Continuing the Vatican-sponsored initiative to insist that some reference to Europe's Christian heritage be made in any new constitution for the burgeoning European Union, the bishops’ conference for that region met in Brussels from Oct. 30-31. The prelates issued a statement reminding Europeans that the Christian faith had helped unite a fractious Europe over the centuries and could serve the same purpose in the future, according to Independent Catholic News.
The European bishops stressed the fact that mentioning Christianity in particular would not imply the exclusion of other faiths that have historically or currently exist in Europe or violate the separation of church and state enshrined in many of the member nations’ individual constitutions.
“The role of Christianity in the formation of Europe is an undeniable historical fact,” said Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Brussels. “Anyone who denies this role must be doing it for ideological reasons. Even if all the values we share in common are not exclusively Christian, they have all passed through the mold of Christianity.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Owning Up to Bias DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:A few months ago, we printed an internal memo by a Los Angeles Times editor on pro-abortion bias. Here is a Nov. 6 Chicago Tribune column by public editor Don Wycliff making a similar point. We 've included everything but its concluding paragraphs. The last sentence is worth adding though: “We might also add diversity on this issue to the types of diversity we seek and encourage in our newsrooms.”
Please use proper terms in future headlines when PRO-LIFE ACTIVITIES ARE COVERED! People who value life at all stages are PRO-LIFE, not anti-choice!”
That was part of an e-mail sent Saturday by a reader named Sharon Grill. Hers was typical of the dozens of letters and e-mails that came to the newspaper in response to a story in the Oct. 29 issue of WomanNews.
The Associated Press story was about what the writer called “a winning streak that is deeply troubling to abortion-rights activists” by “the self-proclaimed right-to-life movement and its conservative allies.”
As those partial quotes from the lead paragraph suggest, the story itself was hardly a textbook example of fairness and impartiality. But what provoked the ire of Sharon Grill and her fellow letter-writers were the headlines. In some editions the headline read, “Anti-choice groups celebrate victories.” In others it was “Anti-choice victories alarm pro-choice groups.”
In either case, the flaw was the same: The perspective of those who define the issues involved in terms of “choice” was taken as normative, and the position of those who disagree with them and define the issues differently was characterized in “choice” terms. The result was two headlines that couldn't have been more slanted if they had come directly from the public relations office of NARAL Pro-Choice America.
WomanNews editor Cassandra West said any bias in the headlines was completely unintentional, and the use of the term “anti-choice” was “just a poor choice of words on deadline.”
But this WomanNews story is not the only recent example of the difficulty the Tribune has in writing about the issue of abortion or, if you will, “life” or “choice.”
On Sept. 7, there was the publication in the Voice of the people of a letter from Bill Beckman, executive director of the Illinois Right to Life Committee, in which each of his uses of “pro-life” was changed to “anti-abortion,” to conform to the Tribune stylebook proscription against use of the term pro-life.
Happily, editor Ann Marie Lipinski has since decided that that rule need not be applied to letters to the editor.
More recently, on Oct. 22, the day after the Senate gave final approval to the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, the Tribune carried this banner headline on Page 1: “Senate votes to ban type of abortion.”
Huh? This odd, opaque locution was the result of several factors, including a headline space too small in any case to accommodate in single quotes the words partial-birth abortion, much less the medical term intact dilation and extraction.
But at least as important was the Tribune stylebook provision on abortion, which advises, among other things: “Avoid loaded terms, such as partial-birth abortion; use certain late-term abortions or give the medical term when practical.”
Mitchell May, chief of the national-foreign copy desk, said writing this headline was “definitely a case where we had to stay straight down the middle.”
Leaving aside whether our stylebook policy really does steer us “straight down the middle” — why, for example, is “pro-life” forbidden but “pro-choice” is not? — it merits asking whether we have become so obsessed with what we believe to be neutrality on this topic that we have become inscrutable.
After nearly a decade of fevered national debate on this issue, Americans on all sides know what is meant by “partial-birth abortion” (and a substantial majority of them oppose it, even as a majority support a general right to abortion). If our purpose is to communicate clearly with our readers, should we not use the term they understand?
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:The Whole Culture Is R-Rated
When I saw the [indication] that R-rated movies are on the decline, I couldn't help but laugh (“Family-Friendly Movies Sell Better Than R-Rated Ones,” Nov. 2-8). Do you know that there is nothing in R-rated movies that you don't see and hear on television?
Recently, the Federal Communications Commission has announced the allowance of the “F” word on TV. Keeping kids and Christians out of movie theaters that show R-rated movies (and PG-13 is just as bad, only more kids get to see them) is fine. But what happens when they turn the TV on? It used to be just prime time. Then the talk shows got filthier and the soaps are like mini-porno movies, and even the cartoon shows are nothing but smut.
With satellite TV, people all over the world can see our lack of morals and values in this country. These are countries that still have values and dignity. No wonder they hate us. Kids just learning to talk use all sorts of four-letter words because that's all they hear. It seems that folks can't express themselves any other way. Keeping the TV and videos off until the kids are in bed isn't going to do it. Christians have to keep the TV and videos off period for it to sink in. When we stop watching, buying products that sponsor this filth, stop buying videos and paying for tickets to the movies, we'll send Hollywood a message.
Nancy Sonneman
Cincinnati
The writer is host of the Web site:
www.nancyswritingpatch.homestead.com.
Cord-Blood Collections
Regarding “Bill Promotes Adult Stem Cells” (In Brief, Nov. 2-8, 2003):
During the birth of our sixth child recently, we collected the baby's cord blood and donated it to Cryobanks International. Cryobanks sent us the collection kit free of charge with detailed instructions and made it very easy to follow through with the collection. They even sent a carrier to the hospital hours after birth to take the package on its way. Afterward they sent a confirmation that they have received the cord-blood sample and a letter of thanks for building up their donation registry.
I wish more women knew about this possibility of helping save lives and proving that harvesting stem cells from aborted babies is not necessary when stem cells are so readily available from cord blood obtained from live births.
You can contact Cryobanks International by calling (800) 869-8333 or visiting www.cryo-intl.com on the Internet. They are located in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
Marie Monsour
Barberton, Ohio
Home School Critics
Regarding “Home School Groups Cry Foul After CBS News ‘Hatchet Job’” (Nov.2-8):
Rob Reich, the assistant professor at Stanford who argues that home schooling threatens to “disable children and render them unable to engage in democratic citizenship,” tries to sound even-handed by extending his concern not only to the home-schooled children of Christians but to the children of New Agers, left-wingers, etc. However, he omits mention of the Amish, who only educate their children to the eighth grade, and the Orthodox Jews, many of whom indeed “isolate children while indoctrinating them with a single set of values.” Reich realizes, of course, that the state is never going to get these devout groups to expose their children to the “competing ideologies” he feels our children must hear about (and good for them!).
By never including these communities in their worries about the isolation of children, these critics expose their own agenda. Unlike the communities of Orthodox Jews or of the Amish, the general home-schooling movement signals social change — in a direction the critics don't like. They object to our children being moved out of reach of their social engineering. When they start trying to curtail the “virtually unlimited authority” of the parents of Jewish children living in closed communities in New York or of the parents of Amish farm children in Pennsylvania, I'll take them at their word that they just want what's best for the children.
Patricia Sette
Sterling, Massachusetts
Cheese With That Whine, Sir?
As a parent of five, I would like to add my own sentiments to “The Family as a Sign of Contradiction” (Commentary & Opinion, Oct. 19-25).
Have you ever heard the expression “would you like a little cheese with that whine?” Anybody who is a little different is usually going to get comments. I can tell you that I know that I've said unthinking, stupid things to other people and I certainly didn't realize it until it was too late. All I could do was apologize and wish I could melt into the woodwork. I bet we've all made comments we wish we wouldn't have.
How about forgiving people for not being as enlightened about having a large family (only by today's standards) as you are and maybe, while you're at it, you could show them what they're missing? I remember standing at a candy counter with my first four boys and my sister's two and explaining to the clerk that only four were mine and then chuckling to myself later about how absurd that must have sounded to the uninitiated.
My suggestions to the writer of the commentary: Smile a lot. Make sure the children are behaving in a reasonable manner according to their age. Don't drag 'em out when they're tired and/or crabby. Refer to the list of responses in the Register's sister publication, Faith & Family magazine; my favorite one is about my husband and I having a really good gene pool and that we owed it to the world to have as many children as possible! Research your next vacation and go where you feel welcome. We used to take the kids camping or to cabins where us doing what we do doesn't interfere with someone else's tranquility. And, finally: Lighten up! God bless you and your family.
Sharon E. Coyle
Robesonia, Pennsylvania
Men, Work and Family Life
Regarding “Bring Work Home” (Family Matters, Nov. 2-8):
You make it sound so easy! Don't work so hard! Have you any idea the pressure they put on you to work long hours of usually unpaid overtime? The trips they insist you go on? The sales quotas they impose? They put you in a position where your job, or more likely, the jobs of a lot of other people, are on the line. Especially these days, companies are on the verge of going under unless they get a certain contract or meet a certain deadline.
As for talking about work, it's easy for a mother to find interesting things to talk about: the cute things the children have done, ways to make the home more attractive, vacation plans and such. But what about the husband? Our jobs are usually boring as all get-out. Moreover, sometimes the work is too technical to explain in anything less than a year of full-time training, or the work is secret, or involves trying to head off some disaster that you don't want your wife and kids to worry about because you hope it can be averted.
Did it ever occur to you that the campaign to abolish family and community ties that we have been subjected to for more than a generation has been heavily funded by captains of industry like the Rockefellers and their ilk? Why do they, through their foundations, spend billions to weaken family life? Because they want the working class to spend all our time and energy working in their mills and shopping in their malls! It's not just the Devil that's behind the campaign to corrupt our children's morals, encourage divorce, glorify greed and encourage perversion. He gets financial help from the captains of industry. This is the culture war that we are engaged in, and it is more serious than the Cold War. And we are not winning.
The Catholic press could be a powerful force in this struggle, and the Register is actually one of the few publications that is engaged in the fight at all.
Paul Alciere
Hingham, Massachusetts
Habit Test
Regarding “Calcutta Celebrates Beatification of a Nun Who Was ‘Mother to All’” (Nov. 2-8):
I suspect that those women leading the march in Calcutta are not Missionaries of Charities, as your story and photo caption claim. Check the sari. Look at the two thick stripes, then look at the three-striped sari of Mother Teresa in the photo the marchers carry. Unless the habit has changed recently, it is not the habit-sari of either Mother or the Missionaries of Charity Sisters — whom I was blessed to serve with 22 years.
M.C. Sisters throughout the world celebrated Mother's beatification not by parades, but in going out to feed the poor.
DREW DE COURSEY
Morristown, New Jersey
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Choosing Priests DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:Regarding “The Other Story: Priests and Laity Across the Nation Defending Celibacy” (Oct. 26-Nov. 1):
There are many young men who feel a calling and a commitment to serve God. For some of them, the calling is sufficiently strong that they desire to exclude worldly attachments in order to dedicate themselves without distraction. In the seminary, the man has an opportunity to reflect fully on the implications and consequences of this choice. From those who are fully informed and mature enough to understand the choice, and those willing to make a permanent commitment, the Church chooses its priests. Thus, from this perspective the Church does not “impose” celibacy; rather, it chooses from those who are committed to the exclusion of lesser important, worldly commitments.
This is my image of how that portion of the formation process should work. Perhaps someone who has firsthand experience can develop the notion more fully and accurately.
PAT PHILLIPS
Middletown, Kansas
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Rush Limbaugh In the Confessional DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:Before I was Catholic I often met ex-Catholics who did the
standard schtick about “Catholic guilt” and told me all about how going to confession instilled in them this deep-seated guilt that they are only now working through.
Blah, blah, etc.
Sorry. Not buying it. I was raised in a household where I darkened the door of a church or Sunday school maybe 10 times before I started seriously trying to understand Christianity in college (and at least one of those times was because there was a meeting or something at the local Methodist church).
I can tell you all about deep-seated guilt. Crippling, unrelieved guilt. Endless psychic pain and confusion that deeply resonates with St. Paul's description of his Gentile readers before they came to Christ as “without hope and without God in the world.”
The amazing thing to me in becoming Catholic was the discovery that you could actually go somewhere and unburden your soul of all the miserable, wretched, shameful things you'd been lugging around for years. To my astonishment, delight and intense relief, God would really take that load away and not only forgive you but also give you the grace to be the new person you wished you could be. I get teary just thinking about it.
Some of the most poignantly sweet moments of my life have come in the confessional.
It's one of the rare places where you get to go and be absolutely yourself and find that, so far from being rejected, God tells you how he sees you and teaches you to see yourself (and the world) as he does: with tender love and mercy. I thank God for that mercy, not only because it is sweet but also because it is so rare in this dangerous world. I think of that brutal fact as I have watched Catholics on the Internet make amazingly naïve demands that Rush Limbaugh should have just gone on the air and “come clean” with 20 million people by confessing his addiction struggles, criminal activities (assuming there have been some) and so forth.
Such people appear to have no concept of the reason for the seal of the confessional. The reason is simple: because sinners need to be kept safe. Fallen man is a predator who rends when he detects weakness and kills when he smells blood.
A person struggling with addiction tends to hide that struggle, not only because he is ashamed (particularly when he's a noisy public figure) but also because he has plenty of good reason to fear that the public (God bless it) is made up of cannibals who would eat their young if they get half a chance.
As it happens, my confidence in the predatory tastes of fallen man was not disappointed. The sheer,bashed glee over Limbaugh's struggles was some kind of nadir in human behavior. Indeed, it's creepy to watch relativist liberalism go all rigid “law ‘n’ order” when it has an enemy in its clutches. Allegedly “compassionate” liberalism (still priding itself on its love of humanity) evinced not a jot of interest in seeing Limbaugh kick his drug habit (brought on, recall, by an attempt to deal with agonizing physical pain). Nope. Just throw the book at the guy! After all, he'd recommended the same thing!
Well, yes. And if you think yourself superior to Limbaugh's ideology here, then perhaps you should consider not living by it. Me: I think Limbaugh was wrong to recommend locking up addicts, largely for the reasons that Limbaugh himself is now discovering.
The goal is to free people from addiction, not merely to satisfy some abstraction called justice that demands “punishment” — no matter how stupid, unproductive and unredemptive it is. Catholic conceptions of justice are always ordered toward the possibility of redemption. They also take into account the circumstances under which a sin occurred. Nowhere does so-called “liberalism” reveal itself to be more brutal and inhuman than when it embraces with both hands the very things it condemns in “law ‘n’ order conservatism” in order to destroy an enemy. Justice must be ordered toward redemption or it is not real justice but mere vengefulness.
So Limbaugh will face the laws of the United States, have his day in court and pay the piper if he owes the piper. But he has no obligation to make the golden EIB microphone an ersatz confessional and expose himself to the predatory habits of homo sapiens. He is under no obligation to put his weaknesses and sins out there on display for the public to use as a punching bag.
This was, by the way, true of Bill Clinton, too. He was bound to give true testimony under oath in court about criminal matters such as perjury and obstruction of justice. But he did not owe the public an account of his private sins. It was only when he misused his public office or broke the law that it became our concern, since as an elected official he worked for us. Limbaugh is not an elected official. His sins are between him and God and his law-breaking (if there has been such) is between him and Caesar. Mostly, I feel bad for the guy. Addiction is terrible. Glee over his fall is just a new form of Pharisaism.
My prayers are with the guy in the hope that this situation brings him to deeper conversion and dependence on the grace of God through Jesus Christ.
Mark Shea writes from Seattle.
Visit his blog at www.MarkShea.blogspot.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mark P. Shea ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Why They're in This Mess DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:In October our family traveled to London to see my sister's husband consecrated as an Anglican bishop. The service was in Westminster Abbey and we had front-row seats. The ceremony was carried off faultlessly and it was a great learning experience for our children to witness the color and pomp of Anglican ritual. Afterward we all retired to Lambeth Palace for the reception, and as the grown-ups sipped wine and nibbled canapés the children ended up watching cartoons with the bishop's wife in their apartment.
But beneath the warm welcome and splendid proceedings there was a palpable tension. The week before, Archbishop Rowan Williams had been to Rome for his first meeting with Pope John Paul II, and the week after our event Lambeth Palace was to be the meeting place for the Anglican presiding bishops to discuss the impending consecration of another bishop — Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.
How could the Anglicans have gotten themselves into such a mess? Curiously, Westminster Abbey itself held a clue to one of the fatal flaws in Anglicanism. For more than 500 years Westminster Abbey was home to a community of Benedictine monks. From the 11th century it was the site of the coronation of the monarchs of England.
Then 500 years ago the link with Rome was broken, the Abbey was dissolved and the monks dispersed. In the years following, the images of the Christian religion, including many statues of Jesus, Mary and the saints, were destroyed.
Ironically, the Abbey is now crammed with statues and memorials to English politicians, artists and writers. The substitution of statesmen for saints is symbolic of the root problem of Anglicanism: It has substituted secular power for sacred. Erastianism is the name of the error that enshrines a state authority as ruler of the church.
The temptation to create a state church is nothing new. The Romans had a state religion in which their emperors were worshipped, and the emperor Constantine established Christianity as the state religion. The Eastern half of Christendom has struggled with church/state relations ever since. Communist Russia enshrined atheism as a state religion and the Chinese regime still sanctions a state “Catholic” church while outlawing the true Church.
Anglicans often overlook the intrinsic problems of their links with the state.
The problems are not so much in the legal absurdities (Anglican Church law has to be approved by the secular Parliament and Anglican bishops are appointed by the prime minister). Instead the deeper problem is that a state church is always tempted to adapt itself to secular power demands instead of challenging the status quo.
Another symptom of this is that Anglicans have a fatal tendency to adapt their religion to the philosophy and morals of the age. In Tudor times they became Protestant. During the reign of Charles I and II (when tastes were flamboyant and lush) they adopted a refined but opulent “Catholicism.” During the 18th century the Anglican Church followed the fashions of deism and freemasonry.
Even though the American form of Anglicanism is not the official state church, this tendency to adapt to the prevailing social trends continues as part of the Episcopalian heritage. The consecration of Gene Robinson as a bishop is a primary example. Wherever they are, the Anglicans simply adopt the attitudes and behavior patterns of the culture around them.
That is why an African Anglican finds it so difficult to communicate with an American Anglican. As one of the bishops at the crisis meeting commented, “We call it dialogue, but it's really more like playing tennis on different tennis courts.”
This Anglican tendency to be blown about by every wind means that as our culture moves further and further from classic Christianity so does the Anglican Church. The time has come for some stern questions from our side. In a spirit of fraternal charity and concern for our Anglican friends, we need to ask how much their current position is actually Christian at all.
We acknowledge that they are baptized and profess faith in Christ, but at the same time many of their theologians and bishops formally deny the Incarnation, the virgin birth, the inspiration of Scripture and the efficacy of the sacraments. When it comes to morality,
a significant proportion of Anglicans endorse multiple remarriages after divorce (even among their clergy and bishops); they formally allow homosexual “marriage,” cohabitation, contraception and abortion.
How far can another Christian denomination go before we Catholics say, “We're sorry, we don't actually recognize your position as Christian any longer”?
The Catholic role down through the ages has always been to both define and defend the faith. Since Vatican II our ecumenical discussions have been positive, forward-looking and creative. Much of the historic animosity between Catholics and Protestants has disappeared during the last 30 years. All of this is a sign of hope, but along with the fraternal discussions and diplomatic niceties it is also necessary to talk straight.
Happily, the Holy Father spoke frankly to Archbishop Williams just a week before the Anglican primates met in London to debate the homosexuality question. Williams is known to be in favor of the homosexual agenda. He is now steering a more moderate course for the sake of church unity. Could it be that the successor of Peter helped bring him to this decision?
As I saw my own brother-in-law consecrated as an Anglican bishop, I couldn't help feeling sorry for the mess the Anglican Church has got itself into. There is no room for Catholics to gloat over the problems. Goodness knows we've got plenty to worry about ourselves.
But in the midst of the mess we have to watch and pray for Anglicans and whenever possible we must engage them in open and charitable discussions — hoping that more and more of them will see that the way out of moral confusion and social relativity is to build their house on the rock that is Peter.
Dwight Longenecker (www.dwightlongenecker.com) is author most recently of Mary — A Catholic/Evangelical Debate co-authored with David Gustafson.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dwight Longenecker ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Tony Blair, Catholic Family Man? Not Quite ... DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:When I was in America this past spring, in those first heady hours and days of the war in Iraq, I was the recipient of many messages of support and gratitude for Britain and specifically for our prime minister, Tony Blair, at that time rapidly to be acquiring folk-hero status in the United States.
“Tell Tony Blair we're really grateful to him,” people would say, or, “You tell Mr. Blair that he's wonderful!”
Well, I haven't met Blair personally, so I have had no opportunity to pass on the messages of good will. But I would like to answer some of the questions that were also asked of me about Blair — and have continued from American Catholic friends. “Is it true that Tony Blair is a Catholic?” “Don't his kids go to a Catholic school?” “Is it true that the Blair family goes to Mass together regularly?”
Here, I am on surer ground. The answer to the first question is No. Blair is an Anglican. But his wife, Cherie, is a Catholic, and their sons have been attending the London Oratory School, one of Britain's best-known Catholic schools (and one that I know well — I was a governor of the school for several years and the headmaster is a family friend). And finally — yes, it is certainly true that the Blair family attends Mass together.
A couple of years ago I was at the 9:15 Mass at Westminster Cathedral. This is not a sung Mass but a fairly brisk we're-all-busy-people-so-let's- get-on-with-it affair, without choir or trimmings. A family hurried into a pew just ahead of me. I noticed that the father, who was holding the baby, looked tired. Then I suddenly recognized him as the prime minister!
It all looked like the classic modern Catholic family — Dad in denim jeans, teen-age kids, exchange of affectionate greetings with one another at the sign of peace. The baby yelled a bit and mother and daughter took turns holding him. Blair later took the child into a side aisle and walked up and down, soothing him in the way that tired dads do.
And that's about it — except that as we all trooped out at the end of Mass they got a special greeting from the priest and stood chatting for a while (while, inevitably, the rest of us gawked a bit).
I was quite impressed. Lots of politicians (most?) only attend church when there is a good photo opportunity and it's a formal affair with - the kids scrubbed up nicely and Mum in a smart hat. This was an ordinary Mass. The cathedral is the nearest Catholic church to Downing Street and the family's attendance had an air of naturalness.
If you have read this far and were already a fan of Blair then you'll be very reassured. The hero turns out to be even better than we thought. But wait. Before you get carried away, let's get down to some other facts.
Blair's personal religious faith obviously means something to him. His wife is well known as a Catholic and has recently begun speaking about religious matters. But she has made it clear she opposes the Church in certain crucial areas, recently hosting a fund-raising reception at 10 Downing Street for the International Planned Parenthood Federation.
The reception was under the slogan “Lust for Life,” a new Planned Parenthood campaign promoting condoms. They market these through a special company that gives all profits to the organization. The “Lust for Life” Web site advertises the condoms lavishly — using language and detail that are not possible to reprint in a family newspaper. At the reception, Mrs. Blair was quoted as saying she was glad to support the campaign as her own children were now in their late teens.
The International Planned Parenthood Federation is the world's leading pro-abortion lobby group. Tony Blair has a 100% record of opposing any attempts to restrict abortion in any way or to ban human cloning. He has gone out of his way to vote pro-abortion on every occasion when such matters have come up in Parliament. His government is working on a scheme for civil registration of “same-sex partnerships” (homosexual marriage).
He and Mrs. Blair attended the big celebration at London's Royal Albert Hall hosted by Stonewall, Britain's leading militant homosexual-rights lobby group. At this event, the displays, jokes and presentations were sexually explicit. One of the stunts involved young men dressed as Boy Scouts. The Scout Association later protested in the strongest terms.
As I write this, Blair's government is working on plans for a form of euthanasia by legalizing the withdrawal of food and fluids from gravely ill unconscious people. Under the proposed law, a doctor who tried to administer fluids after being instructed not to do so could be guilty of assault.
Cherie Blair was recently the guest speaker at the Tyburn Lecture, sponsored by the Tyburn Nuns (enclosed Benedictine sisters whose convent is on the site where our English martyrs were butchered for the Catholic faith, from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I onward for two centuries).
The sisters — who wear traditional habits and are known for their orthodoxy and loyalty to the Church — seem to have been embarrassed by Mrs. Blair's speech, which claimed that the Church failed to use women's talents properly and hinted at support for the idea that women should be priests. The speech was widely hailed in the media as being a challenging criticism of the Church's teachings. But Mrs. Blair showed an unfamiliarity with Church documents and an inability to grasp the idea of unchanging and unchangeable truths revealed by God and taught by the Church.
So there you have it. In irreligious modern Britain, it is something to have a prime minister who attends church with his wife and children. However, at a time when abortion, cloning, homosexual activity and forms of euthanasia are all being promoted by the government, it is distressing to have a prime minister who leads all this but proclaims his Christianity.
Next time someone asks you about Tony Blair, show him this article.
Joanna Bogle writes from London.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joanna Bogle ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: No Pope Am I DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:Like millions of Catholics, I love Pope John Paul II for his holiness, courage and intellect. But I didn't always have respect and affection for the Holy Father.
As a 9-year-old fundamentalist Protestant, I was vaguely aware that a new Pope had been elected — but I had little interest in what those half-pagan Catholics were up to. I experienced a similar sort of detached curiosity when John Paul was nearly killed by a gunman in 1981. Having cut my teeth on Jack Chick comics and similarly rabid anti-Catholic literature, I was mystified and irritated by the attention paid to the Pope. I was told that Catholics worshipped the man in Rome and that the Catholic Church believed he was incapable of sin. This hardly surprised me, considering that the Catholics I knew didn't read their Bibles or exhibit qualities you would expect from “true believers.”
As I grew older and started to explore theological traditions outside of fundamentalism, I was surprised to learn that Catholics didn't worship this or any other pope (or even Mary), nor did they think he was sinless. In fact, I met some Catholics who didn't care for John Paul at all, complaining he was “too conservative” and “rigid” and “traditional.” Those comments intrigued me, but I still couldn't fathom that intelligent people would allow some old man with a heavy accent living halfway around the world tell them what to believe and how to think.
It's difficult to locate the exact moment when I realized the papacy was not only a good thing but also a necessary and biblical one as well. First came the growing awareness that the current Pope, a man to whom I had never really paid attention, was not only a good man but also a great man of God. It continued with the startling recognition (aided, in large part, by reading the early Church Fathers) that the early Church was not Protestant or even democratic: It was Catholic and hierarchical.
I saw that the New Testament does not endorse an individualistic, “Jesus, the Bible and me” type of Christianity but a faith rooted in apostolic authority granted by Christ (Matthew 16:16-20, John 20:19-23) and passed on by the apostles to their successors (Acts 6:6, Acts 1:20-26, 2 Timothy 1:6). Historical and theological works helped answer related questions and fill in important details. These books included the Catechism of the Catholic Church, John Henry Newman's classic The Development of Christian Doctrine and a lesser-known work, The Office of Peter and the Structure of the Church by Hans Urs von Balthasar (made a cardinal by John Paul in the 1980s).
Reassessing my past criticisms of the papacy, I discovered a wealth of irony. I had once condemned the idea that a sinful man could make infallible statements, yet in many ways, as a non-Catholic, I implicitly believed in a host of my own “infallible” opinions and beliefs. I had once scorned the “fact” that Catholics mindlessly obeyed the pope's every word (how little I knew!), even as I hung on every sentence of certain teachers or pastors I had deemed worthy of my trust. I had disdained the pope's apparent power to change doctrine and dogma on a whim, even while I blithely ignored 2,000 years of tradition, theological acumen and wisdom. I realized that, for all the years I had laughed at the papacy, I had been making myself a pope and I was just one self-appointed pope among millions of others — each of us creating Christianity in our image.
It's a relief not being a “pope” anymore, and it's a joy to live during the pontificate of one of the greatest popes of all time. My only regret is that I didn't get to know the only true pope I've ever known a bit earlier in life.
Carl Olson, author of Will Catholics be ‘Left Behind’? and editor of Envoy magazine, writes from Eugene, Oregon.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carl E. Olson ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Breathing Alpine Air out of Both Lungs DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:How often Pope John Paul II has reminded us that the Catholic Church must “breathe with both lungs.” By this he means we in the West — with our Latin (or Roman) rite — cannot fail to appreciate the equality and importance of our sister Church in the East, with its Byzantine (or Eastern) rite.
In a small alpine valley in Austria, to the southwest of Vienna, a Catholic community strives to live out the Holy Father's entreaties in this area.
The Kartause community, as it is locally known, comprises three academic institutions — Ave Maria University, Franciscan University of Steubenville and the International Theological Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, a pontifical institute. The respective Austrian programs of these three schools bring together students, faculty and family members from Roman Catholic and Byzantine (or Greek) Catholic backgrounds in a truly catholic — and Catholic — setting.
Every day during the school year, this community celebrates the ancient Byzantine divine liturgy, Tridentine liturgy and the Mass of Vatican II in Latin, English or German, celebrated ad orientem (facing the people). Music includes Old Slavonic and Gregorian chant along with classical, guitar or a cap-pella choir.
Members of Kartause come from all over the world; their community thrives in a renovated Carthusian monastery dedicated to the enthronement of Mary: the 700-year-old Kartause Mariathron in Gaming, Austria. As recently as 20 years ago, the monastery was deserted and decaying. What a difference a community makes.
Boldly Baroque
Prior to its new life, the Kartause had a colorful (if forgotten) history. Suffice it to say that, by the 15th century, it was the largest Carthusian monastery in the world. The structural core has been preserved and today the original size and stature of this monastery are visible —although the buildings are now used for classes, seminars, conferences, student housing and a hotel/restaurant. The Gothic refrectory and other rooms have been restored to their former glory.
The original monks’ cells have since been converted to private housing and are viewable only from the outside.
The large Kloster Kirche, with its Gothic steeple towering over the complex, took a little more than 10 years to build. Ground was broken in 1330; the dedication followed in 1342. The steeple is a ridged turret with buttresses that support the superstructure. Originally there were two-storied chapels on either side of the steeple, next to the chancel. The North Chapel has since been remodeled and fitted out as the priest house, Haus Bruno. The South Chapel was originally used as the monastery's chapter room. Today, this chapel is used for perpetual Eucharistic adoration during the school year and as a quiet place of prayer, reflection and Mass year-round. Up a circular stairway above the Sacred Heart Chapel is another chapel; this is used for celebration of the Tridentine (Latin-language) Mass.
In 1453, after 100 years of use, the Kloster Kirche ceiling was lowered 20 feet for aesthetic and practical reasons. Three centuries later, the interior was done over in the Baroque style. Look up and you'll see that the dome over the altar depicts four early Church Fathers, while the ceiling frescoes above the center aisle depict the life of St. Bruno, founder of the Carthusian order.
At the time of the Church remodeling in 1742, many other rooms of the monastery complex were redone in the Baroque style. A remarkable example is the library, with its frescoes painted by Wenzel Lorenz Reiner from Prague. This renowned artist created a richly reverential atmosphere. The room is a mix of Peutenburg marble, cream walls and colorful frescoes depicting the early Church Fathers. There are also still-life paintings and other decorative elements.
Born-Again Buildings
The monastery suffered a severe setback during the Josephinian era of the late 1700s. Emperor Joseph II (1741-1790) ordered that all “unnecessary” religious orders disband. Because the Carthusian charism is one of study and prayer, the Gaming monastery was placed in this category and closed. Many of the furnishings and movable property, including the choir stalls and altar, were transferred to parishes, libraries and private collections throughout Austria. This also led to the eventual decline of the property.
Almost 200 years later, an Austrian architect, Walter Hildebrand, bought the property. The painstaking renovation of the complex began in 1983, a job not yet finished as there are many areas still needing repair. Restoration is ongoing on the facades, windows, roofs and the wall that encircles the Kartause complex. Hildebrand's vision for the Kartause is of a Catholic university combined with a religious community.
A museum shows pictures of the Kartause before, during and after the renovations to date. Also housed in the museum are artifacts (some replicas of originals) showing the amazing history of Carthusian influence in this alpine valley.
Today the once-glorious stature of this complex — a site built by human hands for the glorification of God — is again visible. Kartause Mariathron, once a center of spirituality and scholarship in Austria, is seeing a rebirth of spirituality and scholarship in the hundreds of students, faculty and visitors who pass through these ancient rooms each year.
Mary C. Gildersleeve writes from Central, South Carolina.
----- EXCERPT: Kartause Mariathron, Gaming, Austria ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mary C. Gildersleeve ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Stephen Ray: Following in God's Own Footsteps DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:Stephen Ray has traveled to Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Italy and Greece. Along the way, he's been arrested, thrown from a horse and laid in his own casket.
Is he re-enacting the adventures of a real-life Indiana Jones? No — just doing what it takes to produce Ignatius Press’ ambitious 10-part video series The Footprints of God: The Story of Salvation from Abraham to Augustine.
Ray spoke with Register staff writer Tim Drake upon the release of the fourth video in the series, Jesus: The Word Became Flesh.
How did the
When I took my family to see the Holy Land in 1995, I saw the profound effect it had on them. They came back fired up in their faith and for the Church. When they saw these places where these events took place, they realized that [the Gospel] was true. I joke that there are really five Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John — and the Holy Land.
In addition, one night I awoke suddenly at 2 a.m. and scared my wife, Janet, half to death. I told her we had to do a 10-part video series on the history of salvation from a Catholic perspective. She said, “You're crazy. Go back to sleep.” But I couldn't sleep. I typed out the outline for the series that evening. The next thing I knew, I was presenting the idea to Ignatius Press’ board. With all of the trouble going on in the Middle East, I felt this was a way I could go and bring it back to teach others.
What have been the most frightening moments during your travels?
At one point we had paid the Egyptian Air Force $15,000 to take us by helicopter out over the Red Sea. We were roped into the helicopter so we could hang out the open door getting our footage. At a crucial point, one of the airmen closed the door and said we couldn't take footage because it was a security area. Our camera guy got upset and pounded on the door. When he did so, the window popped out and fluttered down into the Red Sea. The crew turned the helicopter around and wanted to charge us $5,000 for the window, but I was able to use humor to get them to continue the trip.
Another time, while I was riding a horse, another stallion came from the opposite direction. There was an instant fight. My horse went up on his hind legs. I hit the ground with my black Arabian stallion flat on his back next to me.
I understand you were also arrested at one point.
Yes. While filming the Moses video, we went out into the wilderness and used some gasoline to start a bush on fire. The next thing I knew, the police came in a white jeep and took me down to their station. They wrote up a statement in Arabic that said I had broken one law and promised not to break any more. Unfortunately, we didn't have the footage we needed, so later that night we went farther into the wilderness, lit another bush and caught it on tape.
I understand you've also had some moments of divine intervention.
Yes, particularly while filming the Paul video. We had been trying for months to receive our permits and visas from Syria. I had already been to the Syrian embassy in Rome and they told us it takes diplomats six months to receive travel permits. I told them I would be back the next day for my permit. We were filming at Paul's tomb outside the walls and were scheduled to fly to Damascus the next day. The woman laughed at us, saying, “Who do you think you are, St. Paul, that God will do this miracle for you?”
We had been praying, “St. Paul, pray for us,” because we were quite concerned about obtaining the necessary permits to film in Damascus. While we were at Paul's tomb, my cell phone rang. It was the head of the Ministry of Information in Damascus. He said, “I would like to personally invite you to our country and will make all the necessary arrangements. Go to the Syrian embassy in Rome.” We sat there with our mouths hanging open in shock. So, with the minister's blessing, we went back to the embassy, obtained our permits and were in Syria the next day.
You've just completed the Jesus video. Tell me about it.
In the Jesus video I try to give a feel for how small of an area it was where Jesus lived and ministered. In one scene, I have my back to the camera with my hands raised. I say that Jerusalem is a feast for the eyes, but there was once a man who was blind from birth and couldn't see any of it. When the camera reveals my face, I have mud on my eyes, and my daughter leads me a half-mile away to the pool of Siloam.
Our goal is to help people understand what Christ's life was like. We also want to teach what it means for Jesus to be fully God and fully man. At one point I am sitting on a log and ask how Christ could be both God and man. I take a cut-up picture of Jesus and, as I put the puzzle pieces together in the dirt, I explain how the various heresies have attempted to split him apart. Through its definitions, I say, the Church gives us a fuller picture of Christ.
In the Crucifixion scenes we show a whip and a crown of thorns, and I carry a beam. If we do not understand the historical reality of the Crucifixion, we do not understand the price that was paid.
How has making the Jesus video given you a deeper appreciation of Christ?
When Jesus ascended, he went up into a cloud and back into glory. In making the video I became more impressed with Christ's love and humility — that he was willing to, and desired to, leave the comfort and perfection and majesty of heaven to become a human being. He acquired a physical body that he will have for eternity. He created and took on matter and lived here, and suffered, and underwent the humiliation of the cross. He took our sins upon himself and suffered for us. He leapt onto the cross, the battlefield, ready to do battle to defeat the enemy who had marred his creation.
What's next?
We hope to have Paul: Contending for the Faith by April, followed by videos on David and Solomon. We're also releasing the new videos in a DVD format with additional footage.
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video/DVD Picks DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:The Incredible Adventures of Wallace and Gromit (2001)
This wildly entertaining 2001 release is actually a compilation of Chicken Run co-creator Nick Park's three hilarious, brilliant clay-mation shorts featuring dotty, cheese-loving English inventor Wallace and his loyal but dubious dog Gromit.
Jam-packed with dazzlingly inventive sight gags and quintes-sentially eccentric British humor, these little gems deserve a place on every film lover's shelf.
First is “A Grand Day Out,” the slightest and least impressive of the three, with Park focused on developing his technique while working a feather-light story about a trip to the moon. Next is the series’ high point, “The Wrong Trousers,” an inventive sci-fi thriller spoof pitting our heroes against a fiendishly clever criminal mastermind who is also a master of disguise.
Last is the almost equally good “A Close Shave,” a comic tale of romance and noir-like mystery involving a sheep-rustling operation.
What makes Park's little masterpieces (especially the Oscar-winning latter two) so rewarding for film lovers is the way Park lovingly evokes whole genres and cinematic conventions through attention to every element of the moviemaking process — lighting and shadow, score, art direction, even pacing and timing. The stop-motion technique, involving real objects in real space under real lighting, has a dimensionality and a solidness still lacking in even the most sophisticated Toy Story computer animation.
Content advisory: Comic menace.
Say Amen, Somebody
(1983)
If the toe-tapping Gospel music of The Fighting Temptations appeals to you but you were put off by the negative Christian stereotypes and lack of even rote Hollywood spiritual uplift or pro-faith sentiment, treat yourself to this engaging, Gospel-infused documentary tribute to the black men and women who first began combining the heart and soul of Negro spirituals with the infectious rhythms of jazz and blues.
These include “Professor” Thomas Dorsey (1899-1993), the “Father of Gospel Music;” “Mother” Willie Mae Ford Smith (1904-1994) and numerous others. Avoiding educational-style narration, the documentary takes an appreciative approach, allowing the subjects to tell their own story in their own words.
Catholics familiar with more minimalist forms of fundamentalist worship might be struck by the quasi-liturgical and quasi-sacramental aspects of this charismatic subculture, including anointing with oil, clergy-like vestments complete with stoles and a ceremony with white drapes over the furnishings. And, given the tendency of Protestant worship to appear in Catholic eyes as entertainment-driven “shows,” there is poignance and irony in Dorsey and Ford's disapproval of the commercial main-streaming of Gospel music.
Ultimately, like Knox writing Enthusiasm, Catholics watching Say Amen, Somebody might find that this enthusiastic, stripped-down spirituality, though alien and truncated, is also familiar, with much to admire and appreciate.
Content advisory: Christianity in a fundamentalist mode; a possible misuse of the name of Jesus.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
Possibly the screwiest of all screwball comedies, My Man Godfrey is the ultimate Depression-era satire of the idle rich and tribute to the noble poor. This popular screwball theme was never more devastatingly realized than in Godfrey's opening sequence, which begins with a pair of spoiled society-brat sisters (Gail Patrick and Carole Lombard) showing up at a city dump looking for a “forgotten man” — as part of a cocktail-party scavenger hunt!
What they find is a derelict named Godfrey (William Powell), whose rumpled dignity, ironic cynicism and well-spoken, self-aware mien seem hardly typical of his station in life.
Finding one of the sisters less condescendingly offensive than the other, Godfrey accompanies her back to the party and winds up guardedly accepting a role in their sibling rivalry by becoming her “protégé” and the family butler. Godfrey, naturally, has a secret, as do his employers: They're completely daft.
Godfrey is social satire at its broadest; unlike Sullivan's Travels there is no nuance in the picture of the rich as less worthy than the poor.
And, between the heroine's relentless flightiness and the hero's implacable self-possession, the romantic ending seems more rote than romantic (compare to Bringing Up Baby or It Happened One Night). But for hilariously outrageous behavior and merciless satirical zaniness, Godfrey is an unsurpassed comic treasure.
Content advisory: Comic depiction of drunkenness and hangovers.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:All times Eastern
SUNDAY, NOV. 16
Emeril's Thanksgiving With Our Troops
Food Network, 9 p.m.
Chef Emeril Lagasse single-handedly (well, not quite) whips up a much-deserved Thanksgiving dinner for our military personnel at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey.
MON.-FRI., NOV. 17-21
Awesome Bible Adventures
EWTN, 4:30 a.m., 6 p.m. daily
Using dramatic action, special effects and teen-age hostess Julie's insights, this show seeks to increase kids’ love for God and the Bible. This week's stories are Noah, Moses and the Commandments, David, Joshua and the Fiery Furnace. Episodes next week, in the same time slots, are Samson, Lot, Moses and the Exodus, The Tower of Babel and The Miracles of Jesus.
TUESDAY, NOV. 18
Nova: Magnetic Storm
PBS, 8 p.m.
Earth's magnetic field has been deteriorating — more in the last 300 years than in the previous 5,000, says geologist John Shaw. This special tracks scientists’ studies into whether the magnetic poles could reverse in a few hundred years and whether Earth's magnetic field could even disappear someday, as happened on Mars long ago. Clues exist in the aurora bore-alis, lava, the iron levels in clay pottery — and special molten salt.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 19
Biography: The Home Depot
A&E, 8 p.m.
Arthur Bank and Bernie Marcus opened a warehouse-sized home-products store in 1979. Employee- and customer-friendly policies have helped them expand to 1,500 outlets. Other shows in this week's A&E “Shop Till You Drop Week,” Monday-Thursday, profile the founders of Sears, Macy's and Wal-Mart.
THURSDAY, NOV. 20
Life on the Rock
EWTN, 8 p.m.
Veteran sports reporter and columnist Wally Carew, a Register contributor, discusses Men of Spirit, Men of Sport, his book about his coach-Dad, priest-athletes and Catholic sports legends such as Bob Cousy, Stan Musial, Red Schoendienst and Roger Staubach.
FRIDAY, NOV. 21
The Mystery of Chaco Canyon
PBS, 10 p.m.
This special investigates why pre-Columbus Indians in and around this canyon in northwest New Mexico built sites whose locations reflect the cycles of the sun and moon. Some buildings are the size of the Colosseum in Rome. First aired in June 2000.
SATURDAY, NOV. 22
God Touches a Life:
St. Catherine Laboure,
Messenger of Mary Immaculate
EWTN, 8 p.m.
In 1830, the Blessed Mother visited St. Catherine Laboure (1806-1876) in the chapel of the Daughters of Charity on the Rue de Bac in Paris. This special, new on EWTN, tells how Mary Immaculate gave the Miraculous Medal to the world through a novice sister whose role as a messenger remained unknown during her religious life.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dan Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: New Course Introduces U.S. Clergy to Hispanic Culture DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:MEXICO CITY — If you're a priest and you go to Mexico to learn Spanish for your ministry, there's no better way to begin than by celebrating Mass at the main altar of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
You might not know much Spanish by then, but you'll be standing under the image of Our Lady, which was miraculously imprinted on the burlap-like poncho of a simple Indian more than 400 years ago.
From that moment on, you'll be under her mantle and you'll understand a lot about Hispanic culture. Not only is the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe all over the place in this vast country, but it's also profoundly imprinted on the hearts of the Mexican people.
Immersion in the Mexican lifestyle and religious experience is what a trip to Mexico this past summer was all about for Bishop Allen Vigneron of Oakland, Calif., and a group of priests from the United States. Upon arrival to Mexico City, the bishop and the diocesan priests celebrated their first Mass at the main altar of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe for thousands of pilgrims who came from Cuauhtitlśn, St. Juan Diego's birthplace, north of Mexico City.
“How impressed I was with Mexicans’ simple faith, fervor and devotion to priests,” said Father Robert Schriber, administrator of St. Mary Mother of the Church in Garner, N.C. “You could never learn these things from books in the United States.”
The diocesan priests from California, Illinois and North Carolina participated in the first Curso de Hispanidad that took place in Mexico this summer.
The course, sponsored by the Legionaries of Christ, is designed to actively involve priests in listening, reading, speaking, writing and understanding Spanish, with particular emphasis on its pastoral usage.
“I had never studied Spanish nor had I ever been in a Spanish-speaking nation,” said Bishop Vigneron, who became bishop of Oakland in October. “After a month in Mexico, I can understand much of the language, handle a simple conversation and celebrate the sacraments in fairly good Spanish. I delivered my first two homilies in Spanish at two Mexican parishes. I came back to Oakland confident that I could pas-torally minister to the 35% of my diocese's Catholic population who are Hispanics.”
Tutoring is essential to the program, tailoring its objectives and contents of the course to the skills and needs of each participant.
Father David Mulvihill, pastor of St. Mary of Humility in Zion, Ill., joined in order to celebrate the sacraments in Spanish. “I achieved that goal,” he said. “I was happy, moreover, to have learned the basics of Spanish grammar and an incredible amount of things about Hispanic culture.”
Hispanidad
Hispanidad — Hispanic culture and character — is the backbone of the course. “Even if you don't learn any Spanish,” said Father John Mulvihill, a judge on the Archdiocese of Chicago metropolitan tribunal and brother to Father David Mulvihill, “learning so much about Hispanics makes the course worth taking.”
The priests celebrated Mass in the cathedrals of Mexico City, Cuernavaca and Veracruz. They also said Mass in two parishes of Amecameca, a town south of Mexico City, where they baptized seven children and gave first Communion to more than 300. Everywhere they went, people welcomed them wholeheartedly, asked for blessings, kissed their priestly hands and offered hospitality.
“Mexican hospitality is overwhelming,” Father David Mulvihill remarked.
Legionary of Christ Father Alfonso Aguilar, director of the program, provided participants with Spanish grammar and pastoral textbooks, a dictionary, a Bible in Spanish, a ritual de los sacramentos (the rites for sacraments), a book of blessings, missalettes, liturgical documents, maps, tapes with Spanish homilies and a variety of other practical materials. He taught Spanish grammar and how to celebrate each of the sacraments in Spanish.
Other professors led seminars on aspects of Hispanidad, including the history and culture of Latin America, the complex social and political situation in Latin American countries, Hispanic religious life and popular devotions. Additional lectures dealt with different aspects of Our Lady of Guadalupe taught by Msgr. José Luis Guerrero and Father Fidel GonzÁlez, postulators of St. Juan Diego's cause for canonization, as well as José Aste Tönsmann, a scholar who, after examining Our Lady's tilma for more than 20 years, has identified 13 people relected in each of the Virgin's pupils.
The program also integrated relaxation and cultural experiences. Guided by experts, the bishop and priests visited Mexico City's historic center, Xochimilco, and the complex of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe; the cities of Puebla and Cholula in the state of Puebla; Córdoba and Veracruz in the state of Veracruz; Taxco in Guerrero; and Cuernavaca in Morelos.
They also visited the first churches, convents and religious centers ever built on the American continental soil as well as the famous pyramids of TeotihuacÁn (state of México), Cacaxtla (state of Tlaxcala) and Cempoala (state of Veracruz), where they watched the celebrated flyers of Papantla, who perform a pre-Hispanic ritual dedicated to the Sun God.
All meals consisted of typical Mexican dishes (with optional chiles and spicy salsas). No one ever got sick.
“We loved to learn about the variety of foods, fruits and drinks,” Father John Mulvihill said. “We always enjoyed eating at typical Mexican restaurants, sometimes accompanied by festive mariachis.”
What was the Curso de Hispanidad's unique feature?
“The priestly character,” Bishop Vigneron said. “I could have taken a similar course with other programs like Berlitz, but I would have missed the priestly and pastoral approach we had.”
Father Joseph Looney agreed.
“Every day we concelebrated Mass and prayed Vespers in Spanish before the Blessed Sacrament,” said the pastor of St. Margaret's parish in Waterbury, Conn. “We lived these days in a friendly, priestly environment. I really enjoyed it. I will keep in touch with my fellow students.”
The bishop and priests were given a diploma on Hispanidad accredited by AnÁhuac del Sur University in Mexico City at a graduation ceremony Aug. 22.
“But we received much more than a certificate,” Father David Mulvihill said. “We received many graces, deep religious and cultural experiences, terrific lessons. We made loads of wonderful friends. I hope hundreds of priests will join this program in the years ahead. My brother and I will retake it in a year or two.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: A Papal Apologia from the 'Russian Newman' DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:The Russian Church
and the Papacy
by Vladimir Soloviev
Catholic Answers
203 pages, $11.95
To order: (888) 291-8000
www.catholic.com
The Eastern Orthodox theologian Vladimir Soloviev (1853-1900) has been described as a Russian John Henry Newman. The comparison is appropriate. Both were brilliant theologians and learned in early Church history. Both had an unflinching devotion to the truth. Newman, of course, became a Catholic; Soloviev's exact relationship with the Catholic Church in his later years is unclear. However, in Soloviev's firm apologetic for the papacy, there is the same keen logic and broad vision one finds in Newman — a clarity rooted in a combination of scholarly brilliance and contemplative intensity.
Soloviev argues that the rejection of the papacy by any Eastern Orthodox is theologically and historically unwarranted. The Incarnation, the perfect union of the divine and human, is the decisive starting point in this matter. That union, Soloviev writes, finds “its social realization in Christian humanity, in which the divine is represented by the Church, centered in the supreme pontiff, and the human by the state.” The divine, being eternal and timeless, is superior to the human. “Heresy [in the early Church] attacked the perfect unity of the divine and the human in Jesus Christ precisely in order to undermine the living bond between Church and state, and to confer upon the latter an absolute independence.” This core concept is unpacked during an excursion through the first centuries of the Church, racked by a succession of heresies attacking the divine-human relationship found in the person of Jesus Christ. Soloviev shows that these heresies — Nestorianism, Monophysitism, Monothelitism, etc. — were continually supported by “the majority of the Greek clergy” while they were consistently opposed by the Chair of St. Peter.
Originally written for an Eastern Orthodox readership, Soloviev's insights and warnings should resonate powerfully with Christians looking for some of the reasons J behind the disunity in Christendom today. He is especially strong in m criticizing the run Orthodox of his day for refusing to “plunge into the mire of history,” some- — thing he commends the Western Church for doing. He writes: “The Eastern [Church] prays, the Western prays and labors. Which of the two is right?”
He excoriates those members of the clergy who confuse the Church with the state and end up with national churches that “are simply state churches entirely without any kind of ecclesiastical freedom.” It is a chilling remark considering it was written just decades before communism overtook Russia with hardly any protest from the churches there — a reminder of the dangers of subordinating the eternal beneath the temporal. Making a point appropriate for any and all groups who sever their relationships with Rome, Soloviev asks, “Why has not the East set up a true ecumenical council in opposition to those of Trent or the Vatican?” Only the unity and authority located and focused in the papacy provides for truly universal Church governance and structure.
In an especially strong passage, the Russian theologian points out that Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants all share the same goal: “the perfectly free and inward union of men with the Godhead and with one another.” So, he asks, how are these different groups attempting to realize this goal? Catholics ldres- choose to cross the proverbial sea in “a large and seaworthy vessel built by a famous master, navigated by a skillful pilot …” Protestants each form their own small “cockle-shell” and pursue their indi-vidualistic course with great freedom but with little direction. Those Orthodox opposed to Rome, Soloviev caustically asserts, “maintain that the best way of reaching harbor is to pretend that you are there already.”
Hardly an idealist, Soloviev recognized the many problems and struggles within the Catholic Church. But he also believed the papacy was divinely founded on St. Peter and the gates of hell would not prevail against the Church united upon that divinely protected rock. If asked to recast Newman's famous remark about Protestantism and history, the Russian might have said, “To be deep in history is to cease to be an anti-papist.”
Carl Olson, editor of Envoy magazine, writes from Eugene, Oregon.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carl E. Olson ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:Abortion Protest
St. Xavier's Web site noted that the lecture will focus on how Edgar stayed “purposeful and passionate about his job” as well as how he used “the moral compass that guides him in making personal and professional decisions.”
State Sen. Patrick O'Malley, a member of the board of the Sisters of Mercy's university, asked, “How does one remain ‘purposeful and passionate’ when looking the other way as innocent human life is taken?”
Pontifical Scholar
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE, Oct. 30 — Pope John Paul II has named Kevin Ryan, founder of the Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character at Boston University's School of Education, to be a member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
The Vatican news service reported that Ryan, 71, has focused his research since the 1960s on moral education and the development of personality.
He has written 18 books, including Reclaiming Our Schools: A Handbook for Teaching Character.
Going Coed
KVAI, Oct. 29 — Pennsylvania's Immaculata University will become coeducational in the fall of 2005, reported the ABC affiliate in Philadelphia.
The university in Chester County has been an all-women's school since its founding in 1920 by the Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
School officials say the change was prompted by a shrinking pool of prospective students. They cited a report showing that just 4% of female high school students even consider attending an all-women's college.
Non-Fighting Irish
CHRONICLE.COM, Oct. 29 — The University of Notre Dame has received $50 million, its largest gift ever, in a bequest from Joan Kroc, the philanthropist and widow of the founder of McDonald's, Ray Kroc, reported the Web site of The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The bequest will establish the Theodore M. Hesburgh Fund for Graduate Peace Studies in honor of the Holy Cross priest and former president of Notre Dame.
The endowment will support additional graduate faculty and staff members in the university's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, established in 1986 with the first of several gifts from Joan Kroc, who died in October.
Her overall donations to Notre Dame total $69.1 million.
Stepping Down
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Oct. 31 — Msgr. William Kerrwill step down next summer following a tenure of 12 years as president of the Sisters of Divine Providence's La Roche College in suburban Pittsburgh.
In addition to doubling the size of incoming classes and the construction of new campus buildings, Msgr. Kerr is credited with starting the Pacem in Terris program, named for Blessed Pope John XXIII's 1963 encyclical on world peace.
The program offers free college education to youths from war-torn or developing nations.
Living Room
THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE, Nov. 2 — The school in Santa Paula, Calif., broke ground Nov. 2 on its final residence hall, which is scheduled for completion next August.
The event marks the halfway point of the college's seven-year, $75 million campaign to expand the campus and increase the 33-year-old school's endowment.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joe Cullen ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Family Matters DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:The Wife's Birthday
Q
My husband has many fine qualities, but attentiveness to my birthday and our anniversary isn't one of them. He remembers, but I keep hoping for a better display of love and thoughtfulness. I go all out for his birthday, but he doesn't seem to appreciate it. How can I get him to do better?
A
Ah, a classic! Nothing illustrates the difference between the sexes than the way we approach special occasions. Many wives are frustrated by the lack of a husband's learning curve when it comes to these otherwise joyful events. Not only does this usually responsible, loving man never fail to disappoint, but he also misses the big hints his wife drops by her example on his birthday. Exasperated, the loving wife wonders why she even bothers.
Let's first issue a disclaimer: Not all men and women are wired in the way we are about to describe. However, allow us to paint an all-too-familiar picture. It's Christmas, and Suzy is excited about Stan's gift for her. Never mind that he has an underwhelming track record; this could be his breakthrough year. Ever hopeful, she's had her eye on a new necklace and a blouse, and even mentioned it once. When the big moment finally arrives, Stan proudly reveals his gift: a brand-new set of tires for Suzy's car!
Stan is taken aback by Suzy's disappointment; after all, it was she who mentioned the car's need for tires, and they weren't cheap. (Don't laugh — this actually happened in Tom's family, but the names have been changed to protect the guilty.)
How does this happen? A husband knows his wife well but isn't entirely confident about what she would like as a gift. Some guys fear those jewelry and perfume counters. To make matters worse, she doesn't want to spell it out entirely for him. “He should be able to figure it out,” she reasons. So, not wanting to guess wildly and wrongly about what kind of jewelry is appropriate or which blouse is flattering, the husband sticks with what he knows. And he ends up buying a gift that seems perfect to him — and perfectly awful to her.
The fundamental difficulty seems to be this: A man mistakes what would please him for what he thinks will please her. Put another way, because he knows it would please him, he thinks it ought to please her as well.
The remedy is remarkably simple. Communicate and tell your spouse, in no uncertain terms, what would please you. We suspect he'd love to have it spelled out so he can spend less time fishing for ideas — and more time finding something he is sure will make you happy. Okay, it isn't as romantic as being surprised by the perfect gift, but it's no secret that the typical guy's intuition isn't fine-tuned to the typical woman's emotional makeup.
Give him a fighting chance (in other words, a shopping list) and he might just wow you.
P.S. Hey men: Presentation is everything. Ditch the funny pages and use gift wrap or a gift bag with matching tissue paper.
Tom and Caroline MacDonald are family-life directors for the Archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tom and Caroline Macdonald ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: FAITH FORTIFIES DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:Facts of Life
A new survey on religious beliefs, drawing on the views of more than 4,300 people from all around the world, shows that religion outranks politics in importance to individuals — and that people think politics, not religion, fuels violence. “Religion is far more important to people than politics,” said John Zogby, president of Zogby International, the firm that conducted the survey along with the University of Rochester's religion department. “Religion is hardly a mandate for extremism,” the pollster added. “People see it as a good thing that produces good values.”
Register Illustration by Tim Rauch
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Trials and Joys of a Large Family DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:‘Are these all yours? How do you handle it? You're done now, right? You've got your hands full!’
If you're a parent in a family with more than three children, you've heard those questions. And worse. From complete strangers. Everywhere you go as a family.
If the unwanted attention and intrusions into your personal life have you and your spouse down, take heart. Borrow a page from the playbook of Catholic families who are turning the negative, secular hen-pecking into opportunities for joyful Christian witnessing.
Take Michael and Maria O'Rourke of Indianapolis. When out with their four boys and two girls, they're always well-armed with big smiles and ready-to-use positive comments.
“We have these quick one-liners,” says Michael. For instance, when strangers commonly say, “You've got your hands full,” they flash their pearly whites and answer: “Yes, full of love. And we love it!”
To the pointed interrogator demanding to know “how many more” they're going to have, their standard reply is: “We're leaving it up to God.”
Maria says the comments aren't all bad anyway — and the few encouraging words more than compensate for the many disparaging. “One Sunday a lady behind us at Mass said, ‘It's always such a delight to see you at Mass. We feel like we've won the lottery when your family sits in front of us.’”
Traveling together, the family never goes unnoticed. “We have the opportunity to preach the gospel of life just by being there,” says Michael.
Mark Fiorentino of Flowery Branch, Ga., welcomes the opportunity to show off his growing family unit among the acquaintances he's with nearly every day: his co-workers. When people notice the picture in his office of himself, his wife Nancy and their five children — and find out he's Catholic — “they'll ask questions and, kind of joking, always come to the Church's teaching on sexuality,” he says. One day, with a group of 10 workers, “my Catholic sexuality became the topic of conversation.”
“I'm not afraid to talk about God,” Fiorentino says. “They may agree or disagree, since a lot are considering having more pets and animals than children,” he says, “but at least they walk out with what the Catholic Church really teaches: You shouldn't separate the sexual act from the procreative act.”
Wife Nancy's “most memorable comment” came from a checkout lady in a grocery store. “She went off on how she hated children, how all children were brats and how she hoped she never had any,” Nancy recalls. The woman railed on in front of the children. But the placid mother disarmed the clerk.
“In a calm tone, I told her my children were not at all like that,” recalls Nancy. “They have manners.” Taken aback, the clerk said, “Oh I didn't mean to offend you.”
On the other hand, “There are people who pat me on the back and congratulate me,” she mentions. “One said, ‘I have seven and I wish I had four more.’”
When Father Leo Patalinghug at St. John Church in Westminster, Md., was looking for married couples to work with pre-Cana marriage-preparation groups, he found the majority to be happy, joyful people who love the married life. “They were parents of large families,” he adds. “I was edified.”
The size of the families they met shocked some engaged couples. “Today's young couples are trained by society that children are an inconvenience,” says Father Patalinghug, but the example of the mentor parents “showed them you can be joyful; there's a correlation between happy families and children.”
Yes, there are practical inconveniences to deal with. Take finding a hotel that treats big families as a single unit — if you can find any. On a visit to western New York, the Fiorentinos found two major chains that wanted to split the family into two rooms for $200. What did they do? Kept looking. “By the grace of God,” says Mark, we found an older (chain motel) that put us in one room and charged us $75. There are still glimmers of hope.”
Matthew and Maureen Skurski in Pleasant Prairie, Wisc., are parents of five boys and five girls, ranging in age from 1 to 21. Maureen gets the regular remarks with a twist. People size the children up and down, then ask, “Do you all have the same last name?” What they're suggesting, Maureen says, is that one of the Skurskis must have had some of the kids in a previous marriage.
Her response to unsolicited questions and comments is usually a subtle expression communicating that she needs more patience with adults who say such things than she needs with her children.
And she lets her family's love for one another do the talking. “When you're trying to raise your kids Catholic, people expect them to be saints,” she adds. “Being human, they're saints in the making, but not there yet. God didn't bring us together to be a perfect family, but one willing to forgive and share and grow and learn together in love.”
In Nashville, Tenn., Bill and Marie Bellet are parents of seven boys and one girl, ages 3 to 15. As a popular Catholic singer-songwriter, Marie uses a unique way to answer people's challenges at the same time she bolsters other big families. She examines society's attitudes in her songs such as “What I Wanted to Say,” in which she deals with what she later thought of telling people in grocery lines who questioned the number and spacing of her children, especially when she was pregnant.
For her it's a moment for witness. “When our culture sees someone willing to take a risk and trust in love and life,” she says, “that's a witness to hope, a sign of contradiction.”
Bellet believes a sense of humor and play is essential. “To have a large family is to be playful and take risks and to laugh,” she says. “The kids keep you playful, and that approach to life brings me a lot of happiness. It's part of the sign of contradiction.” And it often melts people's challenges. “It's what happens naturally with the kids.”
When someone in the grocery line has nostrils flaring and a cynical look, Bellet puts her readymade plan into action. “I sometimes ask them to help me with one of them. It actually makes them interact with the kids,” she says. “I know they're going to get a kick out of it.” Most of the time it works. Elderly folks and men melt. Well-dressed women are the hardest to convince.
“If the child is asking for candy and you say No, a lot of the things the kids say are funny,” Bellet notices. Especially when she asks older siblings to help. “What gets laughs from the people,” she says, “is to see the older kids tell the younger ones why they can't have it.”
She finds the “audience” takes its cue from you, the parent, if you're watching the playfulness and the humor of your children in a loving way.
“If you really look at this as part of your apostolate, you know those exchanges are coming and you can be prepared for them,” says Bellet. “For a lot of people it's their only contact with big families or children.”
And, quite possibly, their only chance to hear the gospel of life preached without anyone having to say a word about it.
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Scholar, Officer, Priest DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:Priest Profile
What a Rhodes scholarship and a commission in the U.S. Navy couldn't do for Msgr. Stuart Swetland, the Catholic faith and priesthood did.
He became a Catholic while studying at Oxford University in England because he found peace and certainty in the teachings and traditions of the Church. He became a priest because of his love for Jesus in the Eucharist.
Ordained in 1991 for the Diocese of Peoria, Ill., Msgr. Swetland is director of the Newman Foundation and chaplain to Catholic students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is an associate professor at the secular university and serves the diocese as vicar for social justice.
The Newman Foundation, which was founded at the university in the 1920s, is campus ministry writ large. The foundation operates two dorms, Newman House and Newman Hall, which house 335 students, and administers St. John's Catholic Chapel and the Institute for Catholic Thought. Msgr. Swetland teaches a three-credit course in religious studies that is open to all students.
Up to 3,000 students attend one of the six weekend Masses at the chapel. Three Masses are offered each weekday and, the monsignor says, “There are long lines for confession.”
Jennifer Cutts, a senior majoring in physics, says Msgr. Swetland “is an extremely effective and dynamic leader, and he is highly regarded and widely respected by students at St. John's.” She remarked on “his insightful and often entertaining homilies, his effectiveness as a teacher, [and] his kindness and sensitivity as a confessor or spiritual director.”
Cutts was a Lutheran when she got involved with the Newman group and “came to the realization that God was calling me into full communion with the Catholic Church. This was an extremely difficult time for me, but it really helped to have Monsignor to talk to.” “Monsignor has done more for the spiritual and intellectual body of the university than anyone I can think of,” says Josh Shasserre, an Illinois graduate who is now at Ave Maria Law School in Ann Arbor, Mich. “Not only has he made the Catholic voice on campus stronger through gathering more faithful into his flock but also by powerfully speaking out on moral and ethical issues.”
The power of Msgr. Swetland's intellect is attested to by Princeton University professor Robert George, one of the nation's leading law scholars who also served on President Bush's bioethics panel. George met Msgr. Swetland while also studying at Oxford, and he served as Swetland's sponsor when he was received into the Catholic Church in 1984.
“Msgr. Swetland possesses the twin gifts of superior intellect and a profound faith in Jesus Christ,” George says. “Faith and reason are integrated in his life in precisely the way Pope John Paul II says they should be. They are ‘the two wings on which the human spirit ascends to contemplation of the truth.’”
Msgr. Swetland recalls “long dinners” at Oxford, talking with George and Dermot Quinn, now a professor of history at Seton Hall University. Msgr. Swetland had been brought up in a devoutly Protestant home but began to question the Protestant interpretation of Scripture and authority while he was an undergraduate at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he majored in physics. At Oxford, he studied liberal arts and found that Catholic thinkers had the best answers to his searching questions.
“I started to go to Catholic Mass and to pray,” he recalls. “I was drawn to something there in church. I didn't realize it at the time, but it was the Real Presence. My skepticism was overcome.
“The biggest question for me was authority,” he adds. “What makes you a Catholic is not that you agree with what the Church teaches. You can agree but not have faith. You truly become a Catholic when you believe that Church teaching is inspired by the Holy Spirit. It's a whole different level of assent.”
After earning a master's degree in politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford, he continued his naval career, serving as a lieutenant in the Mediterranean in the 1980s. He sought and received an honorable discharge in 1987 and, in January 1988, entered Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. After ordination he studied at the John Paul II Institute for the Study of Family and Marriage in Washington, D.C., earning a licentiate in moral theology and a doctorate in Catholic social teaching. He served as chaplain at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., and pastor of a parish before coming to the Newman Foundation in 1997.
“This college generation is really interested in what the Church has to say,” he says. “We proclaim here quite openly the teachings regarding sexuality, based on John Paul II's theology of the body, including chastity and natural family planning. The young people wonder why nobody ever told them these things before.
“We emphasize the basic teachings of Jesus: he lived, died and rose. In his life and death, he taught us how to live and die. He teaches us an adult commitment, to pour out ourselves for others. We stress that everybody is called to holiness.”
The results have been impressive. Since 1997, some 40 Newman men have begun seminary studies and 10 Newman women have entered religious life.
Shawn Reeves, a 1999 graduate who found his vocation in marriage, serves as director of religious education for the Newman Foundation on campus.
“Every year I see hearts changed and lives given meaning through the RCIA program,” Reeves says. “Students yearn more and more for meaning and knowledge of the truth.”
Msgr. Swetland, who has traveled the inquirer's route himself, is there to guide them.
Stephen Vincent is based in Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 11/16/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 16-22, 2003 ----- BODY:Island Official Joins Protest
Sept. 26 — It's a picture the St. Lucia government would have preferred not to view: its home-affairs minister, Sara Flood-Beaubrun, walking alongside more than 2,500 citizens. The government might not have minded, but these citizens were protesting plans to amend the criminal code to allow abortion in certain cases, including rape and incest.
Flood-Beaubrun broke protocol by participating in the demonstration as a member of the cabinet.
“It would be sad if it had to come to me losing my job over this, but I am prepared to lose my job and more for this cause,” she said.
The government says it has temporarily shelved the introduction of the legislation in order to provide for more public debate.
Flood-Beaubrun said time should be used to educate citizens, “including cabinet ministers, on the real evil of abortion and what it really means.”
No Contraceptive Pesos
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Oct. 23 — Pro-life Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has diverted 70 million pesos ($1.5 million) allocated for contraceptives to natural family planning, sparking the complaints of a U.N. official.
“They used the money for natural family planning instead of contraceptives,” said Florence Tayzon, assistant representative of the United Nations Population Fund in Manila.
Taiwan to Ban Death Penalty
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Oct. 27 — Taiwan's government is drafting legislation to abolish the death penalty, a cabinet official said.
In October 2002, President Chen Shui-bian announced that Taiwan would gradually phase out capital punishment.
The presidential office said Oct. 27 the move to abolish the death penalty would ensure the right to life to everyone, including convicted criminals.
Born Alive in Wisconsin
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Oct. 24 — The Wisconsin Senate has approved a bill that would insure babies “born alive” after abortion attempts have the same legal right to live as any other human being.
The Senate voted 31-to-1 to pass the bill. It would define “live birth” and “born alive” under state statutes for the first time.
The state Assembly already approved the bill unanimously. It now goes to Gov. Jim Doyle for signing.
Under the bill, being “born alive” means being completely extracted from a mother's womb and taking a breath, having a heartbeat or moving voluntary muscles. That's regardless of whether the extraction occurs as a result of labor, a Cesarean section or an abortion.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Bishops' Plan: Engage Public Pro-Abortion Catholics DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — U.S. Catholic bishops are trying to decide just what should be done about pro-abortion politicians who profess to be Catholic.
Discussion about the issue came during an annual fall meeting in which the bishops grappled with several issues that pit the Church against popular and progressive culture in the United States, including same-sex unions, contraception and socially responsible investment.
Also on their agenda was consideration of stewardship, farm issues and liturgical matters. (See stories, page 3.)
The meeting, initially scheduled for Nov. 10-13, finished one day early as the bishops moved up their scheduled items of business to conclude at the end of the day Nov. 12.
A new task force will develop guidelines on how bishops should respond to Catholic politicians and others in positions of public influence who espouse abortion and other positions counter to Church teaching while claiming allegiance to the Catholic faith.
The guidelines, which are not expected to be in final form until after the 2004 elections, are meant to help bishops make distinctions between “respect for the office and approval of the officeholder … to distinguish between fundamental moral principles and prudential judgments on the application of those principles,” said Bishop John Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., chairman of the task force charged with addressing the issue.
Pete Vere, a canon lawyer and author in Florida, said “it's about time” the bishops took action in this sphere.
Vere hopes bishops conclude that politicians who advocate abortion should no longer receive Communion unless and until they repent.
“We have people publicly cloaked in Catholicism who are caving in to pressure from an issue that appeals to a hedonistic, depraved culture,” Vere said. “Prelates should let it be known that if you prostitute for votes by supporting abortion, then no, you are not welcome to receive Communion — for the sake of your own soul. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Gospel of life, and abortion is the anti-Eucharist.”
Vere said one hurdle for bishops is the fact that canon law doesn't tell them specifically what to do with politicians who support abortion. Rather, the canons deal only with those who participate directly in abortion.
However, Canon 915 states: “those … who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Communion.”
Presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., has cited the “separation of church and state” in arguing that his Catholic faith should not affect his vote on matters of abortion. An array of other pro-abortion politicians — including outgoing California Gov. Gray Davis and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. — make similar arguments.
Moral Content
Bishops who favor some form of sanctions, however, don't buy those arguements. Religion is morality, argues Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput, and all legislation is based in morality. If politicians didn't legislate morality, he insisted, the United States would still have racist segregation and no Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“All law has a moral content,” Archbishop Chaput told the Register. “That's what law is: the codified ‘ought tos' of a community. So it's perfectly natural and necessary to legislate morality. In a democracy, different moral viewpoints struggle peacefully, somebody wins and their view becomes the law. To behave otherwise is to behave disloyally to the purposes of a democracy. So whenever I hear Catholic politicians claiming that they can't ‘impose’ their Catholic convictions on society, I know right away that either they're not very bright or not very honest.”
If bishops ultimately decide to impose sanctions, Archbishop Chaput said they should involve a series of private steps between the politician and the respective bishop.
“The first, second, third and fourth steps in a bishop's approach should always be private persuasion of the individual politician over a reasonable period of time,” Archbishop Chaput said. “But I would never rule out public penalties. The believing community has the right to clear witness. A publicly obstinate Catholic politician who dismisses Church teaching on a vital issue has already separated himself or herself from the faith. Confirming that publicly may very well become an obligation for the bishop.”
Former Congressman Bob Schaffer, a Colorado Republican, said he allowed his Catholic morality to affect every decision he made as a politician and still managed to be elected three times before abiding by a self-imposed term-limit pledge that took effect in January.
As a politician, Schaffer said he approached priests and bishops on several occasions to suggest they take some form of action to address Catholic politicians who were voting in favor of abortion.
“I know of several conversations that have taken place between priests and politicians that never saw the light of public attention,” Schaffer told the Register. “I'm not convinced that denying a politician Communion or that a woodshed meeting ought to be done for the purposes of making a public statement. However, there comes a point at which a public statement provides tremendous encouragement for Catholics.”
Regardless of what bishops ultimately decide to do with pro-abortion politicians, Schaffer said the laity must take a more active role in calling to task societal leaders who advocate abortion and profess to be Catholic.
“Every Catholic has a moral obligation to confront the Catholic politician who's reckless with his or her moral authority,” Schaffer said.
Defending Marriage
On another issue involving sexual morality, the bishops overwhelmingly approved a short teaching document Nov. 12 on why same-sex unions should not be given the social or legal status of marriage. The bishops were told that rapid developments on the issue across the country led the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop's Administrative Committee in September to seek development of the statement in time for the November meeting.
The 2,000-word statement, “Between Man and Woman: Questions and Answers About Marriage and Same-Sex Union,” states that marriage between a man and a woman is God's plan, seen in nature and in divine Revelation. It was approved in a 234-3 vote.
But consideration of same-sex marriage was not the only issue the bishops took up in an effort to save the institution of marriage.
During a discussion about publishing a simple brochure for popular use explaining the Church's teaching on contraception, Bishop Joseph Martino of Scranton, Pa., described the use of artificial contraception as a silent marriage-killer in much the same way that high blood pressure is considered a silent killer of people. The consensus of the meeting was that too many Catholics misunderstand and ignore the teaching.
In a voice vote Nov. 12, the bishops approved authorizing their Committee on Pro-Life Activities to prepare the brochure, which would also describe morally acceptable alternatives. It is expected to be ready for comment, amendment and approval at the bishops' meeting next November.
Since 1991, the manufacture of contraceptives, as well as the providing of abortions, has been one of many considerations preventing the bishops' conference from investing money in certain companies.
The bishops Nov. 12 adopted an updated version of their guidelines to help them avoid investments in companies and organizations engaged in activities against Catholic teaching. The update adds new areas of concern, including embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning, pornography, land-mine production, biotechni-cal research, labor sweatshops, human rights and predatory lending.
The abortion section now includes prohibitions against companies “involved in the manufacture of abortifacients and publicly held health care companies that perform elective abortions.”
Wayne Laugesen is based in Boulder, Colorado.
(Catholic News Service contributed to this report.)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: A Catholic in Camelot? DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:The news was so jolting, those old enough to remember it can easily relive the very moment they heard the words. President John F. Kennedy was dead. An assassin's bullet ended the first Catholic president's life on that “dark day in November” in Dallas.
Kennedy had cleared a cumbersome political path for Catholics. No longer just a voting bloc in coalition politics, Catholics got the go-ahead for the top leadership post. But what type of leadership followed that pivotal moment in history?
Some locate the roots of public dissent from Catholic moral teaching in JFK's approach. What is Kennedy's legacy to Catholics involved in public life?
As the 40th anniversary of the Nov. 22, 1963, assassination approached, Register correspondent Marjorie Dannenfelser asked Princeton University McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence Robert George about Catholics in politics after JFK.
John F. Kennedy's ascendancy was the culmination of Catholic efforts to solidify political acceptance in the United States. Once president, how did his assurances to the nation regarding the secondary role his Catholic faith would play to his presidency undercut that struggle?
In fact, Kennedy himself did not face major issues on which any of his political goals were in conflict with the Catholic faith. The issues he mentioned in his famous speech to the Protestant ministers in Texas — issues such as birth control and divorce — were governed by state, rather than federal, law.
The significance of Kennedy's promise not to let his “private” faith affect his “public” duties would be felt years later when politicians such as Mario Cuomo would cite Kennedy in rationalizing their support for abortion and other evils condemned by Catholic moral teaching.
One must remember that the people Kennedy was seeking to placate or reassure were, in the main, not secularists but Protestants. As preposterous as it now seems — and indeed it was preposterous — many Protestants feared Kennedy would invite the Pope to dictate the public policy of the United States.
How was it possible for Kennedy or anyone to serve two masters — the Constitution and the Holy Father?
There is no conflict between the two. Properly interpreted, there is nothing in the Constitution that a Catholic should reject. Those constitutional doctrines that are incompatible with Catholic faith have been manufactured by willful judges.
For example, there is no right to abortion in the Constitution. The Supreme Court created such a right out of whole cloth in what Justice [Byron] White called an exercise of “raw judicial power.” The Holy Father has praised America's constitutional principles and challenged us as a people to live up to them. Mother Teresa did the same.
Catholics now number 125 in the U.S. House. Of those, 72 are Democrats. Less than half of those Catholic Democrats (29) voted for the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban. How does the sublimation of Catholic moral teaching in public life evidence itself in Catholic political involvement today — especially in JFK's own Democratic Party?
It is manifest above all in the almost complete collapse of support for the pro-life cause among Catholic politicians who are members of the Democratic Party. Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate, and Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House, are both Catholics. Yet both are dedicated supporters of abortion.
Indeed, it is hard to think of a nationally prominent Democrat, Catholic or otherwise, who is pro-life. At this point, the Democratic Party, from the pro-life point of view, is nearly a dead loss.
[Cuomo's misuse of Kennedy's words] provided the basic premise for the pernicious — and absurd — proposition that one may be “personally opposed” to abortion yet support its unrestricted legalization and even its public funding. The philosophical roots of Cuomoism are in Kennedy's speech to the Protestant ministers in Texas.
Would you explain “Cuomoism” and how it has lead to a misreading of the Constitution?
Cuomoism begins from a misinterpretation of the Constitution as requiring the privatization of religious and even moral beliefs. These, Cuomo insists, are to have no bearing on one's decisions as a public official. One's “personal” judgment that an act or practice is immoral cannot serve as a legitimate ground for its prohibition. [Thus, he famously claimed to be “personally opposed” to abortion but “pro-choice.”]
Of course, Cuomo himself violated these strictures in vetoing the death penalty when he was governor of New York. When confronted with this blatant contradiction of his own principles, he absurdly claimed his opposition to capital punishment — which he denounced as “unfair, degenerate, degrading, dehumanizing,” etc. — involved no moral judgment.
How does Pope John Paul II's approach to faith in public life (articulated in the Vatican's recent “Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life”) contrast with this secularist approach?
The Pope's view is that citizens and public officeholders have a solemn duty to act in the political sphere to honor the sanctity of life and preserve the integrity of marriage and the family. These are not merely “private” concerns. They are matters of public responsibility. They are not morally optional.
Citizens and politicians who support abortion and the deconstruction of marriage fail in their most fundamental civic responsibilities. These responsibilities are in no way uniquely Catholic; they apply to all citizens and all public officeholders. They are matters of natural law and the common good.
Yet there is a special scandal when Catholic citizens and politicians support abortion and other forms of grave injustice.
Why single out abortion and marriage as primary areas of Catholic involvement?
Because the sanctity of life and the dignity of marriage and the family are the most important issues of our time. These principles are under massive assault from powerful forces in elite sectors of the culture — including the universities, the media, leading professional associations and the entertainment industry. Even the mainline Protestant churches have in many cases compromised these principles.
The Catholic Church still stands fast in its support, but some of her own clergy and theologians have gone over to the other side. Interestingly, the cultural struggle to protect the unborn and to preserve the institution of marriage has united orthodox Catholics, evangelical Protestants and observant Jews in an unprecedented alliance. The Baptist theologian Timothy George [no relation] calls it “the ecumenism of the trenches.”
What sort of impact did Kennedy's presidency have upon the courts?
Kennedy's judicial appointments were, on the whole, not bad. It should be recalled that Byron White, one of two dissenting justices in Roe v. Wade and the author of a powerful dissent in that case, was a Kennedy appointee.
Of course, abortion was not an issue in Kennedy's own time. The Roe decision came almost a decade after his death. The author of Roe, Harry Blackmun, was a Nixon appointee, as were two of the six justices who joined him in that shameful decision.
Do you see the roots of “Cuomoism” in the debate over the Pledge of Allegiance?
If religion is a “purely private” matter, then any publicly sanctioned acknowledgment of God is out of bounds. On this logic, God must be expelled from the Pledge. Of course, by the same logic the Creator must be expelled from the Declaration of Independence. So the country was founded on a violation of its own founding principles. There is a paradox for you!
In proportion to their numbers in the United States, Catholic involvement is slight and in many cases disorganized. Why?
For too many Catholics, faith is a Sunday-morning business. We Catholics need to challenge ourselves, and each other, to lead lives suffused by love of God and neighbor. The Gospel we profess to proclaim should govern all that we do, including what we do in our capacity as citizens of a democratic republic. Our bishops and priests should not fail regularly to remind us of that duty.
If you are a Catholic who wants to bring your faith into the political lion's den, how can you concretely live John Paul's recent call for Catholic participation in public life?
Pray. Vote. Volunteer. Get active in the two great causes of our day: the protection of the unborn and the defense of marriage and the family. In your activity as citizens, give these causes the priority they deserve. Make it known to candidates — especially Catholic candidates — who support abortion and the deconstruction of marriage that their positions will cost them your votes. Let your family and friends know what you are doing as a citizen and why you are doing it. Encourage others to join you.
Marjorie Dannenfelser writes from Arlington, Virginia.
----- EXCERPT: Assessing JFK's Legacy, 40 Years Later ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: A First: Abortionist Pay-Out Over Breast-Cancer DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:PHILADELPHIA — While the passing and signing of the partial-birth abortion ban took the spotlight in early November, a pro-life victory won in a Philadelphia courthouse may well prove to be an even bigger factor in the battle against abortion.
For the first time in the United States, the abortion industry has settled a malpractice lawsuit based on the link between abortion and breast cancer.
Because they had failed to inform a woman of the mental and breast-cancer risks of abortion, Charles Benjamin and the New Jersey-based Cherry Hill Women's Center agreed to a substantial settlement with the plaintiff, identified only as “Sarah” to protect her identity.
“This is the Achilles' heel of the abortion industry,” said attorney Susan Gertz, executive director of the Women's Injury Network, an Ohio-based group that funds lawsuits against the abortion industry.
Meanwhile, a growing number of professional organizations are acknowledging the possible link between abortion and breast cancer.
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons said recently that the relationship is “highly plausible” and women may reconsider abortion if they are told the facts, according to LifeNews.com, a news and information Web site covering the abortion issue.
There is a “considerable volume of evidence supporting this link,” said the association's executive director, Dr. Jane Orient.
Five medical organizations, including the Catholic Medical Association and the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, have now recognized a link.
Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer based in Palos Heights, Ill., agreed that the abortion industry was highly vulnerable to lawsuits such as the one just settled in Philadelphia.
“There are many parallels between the tobacco industry and the abortion industry,” she said. Tobacco companies have been forced to pay huge settlements for hiding the link between their products and cancer.
Abortion supporters, Malec said, “have been following the tobacco industry play-book and using the Joe Camel defense by arguing that there is ‘no proof of a link between abortion and breast cancer.”
She added it is likely that, like the tobacco industry, the abortion industry could find itself facing serious liability for turning a blind eye to the link between their “product” and cancer.
Sarah's Story
According to Gertz, when “Sarah” became pregnant in Pennsylvania, a state with parental-notification laws, her high school guidance counselor suggested she procure an abortion in nearby New Jersey, a state with no such laws. Sarah followed the counselor's advice and, without her parents' knowledge or consent, had an abortion in May 1998 at age 17.
In a separate case, her parents successfully sued the school for violating their parental right to chil-drearing, according to the news Web site WorldNetDaily.com.
Though she has not developed cancer, Sarah filed her lawsuit in May 2000 alleging medical malpractice because she had not been informed of the mental-health and breast-cancer risks associated with abortion. Hours before the case was to go to trial in October, the doctor and clinic settled for what Gertz would only describe as a “significant” amount.
The Cherry Hill Women's Center told the Register it had no comment and suggested a call to the center's administrator, who was unable to be reached.
Sarah also has been diagnosed by a psychiatrist with post-traumatic stress disorder from her abortion, and experts believe it will take years of therapy for her to recover, Gertz said.
The key to both the breast-cancer and mental-health aspects of the lawsuit was that Sarah had not given “informed consent.”
“Her ‘informed consent’ session was done by a college-age woman making $8 or $9 and hour,” Gertz said. “She had no opportunity to consult with the doctor until her feet were in the stirrups and the procedure was about to begin.”
As well, Sarah had a history of sexual abuse, Gertz said, and therefore abortion would have been “contraindicated” had a serious review of her medical history been done.
Both Gertz and Malec said the evidence of a link between abortion and breast cancer is overwhelming.
“Twenty-nine out of 39 studies show there is a link between abortion and breast cancer,” Gertz said.
Malec agreed and said since 1957 there has been “not only epi-demiological research showing a statistical relationship but also a biological explanation that no scientists have been able to disprove.”
According to the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute, increased estrogen during pregnancy puts a woman at risk for breast cancer if she aborts before her breasts have completed the changes and development necessary to allow for breastfeeding, a process that typically takes 32 weeks.
Moreover, since 1973, the year the U.S. Supreme Court struck down most states' laws against abortion, Malec pointed out, breast-cancer rates have skyrocketed from one in 12 women to one in seven.
“It used to be an elderly women's disease, but now it is affecting younger women,” she said, adding that abortion is definitely one of the factors in the increased number of cases.
Despite the evidence cited by Gertz and Malec and the fact that a case has been settled, the abortion industry continues to downplay — and even deny — the existence of a link between abortion and breast cancer.
The way Planned Parenthood puts it on its Web site, pro-lifers are “using misinformation as a weapon in their campaign against safe, legal abortion. In the guise of an ostensible concern for women's health, these ideologues point to inconclusive — and at times flawed — studies for alleged evidence of a possible association while ignoring or dismissing overwhelming evidence that induced abortion does not place women at greater risk of breast cancer.”
Part of that “overwhelming evidence” is the 1997 Melbye Study, which the Planned Parenthood Web site refers to as “one of the most highly regarded studies on abortion and breast cancer.”
But Malec calls the Melbye Study an example of the seriously flawed research the abortion industry routinely uses.
“The study has been severely criticized because it misclassified 60,000 women who had had abortions as not having had abortions,” she said. In addition “one-quarter of the women in the study were under the age of 25 — too young to have developed breast cancer.”
And Malec doesn't worry that the National Cancer Institute and American Cancer Society have yet to address the link. She pointed out that both organizations have been historically slow to recognize other links to cancer — notably tobacco — and the institute's failure to warn of the harms of radioactive fallout from nuclear tests done in the 1960s.
Whatever the industry claims to believe, the settlement “will make doctors aware that they need to start informing women about this [link],” said Malec, who also believes that, as with tobacco, more lawsuits could be in store for the abortion industry.
Gertz said the lawsuits are already increasing, and she believes this will have an effect on an industry she calls “cash driven.”
She says she has heard of cases being filed all around the country, from Texas to California to Missouri. As she puts it, “They are starting to come out of the woodwork.”
Andrew Walther is based in Los Angeles.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Andrew Walther ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Catholics Gave More - Not Less - During 2002 Scandals DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — If any year was ripe for a decrease in donations to the Catholic Church, last year was it. All the signs were there: from a public distracted by war and terrorism threats to a sluggish economy and, last but not least, to mistrust by many parishioners as the sexual-abuse scandal unfolded.
But an analysis of financial data revealed that Catholics increased their donations — at least to Sunday collections.
Catholics donated an estimated $5.8 billion to Sunday collection baskets in their local parishes in 2002, an increase of 4.9% from the year before, according to Joseph Claude Harris, an independent researcher of Church finances.
At the same time, however, they decreased their pledges to bishops' annual appeals for diocesan operations by an estimated 2.3%, to $635 million.
Harris analyzed data compiled by Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, which prepares financial reports released by dioceses.
“It's a reassuring message for the Church, although people are affected by the clergy scandal,” commented Mary Gautier, a senior research associate with the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. “Many people are probably angry at the bishops for some of their decisions; nevertheless, they recognize that they are Catholic, and they're glad to be Catholic, and they want to stay Catholic. So they continue to support their parishes, and they feel very strongly about supporting the Church in spite of what they see as some unfortunate actions on the part of leadership.”
Gautier described Harris as an “excellent researcher” but added a caveat about the data. Harris' analysis contains some estimations because the data provided are incomplete in some instances.
For instance, only 63% of the dioceses in the country provided financial information on Sunday collections in 2002. And only 12 of the 176 Latin-rite dioceses in the United States submitted the results of their annual fund-raising appeals.
Harris was spurred to complete the research to see how Catholic giving was affected during such a tumultuous year within the Church.
“I guess I would argue that if Catholics were in revolt, it's not a very militant revolt because they're giving more,” said Harris, who lives in Seattle. He added that if there was a revolt, it occurred in the Boston area, the site where the scandal mushroomed.
He found that pledges to the cardinal's appeal in the Archdiocese of Boston dropped from $16 million in 2001 to $8.8 million in 2002, while donations to the Sunday collection also fell, by 8%.
Two Dioceses
Those decreases did not come as a surprise, according to Carol McKinley, a parishioner at Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston.
“People are hurting,” said McKinley, who also leads a pro-Church group called Faithful Voice. “Everyone has begun to undergo a healing process, but they're reluctant to jump back with both feet. They simply are waiting for the actions that verify the directions in terms of whether this archdiocese is going to return to fidelity or is it going to remain centrist.”
In contrast, about 40 miles away from Boston, in the Diocese of Worcester, Mass., where seven priests were removed from ministry in 2002 and another was placed on personal leave after allegations of misconduct surfaced, donations to the bishop's appeal exceeded expectations. The goal was $4 million; the appeal ended up raising $4,016,961 — about $200,000 more than last year, according to diocesan figures.
Eugenia Tsantinis, who attends Mass at St. Paul's Cathedral in Worcester, gave to the appeal because “it is to the advantage of the enemies of the Church if Catholic schools and hospitals cease to exist,” she said. “And they will disappear without money.”
According to Harris, here's how several archdioceses around the country fared:
— In Los Angeles, the Sunday collection increased from $127 million in 2001 to $133 million in 2002; the cardinal's appeal rose from $15.6 million in 2001 to $16.2 million in 2002.
— In Chicago, the Sunday collection rose from $221 million to $227 million; the cardinal's appeal decreased from $7.1 million to $6.5 million.
— The Archdiocese of New York didn't report its Sunday collection figures; the cardinal's appeal was consistent: $13.4 million in 2001 and in 2002.
The Harris report stands in contrast to the Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual survey, released in late October. Americans did not donate as much to the country's 400 largest charities in 2002, it found. Donations fell 1.2%, from $47.5 billion in 2001 to $46.9 billion. It was the first time in 12 years that contributions decreased, the publication said.
Francis Butler, president of Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, said because of the sexual abuse scandal, more Catholics are becoming educated about how the Church is run.
“They're becoming more aware of what happens to their donations or what could happen to their donations,” he said. “They're getting a little more serious about those questions as far as stewardship goes.”
During the past two years, Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities sponsored a survey among parishioners who attend Mass frequently. In the surveys, which were conducted by the Gallup Organization, the parishioners were asked about their views on the financial accountability of the bishops. In 2002, 45% found the bishops to be above average in their financial accountability. In 2003, the figure dropped to 38%, according to the organization.
The parishioners also thought the bishops had improved in dealing with the sexual-abuse problem: 35% said bishops were doing a good job in 2002, while in 2003, that figured rose to 49%, according to Foundations and Donors.
Charles Zech, a Villanova University economics professor who developed the survey questionnaire along with Butler, said 656 people participated in the survey last year. This year, only 309 parishioners of the group from last year participated, he said.
He said what Harris' analysis and the Foundations and Donors results showed were that people don't blame their pastors for the scandal — and that their faith in the Church was strong.
“The Church has been around for 2,000 years,” Zech said, “and the Holy Spirit is there. And, ultimately, people's faith is going to carry us through this. Their faith will be reflected in the deployment of bishops who will deal with the scandal better in the future.”
Carlos Briceno writes from Seminole, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceno ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Stepping Up to the Political Plate DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:Former baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn presided over one of the most turbulent eras in the sport's history.
He became known as a “commissioner's commissioner” for exercising the power of his office during his 1969-1984 tenure. Kuhn, a descendant of pioneer Jim Bowie, also takes a hard line when it comes to matters of faith.
Kuhn spoke to Register correspondent Patrick Novecosky about growing up Catholic, baseball and one of his current projects — the Ave Maria List.
You grew up in the Washington, D.C., area. Was your family Catholic?
My mother was a very serious Catholic, and her heritage went back to the Catholic founding of Maryland. Her English family was among those who fled England to get away from the persecution of the Stuarts at the time. They left in 1634. That whole strain of Catholics who came from England, Scotland and Wales — those are my origins on my mother's side.
Was faith an important aspect of your life as a youngster?
My mother and I always said the “goodnight prayers” together. We went to church regularly on Sunday, received Communion and went to confession. It struck me that both of my grandmothers always said the rosary. The same is true of my mother. She prayed the rosary with great regularity. It was impressive to me and had a big impact on me spiritually.
When I went to Sunday school for the first time, a wonderful black-hooded nun asked me what my name was and I told her my name was Bowie, and she discharged me from the class forthwith. She didn't believe me and, if indeed that were my name, she was confident there was something strange about having a Catholic kid named Bowie. She literally threw me out of the class. I didn't know I had any other name.
There I was, a 5-year-old kid, but there I was trudging home wondering what my name was. When I reported all of this to my mother, she came as close to hitting the roof as she ever did. So, I had to come back with my enraged mother to explain that I had been christened George Bowie Kent Kuhn. From there on, sister permitted me back into the classroom and called me “George,” to which I paid no attention.
What led to your love of baseball?
When I was a little kid, my mother took me to a Washington Senators baseball game. I grew to love it. When I was older, there was a slightly older teen-ager in my neighborhood who ran the score-board for the Senators. I got talking to him about it and it sounded pretty good to me. So, when he went to college, I went down to Griffith Stadium and said, “I'd like to be the new scoreboard boy.” I got the job. So, for about three years, I was the scoreboard boy for the Washington Senators.
I got there an hour before the game and batting practice would be on. I sat at the base of the score-board in right-center field and there was Joe DiMaggio shagging balls right in front of me. Occasionally, a ball got past him and I'd pick it up and throw it to him. This was big stuff. Or maybe Lou Gehrig was running around the outfield getting some exercise, and I'd say, “Hi Lou!” and stuff like that. It was a wonderful job. I had it until I went into the Navy in 1944.
What influenced you to study law?
Going back hundreds of years, there have been lawyers and judges and politicians and so forth on my mother's side of the family. So my family was rich with lawyers including my great-uncle, George, who was a judge. I had great affection for him and was very impressed by him. He was probably the example, more than any other, which pushed me toward law. But it wasn't one of those things about which there was much debate as I was growing up. I was always going to be a lawyer.
As a teen-ager, I would go down to the Supreme Court of the United States and sit and watch the arguments. It was impressive. I was going to become a lawyer, so it seemed logical to me to go there and see what it was all about. When I was a 10-year-old kid, there was a lot of talk about the court because [President Franklin Delano] Roosevelt had become very unhappy with the decisions of the court turning down his various programs enacted into law such as the AAA [Agricultural Adjustment Act] and NRA [National Recovery Administration], which were designed to overcome the Depression. Many of them were found to be in violation of the Constitution.
You presided over a very tumultuous time in baseball history. What do people remember you for?
I would say for exercising the power of the commissioner's office. To make things work, the commissioner had to sometimes use the power in ways that sometimes overrode the rules. In my opinion, the game needed strong leadership. It did best when there was strong leadership. When the commissioner doesn't address issues, the game is weakened.
Why did you get involved with Ave Maria List?
There was no political action committee in the United States that was purely Catholic. Catholics hadn't been active on the national scene very effectively. So, the idea was to galvanize Catholics politically because Emily's List needed some counterpoint.
What are the Ave Maria List's goals?
To act on the teaching of the Holy Father that lay people have to become politically active. The list is also working to pinpoint financial support for pro-life candidates in key races. In the last election [in 2002], we put our efforts into three Senate races and we had a considerable impact. [Two candidates the list supported, Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., and Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., won.]
The Senate is so important to the judicial situation in the United States. You're seeing virtuous Catholic and Christian people being turned down by the Senate [for judicial positions.] The more pro-life senators we have, the more likely we are to see confirmation of virtuous judges to overcome the pro-death culture of the left. We're seeing this as a way to change that by getting more pro-life people in the Senate. We don't care if they're Democrats or Republicans. Unfortunately, trying to find a good pro-life Democrat running for Senate is a rarity. We'd love to find one.
We've been encouraged in the formation of this organization by the president and by the RNC [Republican National Committee]. So, we've had a pretty good start.
You're involved in so many Catholic organizations. What do you do to relax?
On Saturdays, I read the newspaper to the folks at St. Catherine Laboure Manor in Jacksonville, Fla., where I live. I raise the issues presented by the newspaper and we debate them. It's a wonderful thing. Some of these people, who are 80 or 90 years old, sit around quietly all day. Then we start debating the current events and things get pretty lively. And it's wonderful therapy.
We had a retired Latin teacher who died when she was 94. Fanny was famous for attacking me for supporting school choice. She and I used to fight vigorously over this issue. Everybody knew Fanny was a fighter. But, whenever I would see her, on any given day, she would say, “Te amo” — “I love you.”
Patrick Novecosky writes from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Schiavo Case Highlights Need for Law to Protect Incompetent Patients DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Amid controversy in the Terri Schiavo case regarding how to treat the severely disabled, the National Right to Life Committee has drafted a model state law that seeks to protect patients from having their feeding tubes removed.
The National Right to Life Committee law would protect incompetent patients who are not imminently dying from having their feeding tubes removed. The law would create a presumption that those incapable of making health care decisions would wish to get food and fluids “so long as their provision is medically possible, would not hasten death and can be digested or absorbed so as to sustain life.”
This presumption would not apply if the person has specifically authorized withholding or withdrawal in an applicable legal document — or if there is clear and convincing evidence the person gave express and informed consent to rejection of food and fluids. Casual or uninformed statements could not be used to meet the “clear and convincing” test.
Burke Balch, director of the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics, which is affiliated with National Right to Life, said the law is needed because starvation and dehydration of disabled patients is “far from being an isolated incident.”
“The denial of food and fluids in less-publicized cases is taking place in nursing homes and hospitals across America,” Balch said.
Balch said he has received inquiries about the model bill from legislators in several states.
“The case of Terri Schiavo shines a light on the frightening reality that many in the medical community judge patients on a quality-of-life basis,” he added.
Shock
Many were shocked over the treatment of Terri Schiavo. The 39-year-old Florida woman's feeding tube was removed in October by a court order sought by her husband. The Florida State Legislature and Gov. Jeb Bush intervened, enacting a law that saved her from a slow death by dehydration.
Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, has gone to court to overturn what is now known as “Terri's Law,” calling it an unconstitutional infringement on his wife's wishes and privacy.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida has joined his legal team in challenging the law, calling it a “dangerous abuse of power by the governor and Florida lawmakers.”
The law “sets a dangerous precedent that could have an impact on anyone who makes a private life-and-death decision that contrasts with the ideologies of our state lawmakers,” said Randall Marshall, legal director of Florida's ACLU.
Terri Schiavo has been incapacitated since suffering severe brain damage 13 years ago. Her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have fought for years to keep her feeding tube in place in hopes she might be rehabilitated.
Though she left no written directives, her husband claims she once told him she would not want to be kept alive with the help of “tubes.” Many consider her feeding tube an artificial means of keeping her alive, though traditional Catholic teaching considers food and water as basic care every patient has a right to.
Living Wills
People on both sides of the Schiavo case, from the Florida bishops to Michael Schiavo's “right-to-die” lawyer George Felos, agree everyone should seek to make his wishes regarding medical care known in a legally binding manner. This can be done by preparing a living will, appointing a health care proxy or leaving written instructions in some other definite form.
But the National Right to Life Committee warns that living wills have serious drawbacks.
“In many states you may not know what you're really signing,” the committee said. For the purpose of a living will, in many states, “you are legally in a ‘terminal condition’ even if your life could be saved — so as to live indefinitely — by medical treatment, so long as you would still have a permanent disability of some kind.”
The laws of most states also define the medical treatment that is refused by their living wills to include food and water.
As an alternative, National Right to Life offers a “Will to Live,” an advance directive that individuals may enact to instruct medical personnel on end-of-life care. Its presumption is keeping the patient alive, emphasizing the sanctity of life rather than quality of life.
The number of people downloading the document from the organization's Web site has increased dramatically since the Schiavo case became national news, a National Right to Life spokesman said.
Catholic Principles
Catholics in particular might well ask what they should consider in the drafting of a living will or “will to live.”
The U.S. Catholic bishops offered direction when they stated in the 2001 document “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services”: “There should be a presumption in favor of providing nutrition and hydration to all patients, including patients who require medically assisted nutrition and hydration, as long as this is of sufficient benefit to outweigh the burdens involved to the patient.”
The Church does not require patients be kept alive at all costs, since death is a natural process ordained by God and is the gateway to eternal life.
“The duty to preserve life is not absolute,” the bishops' directives state, “for we may reject life-prolonging procedures that are insufficiently beneficial or excessively burdensome.”
Also, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “An act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God” (No. 2277).
Since the medical issues involved can be complicated, many Catholic moral thinkers advise against being too specific when enacting a living will. To state you would not want any tubes or a respirator might mean you will be denied temporary lifesaving procedures that would be used until you could eat or breathe on your own, said Conventual Franciscan Father Germain Kopaczynski, a medical ethicist with the National Catholic Bioethics Center.
“The best way is to appoint a health care proxy who would enact your express wishes in each situation, if you are not able to speak for yourself,” he said. “I don't think anyone is smart enough to put in detailed writing all the possible medical conditions and possible treatments he may face in the future. But if you have someone who knows your mind and the teachings of the Church, that is best.”
Stephen Vincent is based in Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:Abortion Rate Drops 22% Since 1990
NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS, Oct. 31 — According to a newly released study by the federal National Center for Health Statistics, in 1999 (the most recent year examined) there were 1.31 million abortions, which represents a 22% decline from 1990, accompanied by a 12% decline in the per capita rate of pregnancies and a 9% decline in the national birthrate.
The study noted that “teen pregnancy rates have reached historic lows, dropping 25% from 1990 to 1999. The birthrate dropped 19% and the abortion rate was down 39% in this age group.”
The leading users of abortion were still unmarried women, who were more than four times more likely than married women to abort their children, according to the study.
All statistics are available at www.cdc.gov/nchs/releases/ 03facts/pregbirths.htm.
Sex Not Selling on TV?
REUTERS, Nov. 6 — In the month's “man-bites-dog” story, Reuters reported that sex-soaked television shows seem not to be attracting viewers — to the disappointment of producers.
The news service noted that within one week, NBC unplugged its “libidinous” comedy “Coupling,” and Fox Network discontinued the drama “Skin,” which purported to tell a Romeo and Juliet story, tracking the romance between the daughter of a porn magnate (Ron Silver) and the son of the district attorney who was prosecuting him.
Reuters called “Skin” “a rare failure for Hollywood super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer,” who created the hit “CSI” shows.
One poorly rated show that has survived the recent ratings purge is “Joe Millionaire,” the bait-and-switch dating show created by Fox.
Variety magazine suggested viewers might have been turned off by the pornographic trappings of “Skin,” while NBC Entertainment president Jeff Zucker admitted to a gathering of TV insiders recently that many recent programs were of poor quality.
Catholic Order Lets Disabled Women Serve
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Nov. 7 — Some good news about the Church filtered through the mainstream media recently, as the wire service reported about an inspiring group of Catholic nuns in Branford, Conn., which is part of the French-based order the Benedictines of Jesus Crucified.
Unlike many orders that require applicants be in good health when they enter lest they be unable to take full part in community life, this group also accepts women who are sick or disabled. The order keeps most Benedictine traditions, dispensing with a few — such as fasting and midnight prayers, which might prove too burdensome for sickly women.
Since many of the women find it difficult to walk to Mass, priests bring them holy Communion privately. The order has spread quickly since its foundation some 70 years ago, the AP reported, attracting women who felt called to the religious life but could not meet the criteria for novices in other groups.
“Why should these lives, marked by the cross,” asked Sister Mary Zita Wenker, one of 21 sisters living in the Branford monastery, “not be able to live this kind of life?”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Reinvigorated Holy Father Beatifies Five 19th-Century Europeans DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Blessed are those who pursue higher goals than merely making money.
That was the message Nov. 9 as a healthier-looking Pope John Paul II beatified five men and women before a spirited and joyful crowd in St. Peter's Square.
John Paul hailed the five 19th-century Europeans as models for a society that turns everything into “merchandise.”
The new blesseds challenge “present-day society, tempted at times to turn everything into merchandise and profit, neglecting values and dignity that have no price,” the Pope said.
Placing the blesseds firmly on the road to canonization, the Holy Father called their holiness the “fruit that came from the unceasing work of the Holy Spirit” and singled out each for their examples of sanctity.
First to be presented was Father Juan Nepomuceno Zegri y Moreno (1831-1905), a priest from Granada in Spain who founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy.
In his homily, the Pope said his life and the institution he founded “lives on, consecrated to the testimony and promotion of redemptive charity.”
Next to be beatified was Belgian Franciscan Father Valentin Paquay (1828-1905), who was known as a consummate preacher and confessor. “With his example,” the Holy Father said, “you can serve your brothers, giving them the joy of meeting Christ in truth!”
Brother Luigi Maria Monti (1825-2900) was from the Archdiocese of Milan and, despite being direction-less at age 32, carried out tireless work for the sick and orphaned children and founded the Sons of the Immaculate Conception. The Pope called him “a model of solidarity toward the needy [with] tender confidence in the Immaculate Virgin.”
Franciscan Father Massimilliano Taroni, who has written a small book on Brother Monti and comes from his parish, spoke of his delight at Brother Monti's beatification.
“He was very joyful,” he said. “He gave much to the children of God, and people will now see his life of good works.”
Spanish religious Bonifacia Rodriguez Castro (1837-1905) was next to be beatified. Sister Rodriguez taught poor jobless women a trade and formed them as Christian workers in order to keep them from danger.
“In this simple life,” the Pope observed, she found a model of work that brought “simple sanctification, joy and self-denial.”
The final beatification was that of Sister Rosalie Rendu (1786-1856), a French nun known for her brave and tireless help for the poor. Sister Rendu founded the Society of Daughters of St. Vincent de Paul and encouraged her sisters to “be a milestone where all those who are tired have the right to lay down their load.
“She saw in all people the face of Christ,” the Pope said. “Let us return grace with the witness of charity that the Vincentian family does not cease in giving to the world!”
American Pilgrims
“Her beatification gives us another saint to pray to,” said Sister Carmella Morini of the Society of Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in El Paso, Texas.
“The extraordinary thing about her was that the rich came to her for spiritual help and the poor came for material help — she would answer every call,” Sister Carmella said. “Her example is: If you have faith, love and trust in God, nothing can stop you.”
Particularly noteworthy was how many of the newly beatified had faced rejection, calumny, slander and humiliation yet fought on regardless. Both Blessed Rodriguez and Blessed Zegri y Moreno were victims of calumny resulting in their being expelled from the institutions they founded.
Speaking to the Register at the end of the ceremony, Father Michael Creagan from St. Paul, Minn., pointed out the “beautiful simplicity of the saints” and their “tremendous love of God.” They show that it's “not an extraordinary call to be holy — we're all called to be saints,” Father Creagan added.
“I'm always humbled to see how God works through people available at that moment,” said Father John Birkel of Lincoln, Neb.
After giving his apostolic blessing, the Holy Father was driven around the square.
“I had an audience with him in the 1980s,” said an onlooker from Hounslow in England. “He hasn't lost any of his cheerful brightness — the respect people have for him is wonderful.”
Indeed, the Holy Father's health seems to have improved recently, and although he read only part of his homily, his voice was strong and clear, he was able to sit with better posture and he even knelt in prayer during the consecration.
Dr. Hideaki Koizumi, a Buddhist who was attending a conference of the pontifical academies, was particularly impressed.
“I know his health situation has not been good lately,” he said. “But I was very much moved by the passion of the Pope.”
In his homily, John Paul compared the Church to a spiritual temple made of “living stones, that is, of the faithful united in one faith” and likened saints to “precious stones.”
The Holy Father concluded his 143rd beatification ceremony calling on the intercession of all the saints.
“We contemplate their glory in heaven,” he said. “May we all find ourselves in Paradise one day and in the joy of everlasting life.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
(Zenit contributed to this story.)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:John Paul Appoints Irish Chaplain
IRISH BISHOPS CONFERENCE, Nov. 10 — Effective Nov. 1, Pope John Paul II's private chaplain is Father Joseph Murphy of the Diocese of Cloyne, Ireland.
After studying at Ireland's famous Maynooth Seminary, Father Murphy attended the Pontifical Irish College and Pontifical French Colleges in Rome, and the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained in July 1993.
Four years later, Father Murphy became an official of the Secretariat of State of the Holy Father. In January 2002, he was appointed private secretary to Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of state to John Paul.
Pope Asks Europe to Cherish Christian Heritage
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE, Nov. 10 — Pope John Paul II continues to call upon European nations to recall the defining role Christian faith has played in each of their cultures, according to the Vatican Information Service.
In a Nov. 7 talk, the Pope told pilgrims at a seminar: “As Christians engaged in public life, you have come together to reflect on the prospects currently opening up before Europe.”
To build the “new Europe” envisioned by founders of the European Union, the Holy Father said, “it is necessary that Europe recognize and preserve its most cherished patrimony, made up of those values that have and continue to guarantee her a providential influence in the history of civilization. Many cultural roots have helped to solidify these values, yet it is undeniable that Christianity has been the force able to promote, reconcile and consolidate them.”
“For this reason,” John Paul added, “it seems logical that the future European constitutional treaty, aimed at achieving ‘unity in diversity,’ should make explicit mention of the Christian roots of the continent. A society forgetful of its past is exposed to the risk of not being able to deal with its present and, worse yet, of becoming the victim of its future.”
Vatican Jumps Into Biotech Fray
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Nov. 10 — The Holy See on Nov. 9 joined in the contentious debate over the use of genetically modified organisms for food, the Associated Press reported, by convoking a two-day conference of scientists on the subject: “GMO: Threat or Hope?” The conference was meant to prepare the way for a Church statement on the issue.
The Associated Press noted that Cardinal Renato Martino, organizer of the conference, has already spoken out in favor of the use of genetically modified foods if they can be shown to alleviate hunger.
Cardinal Martino said the Vatican is deeply concerned about world hunger and poverty, and the controversy over the use of genetically modified organisms was more political than scientific in nature. The cardinal pointed out that most Americans consume food from genetically modified crops, and he did so himself for 16 years while living in New York City, suffering no ill effects.
According to the Associated Press, the ecology group Greenpeace claimed the Vatican's original lineup of speakers had been badly skewed in favor of genetically modified organism advocates but that just before the conference began the Holy See invited a Greenpeace scientist and a Zambian priest who oppose the technology.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: God Hears our Cry Amid Suffering DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:Registe Summary
Pope John Paul II met with 11,000 pilgrims who gathered in St. Peter's Square for his general audience Nov. 12. The topic for his weekly catechesis was Psalm 142, a prayer in the midst of persecution and suffering, which St. Francis of Assisi prayed on his deathbed. Several weeks ago the Holy Father began a new series of teachings on the psalms and canticles found in the evening prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours.
The Pope noted that Psalm 142 is a very dramatic prayer of a man in distress, whose life has become a nightmare. “Faced with this nightmare, the psalmist sounds a cry of alarm so that God will see his situation and intervene,” John Paul said.
Nevertheless, the psalmist recognizes that God alone is the sure refuge of those who place their trust in him. “A cry reveals the hope that dwells in the heart of the psalmist,” the Holy Father said. “At this point, his only protection and his only effective source of company is God.” He pointed out that the Lord is the only foundation on which we can stand and is our supreme hope.
At the end of his teaching, the Pope quoted St. Hilary of Poitiers and noted that Christian tradition sees in this psalm a reference to the persecuted and suffering Christ, whose resurrection has become the foundation and goal of our hope, the gift of eternal life in the glory of God for eternity.
On the evening of Oct. 3, 1226, St. Francis of Assisi was dying. His last prayer was Psalm 142, which we have just heard. St. Bonaventure recalls that Francis “suddenly started the psalm, ‘With full voice I cry to the Lord, with full voice I beseech the Lord’ and recited it down to the last verse: ‘Then the just shall gather around me because you have been good to me’” (Leggenda Maggiore, XIV, 5, in Fonti Francescane, Padua-Assisi, 1980, p. 958).
The psalm is an intense prayer that includes a series of verbs that are pleas the psalmist addresses to the Lord: “I cry,” “I beseech the Lord,” “I pour out my complaint” and “lay bare my distress” (verses 2-3). The central part of the psalm is dominated by trust in God who does not remain indifferent to the suffering of the faithful (see verses 4-8). This is the attitude with which St. Francis faced death.
God is addressed with a familiar form of the pronoun “you” as a person who offers security: “You are my refuge” (verse 6) and “You know my path,” that is, the course of my life, a course that is marked by opting for justice. On that path, however, the wicked have set a trap (see verse 4). This is a typical image taken from a hunting scene that occurs frequently in the psalms of supplication in order to indicate the dangers and snares to which the just are exposed.
A Plea for Help
Faced with this nightmare, the psalmist sounds a cry of alarm so God will see his situation and intervene: “Look on my right and see” (verse 5). According to a custom in the East, at a person's right is where, in court, his defender or a witness on his behalf would stand, or, in war, his bodyguard. This faithful man, however, is alone and abandoned: “There is no one who recognizes me.” Because of this, he expresses an observation that causes him anguish: “There is no escape for me; no one cares for me” (verse 5).
Immediately afterward, a cry reveals the hope dwelling in the heart of the psalmist. At this point, his only protection and his only effective source of company is God: “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living” (verse 6). In biblical language, the “lot” or “portion” is the gift of the Promised Land, which is a sign of God's love for his people. Now, the Lord is the last and sole foundation on which he can stand, his only possibility for life and his supreme hope.
The psalmist cries out to him persistently, for he is “brought very low” (verse 7). He entreats him to intervene and break the chains of his prison (see verse 8) of solitude and hostility and to rescue him from the abyss of his trial.
Thanksgiving
As in other psalms of supplication, the closing expectation is one of thanksgiving, which the psalmist will offer to God after he is heard: “Lead me out of my prison, that I may give thanks to your name” (verse 8). When he is saved, this faithful man will go to give thanks to the Lord in the midst of the liturgical assembly (see verse 8). The just will gather around him and consider the salvation of their brother as a gift that has also been given to them.
This atmosphere should also pervade our Christian celebrations. The pain of each individual should find an echo in the hearts of all people; likewise the entire community in prayer should experience the joy of each person. Indeed, “How good it is, how pleasant, where the people dwell as one!” (Psalm 133:1) and, as the Lord Jesus said: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).
A Paschal Sign
Our Christian tradition has applied Psalm 142 to the persecuted and suffering Christ. According to this perspective, the obvious goal of the plea in this psalm is transfigured into a paschal sign, which is based on the glorious success of Christ's life and on our destiny of resurrection with him. St. Hilary of Poitiers, a famous Doctor of the Church from the fourth century, affirms this in his Treatise on the Psalms.
He comments on the Latin translation of the last verse in the psalm, which speaks about the reward that awaits the psalmist and for which the just are waiting: “Me expectant iusti, donec retribuas mihi.”[The just await me, until you reward me.] As St. Hilary explains: “The Apostle [Paul] teaches us the reward that the Father has given to Christ: ‘God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father’ (Philippians 2:9-11). This is the reward: the eternity of the Father's glory is given to the body that [the Son] took.
“This same apostle teaches us what the just can expect when he says: ‘But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body’ (Philippians 3:20-21). Indeed, the just await him so that he will reward them, by conforming them to the glory of his body, which is blessed forever. Amen” (PL 9, 833-837).
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Bishop Gourion Installed as Leader of Hebrew-Catholic Community DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:ABU GHOSH, Israel — On a rainy Sunday morning in early November, hundreds of worshippers as well as diplomats and clergy of many faiths gathered in this picturesque Israeli-Arab village a few miles outside Jerusalem and packed Notre Dame Church to overflowing. Others sat outside, protected by an overhang, and watched the historic proceedings taking place inside on a large video monitor.
They had braved the inclement weather to witness the ordination of the first Hebrew-speaking Catholic bishop in the history of the Holy Land.
In August, Pope John Paul II appointed Abbot Jean-Baptiste Gourion, a youthful man of 68, to be the auxiliary bishop to Israel's tiny but growing community of Hebrew Catholics. Bishop Gourion, who has lived in Israel since 1976 and is fluent in French, Arabic and Hebrew, was the community's longtime episcopal vicar.
Bishop Gourion's ordination was the climax of a decades-long struggle for recognition by Hebrew Catholics, who say their pastoral needs were not being fully met by the Latin Patriarchate of the Holy Land.
Michel Sabbah, the patriarch, is an outspoken Palestinian nationalist and critic of Israel, and virtually all local priests are Arabs. The overwhelming majority of Holy Land Catholics are Arabic-speaking.
In contrast, Hebrew Catholics — who officially number only 400 to 500 but whose ranks are gradually being swelled by foreign workers and more than 100,000 non- Jewish immigrants — live and work among Jewish Israelis. Many immigrated to Israel under the Law of Return, which permits the children and grandchildren of a Jew to settle in the Jewish homeland even if they themselves are not Jewish. Most are Israeli citizens and view their world through an Israeli prism.
In making its decision to appoint a Hebrew-speaking bishop, the Holy See sought a way to meet the community's unique needs while at the same time taking care not to undermine Patriarch Sabbah's religious and diplomatic authority or cause a schism within the local Church. For this reason, according to knowledgeable sources, the Holy Father opted to appoint an auxiliary bishop under Patriarch Sabbah rather than create a separate apostolic administration that would have reported directly to the Pope.
Any tension that might have preceded Bishop Gourion's appointment was absent during the festive ordination Mass. To the delight of those present, Patriarch Sabbah himself presided over Bishop Gourion's ordination, conducting much of the proceedings in the Hebrew he picked up during his childhood in Nazareth, in the north of Israel.
In greetings relayed during the ordination, John Paul referred to Bishop Gourion as his “dear son” and authorized him to “help Hebrew-speaking Catholic believers in the best possible way.”
Following the service, which concluded with Bishop Gourion's exclamation, “Finally, finally, we have returned home,” community members discussed the ordination's implications.
“This is an important day,” said Bioletta Bento, 18, a Catholic young woman who was adopted by a Jewish Israeli family as an infant but who has since rediscovered her Christian faith. “I feel we have been recognized. Today I feel closer to God.”
“Until now, I felt we were ignored,” said Cheryl Augustine, who traveled to Abu Ghosh from Beersheva, in the south, for the ceremony. “Now we have our own bishop who can address our spiritual and practical needs as Israelis.”
Another community member, who asked that his name not be used, noted that “the Arab and Israeli communities have a different way of looking at things.”
The Second Vatican Council “stressed reconciliation with the Jewish people and the State of Israel” and “recognized the Jewish roots of the Church. The Arab Church has not always embraced this message,” he said.
‘A Gift’
In an exclusive interview with the Register, Bishop Gourion downplayed his own appointment.
“By itself, it isn't important whether or not the community received a bishop,” he said. “What is important is the official recognition by the Church. We are grateful to the Pope and accept the position as a gift. It is the prophetic vision of the Holy Father.”
Until now, Bishop Gourion said, “we have had the same needs as any Arab church or any church elsewhere in the world” but “these needs were not being met. We were like Italians living in France or Germans in Portugal. They have priests to serve them but no local church. They are strangers. We were not a church in and of ourselves.”
Hebrew Catholics, Bishop Gourion said, “are Christians who live in a Jewish culture and in an Israeli society.” At the same time, Bishop Gourion warned, “it would be dangerous and wrong to turn this into a political issue. We are not talking about Israeli and Palestinian nationality but about the difference between two cultures that are different in nature but not in opposition.”
In the future, Bishop Gourion said he hopes to establish a parish, organize cemeteries, set up schools and educate new priests.
“In short,” he said, “we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Michele Chabin is based in Jerusalem.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Michele Chabin ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:Second Colombian Priest Killed in a Week
MISSIONARY NEWS AGENCY, Nov. 7 — Father Henry López, 44, on Nov. 6 became the second priest slain in seven days in Colombia, the Missionary News Agency reported.
Father Lopez died at home in Villavicencio, Columbia; a parish worker found his body, which was tied to a chair and riddled with multiple stab wounds.
One day earlier, Father Saulo Carreño and his secretary, Maritza Linares, were shot to death and their bodies left outside, Missionary News reported.
The news service placed these murders in the context of a wave of assassinations aimed at journalists and other civilians — presumably by one side or another in the ongoing war among drug traffickers, guerillas, paramilitary militias and the government of Colombia.
British Law Would Legalize ‘Euthanasia by Neglect’
INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC NEWS, Nov. 11—The British Society for the Protection of Unborn Children has published documents attacking the draft Mental Incapacity Bill proposed by Tony Blair's government. Dr. John Fleming, writing for the society, said the new bill would legalize euthanasia “by neglect.”
Fleming wrote that “by permitting the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from non-dying patients [the bill] accepts in principle the legal right to assisted suicide and euthanasia (at least by neglect) in contravention of age-old ethical and legal norms in Britain, which have always prohibited intentional killing and serious bodily harm, whether consensual or not.”
The bill, Fleming continued, “provides opportunity for major abuse to the welfare and rights of patients, doctors, other health care professionals and to the community at large,” because it hands the power of life and death to doctors, asking them to interpret so-called “living wills” drawn up long in advance.
The law “would not only permit the involvement of doctors in the intentional bringing about of death, it would force them to comply,” Fleming warned.
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children is also creating publicity kits designed to inform members of the general public as well as parliamentarians about the bill and help them lobby for its amendment or defeat.
Blessed Mother Teresa Honored on Streets of Calcutta
CWNEWS.COM, Nov. 6 — A main thoroughfare in Calcutta, India — Park Street — has been renamed Mother Teresa Road as part of the city's celebration of the sister's beatification, according to CWNews.com.
Local Christians expressed delight at the announcement despite previous concerns about the appropriateness of the street chosen.
In 2002, Ananova.com reported that a group called Lovers of Mother Teresa objected to the selection of Park Street, saying in a letter to Calcutta's mayor: “Park Street is a locality where all bars, pubs and houses of ill repute are situated and the road is known for its night life and not spiritualism.”
Such objections seem not to matter anymore, in a city given over to a broad-based celebration of the beloved missionary nun.
CWNews.com reported that long lines have formed outside an art exhibit celebrating Blessed Teresa and large crowds were expected for an interfaith prayer service in her honor.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: A Pro-Life Moment DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:Many pro-lifers lead beautiful apostolates that help women, educate the public and change hearts. This column isn't for them. We want to take a moment to look at the legislative side of the pro-life movement, and ask, now that the partial-birth abortion ban is law in the United States, what should we do next?
For starters, we should learn the lessons that other activists teach us.
If gun control advocates, for instance, won a battle to ban armor-piercing bullets, what would they do next? Would they be satisfied with the victory and move on to other things, perhaps educational campaigns about gun safety?
They wouldn't. They would capitalize on the momentum and try to ban something else.
If homosexual-marriage activists won a federal battle to, say, gain domestic partnership status on tax forms, would they be satisfied? No. They would clamor for a more significant step.
Neither should we be satisfied with a ban on partial-birth abortion. We should boldly look to ban more kinds of abortion. And we should do so without fear.
After all, if it ever was possible to be pro-life and not be targeted by the abortion industry, it's not possible anymore.
Take Kate Michelman, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, at her word. After the president signed a law banning the killing of full-sized babies with scissors as they're being born, she said, “George W. Bush came out of hiding this week, trading in his carefully parsed statements of just a week ago for a full-forced anti-choice rally.” A new NARAL ad campaign “highlights the danger that the ban on safe medical procedures poses to women's health — and their liberties.”
Michelman is right. There is no hiding place. If we're against partial-birth abortion, opponents will paint us as wanting to ban all abortions. We won't mollify them by softening our pro-life stand. So why bother trying?
Why not boldly and prudently start chipping away at abortion, after all? We're going to suffer the consequences whether we do or not.
This may be the soundest legislative pro-life strategy going forward: Pro-lifers should bring up one gruesome abortion procedure after another and see which ones the public wants to keep legal.
Frances Kissling once put it this way: “There is no abortion procedure when described that is aesthetically comforting, whether at six weeks or 32 weeks.”
In 1996, Washington Post columnist William Raspberry put it this way:
“Admit squeamishness over partial-birth abortion and the right-to-life crowd will show you some pictures of earlier abortions in which the ‘fetal tissue’ looks unsettlingly baby-like. If you acknowledge that 20 weeks is too late, how can you defend abortion at 19 weeks or 14 or nine or one?”
How indeed? To be concrete, we propose that pro-lifers take up a bill like this next:
The Dilation and Evacuation Ban. Our proposed bill would ban this second-trimester technique. When doing a D&E abortion, the abortionist inserts a pliers-like instrument through the cervix into the uterus then seizes a leg, arm or other part of the baby and, with a twisting motion, tears the limb out. This continues until only the head remains. Finally the skull is crushed and pulled out. The nurse must then reassemble the body parts to be sure all of them were removed.
It sounds horrible and impolite to describe a D&E abortion. That's because it is a barbarous, brutal practice. One that should be illegal.
If pro-lifers bring this up, we won't have to argue philosophy or ethics or complicated issues. We will just have to tell the American people what's going on in their cities and all over the country, thousands of times a day, and ask them if they want it to continue.
Yes, if we choose to follow this strategy, the pro-abortion movement will go ballistic and claim that we oppose women's rights.
But if we choose not to follow this strategy, the pro-abortion movement will go ballistic and claim that we oppose women's rights anyway.
We have nothing to lose, and lives to save. Let's begin.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:Mostly Right O'Reilly
Hundreds of people could write a “get-even” article with more logic and Christian charity than the one written by Patrick Coffin (“The All-Spin Zone? Catholicism According to Bill O'Reilly,” Nov. 9-15). I am surprised and disappointed that you published it.
While Bill O'Reilly is controversial and some of his ideas are questionable, the general tone of his views support a high standard of morality
In light of recent scandals in the Church, it seems that any help with a high moral standard from someone in the media would be appreciated.
KENNETH DILLER
Texline, Texas
Wily O'Reilly
Regarding “The All-Spin Zone? Catholicism According to Bill O'Reilly” (Nov. 9-15):
Someone should write a book with a cover picture of an embryo on one side and a “No-Spin” coffee mug on the other, with the title “WhO's Looking Out for What? — Will the Real Bill O'Reilly Please Stand Up?”
I believe you are correct in your speculation that Mr. O'Reilly's position on abortion is really all about doormats — of every kind.
JOHN CAJA
Frankfort, Kentucky
Sizing up Families
I am prompted to reply to Tim Drake's column on big families (“The Family as a Sign of Contradiction,” Oct. 19-25), and some of the letters published afterwards, because of a disturbing trend I see.
As a preface, I'd like it known that my husband and I teach Natural Family Planning, have five living children (one miscarried), and very much appreciate the beauty and truth of the Church's teachings on God's plan for human sexuality and the family. The Holy Father's “Theology of the Body” is a work whose beauty is unparalleled, in my mind.
That said, I see a growing trend among Catholics to judge and presume about those with small families, or those who comment about family size. I have several friends and family members who would love to have a large family, but are plagued with infertility. Added to that heavy and sad cross are the frequent judgmental looks and comments of Catholics who see themselves as “Real Catholics, open to life, and faithful to the Church's teachings on marriage and the family.”
Comments like “Large families are truly happier families,” by one of your letter-writers, distances our suffering brothers and sisters even more. Does that imply that if God blesses you with one child in the midst of the infertility, you can't be as happy as those who have been blessed with six? The Holy Family had three members (one child) — and who could be happier than they?
What really needs to happen is that we all need to stop judging and presuming we know what goes on in the souls of men. Those with large families need to just bear joyful witness to the gift they've received, and open the circle of that joy to bring in those less fortunate. If well-meaning but uninformed people comment or question, be a light, without judgment. Why get angry when people comment? You are a sign of contradiction. Be grateful for that, and for the opportunity to evangelize. If ill-meaning, uninformed people comment, accept it with humility. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for my sake …”
ANDREE CASADABAN
Laplace, Louisiana
Time to Clean Campus
In the Campus Watch column of Oct. 26-Nov. 1, one item gives hope for the future of the Church and one shows what has to be corrected
In “True Reform,” Catholics interviewed not only back Pope John Paul II's apostolic constitution on Catholic universities, but also say the Holy Father is too lenient toward “internal dissent.”
Meanwhile “Arm's Length” is about a gathering of the lay organization Voice of the Faithful at Fordham University. Voice of the Faithful has been banned in many dioceses, including Rockville Centre, N.Y., because of their attempts to change the doctrines of the Church. According to the university, the arrangement is a conference-services agreement, nothing more. However, the university is giving scandal not only to those who are going to attend the gathering, some of whom have stated that the fact that Fordham is hosting the gathering is a gentle sign of support, but also to all Catholics as well. I wonder if the learned professors and theologians at Fordham would invite a fox into a henhouse so the hens could learn the fox's side of the story.
The sex scandal by the clergy is nothing compared to the scandal being perpetrated by the so-called Catholic universities that ignore directives from the Pope and the Vatican, and that teach against the doctrines of the Church. It is time for the cardinals and bishops to clean house at the universities, starting with the clergy who are guilty.
GERARD P. MCEVOY
Coram, New York
Broadcast Buffoonery
Regarding “Prime Time Fiasco: ABC Takes on ‘Jesus, Mary and Da Vinci’” (Nov. 16-22):
What was ABC thinking? Various enthusiasts say that the tales of the Holy Grail are really about their favorite thing, but they all fail to take into account the fact that these stories first appear in the 13th century (about 500 years after the Merovingians fell out of power.) The 13th was a time of increased Eucharistic devotion (for instance, the feast of Corpus Christi was added to the universal calendar in 1264), so it makes the most sense to see the tales of the Holy Grail as fairy-stories that sprung from that increased devotion (in the same way our stories of Superman come out of American hopes and dreams but not any occult knowledge).
As for the claim that the Gnostics valued the spiritual gifts of women more than the Church did, even Elaine Pagels admitted, in her book The Gnostic Gospels, that the Gnostic gospels spoke poorly of the spiritual capacity of women. The only way she could point to a Gnostic feminist was by claiming that St. Clement of Alexandria was really a Gnostic.
And don't get me started on the notion that the Apostle John in Da Vinci's The Last Supper is really a woman because he looks like a young Howard Stern. While “Jesus, Mary and Da Vinci” did reject the more bizarre claims that the conspiracy theorists it interviewed made, it still left us with the notion that the Church has oppressed women, scientists and all lovers of the truth through the ages. It was a Jack Chick comic for liberals.
DON SCHENK
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Till Now
Like many, I have come to rely on the National Catholic Register for fidelity and accuracy not only in ecclesial matters, but also more broadly. Accordingly, you can perhaps understand how aghast I was when I opened the Nov. 9-15 issue. On page 3, a headline reads: “Bishops to Consider Statement on Principles for Agricultural Policy.”
Accompanying the article is a photo showing one Ryan Weaver who, the cutline says, “tills the land on his LaPorte County, Ind., farm.” Ryan Weaver is obviously sitting in the cab of a combine, and he is probably harvesting wheat.
While my Webster's Dictionary acknowledges that “to till” may include the broad meaning “to … raise crops from,” the main definition of “till” is: “To plow and prepare for seed.” One doesn't till with a combine; one gathers, reaps or harvests with a combine. Tilling is the very first stage of preparation of the land: breaking up the soil to make it receptive to rain and seed. Harvesting is the last stage.
If the Lord Himself can take the time to distinguish sowing and reaping (Luke 19: 22), His followers should do likewise.
JOHN R. TRAFFAS
Wichita, Kansas
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Altar Boys and Girls DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:I read “Vatican Rumors and American Doubts Surround Altar Severs” (Nov. 9-15) with great interest.
Having read the Register for some time now, I expected different and was honestly disappointed with the paper's effort. The whole premise of the article surrounds girls being altar servers and how their participation in this ministry makes boys uncomfortable, they can't go “any further” and that it has contributed to a drop in priestly vocations. Girls deserve a place at the altar of Jesus Christ, just like everyone else. With girls and boys serving in this ministry, the Church could positively celebrate and teach the critical yet very different qualities of males and females.
Most disturbing was the theory offered that girls serving along with boys will dilute the significance of the boys' role and the chances of priestly vocations. Does this even sound a little ridiculous to anyone? The reasons for the drop in vocations to the priesthood include: lack of prayer, support from families, churches and dioceses. The greatest problem, however, are the seminaries that discourage candidates from learning and representing the teachings of the Catholic Church. That may sound weird, but little has been done to reform many of the radical seminaries that have been co-opted by those with hidden or overt agendas about how to change the Church.
If the Church is serious about reversing the decline in priestly vocations, we as a Church need to get on our knees and pray. Schedule Eucharistic adoration, support our good and holy priests and seminarians, and teach our faith in a compassionate yet unwavering manner to the young and old alike. Don't blame the girls!
CHRISTOPHER PASQUALE
Plantsville, Connecticut
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: The Poor, The Eucharist And Turkey Day DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:Since her husband, a World War II veteran, died 10 years ago, Beulah survives on a $699 Social Security check each month.
She spends more than half of her income on heart and high blood pressure medicine. At 82, Beulah faced a disheartening choice: to buy her medicine or to buy food. She explains how she made ends meet:
“I bought what I needed, not what I wanted, and it wasn't very much. I had my health insurance, my utility bills and my telephone bill to pay. I used to pay for just a portion of my medicine so I'd have enough left over for food. There were a lot of foods that I needed to eat to stay healthy, but I only bought what I could afford.”
Is Beulah's case extremely unusual in a nation that possesses the world's largest economy? Not at all, says America's Second Harvest, a charitable organization dedicated to helping America's poor. Second Harvest makes its case by highlighting a few facts:
• Nationwide, 1.48 million households with elderly people said they suffered hunger or the risk of hunger.
• Thirty percent of emergency recipients helped by Second Harvest stated having to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care.
• Twenty-six percent of Medicaid beneficiaries between ages 18-64 couldn't afford to get a prescription filled in the previous year, according to the Center for Studying Health System Change.
• A full-time minimum-wage worker cannot afford to pay for fair-market rent for a two-bedroom unit anywhere in America.
Unfortunately, Second Harvest reports that 36% of its emergency recipients said they had to choose between buying food or paying for housing.
Saddest fact of all, preschool and elementary-age children make up the largest number on America's homeless list. The Urban Institute estimates 1.35 million children will be homeless during the course of the year.
These facts push aside any doubt as to the reality of poor people in a rich America. The question now is: What does the Church teach us about helping the poor?
To begin with, the Church reminds us that helping the poor is not optional. Our duty to help the poor, as Catholics, stems from the Church's holiest sacrament, the Eucharist. The Catechism of the Catholic Church points out: “The Eucharist commits us to the poor. To receive in truth the Body and Blood Christ has given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren.”
The Fathers of the Church also make it clear that no one can profess a true love for the Lord's Body and Blood at Mass each Sunday while ignoring the poor. For example, St. John Chrysostom said, “You have tasted the Blood of the Lord, yet you do not recognize your brother … You dishonor this table when you do not judge worthy of sharing your food [with] someone judged worthy to take part in this meal … God freed you from all your sins and invited you here, but you have not become more merciful.”
It might not be easy for some to see the relationship between the Eucharist and the poor.
It might not be easy for some to see the relationship between the Eucharist and the poor. Pope John Paul II understands this. In his 1980 letter Dominicae Cenae (The Lord's Supper), the Holy Father sheds light on how the Eucharist connects us to our neighbor and especially to the poor:
“The Eucharist educates us to love in a deeper way; it shows us, in fact, what value each person, our brother or sister, has in God's eyes, if Christ offers himself equally to each one, under the species of bread and wine.”
In other words, the Eucharist can teach us to love others perfectly since it is Christ himself. For this reason, the Church holds that the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.” The Holy Father maintains that sincere Eucharistic devotion opens our hearts to the needs of others. He explains it this way:
“If our Eucharistic worship is authentic, it makes us grow in awareness of the dignity of each person. The awareness of that dignity becomes the deepest motive of our relationship with our neighbor. This awareness ought to make us particularly sensitive to human suffering and misery, to all injustice and wrong, and to seek the way to rectify them effectively. How the image of each and every one changes when we become aware of this reality, when we make it the subject of our reflections! This sense of the Eucharistic Mystery leads us to a love for our neighbor, to a love for every human being.”
If we take the Eucharist seriously, this Thanksgiving we should dedicate some of our time and resources to doing something for the poor. It could mean working in a soup kitchen, a food pantry, distributing clothing or visiting the sick or elderly. For love of the Body and Blood of Christ, do something for someone else. Our Lord says it best: “insofar as you did this to the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”
Legionary Father Andrew McNair teaches at Mater Ecclesiae International Center of Studies in Greenville, Rhode Island.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Andrew Mcnair Lc ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Attention, Peter Steinfels: You Got It Wrong DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:Ever wonder what's happening with today's Catholics? Allow me to provide you a glimpse from my own backyard in Connecticut, a place where the Catholic faith is allegedly aging and dead.
It's 8 a.m. on the first Saturday of the month. In Avon, young men from throughout the Farmington Valley are gathering for Mass, followed by a talk by Father Mike. These men, mostly in their 30s, are members of Opus Dei, a group known for its faithfulness to Catholic teaching, and Father Mike has traveled from Boston specifically to minister to them.
It's the second Tuesday night of the month. In Cheshire, at the seminary of the Legionaries of Christ, members and nonmembers of Regnum Christi attend an Evening of Recollection for Men. They fill the chapel.
It's the first Friday night of the month. In Hartford, a crowd of Catholic charismatics converge on St. Peter's Church for a Mass of Healing and Hope. A glance at the Datebook page of our archdiocesan newspaper, The Catholic Transcript, reveals that a significant number of events around the state are sponsored by charismatics.
It's a Saturday morning early in the month in New Haven, or later in the month in Hartford. The Helpers of God's Precious Infants begin the day with a Mass. Afterward nearly 75 “Helpers” march, under police escort, to the local abortion clinic, where they sing and pray the rosary for several hours before returning to the church for Eucharistic adoration and fellowship.
In Granby, Catholic home-schooling parents from the surrounding area hold a conference to discuss different curriculums. In Waterbury, thirty-something Sister Mary Elizabeth welcomes the latest of a steady stream of teen-age postulants to the Sisters Minor of Mary Immaculate, an order that is barely 20 years old.
In Trumbull, the Couple to Couple League, a group devoted to the Church's teaching against contraception, holds a Natural Family Planning Barbecue.
In Torrington, on any given day columnist Bill Dunn can be found either a) arranging a speaker for his Inter-Parish Adult Religious Education Program, b) hosting his well-publicized Catholic Bible study, or c) e-mailing his weekly “Unauthorized Homily” column to his hundreds of readers.
In Enfield, popular Catholic convert Scott Hahn speaks to a packed house on one recent weekend, the guest of a group trying to start a local Catholic radio station.
In Litchfield, Hahn returns to face another packed house.
In New Hartford, the Knights of Columbus pitch a booth next to other civic groups at New Hartford Day and pass out pamphlets on the Catholic faith written by philosopher and professor Peter Kreeft.
In Bristol, another Knights of Columbus council collects 1,000 signatures from a single parish in a petition drive to stop the legislature from legalizing same-sex marriage. In Hartford, Protestants tabulating the statewide results of the aforementioned petition drive are amazed by the authenticity of the faith of the Catholics they are working side-by-side with (“Why didn't I see this before I left the Church?” a few of them ask).
In New Haven, at an ecumenical discussion group, young Protestant graduate students from Yale grill young Catholic professionals from West Hartford about their faith and are surprised to find that their Catholic friends have answers that are plausible, if not (not yet?) persuasive.
Two thriving Catholic home-schooling groups meet in the New Haven area. Smart kids participate in talent shows, special Masses, lunches, science contests and field trips. Most events include a group rosary.
The largest Catholic crowds in the area? You'll find them when a relic tour hits New Haven or when Catholic speakers like Hahn visit the state. The most creative Catholic events? Try talks on confession in bars with Theology on Tap, “Catechism baseball” games with the Conquest boys club, “K4J” extravaganzas at parishes, where cartoon characters teach kids that Peter was the first Pope.
I offer this glimpse of Connecticut's Catholics in the wake of A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America, the new book by former New York Times religion editor Peter Steinfels.
We have been called the John Paul II generation, and with good reason.
His thesis is that “American Catholicism, to put it bluntly, is in trouble.” Steinfels believes we run the risk of “a soft slide into a kind of nominal Catholicism” or even “a sudden collapse, in a single generation” unless the leaders of Catholicism adopt his “incrementalist” proposals for the future of the Church. Those proposals are: 1) to begin the slow march toward women's ordination by ordaining them deacons; 2) to “begin debate” about priestly celibacy; and 3) to stop insisting Catholics adhere to Catholic beliefs on contraception.
If he thinks there's anything new in these proposals, then he's been out to lunch for the last 35 years. It's not that Steinfels' agenda is “modest,” it's that it's old and silly and the people pushing it are precisely the ones who gave us the “crisis” they now lament. “A soft slide into nominal Catholicism” isn't “foreseeable” — it's visible in the rearview mirror.
A look at the decrepit state of mainline Protestantism, which implemented its own liberalizing reforms decades ago, ought to be all the proof one needs to reject Steinfels' prescription for the Church.
Or better yet, consider the Catholic dissenting culture. I did. I attended the Call to Action conference in Chicago nine years ago, where I spoke with people pushing support for abortion and homosexuality under the banner of a progressive Catholicism.
In Hartford, I attended retreats on the Enneagram and Centering Prayer. I visited “The Gathering Place,” the Hartford bookstore-café started by liberal Catholics and Protestants. I subscribed to The American Catholic, the newspaper started by the editor of our diocesan newspaper after the archbishop removed him.
Wherever I went it was always the same. Everyone was angry, old, spiritually dissatisfied — and culturally dead.
It was not long before I could see the contradictions in Catholic dissent and the bad fruit it produced. That's when things got interesting.
The turning point may have been the RCIA classes my then fiancée was taking during her conversion from atheism. Challenging the instructor when she taught something against the faith (the devil doesn't exist, our prayers have no effect on souls in purgatory — take your pick) only to be told by the same people who want me to challenge authority (in Rome) that I should just take their word for it is a real eye-opener.
In my Catholic dissent days I was usually the only twenty-something hanging out with people my parents' age. That provided more eye-openers. I recall in particular the mother of a friend from high school. I once defended Catholic teaching on contraception to her and she grew irate. “Well, I know that it's up to the individual conscience,” she said, “and I can reject that teaching and still be a good Catholic, so I don't need to hear that.”
When we spoke again a few weeks later, she was distraught. Her daughter, my friend, had decided to live with her boyfriend. “Where did she get the idea that would be okay?” she asked. “Doesn't she know it's against our faith?”
Yes, ma'am. Where did she get that idea?
Once you leave the old folks' home of dissenting Catholicism behind (and no, I'm not against old people, but when a movement that claims to represent the future is made up almost entirely of them, something's wrong) it's amazing how much life you can discover in the Church.
The events described in this glimpse of Connecticut Catholicism are made up almost entirely of young people faithful to the teachings of the Church.
We have been called the John Paul II generation, and with good reason. We are inspired by his courage and fidelity and sustained by a network of resources that has risen up under his leadership. You can hear it in our conversation. “Did you see Raymond ArroyO's interview on EWTN on Friday?” a friend will ask after Sunday Mass.
Come home from the post office and before you can pull First Things out of the plastic wrapper there's already a voicemail waiting: “Did you read FT's Marriage Amendment editorial? Father Neuhaus is DA MAN!” Take your 3-year-old to the playground and a home-schooling mom will ask if you're using Catholic Heritage's preschool curriculum.
I could go on.
But the point is that the real answer to the “crisis” caused by a generation that viewed the faith as a burden is a generation that views the faith as a gift. We may fly under the radar of Steinfels, but the JPII generation is out there. We are happy, growing in numbers and confident that the future of the Church belongs to those who are faithful to her teachings.
Peter J. Wolfgang of New Hartford, Conn., is a district deputy for the Knights of Columbus.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Peter Wolfgang ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: The Power of the Partial-Birth Abortion Debate DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:On Nov. 5, President Bush signed into law the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.
Various abortion advocates are arguing against the law in courts and in the court of public opinion, where a variation of the party line has emerged.
So far the players are sticking close to the book.
NARAL Pro-Choice America aired television ads set in a doctor's office with the camera focusing on a closed door and the voiceover saying, “President Bush just signed the first federal law that will criminalize safe medical procedures … Once government is in the door, who knows what they'll do next?”
Steve Neal of the Chicago Sun-Times said: “What right does Bush have to come between a woman and her doctor and her constitutional rights?”
On PBs' “Newshour,” University of Cincinnati obstetrics professor Dr. Paula Hillard eschewed all attempts at subtlety in driving home the part line: “What I would say, first of all, is that this bill is incredibly deceptive. I think American women will be absolutely outraged when they realize what this bill really says and what it will do. And what it will do is to place the government between a woman and her physician.”
And later, like a good team player: “Once again I would bring us back to the issue of the government getting between the relationship between an individual woman and her physician.”
So, partial-birth abortion is no longer an abortion, it is a relationship.
And the ban on the practice is not a law overwhelmingly passed by elected representatives of both parties. The ban is the Big Bad Government or even Bush himself standing there in the doctor's office, getting in the way of the relationship.
But not to worry: We have a winning approach of our own, and it is deceptively simple. As Bush said at the signing ceremony for the partial-birth abortion ban, “The best case against partial-birth abortion is a simple description of what happens and to whom it happens.” Indeed it is. Res ipsa loquitur: The thing speaks for itself.
There is little doubt that the last eight years of public debate over partial-birth abortion has had something to do with the positive change in public opinion on abortion. Ten years ago a significant majority of Americans called themselves “pro choice,” but no longer. Today, the numbers are very close to even, and if the trend continues, we'll soon see most Americans identifying themselves as pro-life.
It is difficult to talk around the subject when the subject is a partial-birth abortion. Still, there are those who try or who seem unmoved by the brutality of the procedure. For them, a further truth about abortion is in order.
Two rancorous, vitriolic e-mails greeted me the morning after a quote of mine appeared in the New York Times about the new law. One was from a man calling the ban a travesty and mocking its supporters. The other was from a woman charging me with hubris and thanking me for rousing her to fight for women's rights.
I answered both in the same way: “If you are interested, I will explain why I believe that women deserve better than partial-birth abortion.”
I wrote that abortions can occur later in pregnancy when women (or teens) don't really want an abortion at all but are fearful of pressure from families or boyfriends. They hide their pregnancy, thinking that when it is “too late” those around them will have to support them and their baby. But then they learn that it is never “too late” for a legal abortion — that the law will not come to their rescue as they had thought — that they are left vulnerable to the pressures they had feared.
Some sense must be made of the fact that, according to the National Abortion Federation itself, the vast majority of these abortions are done on healthy women with healthy fetuses at 20 weeks or more into pregnancy. What is driving these women to such an act of desperation? Who has failed them?
I said that even where tests for fetal abnormalities do result in tragic news, a further tragedy is often perpetrated on the woman — she is offered no care, no support to get through her pregnancy. Just abortion, period. Yet there is mounting evidence that women who have abortions for fetal abnormalities suffer a number of psychological complications — more than women who give birth to a baby who soon afterward dies.
Finally, I said I thought it was tragic that those who support the practice for political reasons are putting women at risk of serious health consequences— risks from a procedure that is never medically necessary, according to the American Medical Association. I described at some length how women who suffer through this type of abortion face a damaged cervix, torn uterus, severe hemorrhage and possible hysterectomy.
The bottom line for me, I said, is that this procedure is painful and unnecessary for everyone involved — the woman and her baby.
Their responses surprised me. Both thanked me, sincerely, for writing. It was clear they had read and considered my thoughts. The man revealed that he was a public health educator and said he would present some of my arguments when he taught, “so that all can make an educated, critically reflected-upon decision.” The woman said she hoped there were alternatives for women who find themselves with a life-threatening pregnancy, such as delivering the baby and doing all that can be done to keep the baby alive.
These might not count as pro-life converts, but the abortion lobby would not be happy with their responses, either. They are children of a culture that has been taught to believe that abortion is good for women and that one has to be willing to ignore the death of the baby for this, the “greater cause.” But these seemingly hard-line “pro-choicers” are now considering other arguments against what Archbishop Charles Chaput calls this “uniquely intimate form of violence.”
If the death of a baby does not reach the heart, perhaps the suffering of his mother will.
Cathleen Cleaver Ruse is director of planning and information for the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Cathleen Cleaver Ruse ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Meanwhile, North of the Border... DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland — The new president of the Canadian bishops' conference, Archbishop Brendan O'Brien, says he wants to follow up on World Youth Day 2002 and the congress on vocations.
The archbishop of St. John's, who was elected leader of the conference on Oct. 28, shared with Zenit what he sees as the Canadian bishops' key concerns.
What unique perspective will you bring to the position of president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops?
I don't know if it is unique, but since my ordination as a bishop in 1987 I have served in three of the four pastoral regions of the country: Ontario, Quebec and now Atlantic Canada. The only regional episcopal assembly of which I have not been a member is the Western Catholic Conference.
Perhaps during my term of office I will have opportunities to become more knowledgeable about the northern and western part of our Church and our country.
What are the chief concerns of the CCCB?
The major concerns at the present are to assure a follow-up to two major events that took place in our country — World Youth Day 2002 and the Continental Congress on Vocations.
We need to make sure that the momentum that these events provided is carried forward. While much of this will be done at the diocesan and regional levels, there is a role also for the CCCB.
Another project that is of high priority is the establishment of a task force to review the document, “From Pain to Hope,” which deals with our pastoral response to child sexual abuse. The original report was published in 1992. We are looking at what we might learn from the experience of the last decade that could improve our response to this troubling social problem.
The CCCB is also actively involved in a number of issues that are being debated in our Parliament. Among these are the legalization of same-sex unions and Bill C-13, concerning reproductive technologies.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Doubly Thankful DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:Funny, isn't it, that Thanksgiving and Eucharist mean the same thing?
After all, the former is a Protestant-founded holiday while the latter is the sacrament the Catholic Church considers the “source and summit of the Christian life.”
Yet Thanksgiving has a sacramental aspect. Properly celebrated, it draws us into things deeper than those that meet the eye — and becomes a little reflection of the Eucharistic supper, which is a foretaste of heaven.
Both Thanksgiving and the Eucharist center on a traditional, celebratory meal during which certain important things are always done. The typical Thanksgiving dinner has an (almost) unchanging menu; the element of ceremony this gives reminds us that there's something more than just a regular meal going on, something worthy of being preserved intact. Similarly, the fixed ceremonies of the liturgy remind us of the importance of the Eucharist.
Thanksgiving dinner is delicious, carefully prepared and presented. It's meant to make us thankful by giving us a tangible reminder of the good things God has given us. That's an aspect of the Eucharist, too — the Church's thanksgiving: the most magnificent meal you can have, where you really eat the true Body of the Son of God. The greatness of God's gifts, and the thanks due him, come into sharp focus when he places before you himself, “the bread from heaven, containing all sweetness,” as your personal food.
The superabundance of Thanksgiving — heaping plates, tasty leftovers — reminds us of the lavishness of God's gifts. He really gives us more than we strictly need. That's exemplified in the Eucharist. When Christ multiplied the loaves, which signified the Blessed Sacrament, everyone ate their fill — yet there were 12 baskets of leftovers. The food we eat at the Eucharist is like that. Christ's grace is greater than is actually required to save us. God is so good that the gifts that flow from him are greater than our need.
Of course, the Eucharist is not only a reminder of God's gifts but also is itself the most perfect way to give thanks to God. That's because it's a re-presentation of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, when he, by offering all to the Father, gave the most perfect thanks ever. So, besides making you thankful by its own bounty, the Eucharistic sacrifice and meal is itself an act of thanks. Again, our Thanksgiving meal has a little reflection of that: Since the whole reason you make it is to inspire thankfulness, it itself becomes an act of thanks.
The celebratory meal is the central activity of Thanksgiving, but it's not the whole story. Eating with family and friends is an intrinsic part of Thanksgiving, and not just because they're things you're very grateful for. It wouldn't be enough to have dinner by oneself and then see family; it's important that they be at the dinner, sharing it with you.
That's not just because you'd feel guilty about having more than you can eat. The tasty and abundant meal, and the gratitude it excites, are the sort of things that can make more than one person happy (“common goods”). And, in loving the goodness and abundance of the meal, we want it not only to be able to make more than one person happy but to actually do it.
Perhaps it's not so strange that the Thanksgiving holiday shares its name with the Eucharist. Our love for the Eucharistic meal makes us love to have our relatives in Christ eating it with us.
The inner goodness of the holiday shines out when it's set in the context of the eternal thanksgiving of the Church.
Wendy-Irene Grimm writes from Ojai, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wendy-Irene Grimm ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: A Basilica to Give Thanks For DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:The history of Our Lady of Victory National Shrine and Basilica is intertwined with the life of Father Nelson Baker, who as a seminarian was taken ill after two years of studies in theology.
The illness would become the catalyst for his lifelong apostolate.
Father Baker made a pilgrimage to Europe and in Paris visited the Church of Our Lady of Victories. It was there that he promised that, if he recovered his health and was ordained a priest, he would dedicate his entire priesthood to the Blesed Mother under the title of Our Lady of Victory.
His prayers were answered. Father Baker recovered fully and was ordained two years later on March 19, 1876, the feast of St. Joseph. He was then assigned by the bishop of Buffalo to St. Patrick's Church and St. Joseph's Orphanage in Lackawanna, N.Y.
Dedicated to fulfilling his promise, Father Baker over a period of several years built a virtual city of charity. It included an expanded orphanage for children, a protectory, a maternity home that later became an infant home for unwed mothers and their children, a general hospital and a parish school serving more than 400 students.
Father Baker's final work was the building of a basilica that rivals, in splendor if not immensity, many of the great basilicas of Europe. Construction began in 1921 and included the dismantling of St. Patrick's little red-brick church, for the new basilica was built on the same site.
The basilica opened in 1926 and was declared a national shrine within months. Today Our Lady of Victory is not only a national shrine but also a parish church within the Diocese of Buffalo. Each year up to 25,000 pilgrims and visitors come through its doors.
Victorious Vistas
The basilica that Father Baker built is a model example of 15th-and 16th-century Roman- and Renaissance-revival architecture. The exterior features twin copper-tipped towers and a copper dome reaching 165 feet into the sky. Four 18-foot copper angels flank the dome, pointing in each of the four directions of the compass. At the main entrance, a domed niche houses a 12-foot-high, 8-ton statue of Our Lady of Victory.
Step inside and note how gracefully the light tones of the French Baroque design harmonize with the rich Italian and American marbles to create a warm and welcoming environment. Before your eyes even find the tabernacle, you're well aware of the physical presence of God here.
One of the unique aspects of this basilica, which seats 1,000, is a bal-dacchino whose red-marble colonnades define the space around the main altar. These 25-foot spiral columns were given to Father Baker by a farmer in Spain when he learned about the building of the basilica. The altar features a 9-foot carrera marble statue of Our Lady of Victory. This statue was taken to the Vatican and personally blessed by Pope Pius XI.
Also sure to catch the eye are the life-size Stations of the Cross, each of which was carved from a solid block of marble.
On the right side of the main altar is a canopeum, a special umbrella that would be carried in procession were the Holy Father to come here to celebrate Mass. (It is proper for every basilica to be prepared for such a possibility.) On the left side of the main altar, complimenting the canopeum, is a tintinnabulum — a processional bell to be carried ahead of the Holy Father in procession.
On the left and right, above the walls of the nave, are the titles of Our Lady in Latin as taken from the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mother. Above the Stations on either side are stained-glass windows depicting scenes from the life of Our Blessed Mother. There are also five stained-glass windows around the main altar along with rose windows on either side, east and west.
Around the main altar are six smaller altars. The most ornate is the altar of St. Patrick because the basilica replaced the original St. Patrick's Church. Above the nave is a 112-foot-high dome, 80 feet in diameter, with a painting of Our Lady's Assumption into heaven and crowning as Queen of Heaven.
Eleven-foot tall statues of the four evangelists stand on marble pedestals around the dome's base. From the great dome to the choir loft, the high arch of the basilica is covered by five giant murals. Because the Blessed Mother is the Queen of Angels, there are between 1,500 and 2,500 statues and images of angels.
Father Baker Beckons
In 1987, with the assistance of Bishop Edward Head, then bishop of Buffalo, the cause for Father Nelson Baker's sainthood was introduced. In 1998, it was suggested to Bishop Henry Mansell, the present bishop of Buffalo, that Father Baker's remains be removed from Holy Cross Cemetery, located adjacent to the church property, and brought into the basilica. That event was accomplished the following year. A sarcophagus was erected at the Our Lady of Lourdes altar within the basilica; his remains were placed there.
It is now common to see people praying at Father Baker's tomb, seeking his intercession. It's also common to hear the call of the basilica's carillons, automatic bells that ring every 15 minutes from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
What a wondrous place this is to worship and reverence the living God. No wonder Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, prior to becoming Pope John Paul II, visited and called this basilica a “heavenly house.”
Joseph Albino writes from Syracuse, New York.
----- EXCERPT: Our Lady of Victory National Shrine and Basilica, Lackawanna, N. Y. ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Albino ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: High Spirits on the High Seas DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:Like a cannon blast across the bow of the SS Status Quo, Peter Weir's Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World comes as a thunderous, almost defiant declaration heralding the arrival of a cinematic force to be reckoned with.
Captain “Lucky Jack” Aubrey (Russell Crowe) and Dr. Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany), the seafaring heroes of Patrick O'Brian's intelligent, thrilling historical novels, materialize in a film as masterful and commanding as the novels themselves.
With 20 volumes published between 1970 and 1999, O'Brian's series about a forceful captain and a refined doctor serving in Nelson's Navy in the days of Napoleon has won a wide and admiring readership. Although great source material is no guarantee of a great film — especially at a time when anachro-nistically up-to-date attitudes, language and behavior are virtually de rigueur for period films — Master and Commander charts a course well removed from the mainstream.
The decision-makers behind most major movies today rely on slavish obeisance to focus groups. The typical marketing strategy aims for the broadest, shallowest-possible appeal across gender, racial and cultural lines. Dumbed-down moral conflicts are painfully spelled out for audiences and “Christian” is shorthand for “psychologically unbalanced.”
How refreshing it is to encounter a film that spurns such condescension and pandering. Master and Commander tells its story with the novels' flawless authenticity and obsessive attention to historical detail. Its characters talk and think and argue like grown-ups — like men of their time and place.
An important part of the film's historical context is its matter-of-fact Christian milieu. In the books, Aubrey is Anglican and Maturin Roman Catholic. Though neither is devout, their Christian heritage remains essential to their identity. This is carried over into the film.
Maturin, an enthusiastic pre-Darwinian naturalist, is fascinated by the varieties of animal life on the Galapagos Islands. As he observes some of the same unusual adaptations that would later inspire Darwin, someone asks whether God changed the animals. “Certainly,” Maturin muses thoughtfully, “but did they also change themselves? That is the question …” There, in two lines, are faith and science — creation and evolution — presented together in harmony.
Later, Aubrey leads the crew in the Our Father and invokes the Christian hope of resurrection as part of a burial at sea. Even in a disturbing episode involving a superstitious rumor of a Jonah-like curse, the film refrains from Christian-bashing.
Master and Commander is also the most technically accomplished seafaring period film ever made, bringing to life with unprecedented vividness the experience of life on the high seas in an 18th-century warship. Here storms are brutal and battles deadly. From the creak of the timbers to the shattering course of a cannonball to the wincing exigencies of naval field surgery, Master never feels less than persuasive.
Crowe (A Beautiful Mind) is, yes, commanding as Jack Aubrey, celebrated captain of HMS Surprise. He succeeds in synthesizing Aubrey's genial charisma and iron-willed leadership, his weaknesses for classical music and stupid jokes, his fondness for his men and his ability to have them flogged or even sent to their deaths when necessary.
The real revelation, though, is Bettany as Maturin. Previously best known for over-the-top roles in A Knight's Tale and A Beautiful Mind, Bettany is astonishingly good in a far more restrained and demanding role. He projects erudite intelligence and sophistication, and makes Maturin's passion for zoology as palpable as Aubrey's love of his ship.
Director Weir (Witness, The Truman Show) hones the story's focus to laser-like intensity. Drawing on the 10th novel in the series, The Far Side of the World, for the central conflict of an extended naval engagement between Aubrey and a larger, more powerful enemy ship, Weir locates the action almost entirely at sea. (In the film's lone concession to marketing expedience, the enemy ship is changed from an American frigate to a French privateer.) There's no obligatory romance, nor even a token female character (though women and romantic elements can be found elsewhere in O'Brian's series).
Instead, Weir focuses on moral and existential issues, especially questions around whether or when moral obligations such as keeping promises or completing one's mission may become contingent upon circumstance. Ironically, as Aubrey and Maturin lock horns, each winds up arguing alternately for a rigorous and an open-ended interpretation of duty. At first, debating the viability of their mission, Aubrey is the rigorist and Maturin the voice of discretion. But later, when Aubrey makes a promise to Maturin on which he later wishes to renege, Maturin is the one insisting on moral rigor. It's Aubrey who ends up pleading circumstantial necessity.
This ambiguity, along with the fact that both characters are sympathetic and likeable, is what elevates these conflicts above so many paint-by-number military-movie clashes (K-19: The Widowmaker, Crimson Tide and so on). It's typical of Weir's even-handedness that, when he raises the theme of power corrupting, he immediately provides a counter-example in the person of Admiral Nelson, the most powerful man in the British Navy. Aubrey has nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for him.
For all its virtues and triumphs, Master and Commander is more about action than ideas. Not that the film is nonstop battle scenes; on the contrary, action junkies are liable to be bored to tears by what passes for hot pursuit in an 18th-century sea battle. Yet Weir maintains tension throughout. It's punctuated with clever bits of strategy and excitement, but only when logical within the circumstance does the pressure boil over into all-out combat.
Although Weir adapts freely, the film is faithful to the spirit of O'Brian's works. Only the most exacting fans will have reason to complain. For those not previously familiar with O'Brian, no cinematic adaptation in recent memory is as likely to make viewers want to go out and get the book. Master and Commander is that good.
Content advisory: Bloody scenes of battle violence and field surgery; a suicide; somewhat profane language; a couple of rude jokes and brief obscenity.
Steven D. Greydanus, editor and chief critic of DecentFilms.com, writes from Bloomfield, New Jersey.
----- EXCERPT: Triumphs of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video/DVD Picks DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:The Chronicles of Narnia (1988-1990)
Nov. 22 marked the 40th anniversary of the death of C.S. Lewis, one of the 20th century's most prolific and popular Christian writers and a close friend of J.R.R. Tolkien. Among Lewis' best-beloved works are The Chronicles of Narnia, a seven-volume series of children's stories that are part Christian allegory, part fantasy-adventure and part classical mythology — all baptized by a vividly Christian imagination.
For children and parents who have enjoyed the Narnia stories, this BBC series represents a unique opportunity to revisit these classic tales in a new way. Like many BBC adaptations, these made-for-TV movies are respectful, straightforward visualizations of the text of the books.
Beautiful, rugged U.K. landscapes, splendid old castles and other locations, and some impressive sets help create a sense of authenticity. At the same time, with modest production values, rudimentary special effects and uneven acting, the Chronicles can't be held even to the standard of such American TV productions as the Merlin and Arabian Nights minis-eries.
At times, the costumes and props are more reminiscent of a stage production than TV fare. However, for viewers able to exercise a suspension of disbelief comparable to what would be appropriate for a televised stage play, Lewis' spiritually rich stories come to life with excitement, beauty and magic.
Based on the first of the Narnia books, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1988) tells the story of how four London children discover a magical world of talking beasts and mythological creatures — but also a world gripped by perpetual winter, ruled by the cruel White Witch but rightfully belonging to the great Lion Aslan.
With its allegorical retelling of the redemptive passion, death and resurrection of Christ, this is among the most spiritually significant of Lewis' tales. Unfortunately, the BBC's first stab at Narnia is also the most limited and flawed, with full-sized adults in silly costumes playing Mr. and Mrs. Beaver and exten-sive reliance on hand-drawn animation. Fortunately, the series improves as it goes on.
Aslan himself is a well-made two-man puppet; unfortunately, Ronald Pickup as the voice of Aslan has neither the requisite authority nor the humor for the role. Among the child actors, Sophie Wilcox shines as Lucy, with her round face and genuine manner.
The second presentation, Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989) combines two stories — Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Caspian is one of the slighter of Lewis' stories and as abbreviated here is slighter still, omitting both the spiritual lessons of the journey to Aslan's Howe and also the mythological riot of the final chapters. However, the production values are improved, and after the over-tall Beavers it's nice to see Trufflehunter the badger played by a suitably sized actress in a decent costume.
With Dawn Treader, one of the best-loved Narnian tales, the filmmakers finally hit their stride: This episode is a delight, with the Dawn Treader herself, Caspian's ship, beautifully realized, virtually every major episode covered and the Christian imagery (Eustace's transforming “baptism”, the lion looking like a lamb) and moral insights (the dangers of wealth, the fearfulness of our own inner worlds) basically intact.
The Silver Chair (1990), the third and final film in the series, is the most mature, complete and sat-isfyingly realized of all the four adapted works. Following the books, it is darker and grimmer than its predecessors, with an extended journey into darkness that calls into question the reality of everything the heroes love and believe in.
As Puddleglum the Marsh-wiggle, one of Lewis' best and most vivid creations, Tom Wilson (sometime Dr. Who) is excellent. He's not the right physical type, but he nails the long-faced bog-dweller's blend of frowning pessimism, canny wisdom, steady nerve and finally heroic faith.
For dramatic reasons, Lewis' Black Knight has been made into a kind of Man in the Iron Mask; Richard Henders makes the enchanted knight too sinister and menacing rather than frivolous and giddily shallow but does better with the role when the spell is broken.
Content advisory: Fantasy menace and scary images; stylized violence.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:All times Eastern
SUNDAY, NOV. 23
Cloud's Legacy: The Wild Stallion Returns
PBS, 8 p.m.
In this “Nature” feature, Ginger Kathrens follows up her documentary “Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies” with this sequel about the mustang Cloud and his son, Bolder. The wild horses face bad weather, wildfires and a roundup by federal agents.
MONDAY, NOV. 24
Classroom: Michelangelo
A&E, 7 a.m.
Studies the paintings, drawings, sculpture, architecture and poems of the Italian Catholic genius Michelangelo (1475-1564).
TUESDAY, NOV. 25
Kilimanjaro Specials
PBS, 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.
It is Africa's highest peak by far at 19,340 feet, and its climatic zones include glaciers, tundra, alpine meadows, moorlands and tropical rain forests. Two specials — Nova's “Volcano Above the Clouds” at 8 p.m. and Naked Planet's “KilimanjarO” at 9 p.m. — tell us about the majestic mountain's geological history and the lives of nearby residents.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 26
In Search of the Jaguar
PBS, 8 p.m.
In their native locales, jaguars, the world's strongest and third-largest cats, are on the threatened, endangered or extinct list. This “National Geographic Special” describes a scientist's efforts to save the beautiful but dangerous predators.
THURSDAY, NOV. 27
Thanksgiving Day: TV Potpourri
All networks, all day
Their only bond is simply that they all air on Turkey Day, but here are shows you can watch while you're cooking, gobbling, doing the dishes and, natch, giving thanks: At 7:30 a.m. on Familyland TV, kids tell other kids about the Catholic faith on “Who Is God?” Two parades are at 9 a.m. — CBs's “All-American” and NBC's Macy's. At noon, NBC has “The National Dog Show” from the Kennel Club in Philadelphia. At 8 p.m., EWTN's “Life on the Rock” views a day in the life of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration. Also at 8 p.m., the Travel Channel airs a “Christmas in New York” special.
FRIDAY, NOV. 28
Observatories: Stonehenge to Space Telescopes
History Channel, 7 p.m.
This special tells the history of astronomy through exciting true stories and beautiful visuals.
SATURDAY, NOV. 29
Hometime Holiday Special
PBS, 2:30 p.m.
Dean Johnson and Robin Hartl visit a Christmas tree farm, admire collectible Christmas miniatures and show us how to install outdoor Christmas lights.
SATURDAY, NOV. 29
America on the Move
History Channel, 9 p.m.
This special explores the Smithsonian's new permanent exhibit at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., about transportation in the United States.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dan Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Campion College to Open D.C. Campus DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — Two years after opening a new Catholic college on the West Coast, Campion College is preparing to open a sister campus in the heart of the nation's capital.
Next fall, Campion College of Washington, like its predecessor, will offer a two-year Catholic core curriculum and an associate degree in Catholic humanities.
“It's a communion of institutions,” said Mark Brumley, president of Ignatius Press and board member of the Washington campus. “The Washington school is independent but is affiliated with Campion in San Francisco and will share the same curriculum and vision.”
That curriculum encompasses theology and Scripture, philosophy, Western civilization, literature and a writing practicum.
The idea for the Washington-based school grew out of conversations between Robert Royal, director of the Faith and Reason Institute, and former Ignatius Institute associate director Dennis Bartlett. Royal will serve as president; Bartlett will serve as the director of admissions.
“Dennis has remained close to Campion of San Francisco president John Galten and former Ignatius president Father Joseph Fessio,” Royal said. “We used to commute together, and when Dennis told me about Campion I said that we needed to start something like that here in Washington.”
Royal sees the project not as a kind of franchise but as an opportunity to work for the renewal of Catholic higher education.
“This is a way to answer the problem of Catholic higher education,” Royal explained. “For the most part, mainstream colleges are problematic. Even when they want to do the right thing, there are social and cultural currents that make it difficult because of the faculty they have or their needs for attracting students.”
Doctorates Only
Campion of Washington recently received the financial backing necessary get started and is in the process of hiring faculty. The administration plans to hire only faculty with doctorate degrees. If all goes according to plan, Joseph Atkinson from the John Paul II Institute will teach Old Testament and Mary Healy professor of sacred scripture at Christendom College, will teach New Testament.
“All we need now are the students,” Royal said. He expects that Campion of Washington will accept between 20-30 students per class.
If Campion of San Francisco is any indication, the D.C. college will have no problem finding enough students to comprise a class.
When the San Francisco school first opened two years ago it had 23 students and no physical campus. Today it has 34 students and one building — a former convent — which makes up its physical plant. Currently, Campion has secured transfer agreements with Ave Maria University, Franciscan University of Steubenville and the International Theological Institute in Gaming, Austria. Bartlett expects that future agreements will be reached with other Catholic universities.
“We are in a moment when people know they need to seek alternatives to education,” Royal explained. “This is why the home schooling movement has taken off. People are dissatisfied with Catholic colleges. Campion is going to be affordable, reliable and a part of that search for alternatives. It may not change the face of the earth, but it will change the possibilities for pockets of students.”
One advantage of the affiliation between the two schools is the potential for student exchanges.
“We would allow Washington students to take courses in San Francisco during the first semester of their sophomore year,” Royal said.
That opportunity is one that current San Francisco students find appealing.
“It wouldn't be wise to pass up the opportunity for the cultural experience and the history available in D.C. if it were available,” said Nick Schneider, who is currently a sophomore in San Francisco.
While some might question the value of a two-year school, Schneider sees the two-year degree as an asset.
“Our first reading assignment was 600 pages of the history of Herodotus. We recently read 900 pages from Tom Jones,” Schneider said. “The study skills, the habits learned and the way of approaching a text will be beneficial no matter what a person does after Campion.”
Schneider, who had originally anticipated going on to graduate school, plans to enter the seminary for the Diocese of Bismarck, N.D., after he graduates in May. He said his time at Campion and the faith life there helped to solidify his decision.
Royal explained that a two-year school allows students to think about what they want to do without committing to a four-year school.
That's been beneficial for sophomore Margaret Perry of Napa, Calif., who said she has been most impressed by the curriculum and professors at Campion.
“Each course has been like a whole new world opening up, “Perry said. “I have friends who are sophomores elsewhere and they haven't yet taken classes in logic, metaphysics, medieval synthesis or patristics like we have at Campion.”
Perry has also enjoyed Campion's urban setting.
“It's nice to be in a city and to experience wonderful things like the opera, theater and music,” she said. “A lot of the good Catholic campuses are off hidden away. As Catholics, we have to live in the world. We can't be recluses in it. It's good to engage these things.”
Recruiting
Barlett has just begun the process of recruiting students. He recently contacted all of the Catholic secondary institutions in the D.C. area and has visited two of them. So far, he said, the reaction has been very positive.
“People like this idea very much, especially those who are strapped with Catholic school tuition,” Bartlett said. “A natural audience will be home-school graduates.”
Bartlett expects it will take three to five years for Campion of Washington to become a permanent institution. In the meantime, he would like to see similar universities develop elsewhere. He thinks of Campion as the light cavalry for Catholic higher education.
“This curriculum is transportable to almost any place in the country,” Bartlett said. “There is no reason why people who are like-minded couldn't establish institutions like this wherever they want.”
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Good Kids Are Happy Kids DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:RAISE HAPPY CHILDREN …
TEACH THEM VIRTUES!
by Mary Ann Budnik
R.B. Media, 2003
384 pages, $16.95
To order: (217) 546-0558
www. rbmediainc. com
It's a sign of the times that the very concept of setting out to “raise happy children” strikes many as oversimplified. Old-fashioned, even. After all, we live in a complicated age.
Yet such is the straightforward and urgent message of Mary Ann Budnik's latest book, which has been sparking interest wherever the gist of its content has been presented.
In an age of divorce, blended families, same-sex unions, latchkey kids and absent dads — not to mention a growing list of pediatric mental-illness diagnoses — it is a welcome study. Budnik, herself a mother and a prize-winning journalist, gets down to business in the very first chapter. Quoting the Catechism of the Catholic Church, she explains why virtue is a good habit that perfects the human person: a firm disposition to do good. Successful parenting consists offorming children in virtues, which will be the intellectual and moralpillars they will need for the rest of their lives.
Before that can happen, she explains, parents need to know their children. Outlining the traits of the four classical temperaments sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric and melancholy — she analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of each. She also mentions the different virtues that will help each child with his or her temperament, reproducing apagefromBenjamin Franklin's famousnotebookof virtues as a good way to assess progress.
The next chapter deals with the basic dispositions parents can try to foster while their children are between the ages of 2 and 7. Discussing ways to encourage obedience, sincerity and order, Budnik offers lots of practical tips and cites examples from the lives of the saints. The key cardinal virtue to work on during these years, she maintains, is justice. She also has a section on the theological virtues — faith, hope and charity — and shows how these manifest themselves, along with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, even in very young children.
For children between 8 and 12, Budnik emphasizes the cardinal virtue of fortitude, which produces beneficial traits such as patience, perseverance and generosity. Turning her attention to youngsters between 13 and 18, she speaks of how the cardinal virtues of temperance and prudence should develop in an integral and natural way. Well aware of the fears and frustrations teens can go through, she has much practical advice for helping them to grow in self-confidence and make good use of their increasing freedom.
Throughout the book, Budnik tries to correlate the basic qualities that all happy children seem to evidence. She shows that no virtue is ever isolated; each one helps the other — and ultimately produces a much more stable and contented person.
“What is interesting about virtues is that they are all attached, like fingers to a hand,” she writes. “As a child develops one, others are also being developed. As your children develop virtues, they root out their vices, which cause unhappiness. The more virtues they develop, the happier your children become. The happier each family member is, the happier family life becomes. What makes children sad and family life difficult is the lack of virtue on someone's part.”
Budnik's new book is the third in a series. It follows her previous works, Raise Happy Children Through a Happier Marriage! and Raise Happy Children … Raise Them Saints!. A fourth is on the way: Raise Happy Children … Teach Them Joy! is due out next spring. At that time a growing group of appreciative Catholic parents will say: Bring it on. Which is exactly what many are saying right now about Virtues.
Opus Dei Father Michael Giesler writes from St. Louis.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Michael Giesler ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:Diversity — of Ideas
The New Hampshire daily said speakers objected to ideological and political uniformity of views among faculty and campus speakers, a watered-down, onesided curriculum and indoctrination by administrators.
Coming in for special criticism were, the newspaper said, “speech codes that limit free inquiry and debate.”
Mea Culpa
“The program was based on eugenics, a now-discredited philosophy advocating the use of sterilization to prevent individuals considered ‘less desirable’ by society from reproducing,” the newspaper reported.
The school decided to conduct an investigation of its role in eugenics research in January following a series of articles in the Winston-Salem Journal that detailed the school's participation. The Journal reported that among those forced or persuaded to undergo sterilization were children as young as 10.
Catholic Flavor
CHRONICLE.COM, Nov. 5 — ChicagO's DePaul University and Marquette University in Milwaukee are among the five schools the Big East Conference has recently invited to join its ranks in 2005. The others include the universities of Cincinnati, Louisville and South Florida.
The additions replace Boston College, the University of Miami and Virginia Tech, which have announced plans to leave the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The expanded league “would have a strong Roman Catholic flavor,” said the Web site of The Chronicle of Higher Education,“matching DePaul and Marquette with Providence College, the University of Notre Dame, Georgetown, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova universities.”
Not Sportsmanlike
“The announcer then introduced the Columbia halftime show by inviting the crowd to join the band in [its] ‘celebration of partial-birth abortion,’” the newspaper reported. “This was followed by some ranting against the Pope and what the announcer described as his ‘drooling and stuttering’ speech.”
Stepping Down
UNIVERSITY OF DALLAS, Oct. 30 — Msgr. Milam Joseph, president of the university since 1996, will retire at the end of the current school year, the school announced.
Ordained in 1964, Msgr. Joseph was the first priest to lead the only Catholic university in north Texas.
Msgr. Joseph, 66, has served in parish assignments and as a high school principal. His career also included service as vocations director and as a notary on the diocesan marriage tribunal.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joe Cullen ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: How 1963 Led to 2003 DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:The Register's “Times They Are A-Changin’” series will be taking a look back 40 years to cultural milestones in the 1960s and assessing their impact.
Nov. 22, 1963, will always be noted as the day President John F. Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas. The following is a sampling of what else was on the scene that year.
• A massive number of baby-boomer teen-agers needed entertaining. What to do on Saturday night? No drugs, just rocking and rolling to chart-toppers such as “He's So Fine” and “My Boyfriend's Back,” and dancing the Twist and the Mashed Potato. But — move over Ronettes and Chiffons — the British invasion began in America that year with the release of 10 Beatles songs. Elvis was no longer the only object of swooning.
“Beatlemania” helped solidify music's new central character-forming role in the lives of teen-agers. The authority of the traditional parent-centered family in matters of faith and morals was headed for a shake-up.
• “The Beverly Hillbillies” was the top-rated show with “Bonanza,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “Petticoat Junction” not far behind. Playing in the movie theaters was Jerry Lewis' “Nutty Professor” and “Tom Jones.” Cable, home computers and cell phones were science-fiction fodder. The new communication revolution of the year? Zip codes.
• In the world of fashion, ladylike was still definitely the way to go. (Guys still wore the basic male uniform.) The day dress was in, as were poofy hair and prom dresses. No short skirts, just A-line, please. Gloves were still worn in the evenings and for special occasions. Hats were a must, and Jacqueline Kennedy's pillbox was the rage.
Traditional female dress and roles had a tough adversary, however. Feminist revolution was taking root that year with the publication of Betty Friedan's movement-inspiring The Feminine Mystique. Friedan argued against traditional female roles — and that happiness for women would be found at the office, not with the kids at home.
• Political tensions were simmering. Especially in the South, racial conflict and the movement for civil rights for blacks was taking center stage. Just three months before the Kennedy assassination, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C. Congress was working on what was to become the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Racial issues were lighting a fire under a substantial realignment in the Democratic Party that would leave many Catholics and other middle-American traditional families behind. The party was becoming the political vehicle for social revolution.
• Internationally, Kennedy had just stood down the Soviets over the Cuban Missile Crisis. The threat communism posed to democracy, faith and traditional culture was very much on the minds of most Americans.
— Marjorie Dannenfelser
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Catholic Campaign for Human Development - Friend or Foe? DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:Catholic giving might be up, but many Catholics are still wary of one special collection — the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.
The collection takes place each year on the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Since 1969, the campaign has raised money in parishes across the country to fund groups that help the poor develop economic strength and political power.
But, over the years, some critics have said they don't help the poor enough, while others say they distribute money to groups that lean too much to the political left.
“What's wrong with funding inner-city Catholic schools that are doing a terrific job?” asks one critic, Terrence Scanlon, president of the Capital Research Center, a nonprofit philanthropy watchdog group.
Father Robert Vitillo, Catholic Campaign for Human Development's executive director, counters by saying: “Some of the concern that's been raised by people is more because they don't understand the whole idea of the Church supporting groups that are trying to bring about change in society. Also, there's a misunderstanding by some people who say, ‘But you're not giving charity.’”
Father Vitillo said the Catholic Campaign for Human Development was “never established to give charity out. It was never established to set up shelters or to set up soup kitchens. … It was set up to support justice work in the Church.”
On the list of 318 local projects in 45 states that the Catholic Campaign for Human Development will fund with $8.74 million in grants in the coming year, one organization stands out for critics: the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
It's the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families. The association's style of organizing, along with other groups funded by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development throughout the years, is inspired by the vision of labor activist Saul Alinsky.
In his 1971 book, Rules for Radicals, Alinsky acknowledges Lucifer as “the very first radical… known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom.”
One of Alinsky's rules of ethics says that “the ends justifies almost any means” — which is directly contrary to Church teaching.
Funding Alinsky-style community-organizing groups concerns Stephanie Block, a writer and researcher who has written about the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, mainly “because Catholic thought about social justice is rooted in respect for individual human dignity, interpersonal cooperation and the natural moral law,” she said. “Any 'system’ that feeds class hostility or that that teaches moral relativism, for example, is inherently unjust.”
Father Vitillo said he “didn't know very much” about Alinsky.
“Certainly Saul Alinsky is not my motivation for being involved in CCHD,” he said. “A much stronger motivation for CCHD to be supporting this kind of work comes from our Catholic social teaching. It comes from a long tradition in supporting the efforts of poor and low-income people to make changes in society so that we can have a better society.”
John Hogan, an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies, wrote about six Catholic Campaign for Human Development-funded projects in a recently published book called Credible Signs of Christ Alive.
“What do you do when you call a government agency and you run into a bureaucratic brick wall?” Hogan said. “You got to do something about it. You got to take a stance, and deep down we usually admire that. These groups, they might have to be confrontational, but every one of them was ready to move to negotiations and reconciliation in a very Christian way, very quickly. I was impressed by that.
That was good Alinsky and organizational development.”
— Carlos Briceno
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Family Matters DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:All of Life's a Stage
Q
My 3-year-old has really gotten difficult during the past few months. My friend says it's only a stage, and it'll pass. Will it?
A
May be it will. Maybe it won't. I'm sorry; I never used to talk like that. It all started when I became a psychologist.
Childhood is full of all kinds of behavioral comings and goings. Much misconduct starts up mysteriously, out of nowhere. It lingers a while, makes your life tough and then passes. Parents will often lament: “He's never looked me in the face and flat-out lied before,” or, “She just seems to all of a sudden be snotty with her sister.” To which I sometimes reply: “Has he ever been 5 years old before?” or “Is this the first time she's been 9?”
Age brings with it new conduct. Some good, some bad. All throughout parenthood, you are forced to face — and face down — all kinds of behavior that never before was part of your child's way, demeanor or arsenal. In a certain sense, maturity brings new forms of immaturity.
Time does indeed seem to cure some share of misbehavior. The problem is, you can't know for sure what will go away on its own and what won't. Time can be a parent's ally or foe, depending.
What if the “stage” isn't a phase at all but proves to be an enduring character trait? While much misconduct can crop up initially as a stage, if left untreated it can fester into other stuff far more intense than the original phase. Let's say your little one's defiance is accompanied by fits. If you don't discipline the fits now, they might become a habit, growing nastier as Will becomes older, bigger, stronger, smarter and slicker. The Terrible Twos become the Thundering Threes, which turn into the Fiery Fours, which turn into…
Any form of misbehavior is much more likely to pass eventually if you deal with it and discipline it. On the one hand, your friend might be right when she says, “It's a stage.” On the other, she could be quite wrong in predicting it will pass. The main predictor of whether a behavior passes or not is you. If you stand by passively, hoping your child will outgrow his defiance, your patience might be rewarded. But that's not likely. Over time bad behavior tends to fuel itself unless it is corrected. Many are the behaviors that came to stay because the parent waited for them to subside with the passing of the stage.
Then, too, behavior may go through phases in form but not substance. For example, the child who threw temper tantrums at 2 years old still blows his top at 14. Only now he doesn't writhe, flail and leak from facial orifices. He finds other ways to express his frustration. You may find yourself wishing he were 2 again.
So tell your friend you are committed to proving her right. Your parental will and firmness will ensure that your child is just going through a stage and, indeed, it will soon pass.
Dr. Ray Guarendi is the father of 10, a psychologist and an author.
He can be reached at www.kidbrat.com.
Reach Family Matters at
familymatters@ncregister.com
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dr. Ray Guarendi ----- KEYWORDS: Culture Of Life -------- TITLE: BEST THINGS STILL FREE DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:Facts of Life
An increase in material wealth does not equate to an increase in happiness, according to a study conducted by Richard Easterlin, an economist at the University of Southern California. Study subjects' income doubled over 25 years, “but people were not saying they were happier,” Easterlin told the Daily Trojan, USC's student newspaper. Meanwhile the study showed that non-monetary attainments such as good health, marriage and education are strong determinants of overall well-being.
Register Illustration by Tim Rauch
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture Of Life -------- TITLE: Ways to Put Faith Into Thanksgiving DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:Strictly speaking, America's Thanksgiving Day is not an especially significant occasion for Catholics. It is, after all, a secular holiday with Protestant origins. The liturgical calendar doesn't recognize it.
But you can say this about many Catholic families: They know an opportunity when they see one.
Indeed many Catholics, as they plan to gather with friends and family over a traditional turkey dinner, are especially eager to take advantage of Thanksgiving as an occasion for themselves and their families to grow in the faith.
We Gather Together
One such Catholic is Shari Cummings, mother of 11, of Earlville, Iowa. This year, she and her husband, Roger, plan to spend Thanksgiving at home with their at-home children and their grown offspring who are able to come home for the holiday. A number of extended family members will be along, too.
The Cummings' family traditions involve much more than a conventional family dinner, though. Cummings sees “praising God for his goodness and mercy, giving to those less fortunate and thankfulness for a bountiful year” as important aspects of the Thanksgiving holiday that are wholly consistent with her family's practice of their Catholic faith.
On Thanksgiving Day, the Cummings family will attend Mass together and then return home to sing hymns of thanksgiving such as “Now Thank We All Our God,” “For the Beauty of the Earth” and “We Gather Together.”
And, during prayers before the meal, family members will take turns naming the things for which each is most thankful.
“We will praise God for his blessings and share with others what God has given us,” Cummings says. “We'll also be choosing a book which will be read after dinner during the Advent season to ready our hearts for the birth of Christ.”
Thanksgiving Visitation
Renee Winkeljohn of Enid, Okla., proprietor of www.CatholicMoms.com, a Web site designed to assist Catholic women in their vocations as mothers, also recognizes Thanksgiving as an occasion for Catholics to grow in faith.
Instead of celebrating in their own home, this year Winkeljohn, her husband, Greg, and their six children will attend Mass as a family and then drive to her brother's home in Kansas for Thanksgiving.
“Obviously inviting family and friends to your home, cooking for them and entertaining them is a way to practice the virtue of loving your neighbor,” she says. “But sometimes we have to go out of our homes and reach out to others. In the same spirit that our Blessed Mother went out and visited her cousin Elizabeth, we will be traveling to ‘visit’ and celebrate with family. We are practicing our Catholic faith through our Thanksgiving ‘visitation.’”
One particular way the Winkeljohn family encourages gratitude at Thanksgiving is through a practice they call the “Corn Kernel Tradition.”
“When the table is set, the children place three corn kernels beside each plate,” she explains. “After dinner has been served, we pass a basket and each person drops a kernel in and tells one thing they are thankful for.” The basket is ipassed around three times.
“Some of the things the kids say make you laugh,” she adds, “and some of the things bring tears to your eyes.”
In Writing
Allison Girone of Bear, Del., makes a point of writing down her blessings each year and encouraging her husband, Steve, and their three children to do the same.
“The moment Halloween is done I think of Thanksgiving,” she says. “I stop to think about who has made me most grateful during the year. I pick one person each year and take some reflective time to bless them back. I write a letter of thanks — not an e-mail but an old-fashioned letter that lets them know how and why we cherish them.”
Also, Girone sets up a small tree on the dining room table in her home. Throughout November, family members write their blessings on gold paper leaves and hang them on the tree, creating a visible representation of their gratitude.
Girone finds a natural expression of her Catholic faith in the Thanksgiving customs of recalling our blessings and offering thanks.
“We are lucky to be so well-fed in this country and to share the love of Christ,” she says. “We should recognize that more often. We should remember our past and the sacrifices of our ancestors. We, too, are called to carry a cross. As Christians, difficulties will befall us and we can meet those challenges with gratefulness for the ones and the One who came before us.”
Welcoming Jesus
On Thanksgiving morning, Robert and Nancy Poole of Basye, Va., will attend Mass with their three sons. Afterward, they will host a traditional family dinner in their home with an extra place setting at the table.
“Each year we set an extra place just for Jesus, to welcome him at our dinner table,” Nancy explains. “The children really enjoy this.”
Although her plans for dinner include roasting a turkey and preparing all the traditional side dishes, Poole does not lose sight of the important parts of her faith that she feels are bolstered by her observance of the holiday.
For example, she intends to discuss with her children the importance of being thankful for their faith. In particular, she wants them to understand the sacrifices others have made for their spiritual welfare, including the saints and martyrs. To reinforce this lesson, she is planning a special project where her children will paste holy cards of the saints on a set of praying hands.
“Thanksgiving has a special way of bringing loved ones together,” Poole says. “I think thankfulness is an important part of our faith because we must never lose our appreciation for what we have: our faith, our family and our freedom as Americans.”
Eucharistic Thanksgiving
“Catholics are very amenable to celebrate a day of thanks,” says Vincentian Father Oscar Lukefahr, director of Catholic Home Study Service in Perryville, Mo. “The word Eucharist means thanksgiving and we are a Eucharistic people. For us, every Mass is a thanksgiving. The Thanksgiving holiday is a special day to remember the blessings God has given us as Catholics and as Americans.”
Father Lukefahr plans a special Mass on Thanksgiving morning and then an evening dinner with his brother's family. He believes that participation in traditional Thanksgiving observances can be a helpful way for Catholics to connect their faith more completely with family life.
“The key is connecting the Mass to Thanksgiving,” Father Lukefahr says. “Catholics should realize the importance of giving thanks every time they receive the Eucharist.”
“There should be something religious about a family getting together for Thanksgiving,” he adds. “As St. Paul tells us: ‘Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God’” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Danielle Bean writes from Center Harbor, New Hampshire.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Danielle Bean ----- KEYWORDS: Culture Of Life -------- TITLE: Three Who Serve the Family DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:Fall may be falling all across America, but in Sarasota, Fla., the new Community of the Epiphany is flowering. In St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, Catholic Family Ministries is in bloom. They are just one of several new aposto-lates serving the family. This week, the Register looks at three.
“Our mission is the renewal of the family and renewal of the faith,” says Sister Gilchrist Cottrill, who founded the Community of the Epiphany in the mid-'90s. “We're trying to get families charged up about their faith and taking responsibility for it.”
The unique community combines lay and religious members. Sister Cottrill explains that Pope John Pau II's 1996 apostolic exhortation Vita Consecrata (On the Consecrated Life) calls for new communities with new visions and a mixture of consecrated and lay people.
Why name the group for the Epiphany? “The Magi saw a family — a mom, dad and baby,” Sister Cottrill says. “God has chosen to be present to us within the family unit.”
And the family is the prime setting in which most Christians are called to live out Christ's Sermon on the Mount. For that reason, the community focuses in a special way on that part of the Gospel. “We feel the Beatitudes will soften our hearts so we can show forth the compassion of Christ in the families and in our ministries,” Sister Cottrill says.
Take “Blessed are the Merciful,” for example. One of the main aims the Epiphany community strives for is healing relationships within families. “We're urging people to get rid of their grudges and let go of past things so people can move on.”
Epiphany members Ken and Joyce Miller reflect on ways they've put the Beatitudes into action. “We try to practice being humble and meek, and we try to teach our children that,” Joyce says. “It's never easy to be a follower of Christ, but we try. Our motto in this house is: Kind, Gentle, Loving.”
Ken says he believes the outreach will bring “more of these young families in to improve their faith, which is going to improve their marriage and their relationships with their children.”
The Millers are part of the apostolate's Families Forward, a program in which families mentor other families. Families in crisis are paired with members who have gone through a similar trauma. They deal with problems ranging from siblings not getting along to grandparents raising grandchildren alone.
The vision for the community came to the founder, then a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame, while at prayer in 1996. Sister Cottrill calls the period a “moment of grace” and credits her spiritual director, the late Holy Cross Father Thomas Conmy, for help and inspiration — especially with “his whole 12-step spirituality for the family.”
Sister Cottrill saw the great need for family life and religious life, both struggling in the United States, to help each other grow and become more stable.
This summer, Bishop John Nevins of Venice, Fla., named the community a public association of the faithful, and Sister Cottrill professed her vows as the first nun in it. Epiphany Community is hooking up with Ave Maria University, now in the diocese; Sister Cottrill will run the special-education department at the Naples campus.
“Bishop Nevins is not only supportive but he's also greatly devoted to the Community of the Epiphany,” says Dr. Terry Reilly, who with his wife, Mimi, is co-director of the Department of Ministries for the Diocese of Venice. “We encourage and endorse the apostolic work of the community.”
To date, 30 families, two candidates in consecrated life and several aspirants “who have come by way of the Holy Spirit” meet regularly at the community house on diocesan land in Sarasota. Sister Cottrill describes them as “a very joyful group.”
Joyce Miller is sanguine about the group's prospects.
“We're really going to bring faith back to the family unit,” she says, “and this means that there will be less divorce, less crime, less drugs, less alcohol, less dropouts and more prayer. We're going to bring Christ back into homes.”
Pray, and Stay Together
Thankfully, the Community of the Epiphany is not wanting for company to compare notes with.
On Topsail Island, N.C., the Christian Family Living Center runs a summer family program developed years ago by Marianist priests. Today's program is lay-run, says Judy DiCostanzo, whose husband, Joseph, is the director.
The goal is to build strong, Christ-centered families in the Diocese of Raleigh by modeling “affirmation, communication, forgiveness and commitment” for families, she explains. Daily Mass, benediction, the rosary and other forms of prayer are part of the program. Priests other than Marianists also assist, such as a Maryknoll priest.
And in St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, Catholic Family Ministries works to follow the Holy Father's call in Familiaris Consortio (The Role of the Family in the Modern World, 1981) and to build holy families through their annual conferences at the shrine of Lac Ste. Anne.
Maurice Beier, his wife, Vicki, and four others co-founded this 8-year-old ministry, which has the blessing of the Edmonton Archdiocese. Schedule permitting, Archbishop Thomas Collins sometimes joins the families for the annual event.
“Families come here to hear the truth and be challenged in their faith,” Beier says. “They come to encourage and support one another in raising Catholic families — children that will know and practice their Catholic faith.”
Dads, moms, sons and daughters come to hear speakers such as Jesuit Father Mitch Pacwa, Father John Corapi and Karl Keating. There's emphasis on confession and the Eucharist, and devotions including the rosary, Divine Mercy chaplet and Eucharistic adoration.
Even teens seem eager to learn more about their faith lately, Beier says. Sometimes, the interest translates into vocations. Already, four Catholic Family Ministries boys are attending minor seminary. And the ministry now includes a Men of Integrity conference, a November marriage conference with Christopher West and a new women's conference in March.
Thanks to the outreach, families such as Charles and Jeri Marple and their eight children have grown in their faith. Their son Chuck, 19, is involved with the ministry to his peers, focusing on children-parents communication. Sarah, 18, is actively involved in several pro-life initiatives.
“It's increased the questions in terms of apologetics from the kids — how to answer questions on the faith and defend the faith,” their father says. Son Jeffrey, 14, studies the Catechism to learn to explain the faith to non-Catholics. And the Marples try to go to daily Mass together.
The Catholic Family Ministries have made a difference for Kevin and Mary Lawless and their family, too. Mary appreciates the determination “to present the truth of the faith in its entirety.” She says once they “heard the Church's true teaching on pro-life and what that means living it out in daily life,” their lives changed. Her husband, who had a vasectomy, went to confession to an Opus Dei priest who suggested a reversal.
“Once we had the reversal, we left it in God's hands whether we'd conceive another child,” Mary says. Although they haven't done so yet, they've adopted a girl from China, now 3, who joins their family of five biological children.
Numbers of couples have asked them for contacts for reversals. As a physician, Kevin has recommended doctors. “One woman spoke to her husband, who had a reversal,” Mary says, “and they've had a baby boy.”
“I have no idea how [many] other babies have been born since God provided us with the truth and Kevin and I have been living out the Catholic faith,” Mary continues. “Or the number of people who have had their fertility restored through what they heard at Catholic Family Ministries.”
Once families “learn the truth,” she adds, “most of the time they are convicted to live this truth.”
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Culture Of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 11/23/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 23-29, 2003 ----- BODY:Cleft-Palate Abortions?
Abortion beyond 24 weeks was made illegal in the United Kingdom in 1990 — unless doctors believe there is a substantial risk that the child would be born “seriously handicapped.” The High Court in London will now be asked to decide whether a cleft lip and palate can be considered a “serious handicap.”
The case was launched after a Cambridge student, who herself underwent corrective surgery for a congenital jaw abnormality, was concerned when she learned that an abortion had taken place after 24 weeks for the sole defect of cleft lip and palate.
Colorado Empowers Parents
Pro-lifers say it will spur communication within families about abortion. Parents should know whether their daughter is getting an abortion, and young women need to get all the facts about the potential emotional scars, said Jim Anderson, a board member for Colorado Right to Life.
But the law also allows a judge to waive the notification requirement if a young woman seeking an abortion can convince a judge that she is mature enough to make the decision or that an abortion is in her best interest.
Pro-Life Political Wins
LIFENEWS.COM, Nov. 5 — Pro-lifers made gains in Kentucky as pro-life Republican Congressman Ernie Fletcher defeated pro-abortion Democratic state Attorney General Ben Chandler in the race for governor. Fletcher easily won with 55%, or 593,508 votes, to Chandler's 45%, or 484,938 votes.
In Mississippi, voters had the option of choosing between two pro-life candidates.
With 84% of precincts reporting, pro-life Republican activist Haley Barbour got 53%, or 377,508 votes, to incumbent pro-life Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's 45%, or 322,028 votes.
Abortion-Seekers Need Proof
The board proposed the rules for publication in the Texas Register for a 30-day comment period. Board members could consider final action in January.
The rule is part of a settlement in a lawsuit against the state by the pro-life Justice Foundation, said Richard Bays, associate commissioner for consumer health protection at the Texas Department of Health. The foundation had said the state wasn't properly regulating facilities.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture Of Life -------- TITLE: Massachusetts Court Redefines Marriage DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:BOSTON — The Massachusetts Supreme Court's homosexual marriage decision created a political firestorm in Massachusetts and led to an intensification of the nationwide debate over homosexual marriage.
The 4-3 decision, issued Nov. 18, gives the state Legislature 180 days to alter the state's marriage laws to allow homosexuals to marry.
“The Massachusetts Constitution affirms the dignity and equality of all individuals,” the majority wrote. “It forbids the creation of second-class citizens.”
The majority insisted that lawyers for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts had “failed to identify any constitutionally adequate reason for denying civil marriage to same-sex couples.”
The decision came almost nine months after the court heard oral arguments in the case and five months after the U.S. Supreme Court's Lawrence v. Texas decision struck down the 13 remaining state laws banning homosexual activity.
In fact, the first citation in the 90-page decision was to the Lawrence decision and its own quotation of the Supreme Court's 1986 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision upholding abortion: “Our obligation is to define the liberty of all, not to mandate our own moral code.”
It also said exclusion of homosexual couples from marriage is “incompatible with the constitutional principles of respect for individual autonomy and equality under law.”
The majority decision, written by Chief Justice Margaret Marshall, declared civil marriage to be the “voluntary union of two persons as spouses, to the exclusion of all others.
“This reformulation redresses the plaintiffs' constitutional injury and furthers the aim of marriage to promote stable, exclusive relationships,” it said. “It advances the two legitimate state interests the [state health] department has identified: providing a stable setting for child rearing and conserving state resources.”
Daniel Avila, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, said the mandate to the Legislature was a ruse so the court would have more political cover for its controversial ruling.
“The court essentially advised the Legislature that it will issue an order and that if the Legislature wants to do anything, it is free to do it,” Avila said. “That's basically a rubber stamp. The court will order [marriage licenses] within 180 days no matter what the Legislature does.”
Call to Arms
Avila said the decision has spurred everyday citizens to get involved and defend traditional marriage between a man and a woman.
“The phones have been ringing off the hook. Many people are still in shock, even though they knew that it was possible for the decision to go this way. But the way the court characterized [those who are opposed] to same-sex marriage has engendered a substantial amount of opposition to the ruling,” Avila said.
The court stated that the ban on same-sex marriage “works a deep and scarring hardship” on a segment of the community for “no rational reason.”
“The absence of any reasonable relationship between, on the one hand, an absolute disqualification of same-sex couples who wish to enter into civil marriage and, on the other, protection of public health, safety or general welfare suggests that the marriage restriction is rooted in persistent prejudices against persons who are (or who are believed to be) homosexual,” the court majority wrote.
Archbishop Sean O'Malley of Boston called the decision “alarming.” The archbishop said he hopes the state's political leaders “will have the courage and common sense to redress this situation for the good of society.”
President Bush issued a statement while in London critical of the decision.
“Marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman,” he said. The decision “violates this important principle.”
Bush also seemed to signal support for the Federal Marriage Amendment.
“I will work with congressional leaders and others to do what is legally necessary to defend the sanctity of marriage,” he said.
Alliance for Marriage, a coalition of religious and spiritual leaders, also indicated that the decision by the Massachusetts court emphasized the need for the Federal Marriage Amendment.
“Gays and lesbians have a right to live as they choose. But they don't have a right to redefine marriage for our entire society,” Alliance for Marriage president Matt Daniels said.
Daniels noted that the Boston Bar Association has repeatedly called for “federal constitutional claims” to be brought against all state and federal marriage laws.
Imitation Marriage?
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, immediately denounced the decision for uprooting “3,000 years of recorded history” and pledged his support for an amendment to the commonwealth's constitution.
Romney later suggested civil unions that confer marital benefits to same-sex couples but not the term marriage might appease the four-judge majority.
“Under that opinion, I believe that a civil-union-type provision would be sufficient,” Romney said. “I believe their decision indicates that a provision that provides benefits, obligations, rights and responsibilities would be in conformity with their decision.”
But Lawrence Tribe, a law professor at Harvard University, said the decision offered no such interpretation.
“He must have read a different opinion and not the court's decision, which I read very carefully,” Tribe told the Boston Globe.
Other conservative activists acknowledged such a strategy is not just legally dubious but detrimental to marriage as well.
“Counterfeit marriage is counterfeit marriage,” said Genevieve Wood, a spokeswoman for the Family Research Council. “Don't give any of the benefits of marriage under a different name.”
She said the decision puts politicians “on notice” that they will have to take a stand on the issue of “same-sex” marriage.
“This is a battle that will be fought out state by state,” Wood said.
Some homosexual activists also said a civil-unions law wouldn't be adequate.
“My reading is that anything short of civil marriage does not satisfy the court's decision,” said Winnie Stachelberg, political director of the Washington-based Human Rights Campaign. She said the court's decision was “in the best traditions of our nation” and asserted that support for same-sex marriage has increased in the state as discussion of “marriage equality” has increased.
Support for same-sex marriage in Massachusetts is higher than the rest of the nation. An April Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll found about half of the state's citizens supported it while 44% opposed it.
A nationwide Pew Research poll released in October found that 32% of Americans supported same-sex marriage while 59% opposed it.
Wood agreed that opposition to same-sex marriage was politically wise for candidates but said marriage is more important than any political contests.
“It's a winning issue, but that shouldn't be the only reason to do the right thing,” Wood said. “But I do think the president is not just following the polls. I think he believes that marriage is between a man and a woman.”
Constitution Option
In the Bay State, conservative activists are working hard to change the constitution, which, by law, takes two years to accomplish.
“The odds are very good, [but] it's a multiyear process. We have a vote scheduled for Feb. 11,” said Ron Crews, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute.
Representatives from both houses of the Legislature meet together on that date to vote on an amendment that would define marriage to be between one man and one woman only.
If a simply majority of the combined delegates approves the measure in two consecutive years, it must be approved by a majority of voters in the following year's general election.The earliest the constitution can be amended is 2006.
Support for the amendment crosses party lines. Its sponsor, State Representative Philip Travis, and one of its strongest supporters, House Speaker Thomas Finneran, are Democrats.
Travis told the New York Times that the court “did a favor” to marriage supporters by taking civil unions out of the discussion.
“That has turned many people in favor of that amendment,” he said. “Some legislators I talked to today have changed their position. They were looking for a middle ground, and the tables are turned.”
“I've always been philosophically averse to amending the state constitution — it doesn't matter what the issue is,” Rep. Gene O'Flaherty, a Democrat, told the Times. “But in light of the judicial activism displayed by the court, I might have to re-evaluate my position.”
Crews remains confident that given the fallout from the decision, the amendment would pass.
“The Senate president told us that we would get a vote,” Crews said. “And if we get that vote, we believe it will pass.”
Joshua Mercer writes from Washington, D.C.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joshua Mercer ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Transcendental Meditation DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:DENVER — Crime, racial tensions and some of the worst traffic in the country — ranking just behind Los Angeles and San Francisco in a recent national study — make Denver a stressful place to live.
The solution? How about city-sponsored transcendental meditation?
Don't laugh. That's exactly what Denver activist Jeff Peckman proposed — along with 2,460 petition signers — with a ballot measure called the “Safety Through Peace Initiative.”
The law would have required the Denver City Council to address crime, stress and terrorism with measures such as piping soothing music into public buildings, serving only natural foods in school cafeterias and offering city-sponsored mass transcendental meditation sessions in schools and other public settings.
Though Denver voters defeated the proposal by a 2-1 margin Nov. 4, it's the latest in a major push to institutionalize transcendental meditation — a Hindu-based religious practice — as a government-sanctioned activity.
Public schools are the most commonly targeted venue for advocates of government-sponsored transcendental meditation, and it has already been implemented at a handful of public schools in Washington, D.C., and Detroit.
In September, advocates of transcendental meditation in schools held press conferences in San Diego; Los Angeles; Oakland, Calif.; Palo Alto, Calif.; Chicago; Minneapolis; Iowa City, Iowa; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; Providence, R.I.; New Haven, Conn.; and Phoenix. They cited studies — including one by the National Institutes of Health — that indicate transcendental meditation is effective at reducing stress.
One study of FBI statistics shows unusually low crime rates in 11 college towns — such as Iowa City and Boulder, Colo. — where at least 1% of the population regularly practices transcendental meditation.
“I don't know anybody who isn't concerned about the rising levels of stress among students and teachers, so this is something that naturally will be considered, and in my view it's inevitable that [transcendental meditation] will be going into the public schools,” said Joseph Mario Orsatti, spokesman for the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at the Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa.
The push by Maharishi University and others who advocate transcendental meditation in schools is raising red flags for those who worry about separation of church and state — a concept devised by an array of court interpretations of the First Amendment's establishment clause. If transcendental meditation is a religious exercise, some argue, it has no more place in the public schools than teacher-led rosary sessions.
“Transcendental meditation is based in religious philosophy,” said Dan Barker, public relations director for the Freedom From Religion
Foundation in Madison, Wis., an organization best known for trying to rid public schools of Christmas trees, Christmas carols and various other Nativity-related traditions. “The word ‘transcendental’ is a religious term, and there's no way around it. The word implies that there's some other realm out there, other than the here and now, and that's a religious assumption.”
Barker said any Christian family with children in a school that offers transcendental meditation should complain to the school board and the principal.
“If that doesn't work, go to plan B,” Barker said. “Demand that the school lead children in Christian prayer, and I assure you there's no way they will allow it. Then you'll have a case of discrimination and the meditation will have to stop.”
It's a sociopolitical/religious debate that's resulting in strange metaphorical bedfellows. Barker — whose organization is often perceived as hostile to Christian traditions — finds himself sharing concern with Fraser Field, executive officer of the Catholic Educators' Resource Center based in Powell River, British Columbia.
“Talk about a pagan conspira-cy,” Field said of Denver's ballot initiative and the movement to get transcendental meditation into schools. “They'll say it's not a religious practice. They'll say anything, because they're trying to sneak it in. But if it's called transcendental meditation, it's all about Hindu deity.”
Field speaks from experience. Though he's Catholic today, he spent 20 years as a teacher and practitioner of transcendental meditation. He studied in India with transcendental meditation guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who popularized the practice based in ancient Hindu philosophy, in the early 1960s.
“At one of my classes Maharishi said — and this is a direct quote — ‘Jesus was a fool.’ He went on to explain that Jesus was foolish for dying on the cross, because it's needless for humans to suffer,” Field recalled.
While practicing and teaching transcendental meditation, Field said he and others became adept at getting into a drug-like state of dissociated bliss.
“You get into a state in which your need for Jesus Christ is much reduced or eliminated entirely. The focus is on yourself and your ego,” Field said. “The philosophy is that we, as humans, can be coequal with God. It's a very dangerous condition to be in.”
Field said the practice left him empty and in a state of personal crisis and darkness. Then one day in the late 1980s, in a stupor of despair, Field stumbled into a Catholic church in Victoria, British Columbia.
“I was suddenly enveloped in a peace that I had not known before,” Field recalled. “I knew I was in the presence of something personal and remarkable, but I had absolutely no knowledge of the Eucharist at the time. It was absolute experiential grace of the Eucharist.”
Is It Religion?
Orsatti of Maharishi University disputes claims that transcendental meditation is a religious exercise of any kind. While he said it's true the practice is rooted in Hinduism, he claims the Hindu philosophy is a way of life and not a religion.
“Prayer involves thinking,” Orsatti said. “It's contemplative and is associated with a system of belief. TM [transcendental medita-tion] isn't contemplative. It's a practice of bringing the mind to a state of inner peace.”
Orsatti said he's a practicing Catholic who graduated from St. Joseph's Preparatory High in Philadelphia and Marquette University in Milwaukee.
“TM is not incompatible with my Catholic faith,” Orsatti insisted. “Being a good Catholic involves living in accordance with the Church. Through TM I have found I'm more in tune with the will of God and the guidelines he has given us through the Church. I enjoy TM and I absolutely love saying the rosary.”
“Everyone gets a sort of secular introduction to TM, and it's a lie,” Field countered. “I was given the secular introduction, and very shortly after that I was taken into a room with a picture of an Indian guru and a table with a white cloth that held candles and incense. I was put through the Hindu ceremony of initiation — a deeply religious, spiritual ceremony that every practitioner of TM has to go through.”
Unlike Orsatti, some practitioners of transcendental meditation boldly claim it's a religious exer-cise — one for which they make no apologies.
“TM is a 100% Hindu-based practice coming from the Hindu tradition,” said B.V.K. Sastry, a professor of philosophy at the Hindu University of America in Orlando, Fla.
K.C. Gupta, president of the Hindu University of America, views transcendental meditation as something like the rosary for Hindus.
“I view the rosary as one form of meditation, because the beads help you to focus, and while you're reciting the prayers you can focus on the mysteries,” Gupta said.
Field disputes that transcendental meditation has much in common with the rosary because it's more the worship of self than the worship of God.
“But it's absolutely a religious exercise and an indoctrination,” Fields said. “Some people refer to it as a simple relaxation technique, but there's a whole religious philosophy that gets smuggled in, and it is not of God.”
Wayne Laugesen writes from Boulder, Colorado.
----- EXCERPT: Stress Release or Schoolroom Indoctrination? ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Free Speech for Teachers vs. School's Freedom of Religion DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:WILMINGTON, Del. — Can a Catholic school fire a schoolteacher for signing a pro-abortion newspaper ad? That's the question in a federal lawsuit the teacher has brought against the school.
Religion and English teacher Michele Curay-Cramer says she was wrongly dismissed from the all-girls Catholic prep school where she worked. Ursuline Academy, a Catholic prep school in Wilmington, says her actions are a baseless attack on religious freedom, the school's attorney said.
The suit was filed in Delaware's U.S. District Court on Nov. 7.
“What's under attack is the right of religious schools and institutions to inculcate the values of their religion in their students,” said defense attorney Barry Willoughby. “We are certainly going to assert a First Amendment defense to all of the allegations.”
Ursuline fired Curay-Cramer in January after she allowed her name to appear on a full-page pro-abortion ad signed by Delaware's governor and 600
others commemorating the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision. According to the Associated Press, she was given the option of publicly recanting her beliefs or resigning.
Curay-Cramer described herself as both “pro-life” and “pro-choice,” saying abortion should be a last option.
She was hired by the school in June 2001 and, less than a year later, according to the AP, she began volunteering for Planned Parenthood.
In a deposition, her lawyer said she did not work in any Planned Parenthood abortion site but that she was concerned about health care delivery in the inner city and that “they give out health information in the schools.”
Ursuline Academy is a 110-year-old independent Catholic school operated by the Ursuline Sisters.
The suit, which names Ursuline Academy, the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, Bishop Michael Saltarelli and two Ursuline employees, also alleges that Curay-Cramer, 32, is the victim of gender discrimination.
Willoughby said he will file a motion to dismiss the allegations in mid-December. “What is likely to happen is we will agree with the plaintiff's lawyer and with the court on a briefing schedule for our motion to dismiss,” he explained.
Curay-Cramer's lawyer, Thomas Neuberger, claims his client signed the ad in order to support her fellow employees' right to have abortions, which he says is protected under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the related Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The suit argues that the act protects people who speak out in favor of abortion.
“I framed her case as when she signed the ad, she was advocating the rights of employees at this institution,” he explained. “When they fire her for signing the ad, the law kicks in and it would be a violation of the law.”
Willoughby calls that interpretation of the law “laughable.”
“That section of the statute simply doesn't say that and all the case law that is available supports our position,” he explained. “And even if the statute could be read as her lawyer claims, the First Amendment trumps that because a religious institute has a right to teach its beliefs.
“What the plaintiff's lawyer is trying to do is twist the Civil Rights Act into a private First Amendment free-speech right for Curay-Cramer. To say she was allegedly speaking out against an employment practice at Ursuline is not true. There was no employment practice being challenged here. She was trying to advocate her contrary view on abortion.”
Under state and federal law, religious institutions can be exempt from prohibitions against certain types of discrimination that apply to other employers. In a written statement, the Diocese of Wilmington said Bishop Saltarelli could not comment specifically on Curay-Cramer's claims.
“However, the Constitution guarantees every religious institution the right to practice and uphold the teachings of its faith, and the diocese and bishop strongly support the right of every Catholic school to ensure that its faculty members teach and uphold the doctrine of the Catholic faith.”
Compounding Curay-Cramer's case is a federal Equal Employment Opportunities Commission ruling in August that the teacher's rights were not violated under the Civil Rights Act.
Neuberger filed the EEOC complaint in February using the same arguments outlined in his federal lawsuit. Under federal law, an EEOC complaint must be filed before a person may sue in federal court under the Civil Rights Act.
Certain Givens
Rita Schwartz, president of the National Association of Catholic Schoolteachers, said while Curay-Cramer has a right to her own opinion on Church teaching, she doesn't have the right to “publicly flaunt a lifestyle or anything that is against the teachings.
“She certainly could not come out and say she is in favor of a woman's right to choose when she's teaching the students in her class,” she said. “And basically that's what she did by putting her name to an ad that was going to be in a newspaper.
“When people go to work for the Catholic Church, there are certain givens,” she explained. “If you publicly go against the teachings of the Church, they have no recourse but to [fire the employee].”
Robert Muise, an attorney with the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., agreed.
“For her to publicly express a view that is so contrary to very clear and unambiguous teaching of the Church, it is clear that she is not in accord with the Church's teaching,” he said. “The Church has every right to say that she can no longer consider herself to be a Catholic teacher in our schools.”
Muise said Curay-Cramer's attorney faces an uphill battle. “They recognize that is a very difficult problem with the case, so they're bootstrapping a gender-discrimination claim associated with it,” he said.
The National Catholic Educational Association declined to comment on the case.
Neuberger, in representing Curay-Cramer, hopes to take the gender-discrimination issue even further by accessing Ursuline's employee records, hoping to find evidence of different treatment of male employees.
“They replaced her with a man,” he said. “I believe they're being too hard on the women. I don't think this would have happened if she were a man.”
But Willoughby said such claims are baseless.
“That borders on the laughable,” he said. “Her own allegations and newspaper accounts say that she expected that she would be fired for doing this. Then to turn around and say that if she were a man this wouldn't have happened is just silly.”
Patrick Novecosky writes from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
----- EXCERPT: Catholic teacher's abortion ad sparked lawsuit ----- EXTENDED BODY: Patrick Novecosky ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Cell Phones in the Confessional Line: Faith Goes High Tech in New Products DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — When Christ told his disciples to bring the Gospel to the entire world, he didn't specify how.
Modern apostolates are using any means necessary to evangelize, including CD-ROM, wireless and DVD technology, and a cell-phone service that can provide you with the examination of conscience if you called it from the confessional line.
Such means seem particularly effective in conveying the Gospel to the young.
Just ask Tom Ayral.
“I brought my four children ‘The Living Gospel’ CD-ROM while they were doing their homework,” said Ayral, a software salesman from Oak Park, Calif. “The 9-year-old played with it for about an hour and a half, and the 5-year-old went through the story and asked if he could play it again. It blew past all my expectations of it.”
What Ayral likes best about the product is that, unlike other commercially available educational software, this one “makes it fun to learn about Christ's life and the Christian story.”
Produced by the former executive of the Creative Communication Center, Fernando Uribe, the CD-ROM is an interactive animated compilation of the Gospel for children between the ages of 3 and 12. Uribe co-wrote and directed all of the Creative Communication Center's popular animated saint videos.
“Sometimes, “The Living Gospel,” Uribe said, allows parents not to have to insist too much about learning the faith.
“You don't have to beg your children to play with the CD-ROM,” he said.
Featuring full-color images, the CD is separated into 11 chapters that tell the life of Christ from the Annunciation to the Ascension. As the story is told, different images appear on-screen. The computer user can click on various elements within the story to learn more. For example, when the Nativity story's wise men are selected, they introduce themselves as Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar.
In addition, Chapter 6 contains an interactive loaves-and-fishes game. Children use the computer to help the disciples feed the hungry.
“Most games have children shooting people for entertainment,” Uribe said. “Here they are being introduced to the apostles and feeding people.”
Dede and Wayne Laugesen of Boulder, Colo., are aiming for even younger children with their DVD “Holy Baby: Seven Prayers in Seven Languages.” The inspiration for the DVD came from Pope John Paul II's declaration of October 2002 to October 2003 as the Year of the Rosary. Hoping to create a product that would encourage prayer and help others learn about the rosary, the Laugesens originally set out to create a full-length adult DVD on the development of the rosary. When their efforts seemed to go nowhere fast, they prayed for focus. Afterward, everything fell into place.
“Within 10 minutes after our prayer, the whole project was marked out on the grease board before us,” explained Dede Laugesen, a former broadcast journalist and now a mother of four. Instead of producing a DVD for adults, they ended up creating one for young children.
Working with a professional photographer, an animator, musicians and a technician, the Laugesens produced a DVD that introduces children to the seven prayers of the rosary — the Sign of the Cross, Apostles Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, the Fatima Prayer and Hail, Holy Queen — in seven different languages: English, French, German, Latin, Portuguese, Spanish and Vietnamese.
The product is modeled after the “Baby Einstein” products the Laugesens had seen being used with their own children in the church nursery. “Holy Baby” uses an animated baby dressed as a nun, Baby Scholastica, along with visuals, music and prayers to captivate young viewers and teach them to pray.
The Encinitas, Calif.-based Catholic Exchange, the popular Web portal, is capitalizing on a technology that more and more people are carrying everywhere they go — the cell phone. By so doing, they are following Pope John Paul II's lead in being the first American organization to offer Catholic content via the wireless telephone.
In early 2003, the Pope began sending brief daily inspirational messages via Italian wireless telephones. The messages became so popular among young people that they were later offered to Irish subscribers. The Vatican hopes to soon offer the service in Brazil.
In October, Catholic Exchange began offering Catholic Exchange Mobile via Sprint, AT⌖s daily Catholic news, Vatican news, the Saint of the Day and a live image of the Blessed Sacrament. In addition, the mobile service also provides an archive of Catholic prayers and devotions that are not available via Catholic Exchange's Web site.
The beauty of the content, said Catholic Exchange's editor and president Tom Allen, is that people do not have to be tied to their computer.
“A huge majority of Sunday-going Catholics are not sharing in the wonders of catechesis and evangelization,” he said. “With Catholic Exchange Mobile they can access those faith resources whenever it's convenient for them.”
Allen admitted to accessing an examination of conscience and the prayers said before confession via his telephone while recently standing in line waiting for the sacrament of reconciliation.
“It's like having a prayer book, concordance, Bible and Catechism,” he said, “at your fingertips.”
Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota. www.catholicexchange.com
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Rebuilding the Church - and the Culture - in Ukraine DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:Myroslav Marynovich is a Ukrainian Catholic who spent 10 years in the gulag for promoting human and religious rights in the Soviet Union.
Among his books is The Gospel According to God's Fool, written in a labor camp. Today, he works for the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, directs the Institute of Religion and Society, and is an adviser on ecumenism for Ukrainian Catholic Church leader Cardinal Lubomyr Husar.
Marynovich was in Connecticut recently, where he spoke with Register correspondent Stephen Vincent.
Tell me about your upbringing.
I was born in 1949 and was raised in a Soviet environment. I lived in western
Ukraine, a part of the former Soviet Union that had a clear opposition to the communist ideology. There was a strong feeling of religious tradition that gave a special dimension to my youth.
Were you able to practice your faith openly?
The Greek or Eastern Catholic Church [which is in communion with Rome] was banned, so only the Russian Orthodox Church was allowed to exist officially. My grandfather was a Greek Catholic priest who was arrested in 1945 and forced to change his
affiliation to the Russian Orthodox Church. So I was baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church. When democratization took place during the Gorbachev era, my family and I immediately changed our affiliation back to the Greek Catholic Church, because it was our Church.
So we didn't practice the underground liturgy, but we kept the memory of our Church. I'm an example of many Ukrainians who were formerly Orthodox but changed affiliation as soon as it was possible to express our identity freely and openly. The Ukrainian Catholic Church is the largest of the Eastern Catholic churches. There are about 5 million Catholics out of a population of 48 million people in Ukraine.
Why you were sent to the gulag?
I joined the human-rights group Ukraine Helsinki Watch, formed after the 1976 Helsinki Accords on human rights. We tried to defend the rights of the people of art, of literature, of poetry, people of conscience and also the religious communities. We stood for religious freedom in the Soviet Union.
I was arrested in 1977, when I was 28. I had the possibility to avoid this arrest, but because we acted openly, it meant the KGB had to do something with us. We announced our names and addresses.
We collected data about people who were arrested in violation of the Helsinki Accords. So we were arrested; practically all 10 members of the Ukraine Helsinki group were arrested sooner or later. The interrogation and court trial were very unjust, sometimes in a funny way. When I tried to refer to a famous Lenin phrase in my defense at court, the judge stopped me and said, “Look, don't pronounce the name of Lenin because it sounds like a blasphemy in your mouth.”
Because I didn't repent for my activities, I was sentenced to the maximum: seven years of imprisonment and five years of exile.
Where were you sent?
To the Perm region, a labor camp in the Ural Mountains. I have to say that I became a practicing Christian in prison. It was the best place to check your Christian convictions. Do you love your enemy in the prison? Do you love your administration, which persecutes you all the time?
I served the full seven years. In exile I was allowed to live more or less freely, in a remote village. I was not allowed to leave the place without permission. People in the village were very close to nature and very far from politics. Still, I had to work and report twice a week to the police station. I served only three years of exile. It was 1987 and Gorbachev released about 200 political prisoners, including me.
What is the present religious situation in Ukraine?
Half of the Ukrainian population is not affiliated with religion. We have suffered a great devastation because of the Soviet era. In fact, Christians are a minority. When people ask me what kind of country Ukraine is, my response is that we are mostly atheistic.
In my eyes, all Christians are in the minority, so we have to be partners, across all affiliations, for the New Evangelization. The Ukrainian Catholic Church is often blamed for proselytizing. The [Orthodox] Moscow Patriarchate, which is very powerful, doesn't want any Catholics to enter Ukraine. But it is a challenge for Eastern Catholics.
How free is the Catholic Church to operate?
We have a good practice of religious freedom in Ukraine now. We have a much better situation than there is in Russia. We have rather good legislation. There are some limits put in place by pressure from Russia on how foreign missionaries can come into the country, but these limits are not as strong as in Russia.
Some sort of American denomi-nationalism is being developed in Ukraine. We have no one strong church. We have many branches, many confessions. Some Orthodox Church leaders claim to be the official church, but they are not so strong to assert this.
Tell me about your work with the Ukrainian Catholic University.
It is very important to bring good theological education to Ukraine. Sometimes especially Protestants from America have the idea to bring the good news to Ukraine as a totally de-Christianized world. We say that we do not have to bring good news but to remind our people about the good news we have heard already in our history. It's a question of education and reviving that Christian heritage.
The Ukrainian Catholic University seeks to bring the good standards of education in the Catholic tradition. We also want to secure the spiritual dimension of Catholic education; not just the knowledge but the liturgical background and the spiritual foundation and wisdom. We want to witness to what we preach. We have to be and we are a corruption-free zone in a severely corrupted society. We do not allow any kind of bribes by the students [in return for passing grades].
What are your plans?
As a Church educational body, we would like to restore the normal tradition, the normal Christian culture of the nation. Through the New Evangelization, we are engaged in a process of religious revival and renewal within the Church itself. We often feel that we have such a difficult situation in Ukraine. Sometimes we have to find extraordinary means to meet the needs of our society.
Is there competition with the Orthodox Church?
The tradition of non-tolerance is widely spread in Ukraine. Sometimes it is very difficult to convince Christians of a different confession, that to hold the truth doesn't mean to be hostile toward the “heretics.” What does it mean to hold the truth, to be proud of this truth? Truth is in revelation, but it is revealed also in history. We all are constantly searching for truth. In this way, all Christians are partners in searching for the truth.
Stephen Vincent writes from Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: N.J. Public School Game Helps Students See Logical End of 'Choice' DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:NEWARK, N.J. — An abstinence-only program developed by a longtime New Jersey pro-life advocate has been introduced into the public school system of Newark, N.J., which has one of the state's highest rates of teen pregnancy and adolescent HIV infec- tion.
Called “The Choice Game,” the CD-ROM-based interactive program is funded by a $2.3 million grant from the federal Department of Health and Human Services, which is promoting abstinence-only education in public schools and community youth programs.
The game also has received criticism from sex-education advocates who say teaching only abstinence is unrealistic and exposes students to an increased risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, especially among those who are already active sexually.
The nine-week program encourages young participants — even those who have engaged in sex — to take an abstinence pledge at the end and wear a “wait ring” as a sign of commitment to save sex for marriage.
Using soap-opera-style scenarios and professional actors, the computer game also teaches about avoiding drugs and alcohol, ways of saying no to unhealthy choices, building self-respect, forming virtues for life and recognizing
negative media messages and advertisements. Don Karlok, an Emmy Award winner, directs the scenes.
The Newark schools have introduced the program into the ninth-grade health curriculum for more than 8,000 students, who will also receive information on condoms and contraceptives in a separate health class.
“We have to have our young people be more conscious of what they are doing, so I support ‘The Choice Game’ and the concept behind it,” Vincent Mays, director of alternative education for the Newark school system, told the Bergen Record. “We have to end the cycle of teen pregnancy and dropping out of school.”
“The Choice Game” was developed by Kathy DiFiore, founder of the Several Sources Foundation, a Ramsey, N.J., organization that has operated pro-life pregnancy shelters for unwed mothers for more than 20 years in New Jersey. Ideas for the program came directly from her experiences in counseling pregnant teen-agers who have stayed at the shelters, especially those who returned with second and third pregnancies, she said.
“We have been asked for years to make presentations at local, mostly Catholic, schools,” she said. “I was inspired to create an interactive game as a way to reach young people and help them to exercise their choices in a healthy and positive way.”
Youth Day Debut
After years of field testing among parents and students, the Catholic version of the game was made public at World Youth Day 2000 in Rome. A secular version for inner-city youths was later developed, which the Newark public schools will use. DiFiore is working on versions for suburban and Midwest students, and one for Spanish-speakers. She is also working on video formats.
“The Choice Game” is also being used by schools and after-school programs in New York, Ohio, Georgia and Kansas, she said. The CDs can also be used by teen-agers at home under the super-
vision of their parents or by parents alone if they want to learn ways to raise issues of sex and drugs with their children, she added.
“The game raises questions and carries choices to their likely conclusion, so the user can think deeply about the choices he or she makes,” DiFiore said.
The game comes with workbooks for students and parents or guardians. “Get a viral STD now and you carry it for life. … Think about your future. Has abstinence ever hurt anyone?” reads a section in the student book.
‘Indoctrination’?
But the program is not without
critics. Susie Wilson, head of the Network for Family Life Education at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., calls the program “indoctrination of a moral viewpoint” and potentially confusing for students who will hear an abstinence-only message in one health class and about contraceptives in another.
“These things make much more sense when they're taught all together,” she told the Bergen Record newspaper in October.
The abstinence-versus-condoms education battle has been raging for years in public schools. Planned Parenthood of New York on a Web site for young people calls giving information on condoms and other contraceptives “comprehensive sex education” and says an abstinence-only program “censors information about contraception and condoms for the prevention of unintended pregnancy and STDs.”
Planned Parenthood cites studies indicating that students who receive “comprehensive” education are “more likely to delay sexual activity and to use protection correctly and consistently when they do become sexually active.” It adds that there is no authoritative study showing that abstinence education works.
Abstinence supporters point out that most programs are relatively new. The federal government has been supporting abstinence programs in schools and other community programs since the passage of the 1996 Child Welfare Reform Act,
which gives an eight-part definition of abstinence education known as the A-H rules.
According to the rules, abstinence education must have “as its exclusive purpose, teaching the social, psychological and health gains to be realized by abstinence from sexual activity.”
The rules also state that abstinence outside marriage must be presented as the expected standard for students and the surest way to prevent unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Programs should complement the message with methods on how to avoid risky behavior and build self-respect and self-sufficiency.
DiFiore thinks her program fits the bill exactly. In fact, she said, the Department of Health and Human Services evaluation of the game stated that it could be used as a model for programs across the nation, and it listed “none” in the drawbacks section.
Carla Fallen, a New Jersey educator, has tested “The Choice Game” and is anxious to teach it.
“It introduces children and teenagers to real-life choices and possibilities that they will face,” she said. “It raises the issues in an environment in which they have a chance to think about their choices and prepares them for the time when they will actually face those situations.”
Stephen Vincent writes from Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:Dallas Battles to Seize Catholic Cemetery Land
KNIGHT-RIDDER, Nov. 14 — The Dallas school district wants land, and it's not squeamish about where to find it.
Using the right of eminent domain, the district hopes to seize the unused land of Dallas' only active Catholic cemetery, according to Knight-Ridder news service.
The plan was to take the Catholic land to build more public schools.
But where there's death, there's hope: Officials of the diocese have found unmarked graves on the land and are now able to claim that the land seizure constitutes a desecration of the dead.
Knight-Ridder reported that Dallas County Judge W. Bruce Woody has granted a temporary restraining order to hold back the bulldozers and is considering a permanent injunction.
“The Church is trying to protect its sacred burial grounds,” said Bronson Havard, Dallas Archdiocese spokesman. “Calvary Hill remains the only active Catholic cemetery in Dallas County. We were hoping it would serve our people into the next century.”
Looking Out for Home Schoolers
Using the shocking case of four starving boys in New Jersey — whom children's service personnel had repeatedly failed to remove from their parents' abusive custody — the Times pointed out that the children were being home schooled. In a Nov. 15 editorial, the paper suggested this was part of the reason they were starving and hadn't been rescued sooner.
The Times sniffed, “New Jersey is one of a number of states that provide no supervision over parents who decide to keep their offspring out of the public and private school systems. Most teachers would immediately have sounded the alarm” about the starving children, the paper claimed, calling on the state to impose a stricter regimen of supervision over parents and their relationships with their children.
Confession in the Spotlight
“Most Catholics who grew up in the '50 and '60s would rather go to the dentist than confession,” Greg Magnoni, Archdiocese of Seattle spokesman said, bemoaning. “But today, that's changed, and the sacrament of reconciliation is a celebration of God's grace and mercy.”
The article quoted one Saturday afternoon confessor, Keith Abrahams, who said he goes to confession every two weeks.
“It helps me to avoid doing the same things over and over again,” said Abrahams, 62. “I feel relief and forgiveness.”
The article's writer was confused about communal penance services, but did point out that it is not permitted to give general absolution at parish services.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Would 'The Model Public Square' Have a Nativity Scene In It? DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:WASHINGTON — Joe Loconte thinks there's an intense anti-religious bigotry in the United States and it “seems to be deepening.” He's not alone.
Many have been concerned for some time about what they see as the “banishing” of religion from the public square.
It's something that becomes apparent each December as Nativity scenes are disallowed from public property.
This year, for example, in order to justify the ban against New York City public schools displaying such scenes, lawyers for the city refused to acknowledge in court proceedings that the birth of Jesus Christ was a historical event.
The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank where Loconte is the William E. Simon Fellow in Religion and a Free Society, isn't asking that any particular religion dominate in public deliberations. But it does want to see a public square where people of all faiths (and none) can “engage civic life with freedom and without government support or antagonism.”
Loconte calls the model a “civil public square.”
To help society get there, Heritage in September initiated the Center on Religion and Civil Society. The center's mission is to inform the public, lawmakers, and academic and media elites of the role and impact of religion on civil society and public policy. Center staff will publish and distribute studies, provide data analysis, and host research and public policy forums as well as educational seminars for legislators.
“If there is no place for discussing religion in public policy we could be shooting ourselves in the foot,” said Stuart Butler, Heritage's
vice president of domestic and economic policy studies, who will direct the center. “Let's see if there are ways to capture the benefits of religion without violating the reasonable boundaries between public policy and religion.”
Strong Ties
The decision to found the center now is no accident. In a post-Sept. 11 world, Loconte said, “there is hardly a political issue that is not connected in some way to religion.” Some people now realize the importance of religion as a source of unity and strength in the wake of tragedy. Many others, especially among media elite, are more skeptical or cynical than before.
There's Anthony Lewis, for example. The former New York Times columnist, Loconte pointed out, wrote a Dec. 18, 2002, piece in which he equated U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who is a devout Christian, to Islamic terrorist Osama bin Laden. “Any organi-zation that holds strong religious beliefs is a threat to civilization,” Lewis asserted.
Heritage staff of the new center — including Loconte, Butler and Patrick Fagan, the William H. G. Fitzgerald Research Fellow in Family and Cultural Issues — hope to combat this cynicism with what Butler called a “sober, calm and candid” presentation of the beneficial influence of religion on civil society to policymakers and the public.” Their hope rests on two timely developments in American public life.
In the political arena, according to Loconte, the Bush administration— “in a way no one expected” — made the “Good Samaritan” work of religious institutions a major part of its domestic-policy initiatives, putting the issue “on the radar screen to stay.”
And recent rulings by the Supreme Court regarding school vouchers and the Boy Scouts have upheld the rights of religious organizations to engage in public life without compromising their beliefs.
“This provides an opportunity that did not exist 10 years ago for like-minded people who believe in religious liberty to push the agenda forward [toward a] civil public square,” Loconte said.
Robert Royal is president of the Faith and Reason Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that deals with economics, politics, public policy and other social issues from the point of view of Pope John Paul II's 1998 encyclical Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason). He finds the Heritage project to be “a good initiative.”
“Pat Fagan has been saying for years that social science, if fairly presented, will prove that the modern popes have been exactly right,” Royal said. “This is a serious start toward that end.”
Center staff members profess various faiths. But Fagan is a Catholic who points out that the truth of man can be discovered by both faith and reason.
“The more intensely the social sciences investigate moral issues in debate, the more they clearly come out pointing in the same direction as the Church,” he said.There's the issue of contraception, for example.
The U.S. Catholic bishops in their annual fall meeting in November agreed to publish a pamphlet explaining Church teaching on the issue, which they acknowledge many Catholics ignore or find confusing. Recent church-state squabbles over laws that would force employers, including the Church, to include contraceptives in their health-insurance plans have found local bishops emphasizing apologetically that they are not questioning people's “right” to use contraceptives but are against the government forcing the Church to act against its “conscience.”
But Fagan believes the Church's teaching is wisdom for all people,Catholic and not.
“I go out on a limb to make the point in certain circles: The more we investigate the practice of contraception and its [deleterious] effects on marriage, courtship, fertility and the good of societies, the more we see that the Church is correct,” he said. “I expect that over time, if we can get enough social scientists to investigate the multiple aspects of the phenomenon, the social science conclusions on contraception will illustrate the correctness of Church doctrine on this issue of human nature.”
Scholars at the center will focus on all organizations that consider themselves to be faith-based. They will evaluate the role and influence of each group in terms of how it helps or hinders the public good in civic, social and political life.
Research Benefits
The benefits of an improved approach to faith-based organizations are many. President Bush's global initiative on AIDS is one, Loconte believes. Bush based his $15 billion initiative on Uganda, which brought down its HIV infection rate more than any country in the world, from 15% to 5%. The Ugandan government did this by cooperating closely with faith-based organizations that promoted changes in risky sexual behavior, abstinence and marital fidelity.
“We're going to promote what happened in Uganda as a terrific example of the vital role faith-based organizations play in the fight against AIDS,” Loconte said.He argues that the social-science data proving the beneficial effects of faith-based groups on civil society is undeniable.
“I'm very encouraged about our potential to make real headway and overturn the anti-religious status quo,” Loconte said. “But you don't change 30 years of anti-religious indifference and bigotry overnight. We have a lot of work to do.”
John Romanowsky writes from Washington, D.C.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: John Romanowsky ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: John Paul Condemns Terror But Says Holy Land Wall Is Wrong, Too DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II criticized Israel's building of a wall to keep out Palestinians, and he called for a global movement against terrorism following deadly attacks in Iraq and Turkey.
“In reality, the Holy Land does not need walls but bridges. Without reconciliation of souls, there can be no peace,” the Pope said at a Sunday blessing Nov. 16.
He renewed his “strong condemnation” of all acts of terrorism in the Holy Land and said it was disappointing that the peace process seemed blocked.
“The construction of a wall between the Israeli and Palestinian people is seen by many as a new obstacle on the road to peaceful coexistence,” he said.
The Vatican has stepped up criticism of the Israeli security barrier, which when completed will stretch more than 200 miles along the Israeli border and deep into sections of the West Bank. Earlier in the week, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, a Vatican envoy, said the wall would institute a “geography of apartheid” and foment more violence.
The papal comments came on the eve of a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Italy. Sharon was not scheduled to meet with Vatican officials.
In his remarks from his apartment window above St. Peter's Square, the Pope said he was con-cerned that in recent days “terrorism has once again accomplished its wicked work.” He spoke the day after two synagogues were bombed in Istanbul, Turkey, and in the wake of a suicide attack that killed 19 Italian soldiers and more than a dozen civilians in Iraq.
While condemning the attacks, the Pope said the reaction cannot be one of more violence.
“No one can abandon themselves to the temptation of discouragement or of revenge. The respect for life, international solidarity and the observance of the law should prevail over hatred and violence,” he said.
In a telegram, John Paul deplored the synagogue bombings that left at least 20 people dead and more than 300 injured. The synagogues were filled with Jewish families attending bar mitzvahs; the blasts also killed 11 Muslims in the vicinity.
Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country with a Jewish community of about 30,000, has close ties to the United States and Israel.
The Pope sent his “deepest condolences to the entire country and to all those concerned” and said he was praying for the dead, the wounded and their families, and for “all believers touched by this new drama.”
He urged “men and women of the whole world to mobilize in favor of peace and against terrorism, in the respect for the freedom of personal beliefs and convictions.”
“Never again should religious identity be a source of conflict that bloodies and disfigures humanity,” the telegram said.
The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, called the Istanbul attacks especially “vile” because they took place on the Jewish Sabbath in an attempt to kill the greatest number of worshippers.
The newspaper said the bombings in Turkey appeared to be part of an attempt to increase terrorism and fear throughout the region in order to cause “more hatred, division and violence.”
On Nov. 12, a suicide bombing on a military police headquarters in Iraq left 19 Italian soldiers dead in the city of An Nasiriyah. The Pope briefly embraced one soldier's widow and baby girl during an audience at the Vatican on Nov. 15.
Writer Elie Wiesel, a concentration-camp survivor and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, sharply criticized the Pope's comments about the Holy Land wall.
“To politicize terrorism this way is a mistake,” he said in an interview with the Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera. “The authors of the slaughter in Istanbul did not kill because of the wall but because they hate Jews. The Pope should understand and condemn this.”
But one day after John Paul's appeal for “bridges” rather than “walls” in the Holy Land, the region's Catholic leaders supported his remarks about the barrier being built by the Israelis.
Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio of Jerusalem, explained that the wall under construction “separates schools from pupils, the sick from treatment centers, individuals from their work places, families from their relatives.”
“A wall has never been a sign of peace; it hasn't been and it isn't,” the archbishop said Nov. 17 on Vatican Radio.
Archbishop Sambi said he has let the Israeli authorities know that the barrier, which is intended to separate Israel from the Palestinian territories, also cuts in half monasteries, convents, churches and cemeteries.
According to the Israeli government, the construction of the barrier, which in places is an electric barbed wire fence and in others a concrete wall, is to impede Palestinian terrorists from entering Israel.
The Palestinians see the wall as an attempt to usurp their territories, pointing out that the construction does not follow the internationally recognized border drawn before the Six Day War of 1967.
Earlier this month, the Israeli press reported that Archbishop Sambi had negotiated some sections with the Israeli government so Christian lands in the Palestinian territories would remain on the other side of the wall, in the Israeli part.
Archbishop Sambi replied: “The article in the Mahariv newspaper was not correct. It's never been asked that Catholic institutions of the Bethany area be included in Israel. What I have requested is that they be included in Jerusalem. It is about East Jerusalem, that is, the Arab part of Jerusalem.” Thus, the information “has no foundation,” he said.
For his part, Father Giovanni Battistelli, superior of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, told Vatican Radio: “What we really need is a love that unites and not means that separate, which do nothing but increase rancor, hatred and — I think — also injustice.”
(Zenit and RNS contributed to this story)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: John Thavis ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:Vatican Calls for Smarter Attitudes Toward Media
INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC NEWS, Nov. 17 — Catholics should overcome their distaste and learn about mass media — in order to improve it, urged Archbishop John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.
He spoke Nov. 14 to the International Seminar on Media Education in Rome.
“Media education is absolutely essential in today's world, but I must admit that I have found opposition from two sources: the academic community and media executives,” Archbishop Foley said. “Academics object because many of them don't consider media as serious. How they can overlook the profound influence that media have on youth is an attitude I cannot understand. Teachers can and should help young people to be critical and intelligent consumers of the media.
“Media executives object because media education can and should make people critical,” Archbishop Foley added, “and I sometimes think that some media executives prefer couch potatoes — those who watch entertainment and perhaps news programming without a critical eye — and then buy most of the things that are advertised.”
A ‘Revolutionary Conservative’ Pope
Michnik noted how few people expected “how much the new Pope would change not only Poland but also the world.”
On the Pope's first visit home, “communist police disappeared from the main streets of Warsaw, yet the streets became models of order,” Michnik wrote. “After decades of disempowerment, Poles suddenly regained their capacity for self-determination. … Then, in Auschwitz, he called the Poles, who remembered dear ones gassed to death in Auschwitz's crematoria as well as those frozen into glass in Siberia's concentration camps, to a brotherhood devoted to struggle against even justified hatred and revenge.”
“Some see in the Pope the person responsible for a religious revival; others see a man of peace,” Michnik continued. “Some see a defender of the poor, others a critic of liberation theology. … In the end, John Paul II does not fit neatly into any category and often represents a meeting of opposites: rejection of compromise with ecumenism, toughness with warmth, intellectual openness with insistence on theological orthodoxy. He is a conservative who loves freedom and a ‘peacemonger’ who condemns injustice but who reminds us that mercy is more important than justice.”
Voice of America and Why Sharon Skipped Vatican
VOICE OF AMERICA NEWS, Nov. 17 — A three-day visit Nov. 17-19 to Italy by Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, was scheduled to include meetings with representatives of Italy and the European Union — but not with Pope John Paul II, Voice of America News reported.
Speculating about Sharon's motives, the U.S. government-sponsored news service noted, “On the eve of Mr. Sharon's visit to Rome, the Pope criticized Israel's plans to build a separation barrier in the West Bank. The barrier is controversial because part of it is being constructed on occupied land and will isolate tens of thousands of Palestinians.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Pastoral Provision in the Catholic Church Might Offer Hope to Anglicans DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Could the current crisis in the Anglican Communion actually be a moment of grace to build bridges between the Episcopalian and Catholic churches?
After the negative consequences that followed the ordination of Rev. Gene Robinson as the first openly practicing homosexual bishop in the Anglican Communion, the eyes of some Episcopalians are looking toward Rome for guidance and possible answers.
“We've lately seen an upsurge in Episcopalians coming over to us,” said Father Christopher Phillips, pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement parish in San Antonio.
And the Curia appears open to welcoming them.
“[This crisis] is probably an invitation to extend a hand and enable them to overcome problems and difficulties they are facing now,” said Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson, a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
But how could the Church do this and do it sensitively? One tried-and-tested possibility is to increase awareness of a generous but little-known arrangement offered by Pope John Paul II in 1980.
Called a “pastoral provision,” the arrangement allows Anglican clergy and lay people to retain their Anglican heritage and traditions but enter into full communion with the Catholic Church.
It was primarily “a means by which married, former Episcopalian pastors could become Catholic priests quicker,” said Father William Stetson, assistant to Cardinal Bernard Law, the Holy See's delegate for overseeing the arrangement.
But it has gone further than that, enabling six whole Episcopalian parishes in the United States to enter into communion with Rome but retain their Anglican liturgy, or what they call an “Anglican-use” liturgy based on the Book of Common Prayer.
The parish of Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio was one of the first such parishes to use the Anglican-use liturgy in 1983. Begun by 18 converts under the authority of diocesan bishops, the parish is not territorial but rather a “personal parish” with no restrictions on any Catholic to participate in its parish life and worship.
“[The pastoral provision] makes the transition to the Catholic faith easier,” Father Phillips said.
He said the community is “constantly growing,” with more than 400 families.
“We've just renovated the church-run school and had to double the church building in size so that all the parishioners could be accommodated,” he said.
Father Phillips stressed that the parish's “Anglican-use Latin rite,” whose origins can be traced back to Rome, actually serves to “enrich” the Church.
“We were practicing an English liturgy long before the Roman Catholic Church,” he said. “So we have something to offer.”
African Anglicans
However, it is not only a number of angry Episcopalians in the United States who are looking elsewhere to nourish their spiritual lives. Arguably more pronounced is the disillusionment felt among members of the Anglican Communion in Africa.
The day after Robinson's ordination, the archbishop of Nairobi severed ties with the Episcopalian province of New Hampshire, followed by the entire Anglican Church of Kenya and Nigeria.
However, they have retained their links with the archbishop of Canterbury despite the archbishop continuing to remain in communion with the New Hampshire province.
This has led some Church leaders to speculate about the relation-
ship between these African dioceses and Canterbury. Could it diminish to the point at which whole dioceses might consider joining the Catholic Church?
This might precipitate a new “Anglican rite,” which, were enough requests to come forward, would “in principle” be considered, said Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, in a recent Register interview.
Ghanaian Cardinal Turkson pointed out that in his country it is already possible “to borrow, for example, the Anglican style of celebrating vespers and do it in our Catholic church.”
However, in order to formalize such a large-scale conversion, there is the problem of jurisdiction. If a whole diocese led by its archbishop chose to enter into full communion, it would overlap with the already-existing Catholic diocesan boundaries.
One possible solution would be to incorporate it into an existing diocese. Another would be to set up a personal prelature, which would be based on people rather than geography but under the existing hierarchical authority of the Latin rite.
“If a whole diocese converted, the transition would be easy,” Father Phillips said. “Of course, for misguided ecumenists it would be something of a headache, but for the Catholic Church as a whole, it would be wonderful.”
Applying a pastoral provision to such a context, however, is not much favored by Father Stetson. “The situation is quite different in Africa,” he said. “I don't think there is an easy solution to this in the short term.”
Even in England and Wales, Catholic bishops refused 10 years ago to endorse such a move in their own dioceses, voicing concerns that it might undermine the progress made so far in ecumenical relations.
Yet the need to reach out to disillusioned members of the Anglican Communion remains very real.
“I've seen some [Episcopalians] angry and actually crying. They just don't know what to do,” said Father Phillips, who was received into the Church in 1983. “Their religion has been gradually turned into some Gnostic cult, or actually something worse. They simply can't stay where they are, so where can they go?”
“[The pastoral provision] is providing a solution,” he said. “This is what the Holy Father has permitted; he's said that this is what we're supposed to give them. It respects the beauty of the liturgy, has its own dignity and ethos and at the same time brings back some of the patrimony of the Church.”
When asked whether advocating the provision at this time might be seen by some as exploitative, Father Phillips countered: “How is it exploiting them? How compassionate is it to leave them bleeding in a ditch and not to pick them up and help them? These people desperately need a spiritual home, and Roman Catholicism is their spiritual home, having broken away from it in the 16th century.”
While cautious about the timing of pushing the pastoral provision, Cardinal Turkson was supportive.
“It should not lead an Anglican into thinking that we're exploiting a difficult situation that they've had,” he cautioned. “That would be furthest away in the minds of any of us.”
“But if this serves to bring us closer together,” said Cardinal Turkson, “we just have to recognize again the hand of God in history, give thanks to him and let that occasion fashion a unity among Christians for which we always pray.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: The Paradox of Christianity DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:Vatican Prepares New Document on Interreligious Dialogue
BUENOS AIRES — The Holy See is preparing a new document on the spiritual dimension of interreligious dialogue.
Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, revealed the news Nov. 19 in Argentina, where he was giving a series of talks on ecumenism, Islam and relations with Judaism.
Dialogue with believers of other religions “is not a hobby or an extra activity but a duty within the mission of the Church,” he said.
“The problem that arises is how to reconcile dialogue as part of the mission of the Church with Jesus' mandate to go out and preach,” the archbishop said when greeting representatives from the communities of Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Anglicans, Methodists, evangelical Baptists, Waldensians and others at the headquarters of the Argentine Catholic bishops' conference.
“The Church must dialogue and proclaim, two tasks that are different but not opposed,” the British archbishop said. “We must discover what the Spirit wants from that dialogue.”
Archbishop Fitzgerald revealed that the finishing touches are being given to the new document on the spiritual dimension of dialogue. He said the text would address the reasons for engaging in and maintaining dialogue.
(Zenit)
Register Summary
Pope John Paul II met with several thousand pilgrims in the Paul VI Hall for his general audience Nov. 19 as he continued his series of teachings on the psalms and canticles from evening prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours. His teaching was devoted to a canticle found in Philippians 2:6-11, which is recited every Sunday during vespers.
John Paul pointed out that the canticle is an ancient liturgical hymn that has been passed down to us in Scripture. “The canticle displays two vertical movements — first a descending movement and then an ascending one,” he noted.
First of all, he said, it recalls Christ's descent among us as man, his obedience to the will of the Father and his death on the cross. “He did not cling to his ‘equality with God,’ which belongs to him by nature and not by appropriation, as though it were a reward … Instead, Christ ‘emptied’ himself, ‘humbled’ himself and appeared poor, weak and destined to an infamous death by crucifixion,” the Holy Father said.
The ascending movement in the canticle celebrates Christ's exaltation at the Father's right hand as the Lord of all creation. “The Father restores Christ to the splendor of his divinity,” the Pope noted. Having humbled himself to share our human experience of suffering and death, the risen Christ now invites us to share in his divine glory.
The Holy Father concluded his meditation with some words from St. Ambrose that illustrate the consequences of this paradox: “God descended, and man was raised; the Word became flesh so that the flesh could claim for itself the throne of the Word at the right hand of God.”
In addition to the psalms, evening prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours also includes some canticles from the Bible. The canticle that we just heard is certainly one of the more significant canticles and one of great theological wealth. This is a hymn that is found in the second chapter of St. Paul's letter to the Christians of Philippi, the Greek city that was the first stage of the apostle's missionary journey in Europe. The canticle has retained some phrases from the early Christian liturgy, and it is a joy for our generation to be able to join in this prayer of the apostolic Church some 2,000 years later.
A Twofold Movement
The canticle displays two vertical movements — first a descending movement and then an ascending one. On one hand, the Son of God actually descends from above when, out of love for man, he becomes man through the Incarnation. He plunges into a kenosis — into an “emptying” of his divine glory — that leads to his death on the cross, a punishment reserved for slaves, which made him the least among men, thereby transforming him into a true brother of a humanity that is suffering, is sinful and has been rejected.
On the other hand, we behold the triumphal ascent that takes place on Easter when the Father restores Christ to the splendor of his divinity and when the whole universe and all mankind, which has now been redeemed, extol him as Lord. We have before us a magnificent restatement of the mystery of Christ, especially the paschal mystery. Besides proclaiming his resurrection (see 1 Corinthians 15:3-5), St. Paul also describes Christ's passover as “exaltation,” “raising up” and “glorification.”
He Emptied Himself
Thus, from the shining horizon of his divine transcendence, the Son of God has crossed the infinite distance that lies between the Creator and the creature. He did not cling to his “equality with God,” which belongs to him by nature and not by appropriation, as though it were a reward: He did not wish to jealously guard this prerogative as a treasure or to use it for his own advantage. Instead, Christ “emptied” himself, “humbled” himself and appeared poor, weak and destined to an infamous death by crucifixion. Truly the great movement of ascent described in the second part of St. Paul's hymn (see Philippians 2:9-11) stems from this extreme humiliation.
God Exalts His Son
God now “exalts” his Son by conferring on him a glorious “name,” which, in biblical language, signifies the person himself and his dignity. This “name” is Kyrios, or “Lord,” which is God's sacred name in the Bible that is now applied to the risen Christ. This places the universe — described according to the three-part division of heaven, earth and hell — in an attitude of adoration.
Therefore, Christ, in his glory, appears at the end of the hymn as the Pantocrator, the omnipotent Lord, who reigns triumphantly in the apses of the early Christian and Byzantine basilicas. He still bears the signs of his Passion, that is, of his true humanity, but he now reveals himself in the splendor of his divinity. Close to us in suffering and in death, Christ now draws us to himself in his glory by blessing us and making us participants in his eternity.
Let us conclude our reflection on St. Paul's hymn with some words from St. Ambrose, who often takes up the image of Christ who “emptied himself” and humbled himself, in a sense abasing himself (exinanivit semetipsum) through his incarnation and the sacrifice of himself on the cross.
In particular, this bishop from Milan expresses the following words in his Commentary on Psalm 118: “Christ, hanging from the tree of the cross … was pierced by the lance and there gushed forth blood and water sweeter than any salve, a victim pleasing to God, spreading
throughout the world the sweet fragrance of sanctification. … Then, Jesus, pierced, spread the sweet fragrance of the forgiveness of sins and of the redemption. Indeed, as the Word who became man, he had been very limited, and, though he was rich, he became poor so that by his poverty we might become rich (see 2 Corinthians 8:9); he was powerful, but he appeared as one who is miserable, so much so that Herod scorned and derided him; he could shake the earth, yet he remained attached to that tree; he could cover the sky with darkness and crucify the world, yet he was crucified; he bowed his head, and yet the Word came forth from him; he was abased, yet he filled every thing. God descended, and man was raised; the Word became flesh so that the flesh could claim for itself the throne of the Word at the right hand of God; he was one big wound, yet a salve flowed from him; he seemed ignoble, and yet he was God” (III, 8 Saemo IX, Milan-Rome, 1987, p. 131.133).
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Catholic Expert: Islam Is a Religion of Violence, Not One of Peace DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:Author Robert Spencer has studied Islam for more than 20 years, writing and lecturing on the impact its teachings have on believers and Muslim societies in general.
The author of Onward Muslim Soldiers: How Jihad Still Threatens America and the West and Islam Unveiled: Disturbing Questions About the World's Fastest-Growing Faith, Spencer recently teamed up with Daniel Ali, a Catholic convert from Islam, to author Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics.
Published by Ascension Press, the book consists of 100 questions and answers about the world's fastest-growing religion, ranging from its historical origins to an analysis of its teachings.
Register correspondent Brian McGuire spoke with Spencer about the book and about Islam.
Why did you write this book and for whom was it written?
Daniel and I wrote this book in order to help Catholics become informed about Islam — to clear away common misunderstandings and distortions and to give Catholics an accurate and complete introduction to the Islamic faith and the challenges it poses to Christians. It was written for Catholics, but it can be read profitably by anyone of good will.
Is there one thing you hope all readers will take from it?
We hope readers will understand the truth about Islam, recognize the gravity of the challenge from the Islamic world, and pray and act accordingly in line with the Beatitudes.
This book does not offer a flattering portrait of Islam. Do you believe the Koran is a book that should be taken seriously?
Certainly the Koran should be taken seriously. Millions of people worldwide do, and they have serious intentions for the rest of the
world arising from that. Catholics need to be aware of this.
You discuss among the obstacles to evangelization with Muslims their acceptance of contradiction within the Koran. What approach do you recommend?
Prayer and fasting. Do not confront Muslims with these contradictions; this will easily degenerate into a war of apparently contradictory passages from the Bible versus Koran contradictions. Rather, a positive approach stressing the love, mercy and self-sacrifice that are unique to Christianity is preferable.
Your book carries a sobering message about the way non-Muslims are viewed in the Muslim world.
Indeed. Muslims consider Islam to be the final and perfect revelation, completing God's revelations to mankind and abrogating all previous messages — such as the Torah and the Gospel. Traditional Islam views Jews and Christians as renegades who have wickedly rejected this final and perfect revelation. Many Muslims view the world today from this perspective.
Islam as it is presented in this book would horrify secular readers in the West, particularly on the question of equality.
It is not politically correct to say it, but the Muslim sources show that the idea of the equality of rights and dignity of all people is simply not a part of traditional Islam.
Do you agree with President Bush that Islam is a religion of peace?
No. There are millions of peaceful Muslims in the world today, but Islam is unique among the world's religions in having a broad and highly developed theology, law and tradition mandating violence against nonbelievers. This is a fact that is borne out by all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence.
I respect the president and understand that he might have political reasons for saying what he says about Islam, but in Islamic terms it is simply inaccurate.
A recent article in the New
I hope it's true. That story emphasizes, however, that Al Qaeda has lost support in Saudi Arabia by killing Muslims. No one seems concerned about non-Muslim deaths, and this is a manifestation of the huge and absolute division between believers and unbelievers that runs through the core texts of Islam.
President Bush has vowed to promote freedom in the Muslim world as an antidote to terror and oppression. Is this a plausible goal?
It is to a certain extent, but I am sure the president is aware that from its beginning, Islam has been a political and social system as well as an individual faith.
That means many Muslims in Iraq and elsewhere will oppose any democratic initiative on the grounds that democracy is a Western import, and an unnecessary one at that, since Islam already offers the perfect ordering for society in Islamic law, the Shariah.
Do you believe, as some do, that development in Muslim countries will erase the conflict between Westerners and Islam?
The conflict between the West and Islam, contrary to popular belief, is not a result of poverty in Muslim lands. The great Islamic empires of the past were the richest nations in the world in their day, but that didn't stop them from pressing militarily into Christendom for 1,000 years.
Today, Osama bin Laden is a very rich man, and studies show that generally terrorists are relatively affluent and well educated. This conflict stems from religious principles and motivations, not from a lack of development.
You mention in the book that Islam is growing at a historically unprecedented rate when compared with Christianity. What do you think this expansion will mean for Western countries during the next 50 years?
If demographic trends continue, several countries in Europe — Holland, France, Germany and possibly others — will have Muslim majorities by mid-century. Since many of these Muslims believe that once Muslims are a majority in a nation, that nation should be ruled by Islamic law, I think it is likely that this century will see either cataclysmic conflicts in Europe or the abject surrender of what was once Catholic Europe as Islamic principles clash with Western secularism.
Brian McGuire writes from Albany, New York.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Brian Mcguire ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:Polish Catholics Divided About Iraq War After First Combat Death
WARSAW, Poland — Polish Church representatives have defended their country's decision to send troops to Iraq after an army major became the first Polish fatality in the conflict.
“Declarations that one should always seek peaceful solutions sound very nice, but the question remains how to do this with terrorists, fanatical politicians and dictators,” Archbishop Jozef Zycinski told members of his Lublin Archdiocese.
The archbishop was speaking after the death of Maj. Hieronim Kupczyk, who was buried Nov. 10 in the northern port of Szczecin. Archbishop Zycinski told Poland's Catholic Information Agency the 44-year-old officer's death had been a “gesture of solidarity” with Iraqi citizens.
“I can't agree with suggestions that one should be a pacifist in every situation and always seek peaceful solutions,” the archbishop noted. “When the Holy Father talks of globalizing solidarity and brotherhood, we should be aware that this solidarity also requires help to defend democracy's foundations in countries that wish to build it.”
However, Polish involvement was questioned by Father Piotr Mazurkiewicz, a priest and political scientist at Warsaw's Cardinal Wyszynski University, who said: “We aren't dealing here with a humanitarian intervention but with a preventive war. So one can valid-ly doubt whether the life and health of Polish soldiers should be put at risk.”
“In my opinion,” Father Mazurkiewicz noted, “neither American nor Polish armies should be in Iraq.”
In September, Poland's 2,350-member force took command of one of Iraq's four stabilization zones, supported by 20 other countries, making up a 9,000-strong brigade.
The mission was, however, opposed by 60% of Poles in an August survey by Warsaw's Public Opinion Research Center, with only a quarter of respondents predicting Polish soldiers would “cooperate well” with Iraqis in the area south of Baghdad.
“Many people are asking if this war is needed — but war is never needed,” said Poland's Catholic military bishop Slawoj Glodz. The bishop led a service Nov. 14 for 19 Italian soldiers and police killed in a lorry bomb attack at Nasirea.
“We are not in Iraq to unleash war,” Bishop Glodz said, “but so as not to prolong it and to make sure it stops.”
(ENI — Ecumenical News International)
Venezuelan Bishop: Government Is Trying to Undermine Church
KONIGSTEIN, Germany — The Venezuelan government has come under fire for trying to undermine the country's bishops and encouraging the faithful to turn away from them.
In a strongly worded attack, Archbishop Ubaldo Santana of Maracaibo accused the government of Hugo Chávez of discrediting Venezuela's bishops who have openly criticized the administration's social and economic record during the past four years
“The most difficult problem the Church faces is the denigrating of the Venezuelan episcopal conference,” the archbishop said.
The archbishop, whose diocese is in the northwest of the country, criticized the deterioration of living standards among key sections of society, a problem he blamed on the Venezuelan authorities' attempts to centralize government.
In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, the German-based Catholic charity that supports persecuted and oppressed Christians, the archbishop said Venezuela's difficulties were compounded by delays in the payment of government subsidies to schools.
“These delays have restricted the functioning of schools,” which the Church is involved with, Archbishop Santana noted. Thus, he urged Aid to the Church in Need to continue its support for the Church in Venezuela.
(Zenit)
Philippine Archbishop Picked For National Reconciliation Plan
MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Arroyo has launched a national plan of reconciliation with a variety of extremist and opposition forces, and designated as a negotiator Archbishop Fernando Capalla of Davao.
Arroyo announced the plan Nov. 13 to mend relations with the family of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos as well as with ousted President Joseph Estrada, businessman Eduard Cojuangco Jr., the Philippine Communist Party, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the soldiers responsible for a recent mutiny and the political opposition.
The ambitious plan also foresees the establishment of a “truth commission” to shed light on cases of human-rights violations and embezzlement during the Marcos dictatorship.
Archbishop Capalla will be the chairman of the Catholic bishops' conference starting Dec. 1.
Arroyo spokesman Ignacio Bunye defined the initiative of national reconciliation as “genuine and sincere.”
He denied that the statement was a strategy in view of the May 2004 presidential elections and underlined the importance of the nomination of the archbishop of Davao.
“I believe,” Bunye said, “that the facilitator must be a figure that has the esteem and confidence of all the parts involved.”
(Zenit)
Ireland's Bishops Take Stand on Embryo Rights
IRISH BISHOPS' CONFERENCE, Nov. 17 — Meeting with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern on Oct. 29, representatives of the Irish Bishops' Conference urged him strongly to fight European Union proposals to fund stem-cell research using aborted embryos.
Ireland is one of the key countries the Holy See hopes will lobby the European Union to not promote such research, which cannibalizes human embryos for parts.
The bishops issued a statement about their meeting: “Notwithstanding the possibility (as yet unproven) of therapeutic benefits in the long term, it is our position that neither the deliberate destruction of human embryos nor the use of embryonic stem cells that would be obtained by means of such destruction can be justified. … We asked the government to take a lead in advocating that the EU should give significant research funding to adult stem-cell research.
“[T]he public impression is that the Irish government is neutral on this matter…” the bishops added. “We believe that this is an issue so fundamental that neutrality is not an option.”
Chaldean Superior: Don't Turn Iraq Into Palestine
FIDES, Nov. 14 — Speaking to the Vatican's missionary news service, Fides, Iraqi priest Father Denka Toma worried aloud about the future of his country: “We do not want Iraq to be another Palestine! No state, a nation left at the mercy of terrorist groups and its people dying of hunger!”
Father Toma is the superior general of a seventh-century Catholic monastic group in Iraq called the Antonian Order of St. Ormizda of the Chaldeans, with 45 members.
The monastic leader suggested that “the United States, after demobilizing the Iraqi police force, should put security into the hands of Iraqis or at least involve them. … The people are exhausted by three wars in 20 years and 12 years of sanctions.”
Speaking of his order's mission, Father Toma said, “In all these years of war, violence and hunger, we have remained at the side of the people and we remain today. The Chaldean Catholic Church is support and comfort for all, also for many non-Christians. Today the Chaldean monks are a real consolation for the people: Without them many more would have emigrated.”
Threats of Renewed Religious Strife in Indonesia
MSSIONARY NEWS SERVICE, Nov. 17 — A recent truce that diminished interreligious violence on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi seems vulnerable to collapse, the Missionary News Service has warned.
On Sulawesi and other Indonesian islands, Islamist militias seek to subdue Christian villages and impose Islamic dominance. Sulawesi police have been put on high alert, the news service reported, after a representative of the Catholic Church and his driver were found this month dead in their car with gunshot wounds.
Soon after, 300 Muslims surrounded a police station to protest the arrests of several Muslims under suspicion of attacking Christian villages from Oct. 9-12, when 11 Christians were killed and 12 injured by mobs. One Muslim was apparently killed in the arrests and one young Christian lynched by the vengeful crowd.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: The Wake-Up Call DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:Matt Daniels at Alliance for Marriage is fond of saying that the American people need a wake-up call on the issue of homosexual marriage. The recent decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court is just such a wake-up call. Let's hope it didn't come too late.
Herewith, a resource list of arguments and actions for readers. Why homosexual marriage is wrong.
• Marriage is meant to bring children into the world. If either of your parents chose a homosexual marriage, you wouldn't be here.
• Marriage necessarily has to have a limited definition. If its definition is simply, “two people who love each other as spouses,” how can you exclude a brother and sister from marriage? Or a father and his daughter? Indeed, how can you limit it to two people?
• If homosexual marriage is legal in Massachusetts, it will effectively be legal in your state, too. Federal precedent protects the status of people who move from state to state. Some 80% of the people who entered into civil unions in Vermont left the state after that. It will be the same in Massachusetts.
• There are few homosexuals who have lifelong relationships. These relationships can be honored the way close friends' relationships are honored — allowing hospital visits, for instance — without giving them marriage status.
• If “homosexual marriage” is the same as heterosexual marriage, then if you die, your children could be adopted by either a homosexual couple or a heterosexual couple. The Massachusetts court decision calls it unfair prejudice for you to prefer one over the other.
• For all of these reasons, and others, legalizing homosexual marriage will have the effect of ending marriage as we know it. It thus strikes at the basic building block of society.
Why the Massachusetts court's action was wrong.
• Homosexual-activist organizations avoid voters like the plague. They know that when Americans vote about marriage, they vote for it to be between a man and a woman, no exceptions. Voters, not courts, should govern in a democracy.
• The Massachusetts high court has instructed the Legislature to legalize homosexual marriage. But it is not the court's place to “instruct” a legislature to do anything. That's Civics 101: American self-government is controlled by a system of checks and balances. By separating the executive, law-making and judicial branches, democracy ensures no individual branch monopolizes government's functions. The elected representatives of Massachusetts' people, not its judges, are the ones who should be deciding what new laws are called for.
• By refusing to allow the people to govern themselves, the Massachusetts court decision doesn't just strike at marriage — it strikes at democracy. Any elected representative who supports homosexual marriage is effectively supporting the end of marriage and refusing to act as his people's representative.
What you can do.
• In states where a popular uprising defended marriage, the people won. For instance, Connecticut's Catholic Conference recently confronted a behind-the-scenes legislative assault on traditional marriage in the statehouse. It got the word out and a phone assault on the state-house began. The bill was soon dead. When concerned voters speak, politicians listen.
• Write to every representative you have in state and federal government. Find their names and addresses by typing in your zip code at www.vote-smart.org. Use the arguments above or your own arguments to tell them that you won't support them if they support homosexual marriage. Ask them what they plan to do to stop this assault on marriage. Perhaps tell them you back the Federal Marriage Amendment (see the opposite page). If you don't hear back, write again!
• Pray. In his apostolic letter on the rosary, Pope John Paul II said he was calling for daily rosaries with two main intentions: for peace and for the family. He said the attacks on the family were “menacing … so as to make us fear for the future of this fundamental and indispensable institution and, with it, for the future of society as a whole.”
• Evangelize. The only long-term solution to this crisis will be the re-Christianization of society. Take up the Holy Father's straightforward and simple challenge. See the back page of this issue for details.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:Massachusetts Mess
The mess in Massachusetts reminds me of your recent editorial “Homosexuality, in Your Face” (Aug. 17-23).
It couldn't be more timely or welcome to the readership the Register serves so well. In it you incisively identify a myriad of issues and consequences the “gay rights” apologists are trying to steamroller past the American public.
This extremely small, well-organized group has been wildly successful in its efforts to promote the homosexual agenda. One of its major tactics is to cynically and falsely portray anyone who opposes this juggernaut as being homophobic. This approach has been devastatingly effective, in particular, with getting weak-kneed politicians to endorse virtually all of its legislative initiatives. These initiatives are being passed at such a rapid pace, in many locales, that the average person isn't even aware of them until it is too late to do anything about them. Thus, we are losing the homosexual-agenda battle by default.
Your articles and editorials serve to arm your readers with ammunition that can be used by them to refute the pressure tactics of the homosexual-agenda crowd. The operative word is “used.”
I urge my fellow Catholics to come off the sidelines and join the fray against these homosexual-special-privilege legislative efforts that are tearing the moral fiber of our society to pieces. The nuclear family is the bedrock foundation of our society; isn't it worth fighting for?
WILLIAM SCHROEDER
Rockville Centre, New York
Under God
This is in response to “Religious Lawyers Weigh Possible Impact of Pledge of Allegiance Case” (Nov. 16-22) and your other coverage of the Pledge of Allegiance and the “under God” clause.
In all of the continuing controversy relating to this upcoming decision, everyone, including our supposedly learned legal experts, has forgotten a very important aspect of the law regarding this question — the doctrine of precedence.
This doctrine clearly states that a law or ruling that's been in effect for a number of years and has become common usage can't be changed simply because someone objects to it on constitutional grounds at a later date.
So, if the words “under God” are objectionable, they should have been declared so in 1954, when they were added, and should not be challengeable 50 years later.
It follows then that the pledge should remain as it is, for the benefit of millions of loyal and God-fearing Americans, regardless of the delicate feelings of a handful.
EUGENE MERCIER
Nashua, New Hampshire
Beating AIDS
Regarding “Vatican Holds Firm Against Condom Use” (Oct. 19-27). Bravo for the Vatican. Now what about the White House?
President Bush's $15 billion program “to fight AIDS” isn't designed to fight AIDS at all. It will help those already affected (sick, dying, orphaned), and that is good.
But it won't slow the spread of the disease by possible “7 million new infections” when only a paltry 6% of the money is earmarked for abstinence education and twice that amount goes to Planned Parenthood-style “prevention” (i.e. condoms, sterilization, abortion and birth control) not even mentioned in the feed from Catholic News Service.
Rather than standing up for Catholic moral principles, it seems we are to be thankful for the 6% and the “conscience clause” that guarantees Catholic relief organizations will get a share of the prevention money and “not be discriminated against on the basis of their moral or religious convictions.” Assuming we still have any.
CAROL SUHR
Pine, Arizona
Cardinal Error?
I have often noticed in the Register and other publications that a cardinal is referred to as, for example, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Cardinal Francis Arinze and Cardinal John O'Connor.
This is incorrect. A cardinal is addressed as Angelo Cardinal Sodano, etc.
PATRICIA L. STULTS
Paulding, Ohio
Editor's note: Your letter gives us an opportunity to explain this rule. In formal correspondence, it is acceptable to address a cardinal as you say. But guidelines released by the U.S. bishops and by news services instruct that written material should refer to cardinals in the way you noticed it is done in the Register and in L'Osservatore Romano … As it happens, even the Pope uses this form. We searched the Vatican Web site for references he has made to cardinals and found this one from a December 2001 letter: “I recall your esteemed predecessor, the late Cardinal Ugo Poletti, who accompanied me in the first part of this pilgrimage ..”
Better Late Than Never
Since discovering the Register a year and a half ago (at age 82!), I have read Father Andrew McNair's commentary with great interest and usually great agreement.
However, his column titled “Is the International Criminal Court a Step Forward?” (July 27-Aug. 9) makes me take pause.
Without specifics, the court is made to sound like a panacea to solve, or at least defend, human rights. The devil is in the details, however.
The court would have unlimited power to arrest and judge American citizens, destroying our sovereignty. It would have foreign judges who don't even know English. More ominous is the fact that the leadership at the United Nations often falls upon countries notorious for human-rights violations themselves.
Who can they be expected to prosecute — leaders of regimes known to violate rights or even commit genocide, or a U.S. serviceman performing his military duty?
HARRIETT FOX
Mount Sinai, New York
Beautiful Purity
Tim Drake's Inperson interview with Mary-Louise Kurey (“The Beauty of Abstinence,” Sept. 21-27) was quite inspiring. I'm making a copy available for our nine children.
The Register is a breath of fresh air each week. Thank you for supporting Pope John Paul II and the traditions of Catholic teaching in the secular world that surrounds us.
DON BARTON
Jacksonville, Florida
Long Time Coming
Many years ago in Glasgow, Scotland — in the “BT” (before television) era — I listened as a child to many wonderful plays on the BBC.
One evening they broadcast a play about a man who, when making a visit to a Catholic church, was accosted by the devil, who tried desperately to persuade the man to extinguish the sanctuary lamp. During this great drama, unfortunately, our radio station broke down and I was never able to hear a rebroadcast.
I have asked a number of priests if they could identify the story, but to no avail. Can anyone help with the title or author? This story has been haunting me for years.
ANNE ROONEY NOBLE
Jupiter, Florida
Editor's note: Surely there's a Register reader who can help solve this mystery. Anyone?
The Tabernacle Testifies
Official Catholic documents authorize situating the tabernacle in a prominent place in the church. But some Catholics argue that, when the tabernacle is in front of us during Mass, it distracts from our fully appreciating the act of consecration.
Jesus himself was the central focus at the Last Supper. He was present among his apostles while he changed the bread and wine into his body and blood.
I believe that seeing our Lord's tabernacle in front of us inspires us to give him loving homage and reminds us that it is Jesus himself, acting through the priest, who performs the great miracle of consecration.
MRS. BILL DERRICK
Lewisburg, Tennessee
Wobbly Web Site
I am a subscriber to the Register and am extremely impressed with the structure of the paper. Although I am retired, I have a hard time finishing the paper each week before the next paper arrives. I am quite thorough regarding fully understanding what is written and it takes time.
I regularly want to pass on some of the articles to my children who all have young families, but, judging by the difficulty I have reading through the entire paper, it would be impossible for them. This leads me to want to send them articles that you present so they can read it and be aware of our faith and the complexities that surround it.
I am not a very astute computer person; no matter how hard I try, it just doesn't seem to click. I am not able to access most of [your online] articles, except for the three or four on the main-page heading, and find that some articles are available in the Recent Archive heading but some are not. Is it possible that I am not doing something completely to access the other articles? I believe that, if I were able to pass on select articles, others may also become subscribers.
VIC PASTULA
Tipton, Michigan
Editor's note: Our Web site as it exists is very limited. We have long been planning to redesign it and make it a better tool for subscribers.
In fact, while we're thinking of it: Anyone who can contribute funds to move the Register into the 21st century, Internet-wise, can contact Michael Lambert, our development director, at (203) 230-3805 or mlambert@circle media.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Boys Only Again DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:Thank you for addressing an important but ticklish issue in “Boys Only? Vatican Rumors and American Doubts Surround Altar Servers” (Nov. 9-15).
I am a 15-year-old boy who was an altar server trained at a parish in Ohio with all male servers. When my family moved, I wanted to be an altar server at my new parish, but I could not because of the immodest clothing the girls wore. It would have been embarrassing to be in the same room when they removed their cassocks! When I was with all boy servers, there was no problem with lack of modesty.
Through my experience, I have found that in an all-boy server environment, vocations are fostered more than in any other environment.
Also, I personally know many other boys who would serve if there were no girls on the altar. They say the presence of girls makes them feel uncomfortable. I believe that, in allowing girl servers, we are stifling many vocations that could be filling our dwindling ranks of priests — and so hurting the future of the Church.
JAMES REDLINGER
Hollis, New Hampshire
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Excommunicated For Scientific Beliefs DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:A recent article in the Register reminds us that the Galileo story is still making front-page news even though almost 400 years have elapsed since Galileo was first called before a Church court.
In that court, Galileo was instructed by Jesuit Cardinal [later Saint] Robert Bellarmine to temper his claims concerning the heliocentric model of the solar system as proposed by Copernicus. Galileo claimed he had definite proof the earth goes around the sun.
However, Cardinal Bellarmine cautioned Galileo that he should treat heliocentricity as a hypothesis rather than as a proven fact. Galileo did so for 16 years, but then he changed. He went public with his claim that heliocentricity was a proven fact. For such open defiance of authority, the Church took disciplinary action by placing him under house arrest.
It is easy to see why the Galileo story has such wide appeal. It seems to be all about a group of know-nothing clerics abusing their power over a scientist who was simply providing “objective evidence” for a certain truth about the world in which we live. The Galileo story appears to provide a neat picture, with clearly defined good guys and bad guys.
There certainly was fault on the part of some Church officials, especially in the course of the trial in 1632. In 1992, Pope John Paul II publicly apologized for whatever faults were committed by Church officials against Galileo.
Actually, almost 100 years before John Paul's apology, an earlier Pope (LeoXIII) effectively reinstated Galileo in an encyclical dealing with how Catholics should study the Bible. Although Pope Leo XIII does not mention Galileo by name in the encyclical, nevertheless, “In 1893, Pope Leo XIII made honorable amends to Galileo's memory by basing his encyclical Providentissimus Deus (On the Study of Sacred Scripture) on the principles of exegesis that Galileo had expounded” (A. Crombie, From Augustine to Galileo, Vol. 2, p. 225).
Although the Galileo case is commonly cited as the most striking example of the putative “conflict between science and religion,” there is another case that involves an equally egregious abuse of power by Church officials. But I have never seen this other case on the front page of any newspaper.
Perhaps this is because it does not involve the Catholic Church.
I refer to the case of Johann Kepler, one of Galileo's contemporaries and one of the “giants” who revolutionized astronomy in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Years before Galileo,Kepler ran into trouble with Lutheran authorities.
In the early 1590s, Kepler was a student at the Lutheran University of Tubingen in southwest Germany. One of Kepler's teachers sparked his interest in the heliocentric theory. In 1594, Kepler applied for a teaching position at the university, but before he got the job, he had to appear before the theology faculty in order to test his adherence to Lutheran beliefs. Kepler's belief in the heliocentric theory was contrary to a teaching of Martin Luther himself. In 1539, Luther had heard of Copernicus’ ideas even before they were published, and roundly condemned these ideas in his “Table Talks.” As a result, the theologians barred Kepler from taking the position at Tubingen.
In order to get a job, he moved to Graz, Austria, where the local Catholic duke permitted for some time the presence of Lutherans. While teaching in Graz, Kepler was befriended by some Jesuit priests in town who were interested in Kepler's astronomical ideas. In 1599, when the local Duke decided to drive out Lutherans, Kepler was left without a job. He applied once again to Tubingen for a position there, but the theologians again rejected his application because of his belief in the heliocentric theory.
The Jesuits in Graz begged the duke for an exception in the case of Kepler. Thanks to some Catholic priest-scientists, Kepler was allowed to remain in Graz to continue his astronomical work for another two years.
In 1601, when an opportunity arose to work with Tycho Brahe in Prague, Kepler left Graz. During the next 18 years, he discovered the three laws of planetary motion that assured him an enduring place in the history of science.
However, also during those years, Kepler continued to be in trouble with the Lutheran church. In 1613, Kepler was excommunicated because he believed the moon was a solid body. The Lutheran theologians said this contradicted Scripture, where the moon is described as a “lesser light to rule the night.” Since the moon is a “light,” the theologians said, it could not be a solid body.
Thus, years before Galileo ever ran into trouble with Catholic authorities, his famous contemporary ran into trouble with Lutheran authorities. The consequences for Kepler were severe: the loss of two jobs and exclusion from church membership. In contrast, for Galileo, there was no loss of job (even under house arrest, he published his most famous work on mechanics) and no exclusion from the Church. Galileo lived out his life as a devout Catholic. In fact, in his last few years, he lived close enough to the convent of one of his daughters that they provided mutual support to each other.
It would be interesting to determine if Lutheran authorities ever apologized to Kepler for the treatment he received. That would indeed be front-page news. I can find no evidence that such an apology was ever issued. [g^
Dermott J. Mullan is a physicist. He writes from Elkton, Maryland.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dermott J. Mullan ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Defending Marriage, Afte Massachusetts DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:It's not every day a court gets to stand against all of recorded history. That's what the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court did Nov. 18 when, in Goodridge v. Department of Health, it ruled that marriage in Massachusetts is no longer the union of a man and a woman but the union of “two persons.” The court argued that forbidding a man to marry another man constituted unlawful and irrational sex discrimination.
The Bait-and-Switch. The court drew on several laws and state constitutional provisions in making its case, including anti-discrimination laws, hate-crimes laws and a constitutional provision modeled on the failed Equal Rights Amendment forbidding discrimination on the basis of sex.
There's just one problem: When Massachusetts legislators voted for these laws, they were assured again and again that same-sex marriage would not be the result. There is virtually no chance that these laws would have passed if voters and legislators had believed they would lead to the radical redefinition of marriage.
The Massachusetts court is saying to citizens, “You all go ahead and vote for the laws. Then we'll tell you what you really voted for. Don't expect it to look much like what you thought you agreed to.” The rule of law requires that laws be predictable and stable — that laws not be yanked out from under citizens like a carpet in a Tom and Jerry cartoon. The Massachusetts court (like the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade) has ignored this principle.
The funny thing is, this bait-and-switch approach to judging may be turned against the Goodridge decision itself in the future. As UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh (who supports same-sex marriage) has pointed out, the language the majority used in its decision gives no good reason to bar polygamy or adult incestuous marriages. If marriage is simply about commitment, well, obviously we can make commitments to more than one person. And we can make commitments to people who are already members of our families — for example, siblings. Why should these commitments not be recognized in law as marriages?
Although the Goodridge decision insists that the plaintiffs, and therefore its decision, do not “attack the binary nature of marriage [i.e. you can't marry more than one person], the consanguinity provisions [anti-incest provisions] or any of the other gate-keeping provisions of the marriage licensing law,” why should the court expect its wishes to have any more force than the wishes of the voters and legislators the court has already ignored? If the court is willing to proceed from what it deems as the internal logic of various pieces of legislation, rather than either the plain text or the legislators' common understanding of what they were doing, why should later courts not apply the same test to Goodridge?
Procreation. The majority in Goodridge rejected the argument that marriage is an essentially procreative union, pointing out that couples who cannot have children are still permitted to marry. But this objection misses the point.
Marriage — civil marriage, not just sacramental marriage — is essentially a procreative union in two ways. First, marriage only exists because of procreation. Marriage developed as a univer-sal human institution because when a man and a woman have sex, very often a baby is conceived. We've tried to convince ourselves that we have gotten around this “problem.” But no matter how many hormones a woman pumps into her body, no matter how much latex we swathe ourselves in, intercourse still makes babies. If nothing else, the existence of almost 4,000 crisis-pregnancy centers in this country should prove that. Marriage developed because the children conceived by men and women need to be protected, and, especially, need strong legal ties to their fathers, whom biology allows to walk away far more easily than mothers.
And marriage developed because sexual risk is asymmetrical: Men and women face different risks when they sleep together. Men risk committing resources to care for children that may not be their own. Women risk being abandoned and left to care for a fatherless child. Marriage developed to minimize these risks. That's why no society — even among those that did have
a social role for some expressions of male homosexuality — has instituted same-sex marriage until the past decade.
Second, marriage is procreative because marriage is society's way of ensuring that as many children as possible have mothers and fathers. A couple who cannot conceive children on their own can adopt, thus providing children with a mother and a father. Two men, however, can't replace a mother, nor can two women replace a father.
We see this most obviously in the inner cities, where many families consist of a grandmother, a mother and a child. Here, two women struggle to raise a child without a father. And the children say, again and again, that they need daddies. The sons say they had no
one to teach them how to be men. The daughters say they had no one to teach them what to look for in a man, what role a man should play in the family.
Same-sex marriage says that men — fathers — are unnecessary in forming a family. This is one of the most detrimental messages a society can send.
What Now? At first glance, the Massachusetts court seemed to have left a loophole for the Legislature: The court's ruling would not take effect for 180 days. In that time, court-watchers initially speculated, the legislature could seek to amend the Massachusetts Constitution, defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Such an amendment would override the court's decision.
But the Massachusetts constitution is difficult to amend, and it is impossible to amend in 180 days. So that route is out.
The Goodridge decision makes the question of the Federal Marriage Amendment all the more pressing. This amendment would prevent both courts and legislatures from enacting same-sex marriage. The most basic version of this amendment would read, “Marriage in America is and shall be exclusively the union of one woman and one man.”
Amending the Constitution of the United States is a major project and not a step to be taken lightly. But if we do not take this step, we may lose the fundamental building block of society. [g^
Eve Tushnet writes from Washington, D. C.
----- EXCERPT: What the Court Did and How We Should Respond ----- EXTENDED BODY: Eve Tushnet ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Feeding the Hungry Becomes Extraordinary When We Fail to Do It DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY: ****Twenty years ago, the U.S. Catholic bishops lamented that we are the first generation since Genesis with the power to virtually destroy God's creation.
The bishops were thinking then of nuclear destruction, immediate and total. Today, we chip away at life a little at a time.
Death by abortion remains acceptable in all 50 states. Death by a doctor's assistance is legal in Oregon; other states might follow. Death by euthanasia teeters on the threshold but in fact is not uncommon. Euthanasia comes from the Greek meaning “good death.” It is embraced by some in our society as a tender approach, a merciful end to the life of another person.
Catholic writer Flannery O'Connor once commented: “In the absence of faith, we govern by tenderness.” That often seems to be our societal approach: It makes us feel good and may seem kind. But what we do to old pets in kindness is not what we ought to do to our elderly parents, spouses and children.
Whether destroying human life by starvation, a gentle injection in the arm or a bullet through the head, the act delivers death to an innocent person. One might argue that the quick bullet is more compassionate than days-long starving. Yet few propose that.
Such is the case with Terri Schiavo, who is not comatose, not unresponsive and whose bright face touches the hearts of all. Yet the question that swirls around her is: Should her feeding tube be removed?
The most common on-camera answer is Yes. That's a compassionate way to end the limited potential of her life. We live in an era of fleeting media moments in which cultural values favor “tenderness” and efficiency over morality. A recent I Register letter to I the editor asks: “Do we know for sure that God wants us to keep Terri alive artificially?”
A revealing comment. Food is not “artificial” nor is it “extraordinary means.” Food via breast, bottle, knife and fork, blender or intravenous tube is essential to maintain human life in any of its various stages. By withdrawing food, we knowingly kill the person by a continuous direct act of prolonged starvation. Painful, cruel and more than a week long, this smacks of torture.
We are likewise aware of the horror charged against a New Jersey couple for slowly starving their young sons. None of us supports withholding food from those boys, but some of us seem inclined to starve the helpless Terri who cannot make midnight visits to scrounge food from neighbors' garbage.
The old pro-abortion argument about “viability” again comes into play. Is it okay to kill Terri because she cannot tend to herself? If so, may we kill a 9-month-old fetus? Or a 1-year-old infant? Or, God forbid, Christopher Reeve?
The Church teaches that a family may decide to remove extraordinary measures, such as a respirator, but we may almost never withhold food, which is necessary and ordinary in nearly every instance.
The difference? A respirator is a machine that takes over the breathing process for the patient. That machine will continue to breathe in and out until its parts wear out or it is disconnected.
Food, however, is not extraordinary. The patient fed by mouth or intravenously ingests that food and digests it on her own within her system.
Unlike the respirator, which replaces her own breathing, food is not digested for her; she does that. Only the method of feeding differs, as it does for a helpless child at the breast or on the bottle or on IV.
A few miles from my home, a similar national deathwatch occurred years ago when Karen Ann Quinlan, in a comatose state, was by family decision removed from a respirator. But Quinlan's feeding tube was not removed.
Her family did not in conscience allow that.
Karen Quinlan lived nine more years without extraordinary means. God did not take her until nine years later when she died from pneumonia, not starvation. Her family endured the agony of seeing her helpless for so long, yet they lovingly allowed God, not the media, to determine when he would bring Karen home.
It might be wise for each of us living in today's advanced technological society to ensure that we have a legally prepared living will that states how we as individuals might avoid potential future crises such as the families of Terri Schiavo and Karen Quinlan had to face.
The will records the person's written desire concerning extraordinary means. The bishops of the United States have designed such a living will that is compassionate, loving, legal and within the teachings of our Catholic Church.
Now, while strong, we should each consider talking to a priest and an attorney to protect ourselves and loved ones from a problem that might someday face us.
Drew DeCoursey, author of Lifting the Veil of Choice (OSV, 1992), writes from Morristown, New Jersey.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Drew DeCoursey ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Humble as a Child DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:For most of us today, humility is one of the hardest virtues to practice.
Part of the problem is the culture we live in. We're bombarded with the message that we owe it to ourselves to reach for the very best of everything — and in the greatest quantities we can get it. After all, we've earned it —just by being here, at this place and in this time. So we're told.
Especially during Advent — “shopping season” to the secular culture around us.
Sometimes we're even warned that we'll have major problems if we don't express all our feelings and pursue all our desires. It's not only healthy to think of ourselves first and put others second, they tell us, but it's also the right thing to do.
Jesus had a different point of view. How different? Well, one day he called a child to his side and said to the crowds: “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4).
When I read that passage, my first thought is, “Were children different in 30 A.D. than they are now?” Most little children think they deserve whatever they want, when they want it. Most parents know what it's like to walk out of a store with a small child screaming, “I want it! I want it!” As a mother of six, I know all my little angels exercised their will at least a few times in their life. My 2-year-old rarely fails to tell us what she thinks of bedtime. The last few nights, as I lay beside her, she all but cried herself to sleep, repeating, “I doan wan to.”
So how are we supposed to learn about humility from a child — when, by all outward appearances, little children can be the epitome of selfishness, strong will and pride? Would we consult our 3-year-old when we are thinking of changingjobs or making a major purchase?
A child has very little say in the major decisions that control his life, so he's the last person we would ask for that sort of advice. A child, after all, is clueless. He does not have the ability to understand what is best for him.
Could it be that this is the humility God is trying to show us in Matthew 18:4? I, for one, think so. Sometimes we are clueless to what is best for us. We have to trust God to be in control of our lives as our children must trust us. This takes humility. It means giving over our control to God: accepting his will for our lives.
Recently, my husband was told he would be laid off because of budget cuts. I know jobs are not plentiful right now. But, as a Christian, I also know that “all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). And I accept God's will for my life and the lives of the people I love. If God knows that it will take being poor to help us get to heaven, then poorness may be a great blessing.
God loves us. He will take care or us. Just as my children need not worry about the troubles of this world, I need not worry, either. I even came to realize that this might mean trusting him even to the point of death. This is humility.
By the grace of God, my husband has found another job. Just prior to this I had begun praying the prayer of Pope Clement XI — which includes these words: “Lord, I want whatever you want, because you want it, the way you want it, as long as you want it.”
Humility is hard, but it's a virtue I must practice if I am to trust God, my loving Father, in all things.
Jackie Oberhausen writes from Fort Wayne, Indiana.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jackie Oberhausen ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: The Secret Mission of Old Bohemia DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:With a name like Old Bohemia, this place stood little chance of being recognized as the cradle of colonial Catholicism.
That was exactly the point in 1704, when it was founded as an undercover mission.
The English Jesuits who arrived in the colony of Maryland knew what it took to lead a double life. For the previous 50 years, they had assumed aliases, packed away their clerical garb for secret Masses and lived the lives of outlaws. If caught, they could be sent back to England in chains.
Outside of Warwick, Md., they bought a 1,200-acre plantation from its owner, an old (Protestant) Bohemian. There they settled in as “bachelor farmers.”
This is not the history most Americans learn about Colonial times. Many of us read in our American-history textbooks that Maryland was the Catholic colony. The fact is, Lord Baltimore, the Catholic nobleman, was given this land in America as a reward for services rendered to King Charles I by his father, Sir George Calvert.
Many people think the colony, Maryland, was named for the Blessed Virgin Mary. But it was named after King Charles' wife, Queen Henrietta Marie of France. In 1649, the colonial governing body passed the Religious Toleration Act. All Christians were welcomed. Everyone lived happily ever after.
That's where most history books leave off. Many Catholics did come to Maryland for freedom to practice their faith, which was being persecuted in England. But an even larger number of Puritans migrated to the mild, fertile land. By 1654, the new population passed a law again outlawing the practice of the Catholic faith. Catholics could not hold public office. Catholic schools were illegal. Public celebration of Mass was an offense punishable by death. Catholic priests were criminals.
The severity of the restrictions varied over the years, but our gallant missionaries lived in a dangerous environment for eight decades. They road on horseback to Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware and Maryland to minister covertly to their flock. No official records could be made of the baptisms, marriages and funerals performed. The sacraments could endure only in the minds, hearts and souls of the faithful. Wealthy colonial Catholics, like their brethren in England, built private chapels in their homes and priest holes to hide a visiting priest in case of a raid.
The Jesuits also started an illegal Catholic academy at Old Bohemia, which is considered the beginnings of Georgetown University. Students of the school included the later Archbishop John Carroll and Charles Carroll, the sole Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Feels Like Freedom
The approach to the Shrine of St. Francis Xavier, as Old Bohemia is officially called, looks much the way it did 300 years ago. You travel down a long country road through rolling acres of corn and soybean fields. First to come into view is the brick church that was built after the Bill of Rights was signed in 1787 finally guaranteeing religious freedom.
The church was completed in 1797. In 1915, a fire gutted the structure. The local bishop rebuilt it out of respect for its historical significance, even though the parish's registered population never grew large enough to move it up from mission-church status. During the Great Depression the Wilmington
Diocese, now the official owner of the property, sold most of the acreage off to pay debts. By 1952 cows were grazing in the cemetery. Whatever looters hadn't carried off was being destroyed by time and the elements.
In 1954 three men — a Catholic, a Quaker and a Methodist — formed the Old Bohemia Historical Society. Recognizing the value of the place to the history of Christianity, they bought back 120 acres of land surrounding the church, farmhouse/rectory and barn. They inspired others from nearby Delaware and Maryland to help in the restoration of this national treasure.
“Old Boh is a survivor,” says Marji Matyniak, an antique dealer and today's president of the society. “It has come through persecution, fire and financial ruin. Its existence is a miracle. I am an assertive person and I do all I can to get things done. Then there comes a point when I say to God, ‘It's in your hands.’ And that's when the phone rings.”
This phenomenon occurred most recently over shutters for the church's large windows. Because the window frames were built in the 1700s, they were not identical. Each one required its own hand-crafted pair of shutters, a project that would cost $13,000. Matyniak could see no way to raise this amount of money anytime soon. One night the phone rang. A local family donated the entire amount in memory of a loved one who had recently died.
What we find now is the fruit of 50 years of action by the society. The two-story farmhouse cum rectory includes the kitchen, dating to the 1700s and built over the foundation of the original log cabin. The parlor has been restored to its charming 1825 era, when it was a legal priests' residence. It is set for tea. Other rooms contain display cases of artifacts. Among them are everyday items as well as ornate vestments, chalices and a colonial family's privately printed missal. My personal favorite was the 4-foot-long wrought-iron hand press used for baking Communion hosts.
Justified Jesuits
The church has been fully restored. Its simple pews face a wooden high altar painted white. A more modern altar is also in the sanctuary so that priests may celebrate Mass facing the congregation. The large, clear windows allow the country sunlight and fresh air to stream in.
The barn displays farm equipment and vehicles from various historical eras. It also houses a modest gift shop specializing in old religious articles that have been donated by society members and parishioners of area churches.
Last but not least is the cemetery. Headstones dot the surrounding hills. They mark graves from the Revolutionary War era, the Civil War and up to the present. One recent grave memorializes unborn children. Behind the church is a walled section smelling distinctly of boxwood. The shrubs and graves date back to the early 1700s. This is the Jesuits' graveyard.
A moment here brings to light the love our older brother priests had for us. They left their families and homelands in England, France, Belgium, Germany and Ireland to sail to the New World, knowing they would never return. Names, birth and death dates and places are engraved on a modern plaque. The old tombstones bore no “SJ” initials after the man's name — evidence of the deceased's priestly vocation had to remain hidden in death as it had in life. The witness of their lives speaks to us even today.
Kathleen Whitney Barr writes from Newark, Delaware.
----- EXCERPT: St. Francis Xavier Shrine, Warwick, Md. ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kathleen Whitney Barr ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: A Classic Catholic Master Does the Met DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:Domenikos Theotokopolous — “El Greco” to the art world — died in Toledo in 1614. But his works still inspire Christian contemplation, as Catholic patrons of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City will tell you.
Here the artist's works are on display through Jan. 11.
El Greco's son, Jorge, himself a painter, compiled an inventory of his father's effects left in the studio. Included were books in Greek, Latin and Spanish, the Old Testament and New Testament, Thomas a Kempis' Imitation of Christ and the proceedings of the Council of Trent.
It would be wise to keep this inventory in mind when viewing the current exhibit. “El Greco was a humanist,” says Marcus Burke, curator of painting at the Hispanic Society of America. “He was also a Neoplatonist.” Such a reading of El Greco explains the painter's fondness for dematerialized forms, those straining and sinewy bodies that yearn to ascend from earthly constraints and reach a world of heavenly forms.
Bear in mind, too, that the artist was a son of the (Catholic) Counter-Reformation. His personal readings in the decrees and enactments of Trent, along with his own knowledge of the Tridentine reform, require us to view him not merely as a painter employed in the service of the Church but as a conscious participant in the response to the Protestant revolt.
It is a credit to the curators of this exhibit and the twin custodians, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery in London, that the painter is presented not merely as a master whose techniques are worthy of admiration — but also as a man of faith whose unambiguously religious message is worth considering.
Triumphs of Toledo
On display here are approximately 70 works by El Greco; the selections span the entirety of his career. Arranged chronologically and thematically in seven individual rooms, they show his development as an icon painter on the island of Crete through his west-ward transfer to Venice, then Rome, and finally his arrival in Toledo, the very hub of the Counter-Reformation. Altogether, his works from the Toledo period occupy five of the seven galleries and bring the exhibit to a stunning and memorable finale.
Most of El Greco's best-known works are here at the Met. These include St. Jerome, A View of Toledo, St. Martin and the Beggar, St. Louis King of France and a Page, Saints Peter and Paul and numerous renderings of St. Francis. For Catholics, it is the major commissions from the Toledo period that will pique particular interest.
The subject matter of El Greco's religious art is strictly Tridentine: He aims to demonstrate the principles and tenets of the Council of Trent. Whatever may be said of his trademark style — the distortion of reality, the elongated faces and bodies, the otherworldly illumination coming from within the sacred personages depicted — it's evident El Greco intended to make his works catechetical. Clearly, he sought to amplify and underscore Catholic teaching.
Toledo, the city that would adopt El Greco, was brimming with religious fervor. Its printing presses were turning out tracts on the devout life. The streets were clogged with confraternities of the zealous. Monasteries were springing up to accommodate all the new priests and religious.
Cultural Camelot
It was in this milieu of Catholic robusto that El Greco worked and breathed. His St. Jerome shows the Doctor of Sacred Scripture in his study dressed as a Renaissance scholar. His crimson cardinal's cope and his flowing white beard tell us that he is a source of authority, the author of the Vulgate. Where Protestantism had urged the private interpretation of Scripture, the Counter-Reformation would insist that Scripture was the Church's book.
Where the reformers questioned the salvific value of good works, El Greco replied with his memorable St. Martin and the Beggar, which stressed the divine merit earned by corporal deeds of mercy. Indeed the exhibit is replete with El Greco's treatment of the saints. The doctrine of intercession was denied by Lutherans and others, and it proved a fertile field for Counter-Reformation iconography.
El Greco's saints are often displayed in attitudes of penitence. St. Peter is portrayed with hands clasped tightly, the fingers interlaced (St. Peter in Penitence). The saint's eyes glisten as he gazes heavenward. Le lagrime di Cristo is transferred to Peter, who now represents the Ignatian model for the believer. The cave in the background recalls Manressa and Loyola's retreat into the wilderness.
There is much discussion today about faith and culture; hence the Church's creation of a pontifical council to address the subject. With that in mind, it seems that all Catholics would benefit from a visit to this current exhibit.
Toledo in the late 16th century represents a kind of cultural Camelot for Roman Catholics. In the person of El Greco, the truths of the faith were replicated in supernumerary canvases and placed in innumerable churches and monasteries. They helped “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) in the manner of St. Francis: without need of words. Catholics will adore this very Catholic show.
Jim Sullivan writes from Fairfield, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jim Sullivan ----- KEYWORDS: Art & Culture -------- TITLE: Weekly Video/DVD Picks DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)
The most remarkable thing about Pirates of the Caribbean is neither Johnny Depp's mesmerizing perfor- ‘ mance nor ILM's literally eye-popping skeletal ghost-ship crew. It's the fact that the movie works at all. After all, the movie is based on a theme-park attraction. Pirates of the Caribbean is more entertaining, funny, thrilling and romantic than it has any right to be. It's been compared to such genre-celebrating pictures as Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Princess Bride and, though not in that league, it's in the same spirit.
Pirates has everything one could want in a pirate movie: stolen treasure, a terrible curse, a secret island-cave hiding place, a feisty damsel in distress, ships blown into driftwood, bottles of rum, planks to walk and plenty of swordplay and rope-swinging. Too intense for younger viewers (the Disney label notwithstanding), Pirates brings a light touch to its material, never taking it too seriously. The plot is nonsense but has a goofy logic of its own.
Though enamored with the mythology of pirate lore and indulgently forgiving of its colorful anti-hero, what the film really celebrates is not actual piracy but the pirate-movie tradition of Errol Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks. It's no classic, but it's a fine tribute.
Content advisory: Much stylized swashbuckling action violence and menace; mild horror imagery (animated skeletal corpses); comic drunkenness; mild sensuality and innuendo; brief profanity.
I.Q. (1994)
Walter Mat-thau is Albert Einstein. That's the conceit that differentiates I.Q. from countless other romantic ‘ comedies relying on the same standard formulas of mismatched lovers, meddlesome matchmakers, supposedly perfect but obviously inappropriate fiancés and so on.
Meg Ryan and Tim Robbins are cast somewhat against type: Ryan often plays bubbleheaded and Robbins brainy, but here Ryan is a science whiz, if a bubbly one, while Robbins is a grease monkey, if a thoughtful one.
The real twist, though, is that Catherine (Ryan) happens to be the niece of Albert Einstein — and, while she has a brainy fiancé, he's a twit. Her uncle Albert decides she really needs someone like Ed (Robbins).
This sort of thing has been done to death, but there's something endearingly goofy about throwing Einstein, of all people, into the mix that breathes new life into the formula. Aiding and abetting are a gray-haired coterie of Einstein's real-life scientific peers, Kurt Gödel, Boris Podolsky and Nathan Liebknecht, who mug about like the four widowers in Return to Me.
The pseudo-scientific milieu, with much banter about the nonex-istence of time, offers a new angle on the sense of inevitability and formula that invariably attends this sort of film. Despite its title, I.Q. isn't the smartest romantic comedy ever made. But it won't insult your intelligence, either.
Content advisory: A few dou-ble-entendres.
Good Morning (1959)
Japanese auteur Yasujiro Ozu's delicate, wry comedy of manners takes a sympathetic but not uncritical look at life and etiquette in a small, 1950s Japanese village community.
The architecture is traditional, but one home now has television, and life will never be the same. The adults wear traditional dress, but the children go to school in sweatshirts and jeans and study English at home.
The story loosely revolves around a vow of silence taken by two boys in protest of their parents' refusal to buy a television, a key instance of the film's theme of communication. It's interested in what we say, how we say it and what it all means.
Formality and courtesy attend adult interactions, but beneath the surface lurk petty misunderstandings, resentments and suspicions. A boy complains that adult conversation is bloated with meaningless, empty pleasantries while his friends prefer to engage each other with an amusement that appears to be an Asian equivalent of “pull my finger.” (One forlorn youth is disastrously bad at the game, and his parents have no idea why he regularly soils his pants.)
Ultimately, Ozu wisely highlights both the necessity of trivial social chatter as profoundly necessary to personal interaction and also the potential danger of allowing inconsequential filler to spare us having to say what really matters.
Content advisory: Recurring body-function themes; an extended childish protest against parents.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Art & Culture -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:All times Eastern
SUNDAY, NOV. 30
Guts & Bolts
History Channel, 2 p.m.
This episode literally takes us for a ride, showing us how breathalyzer devices work, what being in a car crash (at the Collision Safety Institute in San Diego) is like and how the demolition folks at Al-Jon Inc. in Iowa go about crushing old cars five at a time.
SUNDAY, NOV. 30
Doc
Pax, 8 p.m.
Drama, comedy and a love angle are a good mix in this family-friendly “westerner hits the Big Apple” series. Country-western singer Billy Ray Cyrus lets his acting talents shine as a Montana physician who joins an HMO in New York City and shakes things up with his horse sense, decency and solid principles. In a recent show, Doc used 3-D ultrasound images to get a dad to assent to his wife's wish to let their daughter be born. Dave and Gary Johnson created this series, which also stars Andrea Robinson.
DEC., VARIOUS DATES
Musical Specials on PBS
PBS, check local listings
Watch for these musical specials this month. The Barra MacNeils' Cape Breton Christmas features the MacNeils, the Ennis Sisters, Fiona and Ciaran MacGillivray, and other Celtic music stars. In A Gospel Blue-grass Homecoming, Bill Gaither and Marty Stuart host gospel and bluegrass bands and stars in beloved standards and newer tunes. In John Tesh's Christmas in Positano, Tesh, his band and the Italian Symphony visit Italy's spectacular Amalfi coast to perform carols at the harbor in Positano, Amalfi's Cathedral of St. Andrew, the town square in Ravello and the cliffs above Sorrento.
MONDAY, DEC. 1
The Journey Home
EWTN, 8 p.m.
Viewers can phone and e-mail queries to Marcus Grodi and guests on every “Open Line First Monday.” Tonight's guest is Register staff writer Tim Drake, an ex-Lutheran.
TUESDAY, DEC. 2
Al Roker's Colonial Christmas
Food Network, 9 p.m.
Yankee Doodle knew how to celebrate Christmas, as these recipes prove.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 3
Decorating Cents for the Holidays
Home & Garden TV, 9 p.m.
Hostess Joan Steffend shows us how to decorate inexpensively for Christmas.
FRIDAY, DEC. 5
Paula's Home Cooking
Food Network, noon
At a car show, Paula indulges Americans' love for burgers, hot dogs, fries, shakes and apple pie.
SATURDAY, DEC. 6
Makeover Mamas
A & E, 3 p.m.
Starting at 3 p.m., four half-hour episodes of this series introduce us to four sets of husbands and wives — and to their mothers as they redo rooms in their kids' homes.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Dan Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Art & Culture -------- TITLE: Find Your Way Around the Streets of Gold DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:A TRAVEL GUIDE TO HEAVEN by Anthony DeStefano Doubleday, 2003 193 pages, $18.95 Available in bookstores
After attending a number of funerals in which the homilies did not seem to resonate with the mourners, Anthony DeStefano decided it was time for some down-to-earth exploration of the place we hope to go after death.
Figuring that “if heaven is anything at all, it's fun,” he wrote this book in the style of a vacation guide. It's got an itinerary, pre-flight instructions (leave “gloominess, cynicism, pessimism, intellectual snobbery … and prejudice against God behind”) and tour guides (guardian angels). Life is a journey (or pilgrimage), he says, and heaven is the ultimate destination — a great and desirable resort where every good hope and dream will be fulfilled.
As executive director of Priests for Life, based in Staten Island, N.Y., DeStefano is solidly Catholic and pro-life, yet neither specifically Catholic teachings nor decidedly pro-life themes play prominently in the book. He writes for a mainstream, moderately Christian readership in an attempt to reach as wide an audience as possible with an important message: Heaven is not a dreamlike state; it is a place where God's friends will live for eternity in his presence as full-bodied persons, possessing powers and capacities beyond imagining that will make for perfect happiness and fulfillment.
The hearts and minds of men and women are made for something greater than the pleasures of earth, wonderful as they may be, he writes. Setting our I sights on heaven is/not some pie-in-
Just as he seeks to bridge the gap between earth and heaven, DeStefano also writes to reach all corners of our culture. The book comes with jacket blurbs from a cross-section of secular and religious figures. Regis Philbin says, “This will be the best trip you ever took!” Father John Catoir, former president of the Christophers, known for his own interfaith inspirational writings, says the “exquisite” book is filled with “simplicity and wit.”
In capturing and recasting Christianity's traditional teaching on heaven, as found in St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas (who are cited a number of times), this book is Catholic in spirit. Yet the author deliberately does not advert to the Catholic underpinnings of what he writes. DeStefano does not mention that Mary, by her assumption, is the only human person who is already both body and soul in heaven, and that she provides the perfect example of response to God's grace.
Still, there is much here that is right on target and casts a shot across the bow of our culture's strangely wedded mix of materialism and misfit mysticism. DeStefano drives home two points continually: Heaven is a place where people will live body and soul, albeit transformed by the presence of God; and God does not throw away anything he has created because, as Genesis states, it is good. From these points, he . draws a picture of heaven that is a feast for the senses and the intellect, the body and the soul.
Yes, there will be dogs and trees in heaven and other things that make life enjoyable. Yet heaven is not a place of bacchanal pleasure, DeStefano cautions. It is one of complete human fulfillment, where God is worshipped as Lord. To get there you need, as the final chapter states, a “Ticket to Heaven.” Here he explains the essential Christian message: Christ has paid the price of the flight by his death and resurrection; we must follow his instructions to the gate and be ready at take-off time.
At this point of the pleasurable journey, the reader may be inclined to say, “I will do anything Jesus wants to get to this great place called heaven.” Inspiring such a “confession” is the goal of this travel guide.
Stephen Vincent writes from Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:CrÈches Banned
THOMAS MORE LAW CENTER, Nov. 12 — Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center has filed a motion to temporarily restrain New York City schools from enforcing a policy that bans Nativity scenes but permits Jewish menorahs and Islamic crescents, the Web news service reported.
The non-Christian symbols are allowed, the city says, because they have a secular dimension, but the representation of the birth of Christ is “purely religious” and is not a historically accurate representation of an event with secular significance.
The More Center's Robert Muise said most Americans do not see it that way: “The birth of Jesus is … of importance for both Christians and non-Christians.”
The federal civil-rights lawsuit was filed on behalf of Andrea Skoros and her two elementary-school children, who are Catholic.
All-Time Winner
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Nov. 8 — John Gagliardi became college football's career victory leader when St. John's University of Collegeville, Minn., rallied to beat Bethel 29-26 earlier this season.
Gagliardi, in his 55th season and his 51st with the Johnnies, is now the owner of 409 victories. He passed Eddie Robinson, who retired in 1997 after winning 408 games with Division I-AA Grambling State.
“I have never have thought about retiring,” Gagliardi said after a lengthy ceremony in his honor on the home field of the Division III school in central Minnesota.
Friar-Doctor
Brother Sulmasy also teaches ethics at St. Vincent's Medical Center and bioethics at New York Medical College in Valhalla, a school affiliated with the Archdiocese of New York.
NCAA Board Member
UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON, Nov. 17 — Daniel Curran, president of the University of Dayton, has been appointed to the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I board of directors — the chief executives who are responsible for overseeing legislation for 318 institutions in the NCAA's top division.
The four-year appointment on the 18-member board of directors begins in 2004. Curran, who just completed his first year as president of the University of Dayton, will serve as the representative from the Atlantic 10 Conference.
The NCAA Division I board is currently focusing on academic reform, including ratings that track the academic progress of athletes.
Debt Paid
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY, Oct. 25 — As part of festivities to welcome the university's new president, several male students carried bushels of wheat in an academic procession that preceded the inauguration of Jesuit Father Joseph McShane.
The gesture recalled the rural origins of the campus, located in the highly urbanized Rose Hill section of the Bronx.
The Reformed Church in America owned the property in 1733, but it was first farmed by a member of the gentry, the first lord of Rose Hill Manor. As rent, he promised to pay the church “two shillings six pence or a half-bushel of wheat.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Family Matters DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:Percolating Priorities
Q
A
It's tempting to invite God to revisit the issue of providing only 24 hours in each day. We could all use a few more hours to get things done. Could he have been wrong about that one?
Time is a precious gift from God. Everything we do takes time, and time spent can never be recovered. So we want to prioritize our time and direct it toward the things that are most important. After all, time wasted is life wasted.
You'll have to take the time (I know that'll be hard to do) and figure out what are the most important aspects of your job. What are the most important things that your boss has hired you to do? (You don't want to guess on this one. If you are not certain about the goals and expectations she has for you, you should meet with her.) What are the most important things that only you can do? Thinking in this way will help you home in on the essentials.
Every job is different, but I find there are usually four essential areas that every employee has some responsibility to fulfill:
1. Improving or maintaining the quality of the service or product.
2. Contributing to the morale of the work environment so it is a productive and enjoyable place to spend time in.
3. Helping customers appreciate, or get the most out of, core products and services. (All professions have customers. For example, teachers have students, parents and senior faculty as their customers.)
4. Attracting and retaining customers, investors or stakeholders.
Profits and job stability are generally the rewards for fulfilling these four core functions. How directly or indirectly you would contribute value to each of these areas would depend upon your job responsibilities. If you are addressing these areas, you are probably doing the most important things. If you are not addressing these issues, then you may feel that you are not being productive with your time.
These four areas are not the most important priorities in life. Your relationship with Christ, your spouse and your children, along with your personal integrity, would all be more important. But in the domain of work, you have to determine where your time is best spent. Then, as time-management expert Brian Tracey suggests, you can “creatively procrastinate” in the areas that are a lot less important.
When you awake, start your day by going to the most important person in your life — Christ — and flat-out ask him to inspire your thoughts, words and actions. Ask him to help you do them with love for him and according to his will. This not only provides a focus but also invites in the grace to get to the essentials.
When you are commuting home from work, do an examination of conscience: Ask yourself how much time you spent on critical and value-added tasks that day, and how much you spent on other, less-important things. Identify what you did to be so productive and what you need to adjust to not fall prey to inessentials.
Art Bennett is director of Alpha Omega Clinic and Consultation Services in Vienna, Virginia, and Bethesda, Maryland.
Reach Family Matters at familymatters@ncregister.com
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Art Bennett ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Mom's Many Virtues DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:Facts of Life
Motherhood not only makes females smarter, but it also makes them calmer under pressure and more courageous than females 1 who do not mother offspring, a U.S. researcher says. Neuro-scientist Craig Kinsley of the University of Richmond in Virginia, writing in the journal Physiology and Behavior, called the phenomenon “maternal-induced neural plasticity.”
Source: LA Times, Oct. 29 Register Illustration by Tim Rauch
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: The Register's Clip-Out, Photocopy and Pass-On Guides for Advent DATE: 11/30/2003 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2003 ----- BODY:Reason 1 It's your way to relive the Last Supper.
Reason 2 When was the last time you prayed too much?
Quick Tip Be early. Would you come late to your wedding? (Women, don't answer!)
Reason 3 If you want to spend an eternity with Christ, you need to get to know him now.
Reason 4 It's the central, necessary activity of Christian worship (Luke 22:14-23; John 6:53ff; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
Reason 5 It's your best way to identify yourself with Christ's sacrifice on the cross.
Reason 6 Some of the greatest people in history made it a habit to go to Mass (St. Francis, Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II …)
Reason 7 Wise people invest money for the future. How much more should we invest in eternal life?
Reason 8 It has to be better for you than TV.
Reason 9 If you've been to confession, you get to receive Jesus Christ. If you find a better deal, do that instead.
Quick Tip Forgotten what to do at Mass? You'll remember. It's like riding a bicycle! Follow the Mass closely with a helper: missalette, missal or Magnificat.
Reason 10 If you knew Jesus would be somewhere, wouldn't you go see him?
Reason 11 Guaranteed Bible readings. Countless lives have been changed by Scripture. Might yours?
Reason 12 Statistics say that people who go to church are happier and less stressed out.
Reason 13 It's the best way to pray for your family and ; friends — and to cope with troubled times.
Quick Tip Communion is open to all who are not conscious of committing a serious sin (anything from missing Sunday Mass to infidelity) since their last confession.
Reason 15 You'll become a better person at Mass. The more you are part of God's life, the better you'll be.
Reason 16 Life is complicated. Get directions r that work — from the One who r created life.
Quick Tip In prayer after Communion, make one resolution about how you'll live your life differently. (Think back on the homily for ideas.)
Reason 17 It's your way to go most directly through Jesus Christ to God the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit in prayer.
Quick Tip Bow your head as a sign of reverence before receiving Communion. (Do it while the person in front of you is receiving Communion.)
Reason 18 Is one hour too much to give to God? How many do you spend on other priorities?
Quick Tip Feel alone and unsure at church? Bring a friend!
Common Good Excuses
What's in it for me?
Everything! God desires only and always your good. He became a man in large part to give us himself in the Mass. Why should you deny yourself such a gift?
I don't need to go to Mass to get close to God.
At Mass, you receive God himself — Jesus Christ truly present in the sacrament. Even a beautiful mountain vista can't compare to that.
I had a bad experience with the Church.
This is always sad. But many of us also had bad teachers — and we know the whole education system isn't bad. Jesus wants to bring you healing at Mass.
I don't get anything out of Mass.
Don't expect it to be entertainment. Learn about what it does: joins us to Christ, separates us from sin, wipes away venial sins, commits us to the poor, prepares us for heaven.
I don't have the time.
There are 24 hours a day, 168 hours a week. Mass takes one. That's less than 1% of your week. You have the time; find it.
I'm a sinner. I don't deserve to be at Mass.
Welcome to the club! We are a Church of saved sinners. None of us deserves to be here. See you at the confessional …
----- EXCERPT: How (and Why) to Return to Sunday Mass ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life --------