BEAVERTON, Ore. — Olympics watchers all over the world were surprised by Mariel Zagunis' gold-medal victory in the women's fencing saber competition in Athens.
The “Catholic girl who made it big” was surprised, too.
“I think it was a huge surprise to everyone that I won, because I wasn't even supposed to be there,” Zagunis told the Register from Athens.
She initially didn't make the Olympic team, but was allowed to go to Athens when another qualifier bowed out.
“My faith in God really played an enormous role in my life, like never before, when I didn't make the team in March,” the 19-year-old Zagunis said. “It was one of those disappointments in life that causes you to really take a look at what's real and important and what matters.”
Zagunis will go down as the first gold medalist in the history of Olympic women's individual saber, which debuted this summer as an Olympic event. Her commanding 15-9 victory, over Xue Tan of China, marked the first time the United States has won a medal in the 80-year history of Olympic women's fencing.
“It feels great to be called a pioneer in the sporting world, and I hope that this will really help to boost the popularity of fencing in America,” Zagunis said.
“There's not a single person on this entire campus who isn't completely delighted about this,” said Ross Thomas, principal of Valley Catholic High. “The nuns who taught her in elementary school are talking about her constantly. She's their little girl who made it big.”
Thomas said the success of his now-famous alumna has already caused one new student to enroll at Valley High and numerous families to inquire.
“Mariel's success reflects well on this school,” Thomas said.
Zagunis was a popular student and athlete at Valley Catholic High School, having attended school on the same campus since kindergarten. Now, a year after graduation, she's the pride of her former elementary, junior high and high schools — all run by the Sisters of Saint Mary of Oregon.
Before she graduated from high school, Zagunis was recognized as such an accomplished fencer that she was offered a full scholarship to fence and study at Notre Dame. She accepted the scholarship but delayed entry for one year in order to train for the Olympics.
A shot to compete in the Olympics was merely a dream for Zagunis for most of the year that followed her high-school graduation. The dream was crushed the moment she lost her qualifying match by one point at the Olympic trials.
That's when she started praying.
For the next three months, Zagunis came to terms with the shattering of a dream she'd had since early childhood, when she learned about fencing by sword fighting with her brother, three years her senior, with sticks that had fallen from trees.
Then came the phone call. A series of events reassembled the shattered remains of her dream, just when she was resigned herself to staying home and watching Olympic fencing on late-night TV. Nigeria opted not to send a fencer to the Olympics, opening up a slot for another American. Zagunis was in as the last woman chosen for a five-member team.
Staying with her teammates in Athens, Zagunis missed the first week of school at Notre Dame. It shouldn't be a problem, her former principal said, because she's always been so far ahead of the pack academically.
“Mariel missed a lot of school while attending Valley Catholic, weeks on end at times, because she was always traveling to various fencing tournaments,” Thomas said. “But she's just such a terrific student with great enthusiasm for academics. Before missing school, she always got her work done ahead of time. It was really quite impressive. She'd come back, having won a tournament, and she'd act just like everyone else. She never had her nose in the air.”
Basking in his sister's newfound celebrity is Merrick, a sophomore at Valley Catholic. Her older brother, Martin, fences at Penn State.
“It really did start with the fact that my older brother liked to play with sticks and pretend they were swords,” Zagunis said. “One day, my mom signed him up for an actual fencing class. I was along, so I joined in, and before long I was enrolled in a fencing class.”
She also attributes much of her success to a 12-year Catholic education, which is why she chose Notre Dame from a list of schools willing to pay for her education if she'd join the fencing team.
“Going to a small Catholic school has helped me in every aspect of my life,” Zagunis said. “It helped because of the moral support of the teachers and staff and the rest of the students, who mostly come from good families.”
But will it sell cereal? Her face seems a natural for Wheaties boxes and school-lunch pails, and lucrative endorsement offers are sure to come her way in the wake of girl-power publicity that followed her victory. Fencing, an obscure sport in America? Not anymore, thanks to Zagunis.
“Naturally, I hope to do some endorsements, but it's complicated by the fact that I'll be participating in NCAA sports,” Zagunis said. “I'll have to work that out with Notre Dame and the NCAA.”
Faith in God and a solid family background seem to be a common theme to the success stories of American athletes at this year's Olympics. Many of them are Catholic, including:
• Courtney Kupets, who won the bronze on the uneven bars in gymnastics, was baptized at Holy Rosary Parish in Republic, Texas, where parishioners have been praying and cheering for her. Her grandmother Martha is a daily communicant at Holy Rosary and says all the women at her beauty shop have been cheering for Kupets.
• U.S. pitcher Lisa Fernandez, a graduate of St. Joseph High School, a Catholic school in Lakewood, Calif., is a star of the gold-medal winning U.S. women's softball team.
• Heather Ann O'Reilly is a leading member of the winning U.S. women's soccer team, which won the gold when it beat Brazil Aug. 26. She is a member of St. Bartholomew Parish in East Brunswick, N.J.
• Caesar Garcia Jr. turned his Olympic diving debut into a family affair, thanks in part to his family's parish — St. Thomas More in Baton Rouge, La. Garcia's parents traveled to Greece, along with all six of his siblings and three other family members. The trip cost more than $58,000. The family affair was made possible because St. Thomas More held a jambalaya fundraiser, the family's bank set up a fund, neighborhood children opened a lemonade stand, and members of the parish donated frequent-flier miles.
“What Catholic athletes get from their parishes and schools is the full support of family and friends, teachers, staff and fellow students,” said principal Ross Thomas. “Faith will always help people achieve more and get through life's tough terrain. Having coached sports myself, I know there's an advantage to athletes who have faith and faith-based communities.”
Wayne Laugesen is based in Boulder, Colorado. CNS contributed to this report.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Can Catholics Vote for Pro-Abortion Candidates? DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:CHICAGO — Newspaper headlines about the Church have more impact than a nuanced theological note from a Vatican official. Just ask Mary-Louise Kurey.
Kurey is the Respect Life director for the Archdiocese of Chicago. Her office was flooded with phone calls after the publication of a column in which a well-known Chicago priest said Catholics could vote for the pro-abortion presidential candidate, John Kerry.
The priest — Father Andrew Greeley — said Catholics would not be committing a sin by such a vote. He based his statement on a pronouncement by the Vatican's top dogma point man, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
Kurey said diocesan pro-life directors around the country are looking for clarification.
“Everybody's very confused,” she said. “People are saying, ‘This is a green light; we don't need to worry about the life issues.’”
Father Greeley's column first appeared in the July 16 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times. Under the headline “Catholics Can Vote for Kerry,” a similar version ran in the Aug. 10 issue of the New York Daily News.
Father Greeley, a sociologist and author, concluded that the note means that Catholics are “not obliged to vote on one issue, no matter how important that issue might be. They may vote for John Kerry ‘for other reasons’ so long as they are not supporting him merely for his pro-choice stance.'”
In addition, three bishops have made statements explicitly denouncing Father Greeley's opinion. Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker, Ore., called it “erroneous.” Colorado Springs Bishop Michael Sheridan noted that Father Greeley did not attempt to understand Cardinal Ratzinger's memo thoroughly.
And Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb., said: “He seems to strongly indicate not only a tragic indifference to abortion, which the Second Vatican Council called ‘an abominable crime,’ but a shallowness of mind akin to a harlequin.”
All three made their comments to Catholic Online writer Barbara Kralis Aug. 20.
Earlier this summer, in advance of the U.S. bishops' meeting in Denver, Cardinal Ratzinger wrote a private memorandum on the matter of Catholic politicians and Communion to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, chairman of a bishops' task force on the topic.
The six-point memo, “Worthiness to Receive Communion,” was published online July 3 by the Italian magazine L'Espresso and confirmed by a Vatican official as authentic. It stated that, if after receiving instruction and warning from his pastor, a Catholic politician continues to campaign and vote for permissive policies furthering the “grave sins of abortion and euthanasia,” he must be denied Holy Communion.
Then came this addendum, in regard to Catholic voters:
“A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate's permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a candidate's stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons.”
Church statements — from the pope's 1995 encyclical to the U.S. bishops' documents “Living the Gospel of Life,” “Faithful Citizenship” and the recent “Catholics in Political Life” — are consistent in stressing the foundational issue of defending human life, Kurey said.
“It's important to read the Cardinal Ratzinger memo in its entire context,” she said. “He makes very clear the primacy of life and the serious consideration the life issues need to receive by people when Catholics are going to vote,” she said.
Cardinal Ratzinger's statement is nothing new, but simply applies a standard Catholic moral teaching to voting, explained Father Frank Pavone, director of Priests for Life.
“It would be a mistake to interpret this teaching to mean that all issues are equal, and that a voter can choose a pro-abortion candidate because they don't like the pro-life candidate's position on capital punishment or war,” he said. “Cardinal Ratzinger, in the same letter, stated, ‘Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia.’”
The key phrase in the cardinal's memo, which was written in English, is “proportionate reasons,” said Father Stephen Torraco, chairman of the theology department of Assumption College in Worcester, Mass. Father Torraco has written a pamphlet, published by Leaflet Missal, titled “A Brief Catechism for Catholic Voters.”
“When he says ‘proportionate reasons,’ what that means is that one may vote for a pro-abortion candidate if one is trying to avoid voting for a candidate who embraces an equally serious or graver evil. So if you're faced with two candidates, both of which embrace intrinsic evils, to the best of your judgment, you try to determine which of these candidates is going to do less evil,” he said.
“It's not as if the cardinal is saying that if you feel there are issues that are more important to you than abortion, then you can vote for the pro-abortion candidate. That is not what he means,” Father Torraco said. “The reason I can tell you what the cardinal means is that in Catholic moral teaching, the word ‘proportionate’ has a very, very specific meaning, and the cardinal would only use that word in a very authentic way.”
Double Effect
The word “proportionate” comes from the principle of double effect, Father Torraco said. The scenario is this: A person is in a dilemma in which he is forced to choose to act in a way that he would not normally act. The act in question must be good morally or at least neutral morally, and the person must not intend any foreseen evil consequence to his act. For such an act to be permitted, there must be proportionate reason, Father Torraco said.
Msgr. William Smith, professor of moral theology at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., used the example of a fireman going to rescue an old woman on the third floor of a burning building.
The fireman is morally obliged to avoid deadly injury to himself, yet there is proportionate reason for him to risk his life to save the woman's life, he said. But, if the same woman wants the fireman to go to the fourth floor to grab the Kewpie doll she won in a guess-your-weight contest at the state fair, there is not proportionate reason, he said.
What, then, is a “proportionate reason” for voting for a candidate who supports permissive abortion laws?
“Abortion is categorically different than prescription drugs, for example,” said Father Thomas Euteneuer, president of Human Life International. “We're talking about a fundamental human right, which our Church and even Cardinal Ratzinger himself has made very clear. We are held to accountability for the issues that are intrinsically wrong and to not give any public credibility to them. When you have an issue of killing versus the issue of public policy, they are not proportional.”
Even the death penalty and pre-emptive war, also matters that involve human life, are not proportionate to abortion, the theologians said.
“You can argue the rightness of and wrongness of war, but there are no two sides on direct abortion or direct euthanasia or same-sex union,” Msgr. Smith said.
Father Torraco said issues proportionate to abortion would be euthanasia or the funding of stem-cell research that destroys human embryos. Msgr. Smith said it is a prudential question whether even those evils are proportionate to abortion, which takes the lives of more than 1 million Americans a year. There are far fewer embryos being killed for research purposes.
Msgr. Smith is reluctant to call a vote for Kerry sinful because the voter is so far removed, in terms of cooperation, from permissive abortion laws. It was, after all, the judiciary, not the president, that allowed abortion on demand, he said.
“Traditionally, we don't categorize voting as sinful,” he said. “It's hard to pin down — in what sense are you a cooperator? What's the causal nexus there?”
If there were a referendum on abortion, an individual's vote would have a greater moral implication, he said. But in the U.S. political system, a senator represents one vote in 100 — a representative, one in 435 — and those legislators vote on hundreds or thousands of bills, he said. The president has only the power to nominate judicial candidates, not determine their decisions, and to sign bills into law, not write them, Msgr. Smith said.
“It's much more a matter of political prudence,” he said. “In no sense would I vote for Kerry. You'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind to Catholic values to vote for him. You go right down the list, and every Catholic value, he's quoted as being against.”
Ellen Rossini writes from Richardson, Texas.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Ellen Rossini ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Running to Win in Lincoln's State DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Alan Keyes has been drafted to run against Barack Obama for one of Illinois’ U.S. Senate seats.
Keyes was a United Nations ambassador during the Reagan administration. He's a two-time presidential candidate with a Ph.D. in government from Harvard. He speaks five languages, he worked on the staff of the National Security Council, and he spent 11 years with the U.S. State Department.
Keyes, 54, is Catholic and bills himself as “100% pro-life.” He spoke Aug. 25 with Register correspondent Wayne Laugesen about his plan to win on a pro-life, pro-family and pro-Jesus platform.
You were drafted into this race late to run against a rising star in the Democratic Party, the man who gave the keynote speech at the Democratic convention. How is the race going?
It's going well, and I'm excited. After only three weeks, we have more than 7,000 volunteers and a fundraising base that's growing all over the country. We are putting all sorts of issues on the table that were not on the table before I entered this race, and they are issues that need to be on the table.
We know you bill yourself as 100% pro-life and that you vigorously oppose proposals that would force states to recognize homosexual “marriages.” Tell us another issue you bring to this campaign.
I support school choice, and I'm redefining a host of economic issues in this campaign in order to support and build up the traditional family. We can't have more jobs in Illinois if we elect candidates who stand for excessive taxation. I'm making an issue of tort reform, because the cost of malpractice insurance is literally driving hundreds of doctors out of Illinois and other states. I'm planning to reduce the corruption tax — the informal charges to taxpayers that result from bribery and other forms of corruption that lead to scandal and cause an onerous burden for the electorate.
Whatever happens in this Senate election, the outcome will seat only the sixth black Senator in U.S. history. Do you expect to do well among the large community of black voters in Illinois?
We've been getting a good response from the black community as people hear our message. But those who are responding and supporting us are doing so, not because they want to support a black candidate, but they're coming forward as people of faith who believe in sound moral principles.
Race has somehow become an issue this campaign, even though both candidates are black. The magazine
The author of that article is obviously someone who has the utmost contempt for himself, and he knows nothing about me or Obama. I loathe to dignify that article with a response.
The media have you pegged as the poster child of political under-dogs in this race, mainly because Obama gained instant national celebrity at the Democratic convention. Can you really win this?
I will win, and I will win handily. The only real advantage that Obama has is that the majority of voters don't really know him yet, other than the pabulum they heard from the podium when he gave the keynote address for the Democrats in Boston. They will get to know him as a leftist, academic Marxist with a bizarre, extremist position on abortion and a voting record in the Illinois State Senate that shows his support for letting unwanted children die after they're born alive. This is a man with an ideologically hard, hard heart.
Is that part of the reason you accepted this invitation to run?
Oh, absolutely. If Barack Obama were to get elected, we would have someone serving in the United States Senate who has a far more radical and extremist position on abortion than John Kerry, Ted Kennedy or Hillary Clinton.
Where do you stand on issues of social and economic justice — poverty issues the Democrats often use to appeal to the hearts of Catholic voters?
Issues of economic equity have been wrongly addressed throughout most of the past century because they've been addressed through government action. I've seen too much devastation in the black community to believe that government action is the solution to human poverty and misery. I've seen government programs, ostensibly designed to address these issues, which have led to the collapse of families and driven fathers from homes, which has led to moral disaster. We must respect the role that a healthy business community, when it's allowed to thrive, plays in keeping people from falling out of the economy.
You're in favor of capital punishment for some heinous murders. How do you reconcile this with your faith and your pro-life philosophy?
In modern society, we go about business as if death is the ultimate harm that can befall you, which it is not. The ultimate penalty is life without God. We say the punishment should fit the crime, but we have forgotten that there's a higher tribunal than ours and sometimes we are punishing acts that are so evil that we should appeal to God's tribunal. The Pope hasn't said that capital punishment is a moral evil; he has said that it isn't needed anymore. That's not a moral judgment by the Pope, but a prudential judgment, and on prudential judgments, we're free as Catholics to disagree. We must be careful to take very seriously the argument that the Pope has made, but we are free to have another opinion.
Are Catholics still a so-called voting bloc in Illinois — or anywhere else, for that matter — or do they simply vote like everyone else without regard for the moral teachings of the Church and how those pertain to contemporary political issues?
A lot of Catholic voters are motivated by the moral teachings of the Church and the fruits of their faith. We have to challenge people to be motivated by their faith and educate them to the fact that the doctrine of separation of church and state is false. It's simply a lie.
You've been criticized for some of your rhetoric. Is it true you criticized Obama of taking the “slaveholder's position”?
Obama wrote Jack Ryan (former Republican candidate who resigned from the race) and said no moral issue in this campaign could rise to the level of our history of slavery in this country, and I have said that, with his extremist position on abortion, Barack Obama is in favor of the worst form of slavery. Obama has taken the slaveholder's position.
In the 19th century, rather than accept a course that would have vitiated and destroyed the principles of our national union, Lincoln opposed Stephen Douglas in debates, in order to maintain a posture for this nation that would produce the extinction of slavery rather than the extinction of our great national creed. When Barack Obama embraces an extremist position on abortion that countenances even the murder of living young children outside the womb, he abandons the principles of our Declaration and destroys the foundations of our national union. Obama is a leftist, academic Marxist who has actually said that if a child survives an abortion and is born alive, she should be set aside and left to die.
Can you count on the Catholic vote in Illinois, and what are you doing to try to get Catholics to understand that you're in line with the moral teachings of the Church?
I'm standing for things consistent with the faith. Catholic politicians should stand with integrity and strength and address all public issues with regard to the doctrine of the Church.
How do you feel about the way U.S. bishops have handled the issue of pro-abortion politicians who receive Communion?
Out of respect for the integrity of the sacrament, we teach our children that they're acting in mortal sin if they take Communion and they're not in a state of moral integrity. If politicians are professing that they're not in a state of moral integrity, by professing support for something that's a universal evil and in complete conflict with Church teachings, then they're not only committing mortal sin, but they're giving scandal to the entire faith. And we're debating whether they should receive the Eucharist? I think the answer to this is pretty clear and concise, and it's not a matter of politics, but a simple issue of the Church policing itself.
Will Catholic politicians ever believe that they can be elected on a platform that emanates from, and adheres to, the moral teachings of the Church?
I'm going to prove to them that they can, and I'm going to do it right here in Illinois on Nov. 2. It's not only unnecessary, but it's immoral to stop talking about these issues out of concerns for being elected. I hope to inspire politicians all over the country.
My election will put to rest the lie that says one can't put moral issues, such as the holocaust of abortion and the sanctity of heterosexual marriage, right up front and win. I'll prove them all to be dead wrong.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Alan Keyes ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Self-Expression Through Mutilation DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:TORONTO — Shannon Larratt speaks with a forked tongue. Literally — as he has chosen to split his in two.
Larratt also sports tribal markings on his face and two-inch stretched earlobe piercings. What most would call “mutilation,” Larratt calls “body modification” or BM — a contemporary expression of an ancient, pagan-istic practice.
It would be easy to write off Larratt as a lunatic, but an interview with the Register reveals this 30-year-old Torontonian as thoughtful and articulate. A successful businessman, he is married with a small child. He and his American wife, Rachel, operate a website that caters to the body modification “community.”
It is unknown how many Americans engage in body modification. But as the abundance of young Americans sporting lip, nose and eyebrow rings attests, it's a lot more popular than a generation ago. And beach-goers in Florida this summer have witnessed firsthand that far more extreme forms have gone public.
Reuters reported that the Monroe County sheriff's office and the U.S. Coast Guard were called July 12 to a Florida Keys sandbar, where five young people had erected a bamboo tripod with meat hooks. A young woman dangled from the hooks. A young man who also had hooks “embedded in his heavily pierced and tattooed skin” told a Coast Guard officer that the group was “just enjoying the afternoon,” Reuters reported.
21st Century Paganism
Because of body modification's strong connections to paganism, tattooing has been proscribed by Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Until the end of the 20th century, tattooing and the grosser forms of body modification were associated almost exclusively with non-Western societies; travelers to those societies, such as sailors; the degraded (slaves, convicts); and the marginalized (gangsters, bikers, prostitutes, homosexuals).
Despite the dangers, which include hepatitis B and C, anywhere from 20 million to 40 million Americans are tattooed, including one-quarter of those aged 18 to 25, women as much as men. And despite the greater dangers of piercing (ear piercing alone carries an 11% to 24% risk of infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control), the wearing of rings and jewels attached to eyebrows, noses, lips, navels and other parts is now commonplace.
Even by contemporary standards, however, Larratt's body modifications are extreme. He has written that these are “done without anesthesia or pain control, often in unregulated and unsanitary situations that put the wearer at needless risk, to say nothing of the long term potentially stigmatizing and life-destroying effects.”
And yet, Larratt told the Register, the only bad thing about body modification is discrimination in employment and education.
He explained how he began: “I was doing temporary piercings on myself at about age 10 and started tattooing and piercing myself when I was 15 or 16. I don't know why I did it; I ‘just had to’…You'll find that most people seriously involved in body modifications have analogous stories to my own.”
To many, this sounds more compulsion than choice, especially given that Larratt has publicly defended self-injury — such as slashing oneself with razor blades — as a valid form of self-expression.
As well, Larratt admitted body modification is closely connected with sadomasochism, both as “part of the look” and because the pain of modification induces “physical sensations that many people find highly erotic.”
Body modification is often extolled by its practitioners as a religious experience, and until recently there existed a Church of Body Modification. Larratt's religious beliefs combine elements of pantheism, Gnosticism and Manicheism. His body, he explained, “is the only tool I have to experience what this world has to offer. I'd be a fool not to manipulate it in ways that allow me as many experiences as possible.”
Philip Jenkins, professor of history and religious studies at Penn State University, said that body modification “is a great way of shocking parents who are increasingly hard to shock. Sex, drugs and rock and roll no longer quite cut it.”
In fact, Jenkins believes that body modification, and its attendant sadomasochism, entered the wider culture through rock music.
Christopher Check agrees. He is vice president of the Rockford Institute, a Midwestern think tank concerned with the family, liberty and Christian civilization. “MTV is in every suburban home,” he said.
One of the consequences of this, Check noted, is the mainstreaming of tattoos for women — not discreet roses and not found on “trailer-trash women but sweet girls like the lifeguards at the pool I take my wife and sons to,” Check said,
Check, a Catholic, described body modification as a subset of the larger cult of body worship, which is “a misunderstanding of why we were created, by whom and to what purpose. The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and a gift from God, but the enthusiasm for fitness and exercise, the desire for eternal youth, is a serious moral distortion.”
Helen Hull Hitchcock, founding director of Women for Faith & Family, pointed out the irony that “there is one kind of socially approved body modification” — the plastic surgery celebrated in such programs as Extreme Makeover and
The Swan. The difference is that the entertainment industry's “good” type of body modification aims to make people beautiful, while the “bad” type aims to make them ugly, she said.
Hitchcock argued that both types exemplify “the ancient heresy of mind-body duality. You see this in the militant abortion movement, the idea that the body is mine to control, to be abused in any way,” she said. “Throughout the ages, this duality has been used to justify self-abuse, selfish mortifications and in using the body for pleasure in ways that divorce it from the soul.”
Hitchcock regards the return of paganistic mutilation among the young as both a reflection of and a cry against the nihilism of our age. “Generation X and Y have grown up in cultural chaos, and they are terrified of being swept away,” she said. “So they look for something to hang on to, no matter how extreme.”
She concluded, “If you read St. Augustine's Confessions, it is almost as if they were written yesterday. There is the same agony of trying to make sense of a senseless world. Whenever I get discouraged, I remember that he reminded us, ‘Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.’”
Kevin Michael Grace writes from Victoria, British Columbia.
----- EXCERPT: "Body modifiction" claims millions of adherents ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kevin Michael Grace ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:First Lady Puts Life First
The comments seem to reflect a change in Laura Bush's position. In Januar y 2001, the New York Post reported that when she was asked on NBC's “The Today Show” about Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in 1973, Bush replied, “I don't think it should be overturned.”
The change seems to be incremental. The Associated Press reported on Nov. 16, 2003, that Bush supported the ban on late-term abortion, quoting her as saying, “I think most people agree partial-birth abortion is abhorrent.”
A Bad Deal for Deal Hudson
The charges were published in an article on Hudson in the National Catholic Reporter.
On Aug. 18, Hudson wrote an article for National Review Online, explaining how a stor y he thought would be about his political beliefs became personal.
It was, he said, an attempt “to undermine the causes I have fought for: the defense of Church teachings on life, the priesthood, the authority of the Pope and the need for faithful Catholic participation in politics.”
According to The Post, Joseph Feuerherd, Washington bureau chief for the National Catholic Reporter, denied political motivation, writing in a column, “I went where the stor y led me.”
But it raises what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches about reputation and the sin of detraction: In section 2477, the Catechism says: “Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury.”
Hudson, who wrote that he has been “happily married” for 17 years, wrote, “No one regrets my past mistakes more than I do.”
Archdiocese Works With Attorney General on Assets
Some parish members are contesting use of the funds by the archdiocese, The Globe repor ted. The attorney general is examining whether parishes may be restricted in ways that would prevent the archdiocese from using the funds. Wilson D. Rogers Jr., the archdiocese's general counsel, said in cour t that the archdiocese will not spend contested parish funds without consulting Reilly.
Rogers said the archdiocese has already set aside all money given to parishes as their share of a $200 million capital campaign called Promise for Tomorrow, a fund-raising ef for t promising parishes a percentage of the money they raised. The archdiocese will not distribute these funds without consulting the attorney general.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Help for the Children DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:MERIDEN, Conn. — Years ago, before Dr. Nicholas Perricone was a leading dermatologist, he read an article about the plight of street children in Brazil.
He determined back then that if he ever had the financial means, he'd do something about it.
After medical school, three New York Times No. 1 bestsellers and a thriving business venture, the Dr. Nicholas V. Perricone Project for the Children of Brazil has become a reality, beginning in Sao Paulo.
The Perricone Project, or Communidade Perricone, aims to get the most vulnerable children off the streets, break the poverty cycle and help restore family life.
The groundbreaking for the $11.1 million pilot project, which Perricone was jumpstarted with a $1.35 million project, takes place in mid-September in Sao Paulo's poorest neighborhood.
The first of four buildings will be a Mao Amiga (Portuguese for “Helping Hand” ) School that should be fully operational for 1,700 students by spring 2005.
“The sooner the better,” Perricone said.
The step begins what's projected to be a succession of Perricone Projects. “We want to build 10 communities in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and a couple of other cities,” explained Father Philip Cascia, pastor of St. Anthony's Church in Prospect, Conn., and the doctor's long-time friend and associate.
“Each project has the potential of changing the lives of one million children,” Father Cascia said.
The project took off quickly when a firmly resolved Perricone told his plans to Father Cascia on New Year's Eve 2003. Perricone had traveled many times to Brazil while researching and developing natural “cosmeceutical” products as a clinical and research dermatologist.
Father Cascia introduced him to the Legion of Christ religious order, and Perricone chose the Legionaries to run the project.
“I think the Legionaries is an amazing group,” Perricone said, noting their dedication and spirituality. “I have my idea, the concept, some money to finance it and Legionaries to implement the program,” he explained from his Connecticut base. “So it's a wonderful synergistic relationship we have to bring this concept to reality.”
Each Communidade Perricone will consist of four elements built “with the whole idea it's going to take a generation to break the cycle,” Perricone said.
The Casa Mamma Rose, a maternity safe house, will give at-risk, pregnant teen-agers a residence for two years with educational means to get out of poverty. In this area of Brazil, 70% are pregnant by the time they're 14.
Secondly, the Casa Segura para criancas em perigo safe house will provide a family atmosphere for 100 at-risk children, with the priority going to the youngest boys and girls.
Thirdly, a Mao Amiga School will educate 1,700 students. And a Centro Catharina (Katie Center) will be a community center with sports, recreational and cultural activities for children, and skill development and parenting classes for the neighborhood.
Challenging Start
There's no more challenging place to start than in Sao Paulo's Itapecerica de Serra section, an area of some 3 to 5 million people that has the highest murder rate in Brazil.
The Brazilian government granted land for the projects.
“My priorities were to start with the youngest and most at risk, get them off the street first, and go from there,” Perricone said. “My caveat — I was going to give money to take five kids off the streets immediately.”
In March, five children from 6 to 7 years old went from the streets to a beautiful residential facility run by a respected Catholic agency in the area.
“We don't know if they would be alive if he didn't help them,” Father Ernesto Escobar said of the five girls. Father Escobar is the Legion's director of evangelization and strategic planning in Brazil and will oversee the project locally.
“The biggest problem they have here is a lack of education, which means poverty,” Father Escobar said. “Dr. Perricone understands we have to show the people how to ‘fish,’ but because we have such an emergency situation here, he knows you have to give them a fish sometimes.”
Luanne Zurlo, head of the World Education & Development Fund, a New York non-profit supporting education for the poor in Latin America, is another member of the Perricone Project team and an expert on the Brazilian situation.
“The problem is not orphans,” Zurlo said. “Very, very few street children are actually orphans.” The critical problem is teen pregnancy, children having children.
Poor quality schools, often run on double and triple sessions, compound the problem.
Children wind up on the streets most of the day and can end up begging, selling drugs or worse.
Zurlo said the Perricone Project's four-element approach to address the cycle at every level is the most effective way to help.
“The school is the backbone of it,” noted Legion of Christ Father Juan Sabadell.
Father Sabadell is senior advisor to Connecticut-based Catholic World Mission, which raises funds for Mano Amiga schools and other missionary projects (www.catholic worldmission.org).
He points to the success of a Mano Amiga school in an impoverished neighborhood in Leon, Mexico. Over the course of 30 years, its students entered the workforce or went on to higher education. Now that they're businessmen and professionals, they themselves fund the school.
“That really turns around whole neighborhoods,” Father Sabadell said. “That's the ultimate effect you're trying to have … for it's a middle class with a stable family structure that prevents children from going to the streets.”
A Blessed Model
Father Cascia will be Perricone's liaison with the Legion of Christ for all the daily details and operations. No stranger to the international scene himself, Father Cascia was a Nobel Peace Prize nominee in 2000 for his international good-will Intersport USA program which President Ronald Reagan had encouraged him to start.
People in America and Brazil buying Perricone's natural skin and body-care products will be helping to develop Communidade Perricone through percentages of sales earmarked for them.
With headquarters in Meriden, Conn., a store opening on Madison Avenue in Manhattan in October and a new book out this fall, Perricone should be headed toward his long-term goal of putting more than $100 million into the program, which he believes will affect a million lives there.
He's funding the project 100% at this point and is looking to get other people and organizations to help.
“I know there are so many open-hearted, generous, caring people out there who are not aware of the situation,” he said. “I hope it will inspire them to direct some of their resources to the project and praying more money comes in to accelerate this.”
There's yet another behind-the-scenes key player in this project— Blessed Mother Teresa.
“I think it was her hand guiding us to bring this whole project together,” Father Cascia said. “The project came out of nowhere, and I believe it was Blessed Mother Teresa who inspired us to make it happen because she was on both our minds.”
Perricone said, “Through the power of her incredible energy and dedication, always assisted by prayer, she had accomplished things that changed the world.”
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: How Buying Cosmetics Can Help Street Children in Brazil ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Catholic Action Beatifications Spotlight World's Largest Lay Group DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — When asked by a bishop, perhaps with some disdain, “Who are the laity?” , Cardinal John Henry Newman is said to have replied that the Church “would look foolish without them.”
It is the importance of the laity to the Church — one of the fundamental points stressed 40 years ago by the Second Vatican Council — that Pope John Paul II will highlight when he beatifies three key figures of Catholic Action on Sept. 5.
Catholic Action, the world's oldest lay organization, actually anticipated the council's focus by nearly a century. Founded in 1867 by two Italian youths as the Italian Catholic Youth Society, its members adopted the motto “Prayer, Action, Sacrifice.”
Pope Pius IX approved the association in 1868. In 1927, Pope Pius XI gave the term Catholic Action its classical definition as “the participation of the laity in the apostolate of the hierarchy,” and since then, it has represented the organized work of the laity in a network of associations that has spread throughout the world.
Today, it is the largest Catholic lay organization in Italy, and its members are said to number 180,000 adults, 80,000 youths and 150,000 teens.
Leading the Way
As the first and largest lay organization, Catholic Action prepared the way for the Second Vatican Council in emphasizing the unique and indispensable place of the laity in the life of the Church. Since the council, Catholic Action is no longer regarded only as an extension of the hierarchy, but now involves more autonomous activity through which the laity can exercise a greater Christian influence in their environment.
The character of the organization is diverse, but essentially can be divided into two groups: general and specialized. General organizations are open to all members of the Church and include those such as the Holy Name Society or the Legion of Mary. Specialized groups are limited to members of a given profession or interest group, such as workers, students, doctors, lawyers or married couples. One of the most well known is the Young Christian Workers group.
The qualities of individual Catholic Action organizations have also varied greatly, often influenced by the culture of the countries in which they exist. Organizations in countries such as France, Italy, Spain and Latin America have faced a different cultural challenge than those active in the United States today.
In pre-war Italy, Catholic Action became a major anti-fascist movement during the rule of Benito Mussolini in the 1930s. One of the association's best known saints, medical doctor Riccardo Pampuri, founded a Catholic Action group in 1923 in the Italian town of Morimondow. The group later became a thorn in the side of the fascist regime.
However, the organization today is not considered political, but seeks to bring the social doctrines of the Church to bear throughout society. And it is here that the association has a history of producing numerous other saints and blesseds.
One of the most recent members to be canonized was Gianna Molla, an Italian doctor who dedicated her service to Catholic Action, especially in charitable works for the very young. In 1962, after being diagnosed with cancer, St. Gianna refused to have an abortion in order to save her own life and died a week after giving birth to a baby girl.
The three members of the association to be beatified by John Paul II in Loreto include Alberto Marvelli (1918-1946), an Italian engineer and politician, who died in an accident at the age of 28. Formed by the Salesians and Catholic Action, he aided the poor during World War II and was a member of the Executive Council of the Christian Democratic Party in postwar Italy.
Also to be beatified is Pina Suriano (1915-1950), who was dedicated in Catholic Action to the formation of girls and young people, and Spaniard Pedro Tarrés y Claret (1905-1950), who was involved with Catholic Action near Barcelona and noted for his devotion to the Eucharist and to Mary.
“(The beatifications) are an effort to renew the association a little more and to provide the Church with role models among the laity,” a Vatican official said. “As with the beatifications of members of lay movements, it is a sign of authenticity and shows it has time and history under its belt.”
When John Paul II arrives in Loreto, Catholic Action will have completed a five-day conference in which participants from parishes all over Italy discussed the future of the association and the important roles to be played by Catholics from all walks of life.
“The Church needs you laity,” said the organization in its welcoming literature. “The happenings of daily life are not an obstacle to holiness, but gifts which are accompanied by the Holy Spirit.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Voices of the Truly Faithful
“They work in the shadow of the dome of St. Peter's, but their target is the entire world,” the Internet news site Chiesa.com reported. “They are extremely faithful to the Pope and the Church. And they're fighting hard against the prevailing culture. ”
According to the news site, the first of the new Catholic media were a radio station, Radio Maria, and a television station, Telepace. Organizations that soon emerged included the Asianews and Zenit news services and a new monthly magazine, Il Timone, which features articles by recently retired Cardinal Giacomo Biffi of Bologna and by Vittorio Messori, author of the 1994 best-selling interview with Pope John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope.
The latest addition is a television news agency called “Rome Reports,” which sells programming in English, Spanish and Portuguese to broadcasters in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
“Beginning with antennas that covered just a few kilometers, they have made a lot of progress,” reported Chiesa.com. “Now they go out to the ends of the Earth, and everywhere they transmit the image of a faithful Church, disciplined and fervent, with Pope John Paul II perennially at the heart of everything.”
Clothes Fit For a Pope
BBC, Aug. 21 — Where do Pope John Paul II and other senior Vatican officials go to get their distinctive clerical garb? At Rome's Gammarelli tailor shop.
Passers-by who glance at the display window of the Gammarelli store, located just off the Piazza Minerva in central Rome, will immediately realize this is no ordinary tailor, BBC correspondent Kieran Cooke reported. “No suits or shirts here; rather, they are peaked clerical hats and priestly robes,” he said. “And in one corner, resting on a silk cloth, a solitary zucchetto — the small, white skullcap worn by the Pope.”
Cooke came to the store in search of red socks, which are hard to find elsewhere in Rome but are stocked by Gammarelli as footwear for cardinals.
Said Cooke, “I take two pairs and walk, a little ecclesiastically, out into the Rome sunshine.”
Vatican Wins Concessions on Holy Land Fence
Haaretz cited a letter that Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn., sent in mid-August to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Secretary of State Colin Powell about problems the fence is causing for Christians.
Santorum, who is Catholic, stressed he supported Israel's right to build the fence but highlighted the Vatican's concern that the fence will impede Christian religious activities such as processions to Jerusalem from the tomb of Lazarus on the Mount of Olives.
Israeli officials responded that efforts are being made to take Christians' interests into account, Haaretz said. For example, discussions are under way to create a special gate in the fence near Lazarus' tomb to ensure that processions can pass freely.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: New Mass Translation: Not Stalled, But No Final Text Yet DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Reports that a new English translation of the Mass has been delayed beyond a presupposed January deadline are untrue, said the spokesman for the chairman of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy.
John Grady, speaking on behalf of Bishop Arthur Roche of Leeds, England, told the Register that there has been no delay because no deadline was ever set.
“Bishop Roche has always been of the view that it's a consultation process and will take as long as it takes, so there could never be a delay,” Grady said.
Suggestions of a dispute over the text arose last month at a meeting in Washington attended by the 11 bishops who govern the commission. There was said to be no agreement on several crucial parts of the Order of the Mass, and therefore no final draft in sight.
But the commission's governing bishop, Ian Murray of Argyll and Isles, Scotland, said the discussions were “fruitful” and that “a good translation” will emerge.
There is a “good working atmosphere,” Bishop Murray said. “We've worked very hard actually (and) there has been great cooperation and insights from liturgical and linguistic experts, Church historians and so forth, so that the result will be a faithful translation that is dignified — and much more.”
Father Bruce Harbert, executive secretary of the commission, told London's Catholic Herald that he was “comforted” by having more time to complete the new draft. He preferred to see the need for longer discussions as a way of “giving time for the project to mature.”
Discussions are reported to have centered around the responses said during the Mass, in particular to the priest's words, “The Lord be with you.” In striving to be faithful to the Latin, the draft contained the response: “And with your spirit” instead of the current “And also with you.” Some critics saw this as theologically rigid and a movement away from natural English expression.
In reply, Father Harbert said “a balance needs to be found between the linguistic, theological and pastoral considerations.” Bishop Murray said the commission is trying to keep the responses as familiar as possible and that there will be “minimal changes” in that area.
Also discussed in Washington were ecumenical considerations. One major ecumenical achievement in recent years has been the adoption of common prayer texts in English by most major Christian denominations, and some bishops are reluctant to compromise these advances.
Msgr. Anthony Sherman, associate director at the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for the Liturgy, said consultations with other denominations are “probably going to take place” mainly because of the “ecumenical atmosphere” that now exists. But, he added, other ecclesial groups have already changed their texts so “not everything remains the same.”
According to Father Harbert, the bishops also want more time to consider the issues surrounding “inclusive” language favored by feminists. In the past, the Vatican has rejected translations that use such language because it often fails to communicate the meaning of the original text.
All these factors represent a “major challenge” to the bishops in devising a new translation, said Msgr. Sherman. The final rendering has to strike a balance, not only as contemporary, comprehensible and pleasant to the ear, but also faithful to the Latin text.
“People are looking for something poetic, but others are looking for something more straightforward — if we had a modern-day William Shakespeare, we'd be in good shape,” Msgr. Sherman said. “It all takes a great deal of patience, but that is not one of our modern-day characteristics.”
Impatience with the process, which began with the 2001 papal instruction Liturgicam Authenticam (The Authentic Liturgy), is reported to be growing in certain quarters. Some clergy have argued that the work was begun far too late, and that it will now be more difficult for the new translation to find acceptance.
Father Allen Morris, secretary for the Department of Christian Life and Worship of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, denied those involved were working too slowly. “No one was sitting on their hands, killing time on this,” he said, “but we're keen to produce a text as quickly as it can be produced.”
He added that too often there is a misconception about the process involved, which is more complicated than most translations because of all the linguistic deviations among English-speaking people. “Each have their own opinion, and we're trying to produce a text equally serviceable in England as it would be in the U.S.,” Father Morris said.
Despite these obstacles, the Vatican is encouraged by the progress that has been made and is said to approve of the general direction of the discussions.
In 2002, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments convened the Vox Clara committee. Headed by Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia, its goal is to monitor more closely the progress of English liturgical translations.
Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, who serves as chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on the Liturgy, is a member of both the international commission and the Vox Clara committee.
The Vatican is pleased that the drafts have reflected translations more faithful to the Latin, the key aim of Liturgicam Authenticam. Rome's general attitude, however, to leave the work of formulating a draft to the commission.
What's Next?
The International Commission on English in the Liturgy is thought unlikely to have a revision ready before February, when the next major meeting will be held. Father Morris said he would be “surprised if they haven't agreed to it by then,” adding that, at that time, the commission may send out another part of the Mass for the bishops' conferences to examine.
Another six months of consultations among bishops' conferences will likely occur before the commission approves a text and sends it to Rome. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments will then rule if any further modifications are required before giving it a definitive recognitio.
“Be sure not to lose hope,” Msgr. Sherman said. “We have to persevere and be realistic that, 75 to 100 years from now, Catholics will be looking at this new text and asking for it to be improved.
“English,” he said, “is a living language, and as it evolves, it will always need to be looked at.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: John Paul II's Prayer Before the Icon of Kazan DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Here is the prayer John Paul II composed for the celebration of the Word, before the return in late August of the icon of the Mother of God of Kazan to the Orthodox patriarch of Moscow, Alexy II. The prayer was read in Russian.
Glorious Mother of Jesus, who “go before the people of God on the paths of faith, love and union with Christ” (see “Lumen Gentium,” 63), blessed be you! All generations call you blessed, “for he who is mighty has done great things in you, and holy is his name” (see Luke 1:48-49).
Be blessed and honored, O Mother, in your icon of Kazan, in which for centuries you have been surrounded by the veneration and love of the Orthodox faithful, having become the protectress and witness of the particular works of God in the history of the Russian people, very dear to us all.
Divine Providence, which has the strength to overcome evil and to draw good even from the evil works of men, has made your holy icon, disappeared in distant times, reappear in the Shrine of Fatima, in Portugal. Subsequently, by the will of persons devoted to you, it was kept in the house of the Successor of Peter.
Mother of the Orthodox people, the presence in Rome of your holy image of Kazan, speaks to us of a profound unity between East and West, which endures in time despite the historical divisions and the errors of men. We now raise our prayer to you with special intensity, O Virgin, while we take leave of this moving image.
We will accompany you with our hearts along the road that takes you back to holy Russia.
Receive the praise and honor rendered to you by the people of God in Rome.
O blessed among all women, venerating your icon in this city marked by the blood of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the Bishop of Rome unites himself spiritually to his brother in the episcopal ministry, who presides as patriarch over the Russian Orthodox Church. And he asks you, Holy Mother, to intercede so as to hasten the time of full unity between the East and West, of full communion among all Christians.
O glorious Virgin, Our Lady, Advocate, and Consoler, reconcile us with your Son, commend us to your Son, present us to your Son! Amen.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: To Russia With Love DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:For Americans who had a hand in getting the icon of the Mother of God of Kazan back to Russia, its transfer was a prayer answered and a dream denied.
The icon — recently determined to be an 18th-century work — toured the United States in the mid-1970s, with members of the U.S.-based Blue Army venerating it as they prayed the rosary for the conversion of communist Russia, as Our Lady of Fatima had requested.
Peter Anderson, a member of the Seattle archdiocesan ecumenical commission, remembers reading about the icon in Soul, the Blue Army magazine.
But the icon really began to occupy Anderson's time after a 1989 visit to what was then Leningrad — now St. Petersburg — as part of the Leningrad-Seattle sister churches program. An Orthodox deacon explained to him how important the icon was for Russian Christians.
When Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad, the future Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow, visited Seattle in 1989, Peterson arranged for him to have dinner with Father Frederick Miller, then-executive director of the Blue Army-World Apostolate of Fatima. Father Miller, who now is the spiritual director of seminarians at Rome's North American College, said the dinner at Seattle's Space Needle “was strange.”
The metropolitan and two priests arrived at the popular restaurant at the top of the Space Needle and “sang grace at the top of their lungs. It was quite impressive. Everyone in the restaurant was silent, forks dropped,” Father Miller said Aug. 23. Father Miller said the future patriarch was interested in knowing the specific history of the Blue Army's icon — even then, there were doubts that it was the 16th-century original — and in finding out about the Blue Army.
Nothing was resolved at the meeting. By then, the Blue Army had transferred the icon to the Byzantine chapel of the organization's hotel, the Domus Pacis, in Fatima, Portugal. Anderson was still keen to do something, so he wrote about the icon and its importance to then-Archbishop Edward Cassidy, the new president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
Although there were signs of greater religious freedom in the Soviet Union in 1989, the Cathedral of the Mother of God of Kazan in Leningrad was still a government-run “museum of atheism,” Anderson said. The Leningrad-Seattle sister churches program hoped that if the icon were given to then-Metropolitan Alexy — especially if Pope John Paul gave it to him — it would pressure the government to restore the cathedral to its original use as a place of Orthodox worship, Anderson said.
Communications among Anderson, the Blue Army and the Vatican, which still hoped throughout the 1990s that the pope could visit Russia, were “kept top secret,” Anderson said. In 1993, with Father Miller as director of the Blue Army and then-Archbishop Theodore McCar-rick of Newark, N.J., as apostolic visitor of the organization, Pope John Paul asked for the icon.
“The thing that struck me — powerfully — was the ease with which the board of directors agreed to transfer ownership to the Holy Father,” Father Miller said.
“It was grace. It was so simple,” he said. Father Miller said, “I felt the most important thing I did in my five years as director was to get the icon to the Holy See.”
Neither Father Miller nor John Hauf, an editor at Soul from 1988 to 2000, could recall exactly how much the Blue Army paid for the icon, although both said they thought it was less than $50,000. The owner apparently drastically reduced her asking price after Russian Orthodox in the United States withdrew their bid for the icon.
John Paul named Cardinal McCarrick, now archbishop of Washington, to be part of his delegation to take the icon to Moscow and return it Aug. 28.
The fact that the Pope was not making the trip, the cardinal said, “is a sadness for me because I know he wanted to do this himself for no other reason than to honor the Church and people of Russia and their faith and trust in the Mother of God.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Cindy Wooden ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Britain Grants License for 'Clone and Kill' Research DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:LONDON — The Aug. 11 announcement that the United Kingdom's first license for “therapeutic” cloning of human embryos has been issued was greeted with shock and concern by Church leaders and pro-life campaigners.
The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority gave a team at Newcastle University the first license to create embryos and extract stem cells from them for research. Cloning human embryos to make babies is outlawed in the United Kingdom, but so-called therapeutic cloning, in which the embryo is cloned and killed in order to extract its stem cells, was made legal under strict guidelines in 2002.
The Newcastle scientists argue that stem cells — which have the potential to form any of the body's hundreds of different tissue types — hold the key to treating conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, as well as diabetes.
Professor Alison Murdoch, one of the Newcastle scientists, said, “We're absolutely thrilled. The potential this area of research offers is immensely exciting and we are keen to take the work we've done so far to the next level. Since we submitted our application, we have had overwhelming support from senior scientists and clinicians from all over the world and many letters from patients who may benefit from the research.”
Moral Blindness?
In a message sent to the Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples that began Aug. 22 in Rimini, Italy, Pope John Paul II condemned the utilitarian mentality that underlies scientists' desire to create and kill human clones for research purposes.
“Well known, in fact, is that ‘sense of power which today's technical progress’ inspires in man, the temptation that man's work finds in itself the justification of its own objectives … (being) particularly strong,” the Pope said in a message published by the Vatican press office.
“According to this opinion, precisely because progress in scientific knowledge and technical means available to man pushes ever further the limits between what is possible to ‘do’ and what is still not possible, such progress will also end up pushing indefinitely the limit between the just and unjust,” the Holy Father said.
John Paul warned, “No one can fail to see the dramatic and desolating consequences of such pragmatism, which conceives truth and justice as something that can be shaped by the work of man himself.” An example of this, the Pope stressed, is “man's attempt to appropriate the sources of life through experiments of human cloning.”
Dr. Helen Watt, director of the Linacre Center for Healthcare Ethics, which is supported by the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, said she was appalled but not surprised by the news that the British cloning license had been granted.
“Therapeutic cloning creates a human life in exactly the same way as ‘reproductive’ cloning does,” she said. “The only difference is that the embryo is intended not for birth but for laboratory destruction. It is extraordinary that at a time when adult stem cells are already used to treat a whole range of diseases, the HFEA should consider it ‘necessary’ to create and destroy human clones.”
Said Watt, “Cells from early embryos are difficult to control and have not so far produced a single treatment. Even if treatments were discovered, many patients would have moral qualms about their use. Human rights are intrinsic to the human being: They do not depend on age, size or level of development. Human life should be welcomed and cherished — not manufactured and exploited.”
Anthony Ozimic from The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said that aside from being gravely immoral, “therapeutic” cloning would also open the door to the birth of cloned, parentless babies.
“Human cloning is dangerous because it will lead to so-called reproductive cloning,” Ozimic said. “Professor Severino Antinori, one of the scientists who wants to bring a cloned human being to birth, thanked Tony Blair for the government's legalization of so-called therapeutic cloning, because it has made the birth of a cloned baby one step closer.”
Professor Jack Scarisbrick, national chairman of the pro-life charity LIFE, said, “Let's be quite clear about what is at stake. Cloning involves the manufacture of a new kind of human being — one generated asexually and without traditional parentage — with the express purpose of destroying it once its stem cells are removed. This is manipulation, exploitation and trivialization of human life of a frightening kind.”
Added Scarisbrick, “The real reason for seeking this permission is probably as much about power, forbidden fruit and breaching taboos as curing diseases. It's runaway science. We should do as the French and Italians have just done — namely, forbid all cloning. That is the civilized thing to do. As the French have said, cloning is a crime against the human species.”
Adult Stem Cells
Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, head of the Bioethics Institute at Rome's Sacred Heart University, noted that the Church supports stem-cell research for therapeutic reasons when the stem cells come from adults or umbilical cords — in procedures that do not involve the killing or artificial creation of human life.
In fact, adult stem-cell research has already delivered a range of medical treatments for a variety of ailments — including leukemia, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, sickle-cell anemia, heart damage and corneal damage — whereas embryonic stem cells have not provided any clinical treatments.
Given the lack of progress in obtaining similar results with embryonic stem cells, Msgr. Carrasco de Paula suggested the primary motive of the group receiving the new license is to improve the process and outcome of artificial fertilization, not to find medical cures.
“Adult stem cells have already been used to repair damage after a heart attack, and they have been used to reproduce a liver in a mouse,” he said. “Most research is done with adult stem cells, anyway, and no one has a problem with them.”
Greg Watts writes from London.
(Zenit contributed to this report)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Greg Watts ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Mugabe Denounces Church
Archbishop Robert Ndlovu was installed at a ceremony attended by Mugabe, who is Catholic, and his wife, Grace.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mugabe accused Church leaders of colluding with President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair against his regime, the New Era newspaper reported.
In an apparent reference to Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second-largest city, Mugabe said, “You're going to those who yesterday denied us rights here, the Blairs and the Bushes, the liars of the international community. What are we expected to do, and how are we expected to judge you when you act behind our backs and go and report outside?”
Archbishop Ncube has accused the government of massive human-rights abuses in the southern African country and of concealing the extent of acute food shortages.
At the end of his remarks, however, Mugabe extended an olive branch to Harare's new archbishop. “Come to us and discuss these (issues) with us,” the Zimbabwean president said. “We may agree; we may not agree.”
Archbishop Ndlovu promised to accept Mugabe's invitation, New Era reported. “I will use that window of opportunity to talk to the president,” the archbishop said. “If there are very serious abuses, I will go to him.”
Ugandan Anglicans Break Ties With U.S. Episcopalians
The assembly warned that Ugandan Anglicans will respond similarly to any other Anglican churches that endorse homosexual conduct, New Vision reported.
Robinson was consecrated as Episcopalian bishop of New Hampshire in November, sparking a worldwide division among Anglicans.
“The decision has meant that we are no longer receiving funds as a means of making it clear to the Episcopal Church of the U.S. that such a deliberate action on their part affects the whole of the Anglican communion,” Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi said. “We call upon those advocating for this ungodly behavior to repent and allow Christ to take charge of his Church.”
Poll: Nicaraguans Trust Church Most
CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY, Aug. 23 — According to a national poll, 70% of Nicaraguans regard the Catholic Church as the most trustworthy institution in the Central American country.
The poll was conducted by the communications department and the Institute of Polls and Surveys of the Central American University in June and July, Catholic News Agency reported.
The findings suggest that the efforts of Nicaragua's former Sand-inista government, which sought during the 1980s to diminish respect for the Church, had little lasting impact. Poll respondents ranked the Church far ahead of the country's political and judicial institutions, with only 24% supporting the federal government and 30% supporting
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Judge Casey: Pro-Life, Pro-Law? DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Judge Richard Casey, the federal judge who struck down Congress' ban on partial-birth abortion Aug. 25, is well known to Catholics. Especially the ones who go to daily Mass with him.
An alumnus since the 1950s of Holy Cross and Georgetown University Law School, he once received the Blessed Hyacinth Cormier O.P. Medal at the Angelicum in Rome for his “outstanding leadership in the promotion of Gospel values in the field of justice and ethics.” Those who know him say he is devoted to the rosary.
And bishops and cardinals are among those who know him. Catholic New York reports that Casey and New York Cardinal Edward Egan “have been friends for years and have visited Lourdes together three times.” So how could a man like Casey overrule a ban on partial-birth abortion?
The reason Casey did so is that the U.S. Supreme Court, in Stenberg v. Carhart, said he had to. Casey's decision was forced by predetermined boundaries set for him by the decisions of a higher court. He said the “law of the land” required him to invalidate the ban. But the way he did it is important.
There is much to indicate that Casey knows the horror of abortion and his duty to do whatever he can do within the law to end it.
Look carefully at what Casey said and did from the moment he received the case in his court. He must have been convinced from the beginning that he would have to rule against it, given Stenberg v. Carhart. But he also knew that his decision would be appealed, likely to the Supreme Court — which actually does have the authority to reverse its previous decisions.
The Supreme Court is a court of appeal. When it receives a case, it doesn't build a fresh record — it reviews the lower court's record. So Casey built a record for it.
And what a record it was.
Complaining that Congress didn't hear from enough doctors, he put doctors on the stand and put their testimony on the record.
Where before, abortion-industry propaganda questioned the very existence of partial-birth abortion, Casey has it all out in the open now.
Here's his court's definition of the procedure: “The physician grasps the fetus's lower extremity with fingers or forceps and pulls the fetus through the cervix and vagina until its head is lodged in the cervical opening. At this point, the fetus's arms and legs have been delivered outside the uterus while the fetus is still alive. With the fetus's head lodged in the cervix, the physician punctures the skull with scissors or crushes the head with forceps. … The physician then drains the fetus's skull by suction, or by using a finger, and the skull collapses.”
He added, “The fetus could be moving at the time the skull is crushed.” Sadly, however, the “fetus dies when its brain is either drained or sucked from the skull,” and then is removed wholly from the mother's body.
Casey grilled doctors on whether the unborn child feels pain, and their shocking answers were the fodder of pro-life columns for weeks.
Casey's decision followed predetermined boundaries, but the record he is handing to the high court is all his own. For that, we can be grateful.
Catholics might be tempted to fight “bad guy” tyrannical judges with “good guy” tyrannical judges who ignore the law and do what they please. We should pray to the patron saint of lawyers, St. Thomas More, when we are thus tempted — and watch A Man for All Seasons for inspiration.
In that famous play, a friend tells More he would “cut down every law in England” to get the devil. More's famous reply: “And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you — where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? … I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake.”
It's only through the rule of law that we will end abortion.
Casey's decision also comes close to Election Day. That's when we the people can have our say on partial-birth abortion — by voting for legislators who support the ban and who will approve judges like Casey who refuse to legislate from the bench.
That's also the day we can vote for a presidential candidate.
With Supreme Court retirements looming, the president will soon get to exercise the ultimate check and balance on the makeup of the court. We want a president who will appoint justices who will restore the right to life to its rightful place in the Constitution.
----- EXCERPT: Et tu, Judge Casey? ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Catholic Is as Catholic Does
“Catholics Are Key, Protestant Activist Says” (July 4-10) well expresses the barometer of where we are at as the people of God in the United States. Referring to the reception of holy Communion by Catholics who are pro-choice on the issue of abortion, politician or otherwise, as an “in-house issue” is quite weak. Since when is truth a private matter?
The facts are, some American bishops rise to the occasion of challenges to the Gospel and some do not. When we look at the facts of weak faith in the Eucharist and tolerance toward abortion and contraception by U.S. Catholics, one has to wonder: Just how Catholic is the Catholic Church in the U.S.A. today?
FATHER WILLIAM C. KEEBLER JR
Saint Lawrence Catholic Church
Penfield, Illinois
Sacrificial Circus
By failing to proscribe Communion for pro-abortion politicians at their June meeting, the bishops have left many lay people wondering if they are serious about protecting the Eucharist from sacrilege and the laity from scandal, but they may have inadvertently provided the road map to quickly solve the problem (“ Bishops Will Approach Abortion's Lawmakers Individually,” July 4-10).
The bishops said, “We commit ourselves to maintain communication with public officials who make decisions every day that touch issues of human life and dignity.” Since the controversy is over publicly pro-death public officials such as John Kerry, they should get public counseling.
The next time Mr. Kerry comes to church with his entourage and a gaggle of news people and photographers to make a political event out of attending Mass, the priest should do something rarely done in America: segue from his reflection on the Gospel to a pro-life homily.
The homily, prepared by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, should explain why abortion is wrong, that it is human sacrifice for convenience, that women are treated like bozos in that critical information about abortion is withheld from them, that minors are aborted without parental consent, and that those who promote abortion are terrorizing the souls of our young people. The priest should then explain the requirements for receiving Communion as prescribed by Canon 916 and written in our missals.
On hearing such a homily, the majority of people will opt against those who promote abortion. When Mr. Kerry sees that trying to use the Church for political gain actually loses him votes, he will change. Hopefully, he will repent, but at least he will stop using the Eucharist for political gain.
When other pro-abortion politicians see that the bishops are determined not to let them redefine Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life, they will begin to get the message that you can't be both pro-abortion and Catholic.
This is an easy way for the bishops to keep the promises they made in June to begin teaching the faithful and counsel pro-abortion politicians. If we don't soon see some public action on the part of the bishops to stop Mr. Kerry from making a circus out of the sacrifice of the Mass, we will know for certain the bishops don't take abortion or the Eucharist seriously.
WILLIAM LUKSIC
Rockville, Maryland
Where is Prayer?
It was quite surprising to read, in “Bishops Will Approach Abortion's Lawmakers Individually” (July 4-10), that prayer was not among the points the bishops listed. The bishops won't accomplish much in the fight to stop the advance of the culture of death without a call to prayer and sacrifice.
I find it incomprehensible that it is standard to attend Mass and rarely hear a supplication for life during the Prayer of the Faithful. Pro-life homilies are also rare. This is the reality despite the millions of killings and injuries in our rapidly declining society.
Without prayer and a call for pro-life homi-lies, the bishops' points look more like a smokescreen to cover up their inaction on the life issues that have followed their past pronouncements.
RICHARD A. RETTA
Rockville, Maryland
Mandatum Medicine
I just wanted to thank you for the series of articles on the mandatum. I consider myself an active and faithful Catholic. I am frustrated to no end how the American bishops have done everything they can to blunt the effect of the mandatum. I have two kids in college. I have to admit that we did not look very hard at Catholic universities — most of them scared me. I'd rather take my chances in Christian or public schools. At least there the kids will have their defenses up. But if someone feeds them a lot of bad theology in a Catholic school, they will be far more inclined to believe it. As a Catholic parent, I've entrusted the most precious thing I have, my kids, to these schools. I have a right to know if the teaching they receive is consistent with Catholic teachings. This is not a “private agreement.”
Please keep it up! Maybe you can shame a few more bishops into doing the right thing.
MARTY WALSH
Coppell, Texas
Marriage Madness
After reading Jennifer Roback Morse's column “What We Learned in Massachusetts on May 17” (July 4-10), I was indeed nonplussed as to your motive in publishing it. Discussing homosexual unions being legitimized by recognition of them as marriages belies rationality. What is, is; what is not, is not. In this case, marriage is a union between a man and a woman. A relationship between homosexual men or women is not, and can never be a marriage, discussion of the various pros and cons therefore, or state laws thereto, notwithstanding.
The issue is not whether we want a national policy of marriage as the sexually exclusive union of a man and a woman or a national policy of marriage as the union of any combination of consenting adults with no particular expectation of sexual fidelity, as Morse says, but rather whether we want to retain sanity in the laws that govern this country.
ALBERT C SCHULTZ
San Antonio, Texas
Saving Marriage
I was surprised by Mr. Joseph A. D'Agostino's statement in your issue of August 15-21 (“ Will Marriage Votes End Senate Careers?” ): “The amendment would write the definition of traditional marriage into the U.S. Constitution, thus forbidding same-sex ‘marriage,’ polygamy and other alternatives to the family.”
It is quite clear from the text of The Federal Marriage Amendment that this amendment would only define marriage.
The Federal Marriage Amendment reads: “Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution or the constitution of any State, nor state or federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.”
It would not prevent in law “other alternatives to the family” such as Vermont-style civil unions, domestic partnerships, and the like and their granted benefits.
The Amendment would simply prevent legislators and courts from labeling these “alternatives” as marriage.
I sure hope that Catholics and others will not be given false hopes after reading Mr. D'Agostino's article that this amendment is a panacea to the “non traditional union” problem in law.
I understand that the U.S. bishops can support this amendment because they can support the language that is used. However, as it is currently written and proposed it falls far short of protecting the family in law.
ANDREW GLOWIK
Denver, Colorado
The Issues
I notice that the questions mentioned in the Aug. 22-28 front-page article pertain to issues of the platform of the Democrats.
Fifty years ago, no one would have dared denounce God and traditional marriage, approve of the killing of pre-born babies, or argue against U.S. sovereignty, but in recent years Democrats have done all of that (and booed the Boy Scouts besides). Yet some Catholics blindly follow and continue allegiance to that party, and skew the issues, trying to make abortion and “homosexual” marriage seem less important or equal to something like “farm subsidies.”
Is America being judged on its lack of compassion for the helpless pre-born babies? We are in the hands of God now and the upcoming election may tip the scales.
GRACE HARMAN
Columbus, Ohio
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Trampled Underfoot DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:In your Weekly Video Picks of June 20-26, the recommendation of Seabiscuit acknowl-edged flaws while promoting it as a good story. I would like your permission to expand on the “content advisory” for that movie.
Yes, there is profanity, but the gratuitous abuse of the name of Christ caused my husband and me to walk out of the theater. My thought is this: There are only 10 commandments, and one of them is not taking God's name in vain. Surely, that doesn't mean that it is okay to listen to others use his name in vain — or, worse still, to pay to hear his name abused.
Another misleading suggestion is that the movie is “adult viewing.” This seems to say that the Second Commandment doesn't apply to adults or is not relative once you become an adult.
The entertainment industry has worked diligently to condition us to accept disrespect for God's holy name. We should work even more diligently to stop them. The more his name is dishonored, the more we must go out of our way to honor it. Blessed be God; blessed be his holy name.
DAWN H. MULL
Jacksonville, Florida
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Commentry -------- TITLE: Labor Day To Election Day DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Labor Day weekend marks the beginning of the final stretch in the race for the White House. What will determine the outcome of the election? The situation in Iraq? The war on terrorism? Health care? Or moral issues such as homosexual “marriage” and abortion?
If you think one of these issues will decide who will sit in the Oval Office, think again. Ray Fair, professor of econometrics at Yale University, thinks the election will come down to dollars and cents. In other words, the economy.
In his book Predicting Presidential Elections and Other Things, Fair claims that economic growth and inflation stand out as the only variables that matter in a presidential race.
Known for creating an econometric equation to predict presidential elections, Fair argues that, historically, his equation works well. He says the average mistake of his equation is about 2.5 percentage points.
How much do social and moral issues influence Fair's equation? Not much. He says, “We throw all those (social and cultural issues) into what we call the error term. In the past, all that stuff that you think should count averages about 2.5%, and that is pretty small.”
It's hard to believe that the war in Iraq and moral issues such as abortion and homosexual “marriage” take a back seat to the economy in a presidential election. Yet all the major polls place the economy by far as the most important issue for Americans when deciding for whom they will vote.
This explains why presidential candidates talk so much about budgets, deficits, taxes, trade imbalances and so on. The deft rhetorical taunt to George Bush, Sr. in 1992 has now apparently become the fundamental axiom of American politics: “It's the economy, stupid!”
But is it?
I think we need to step back and take a critical look at America's ongoing love affair with the dollar. The culture of the bottom line says something disturbing about us as a people. It contends that we, as a nation, value money more than anything else.
From an ethical viewpoint, such a contention falsifies the historical truth about the American Dream. The Founding Fathers of our country never asserted that the American Dream consisted of monetary gain, material progress or unlimited prosperity. They didn't envision a promised land overflowing with money.
I'm not condemning money or prosperity.
We all have bills to pay, and we need money to make ends meet. That's perfectly understandable. On the other hand, we need to know that the American Dream articulated so well by our Founding Fathers goes far beyond our economy. They founded our country on precise ideas, lofty in content, that make up the American Dream and our national identity.
This distinguishes us from Europe.
Europeans base their national identity on ethnicity, race or cultural traditions. The multicultural and racial melting pot of America bases its national unity and aspirations on a unique creed. Our Founding Fathers outlined this creed in the Declaration of Independence.
Here, the Founding Fathers portray the true American Dream: a moral legacy. They affirm quite candidly that the creator, or God, gives us our unalienable rights. We don't created or legislate them but recognize them in the natural law of our creator. Furthermore, “we hold these truths to be self-evident…”
This means, with the use of our reason, we can discern with certainty these truths. That's why they're self-evident. Consequently, the contention that such ideas as God, truth and “unalienable rights” rest only on religious dogma holds no credibility. Faith and reason work together to build the American Dream.
Please note that the Founding Fathers placed the right to life as the first unalienable right in the Declaration of Independence. A coincidence? I don't think so. As human beings we have a natural and unalienable right to live. Human life represents the most cherished and sacred value of the American Dream.
Everyone should enjoy this right, especially the unborn, the elderly, the sick and the mentally ill. To take away the right to live from the weakest of our nation epitomizes the worst evil possible to commit. The American Dream utterly rejects any supposed right to kill the most defenseless of our land. If we view the lives of some as inferior to others, the American principle of equality becomes bogus rhetoric.
The Founding Fathers understood the unalienable rights of liberty and the pursuit of happiness as doing the right thing for the common good. They didn't believe liberty and the pursuit of happiness meant self-indulgence and licentiousness. They knew the American Dream demanded discipline, responsibility, hard work and moral restraint. They loved the American Dream and fought for it.
On Nov. 2, we will go to the polls to elect the next president of the United States. The stakes are high. Two visions of America face off against one another. One represents our historical moral legacy. It's the America of our Founding Fathers. The other America stands for neo-liberalism: A nation in which economic matters trump fundamental and pressing moral issues at the voting box. What America will you vote for?
Legionary Father Andrew McNair is a professor at Mater Ecclesiae College of Liberal Arts in Greenville, Rhode Island.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Father Andrew McNair, LC ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Can St. George's Land Rise Again? DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Recently, my husband was knocked down by thugs who wanted to steal his wallet. They picked the wrong chap — Jamie is a big man, agile and fit, an officer in the Territorial (Reserve) Army. He escaped with his wallet, mobile phone and heavy briefcase full of papers. (He's a lawyer).
He's also quick-thinking and quick-tempered.
Within minutes, he was shouting at the police on his mobile phone, and not very long after that, we heard a helicopter overhead and an ambulance bristling with rather grim-looking, female paramedics was on its way. The helicopter had a powerful searchlight that beams down on the streets below and illuminates anything it seeks — awesome to watch, but fairly ineffectual against the slippery youths who were already safely away.
This is Britain, 2004.
Vandalism, street attacks, burglary and theft are common — so much so, in fact, that most people do not report them to the police, but shrug and cope as best they can.
When my bag was stolen, I contacted my bank to have a stop put on my credit cards, realizing as I did so that this must be the sixth or seventh time that I had gone through this procedure. One such theft occurred in Westminster Cathedral, where large warnings are now displayed urging worshippers to keep an eye on their belongings at all times, as thieves operate there regularly. At the public library, when I reported the loss of my ticket, they just sighed, “Stolen? Of course. Here's a new one.”
Meanwhile, the House of Lords has been debating a proposed amendment to the law. A lobby group has been calling for parents to be arrested if they spank their children. The campaign — well-funded and with considerable media support — is aiming to bring Britain in line with various other European countries, which ban any form of physical punishment of children, even a light smack.
After much debate, a compromise was reached, and the law will not actually prevent all physical punishment — but the campaigners scent long-term victory and will continue their efforts over the next few years.
The chief response to crime in modern Britain is something called “Victim Support,” which means that the police send you little booklets offering counseling and someone calls you, offering to listen “if you'd like to talk about your experience.”
I happened to answer the phone when they called for my husband. I said, No, he didn't need to cry or have therapy. He just wanted the thugs to be caught.
It is not that the police don't mind about crime — often they do send helicopters and rush around in a very energetic way. But they have other things to do, too.
This summer, our media have been highlighting the problems caused in our major country towns by crowds of drunken louts who rampage until the small hours, leaving trails of vomit, litter and vandalized cars in their wake. It is difficult to find adequate numbers of police to control them, so one bright plan was to give them chocolate.
Chocolate? Yes. Someone in authority decided that the chief problem lay in the fact that the young people booze without eating first, and the solution is to give them chocolate bars as they emerge from pubs and clubs, to soak up the alcohol.
It is difficult to describe how swiftly Britain has moved from the law-abiding society depicted in those 1950s movies, with slow-speaking policemen and gently structured communities. It is curious how that image of the country has lingered, especially among Americans.
They arrive with cameras and bulging suitcases, eager to discover Olde Englande. They look at the glories of Britain's past, now enlivened by better food and more comfortable accommodations than have been enjoyed for generations.
Among the places they visit will be ancient churches and cathedrals of unsurpassed beauty, still carrying echoes of a Christian past when they were the centers of worship in a Christian nation.
They will also see countryside of quite extraordinary loveliness, especially in sunshine after gentle summer rain, or in the dewy mist of an early autumn morning. They may enjoy some pageantry that speaks of a past when this small island nation exported its language and rule of law to half the globe via courageous exploration, business acumen and military prowess.
But, if they have eyes to see, they will know that they are looking at a nation which is leaving all its certainties behind and lunging into a graying and vicious future, where Christian faith and confidence born of self-respect is giving way to personal autonomy, greed and crime.
Recently, an elderly friend was being escorted, after a family party, back to her car. It was, of course, unsafe for her to walk down a London suburban road alone after dark. “I used to live in the safest and most law-abiding country on Earth,” she remarked wistfully. “Oh, really?” asked one of the younger people, politely, genuinely unconscious of irony. “What country was that?”
Like the rest of Europe, Britain is dying. Our birth rate is below replacement level, though higher than that of some countries because of the large number of immigrants (mostly Islamic) who tend to have larger families. Almost half of all births are out of wedlock. Our divorce rate is high, and increasing numbers simply do not marry at all. We have a very high abortion rate. Britain was the first country outside the Communist bloc to legalize abortion, and it is now provided on demand through the National Health Service, as are contraceptives, which are distributed to teen-agers through school-based clinics and teams working through youth clubs.
What can be done?
The Church is small — approximately 4 million nominal Catholics out of a population of about 55 million people in England and Wales. Of the 4 million, about 1 million practice their faith. Vocations to the priesthood are small in number; diocesan planners talk about arranging for “priestless parishes.” The new movements — NeoCatechumenate Way, Opus Dei, and a couple of British-born groups, Youth 2000 and the Faith Movement — are a sign of hope, but are young.
The Catholic community has a tradition of praying “for the conversion of England.” This is linked to devotion to the English martyrs — heroes of the days of persecution under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I — who are still honored among us. Schools and churches are named after them. St. John South-worth, a martyred priest, lies in Westminster Cathedral. St. Edmund Campion and others who died at Tyburn Gallows are honored at the convent, which now stands near where once the crowds surged to watch the priests being tortured and executed.
There is no “Bible Belt” in Britain. Although there is a reasonably thriving evangelical Christian presence, it has tended to get caught up in the battles within the Anglican Church, where it has courageously witnessed to traditional teachings on topics such as homosexual activity. But it lacks the confidence and strong numerical base of its counterpart in the United States.
Catholics are, and should be, people with a long collective memory — and nowhere more so than in Britain, where the Church has been established for more than a thousand years. The Gospel first arrived while we were still ruled by the Romans, and the Church established here among the Celts was revived again when the Saxons settled and Pope Gregory sent Augustine and his missionary team to evangelize them.
It will take more than some decades of high crime, brutal behaviour and pornographic culture to destroy the Christian roots of this island.
Every summer for the past few years, young people have been gathering in the hundreds at our ancient Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham. It's in Norfolk, in East Anglia — that wide bit of England which sticks out into the North Sea, and even today, has something remote and timeless about it.
The great Catholic youth gathering began in the run-up to the millennium under the theme “Youth 2000,” and every year since then has grown and grown.
The Blessed Sacrament is the center of prayer, adoration, all-night vigils, confession and teaching sessions, and plans are laid for missions and action in the months ahead.
These are the John Paul II generation, who take as their theme his words to the young, “Do not be afraid.”
The faith that was thriving here when William the Conqueror arrived, and which survived Henry VIII, has a new challenge as a new generation comes of age in the 21st century.
What's needed is the spirit of William Blake's Jerusalem: “I will not cease from mental fight, / Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand / Till we have built Jerusalem / In England's green and pleasant land.”
And that's precisely the spirit some of our Catholic youth now have.
Joanna Bogle writes from London.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joanna Bogle ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Honest, Occifer. The Light Was Pink. I Swear It. DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:I imagine it must have gone something like this:
Honolulu Police Blotter
One “American Psychological Association” (a.k.a. APA) was arrested on Friday, July 27, 2004, for DWI (Driving While Intoxicated). Subject was apprehended careening wildly down Queen Kameamea Blvd., attempting to evade the obvious during a high-speed chase which resulted in the APA running down truth and backing up over reason to see what it hit. When apprehended, Subject was babbling “Studies show!” and “Research says!” followed by a string of nonsense and obscenities. Subject was transported via ambulance to the Honolulu General Hospital psychiatric ward for detoxification and treatment.
This is the only possible explanation I can think of to explain the American Psychological Association's recent press release endorsing gay “marriage” by stating that “same-sex couples are remarkably similar to heterosexual couples, and that parenting effectiveness and the adjustment, development and psychological well-being of children is unrelated to parental sexual orientation.”
I will give those poor sots points for creative writing, although the assertions strain any resemblance of credulity. To be fair, it is true that on respected measures of relationship satisfaction, heterosexual and homosexual couples report similar degrees of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. But that is where the similarities end. Reliable studies from non-biased sources show clearly that there are significant and important differences between heterosexual and homosexual relationships in three areas: how long they last, how faithful they are and how safe they are.
For example, according to the National Center for Health Statistics (Centers for Disease Control), 50% of heterosexual marriages last 20 years or longer. Now, that's not great, but compare this to a study by the Gay/ Lesbian Consumer Online Census, which shows that 71% of homosexual relationships are kaput in seven years, 31% are over in 1-3 years, and 85% do not survive past 11 years.
In fact, despite the multitude of press reports celebrating loving, long-term homosexual couples-next-door, only about 5% of gay and lesbian relationships make it to the 20-year mark or beyond. Whatever problems heterosexual couples have (and admittedly, they can be legion), gay activists' own data show that even in this rampant culture of divorce, heterosexual relationships are 10 times more stable than the overwhelming majority of same-sex relationships. Unfortunately, in their thorough analysis of the situation, the American Psychological Association decided that — by some strange and wonderful magic — all the studies showing the increased rates of depression, chemical abuse, poor school performance and worse among children of divorce would not apply to the children experiencing the exponentially greater risk of breakup of homosexual “families.”
Which leads us to the second problem. Heterosexual couples differ dramatically from homosexual couples with regard to sexual fidelity, and therefore, relationship stability. Studies show that 85% of married women and 75% of married men report fidelity in marriage compared to only about 4% of homosexual men. The Catholic Church teaches (and many sociologists agree) that the family is the basic unit of society. The values and structure of the family, in turn, become the values and structure of the larger society. In an age of HIV/AIDS and with epidemic levels of sexually transmitted disease, how could the association possibly think it would be good to promote a model of “family” — and therefore, a model of society — built upon the instability that results from chronic infidelity? Has the association not looked at the research exposing the damage marital infidelity does to children? Truly, homosexuality must be quite a wonderful thing if somehow children, who can be so damaged by the dalliances of their heterosexual parents, could be spared the damage that would be inflicted upon them by homosexual parents who would be 19 times less faithful.
The third difference is that there is significantly greater physical violence in homosexual relationships than in heterosexual marriages. According to statistics from the Department of Justice, 2.6% of married women and .05% of married men experience physical abuse in marriage.
By contrast, a whopping 11.4% of lesbians and 15.4% of homosexual men experience intimate-partner violence. Statistics from the Department of Health and Human Services National Clearinghouse on Abuse and Neglect tell us that children who witness domestic violence are significantly more likely to suffer from higher levels of aggression, disobedience, fear, anxiety and depression. They have poor peer, sibling and social relationships; lower cognitive functioning; poor school performance and limited problem solving skills; higher levels of adult depression; trauma symptoms; and increased tolerance for and use of violence in adult relationships.
But, according to the American Psychological Association, none of this matters. The rights of homosexual couples are so important to the association that children should just get over it. Finally, psychologists have found something even more important than self-esteem: gay rights.
As even these few facts illustrate, contrary to the association's wishful thinking, there are important differences between the relationships of heterosexual and homosexual couples and their potential effect on children. Last year, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons, which warned that children would be harmed if gay “marriage” (and same-sex parenting) is allowed to become the law of the land. Specifically, the congregation asserted, “Allowing children to be adopted by persons living in (homosexual) unions would actually mean doing violence to these children, in the sense that their condition of dependency would be used to place them in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development.”
Clearly, when one looks at the data, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was right. In fact, it was more than right. It was downright prophetic.
Read author Gregory K. Popcak at www.exceptionalmarriages.org.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Gregory K. Popcak ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: "Back To School" Represents Time of Fears, Hopes For Haiti's Poor Families DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:In a few short weeks, it will begin again. The summer vacation will end marked by a barrage of “back to school” ads in newspapers and on television – sure signs that millions of American children will soon be returning to their classrooms.
Here in America, the cycle of attending school each year is so familiar that we take it for granted, like the changing of the seasons themselves.
“ I wish everyone in the world was as blessed as we are – but that's far from the truth. In most of the Third World, children long to go to school, but they are denied by their poverty or their circumstances. There simply isn't the same access to an education in places like Haiti. And that lack of opportunity steals hope from the children and creates a deep sense of anxiety and despair in their parents,” explained Jim Cavnar, president of Cross International Catholic Outreach, one of the nation's leading relief and development ministries. From its founding, Cross has made educational programs a priority of its ministry, and it has encouraged American Catholics to support its outreaches as a means of providing the poorest of the poor with a way out of their desperate situation.
“ When people tell us that they want to help the poor in a meaningful way, we suggest they contribute to one of our educational programs,” Cavnar said. “Everyone has heard the saying, 'Give a man a fish and you feed him for day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.' But, that needs to be more than a clever slogan for it to result in real change. If you believe in the power of an education, contribute to that work. Make a gift that will fund a child's education or allow a poor school to hire a teacher. In that way, your convictions will have real meaning and your actions will have a direct and profound impact.”
You can be certain that your contribution to support educational programs for the poor will be deeply appreciated too.
“ Believe me – poor children in Haiti don't take an education for granted. They understand the value of this opportunity and they apply themselves to the work with excitement and a real sense of hope. Their parents are also thrilled when their youngsters are accepted into a church-run school. They see it as a chance for the family to break out of their cycle of poverty. They see it as a new beginning,” Cavnar said.
In his nearly 15 years as a leader in ministries to the poor, Cavnar has also seen the direct and inspiring results of educating poor children. This is an outreach that produces profound results not just for the child, but for entire families.
“ I can remember one woman whose family literally survived by scavenging on a public dump, collecting food and items they could use or sell. Her daughter's education led to a good job and that effectively broke the cycle of poverty that had plagued the family for generations. That's a common result of this program – families that have been plagued by illiteracy and desperation have their cycle of poverty broken, and the impact changes things for the better for generations to come,” He explained.
Cross International Catholic Outreach is both creative and cost-effective in its approach to educating the poor. Rather than build its own schools and bring in outside staff members, Cross partners with priests, nuns and parishes already in place overseas, helping them initiate or expand their own schools. This brings the cost of educating a child down to as little as $60 to $75 for the entire year! Clearly, it's a strategy that gives a donor a lot of bang for the buck.
Jim Cavnar,
President of Cross International
“ Right now, there are hundreds of children who should be going to school, but they aren't preparing to go because they don't have shoes or books or some other requirement. We can change that. With a contribution of $60, we can make a child's dream come true. We can send that little one to school. We can change his or her life forever!” Cavnar said. “And I'm confident my Catholic brothers and sisters will help us respond to that call to action. We understand the value of an education – we always have. And this is a wonderful opportunity to give this valuable gift to a child who has no place else to turn for help.”
Readers interested in making a tax-deductible contribution to support Cross International Catholic Outreach and its educational outreach to the poor can use the Cross brochure enclosed in this issue of the newspaper. Gifts can also be mailed to: Cross International Catholic Outreach, Dept. AD00224, 490 White Pond Drive, PO Box 63, Akron, OH 44309-0063.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Missionaries Find Creative Ways to Help Poor Children in Remote Jungles DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Catholic priests working in the jungles of Guyana were faced with a unique problem – how to educate the desperately poor children living in the remote villages that are located along the country's long, twisting rivers.
“ In this part of Guyana, roads are virtually non-existent. The only way to travel is by boat on the network of rivers. And, of course, the poor don't have access to motorboats so they travel by canoe. It's slow, arduous work to paddle up and down those rivers. Even so, you often see groups of children as young as five or six working their way from one place to another,” explained Mike Wilson, field director for Cross International Catholic Outreach, one of America's leading Catholic relief and development ministries. Wilson and other staff members from Cross were in Guyana to assess the situation and meet with priests working in the area.
Cross International Catholic Outreach's method of helping the poor is simple but highly effective. The group locates priests, nuns and parishes doing exemplary work to help the poor and provides those ministries with the specific resources they need. In some cases, Cross is providing food or some other material resource for an existing program. In other cases, the ministry helps a priest or parish start a new project that has been “on the drawing board” but could not be launched without financial help.
In Guyana, the team from Cross is working to do both. The ministry will provide an existing feeding program with supplies of urgently needed food, and it will also work to help Fr. Pablo Waldmann establish a new weekday youth hostel for children who cannot attend school because they live too far away to travel by boat each morning and evening.
“ Father Pablo was thrilled to hear that we will try to secure funding for the youth hostel. It will make it possible for a whole group of children to attend school. With the hostel serving as a weekday home, they don't need to travel by boat for hours each day. They can come in at the beginning of the week and return home for the weekend. It will eliminate a lot of hardships for those children – and give them the hope only an education can provide,” Wilson explained. “The fishermen and poor farmers in this area are uneducated and they never dreamed that their children would have this opportunity. They're thrilled to hear that help may soon be on the way.”
Fr. Mariano Varela, another missionary working in the remote areas of Guyana, was also grateful for the food his ministry will receive. Malnutrition is a major problem in his community, and he has a desperate need for supplies of food. To make his point, Fr. Varela related the story of one of the children – Clinton Daniles, a third grader.
“ When little Clinton was in pre-school he suffered what we thought was an illness. He would fall asleep or cry and he would show signs of a fever. Then, we discovered how little he was eating because his family was poor. He was coming to school with only a small cup of rice for lunch, and he would cry at lunchtime,” Fr. Varela explained. “When we realized the problem, we put him in the lunch program and he rapidly improved. He had trouble in his studies before, but he picked things up more quickly and became much more happy and sociable. Now – even as young as he is – he says he wants to be a doctor and help other sick children.”
When the staff from Cross International Catholic Outreach returned to the U.S., it began arranging the food aid and pursuing contributions from American Catholics to help the priests in Guyana with their other programs to serve the poor.
“ Our goal now is to inform U.S. Catholics about the needs in Guyana and to seek financial contributions to help Fr. Varela and the other priests working there,” Wilson said. “Every donation, large or small, will make a big difference and help us reach our goal.”
Readers interested in making a tax-deductible gift to help Cross International and its educational programs can use the Cross brochure enclosed in this issue of the newspaper. Contributions can also be mailed to: Cross International Catholic Outreach, Dept. AD00224, 490 White Pond Drive, PO Box 63, Akron, OH 44309-0063.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Msgr. Bertagni Praises Compassionate American Catholics DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:On the long, dusty road that led to school, she stumbled and fainted. Hunger had made her weak and the morning sun was brutally hot. Marie had walked those rough miles to school many times before, but today her strength finally gave out.
Fortunately, a kind soul found the seven-year-old girl and brought her in to the missionaries at the school. They were able to revive and care for her until her mother arrived.
Such is life in Haiti, where every day is marked by hardships.
“ Visit Haiti or any other desperately poor Third World country and you will discover how difficult life is for the poor. These are levels of poverty that you just don't see in America. For example, hunger isn't just a problem in Haiti - it's a way of life for millions of people and it has a devastating impact, especially on the children,” explained Msgr. Ted Bertagni, an outreach preacher for Cross International Catholic Outreach, one of the leading Catholic charities serving the poor worldwide. As a leader on the ministry's staff, Msgr. Bertagni visits Catholic parishes throughout the United States to preach on behalf of the poor, describing the needs overseas and explaining how concerned parishes can provide direct and meaningful assistance.
“ Many Americans presume that most people in the world live like we do here in the U.S., but that isn't true. More of the world is like Haiti where food is scarce, there's no access to safe drinking water, sewage services are virtually non-existent and medical care is so inadequate that children die daily from illnesses that would be easily treated here in America,” Msgr. Bertagni added.
The media loves bad news and that's what fills newspapers and TV. But there are also amazing and heroic things taking place in the world…
Msgr. Ted Bertagni, Outreach Preacher
But Msgr. Bertagni's message to U.S. parishes is hardly a story of “gloom and doom.” Instead, he emphasizes the generosity of American Catholics and highlights the inspiring work the Church is doing to help the poor overseas.
“ While your first impression when visiting Haiti may be shock and dismay at the level of poverty, you are also inspired by the work that our dedicated priests and nuns are doing. You meet men and women who live sacrificially and work tirelessly to provide needy families with food, shelter and hope. Their clear vision and noble purpose are inspiring and give you a desire to help them succeed. That's what I try to communicate during my visits to U.S. parishes – I try to invite American Catholics to support the heroic work our Church is doing 'in the trenches' on behalf of the poor.”
One of the specific ministry programs Msgr. Bertagni describes was established specifically to help young school children in Haiti's poorest villages. Through the program, American donors are able to support special feeding programs that have been put in place to fight malnutrition and its effects.
“ The feeding programs that Cross International Catholic Outreach has launched work through existing schools, so they are extremely cost-effective. A child like Marie can be fed a daily meal for the full school year for just $55,” Msgr. Bertagni explained. “Many American families spend that much going out for lunch or dinner. If they can set that money aside for this special purpose, it can have a huge impact – feeding a needy child for the entire school year.”
Where Cross International Catholic Outreach has established its school-based feeding programs, there have already been meaningful results – literally, measured in lives saved.
“ A report was done in the village of Thomonde in central Haiti where St. Joseph Catholic Church is located. It showed a significant drop in deaths among children after Cross International Catholic Outreach launched its feeding program. And that wouldn't have been possible without the help of our donors in America. Their gifts to Cross made the difference. They've literally saved the lives of scores of children – children like Marie.”
When Msgr. Bertagni visits American parishes and meets the people who support the work of Cross International Catholic Outreach, he thanks them on behalf of the poor who are being helped.
“ I try to explain to them how important their contributions have been to our work – how much good they are doing,” Msgr. Bertagni said. “The media loves bad news and that's what fills newspapers and TV. But there are also amazing and heroic things taking place in the world, and the Catholic priests and parishes overseas have inspiring stories to tell. Yes, there are still great hardships for the poor living overseas, but I am confident that American Catholics will help us respond to those needs too. I've seen their spirit of compassion and their generosity firsthand. I know that they will rise to the occasion – they always do.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Now Playing DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:VANITY FAIR
1 (Touchstone) Director: Mira Nair. Reese Witherspoon, James Purefoy, Romola Garai. (PG-13)
Take One: Thackeray's much-adapted “novel without a hero” returns to the screen helmed by Monsoon Wedding director Nair, with Witherspoon as calculating Becky Sharp, a strong-willed 19th-century Englishwoman of no particular means with her eye on the social ladder.
Take Two: In Nair's hands the novel without a hero becomes a film about a heroine, with Becky eclipsing her literary costar Amelia. Brief partial nudity, a marital bedroom scene (no explicit nudity), and a scene of post-battle mayhem.
Final Take: Thackeray said he wanted the end of his novel to leave readers dissatisfied and unhappy — a goal not apparently shared by Nair, but which she might be said to have achieved, though in a way not to her credit, or the film's.
2 HERO
(Miramax) Director: Zhang Yimou. Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung. (PG-13)
Take One: Here's an authentically Eastern counterpart to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, with stylized characterization and plotting — and the most dazzling visuals this side of The Lord of the Rings.
Take Two: Hero's political implications have raised eyebrows in both East and West: The film extols non-violence and spiritual detachment but also justifies political harmony at any cost, even military oppression. Intense stylized violence, a brief but forceful sexual encounter (no nudity), ambiguous treatment of moral issues.
Final Take: As a cogent philosophical or moral statement, Hero is unconvincing, but as a mythic compendium of Chinese moral affections it is impressive. Artistically it warrants comparison with nothing less than The Passion of the Christ; its cinematic achievement is that extraordinary.
3 THE PRINCESS DIARIES 2: ROYAL ENGAGEMENT (Buena Vista) Director: Garry Marshall. Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews, Hector Elizondo. (G)
Take One: Quintessential fairy-tale princess Hathaway is back in Princess Di mode in a perfunctory sequel written from scratch by the writers of the abysmal Coyote Ugly.
Take Two: The original may have been borderline tolerable, but this strictly by-the-numbers sequel scrupulously avoids anything like inspiration or freshness. Poor John “Gimli” Rhys-Davies joins humiliatingly misused thespians Andrews and Elizondo as a sinister MP. A homosexual-themed joke or two.
Final Take: This is the kind of film that gives a bad name to sequels, films rated “G,” fairy tales and — with its embarrassingly crass Americanization of a supposedly European setting — maybe our whole country.
4 COLLATERAL
(Paramount) Director: Michael Mann. Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith. (R)
Take One: Cruise dials down the charisma and gives a career-best performance in an ambitious noir morality play centered on slick hitman Vincent (Cruise) and cab driver Max (Foxx), whom Vincent forces to drive him around L.A. on business.
Take Two: For the first two acts, Collateral explores Max's moral response to Vincent's horrific amorality to define characters and raise important questions. In the last act, though, it succumbs to standard thriller mode. Extreme obscene language and some profanity; much deadly violence and gunplay.
Final Take: Much objectionable content is finally unredeemed as the potential of a promising beginning is squandered in pointless action.
5 THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE
(Paramount) Director: Jonathan Demme. Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber. (R)
Take One: Cold War paranoia is passé, but paranoia cinema is still entertaining, so Demme's remake of the classic film replaces Communist brainwashers with a faceless corporate cabal with murky motives and politics. Denzel at last returns to righteous form in the Sinatra role as a troubled soldier.
Take Two: As with Shyamalan's The Village, political interpretations from both sides of the aisle have been made, though the film can be read as an anti-conservative thriller. Some profane and obscene language, brief incestuous overtones, recurring deadly violence and torture.
Final Take: Honors its source material without matching its political impact, succeeding as a decent thriller.
Steven D. Greydanus is editor and chief critic of DecentFilms.com.
----- EXCERPT: A Register's-eye view of five current box-office leaders ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: DVD: Here to Stay? DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:DVDs have changed the movie world. More durable and convenient than big, clunky mechanical VHS and Betamax videocassettes, more affordable than laserdiscs, more information-rich than video CDs, DVDs are much more collectable than previous technologies and can even be rented via mail through services like Netflix.
It's hard to believe only a few years ago industry experts were predicting the DVD would never catch on. Now, predictably, some pundits are already predicting its demise.
A recent Reuters article warned that the DVD might be supplanted by other technologies, including recording technologies such as PVRs (personal video recorders) and DVRs (digital video recorders), and cable-based delivery systems such as VoD (Video on Demand) and PPV (pay per view).
But if you've finally splurged on a DVD player or have some real money invested in a DVD collection, don't fret. The DVD isn't going anywhere. One reason is “extras” such as commentary tracks and deleted scenes. DVDs have created a market of film geeks; viewers want that value-added content that cable-based and recording technologies won't provide.
Even when some new technology eventually comes along to eclipse the DVD, chances are it will look a lot like DVDs and that the new players will continue to play our old DVDs. After all, our DVD players today can still play video CDs — and video CDs were never remotely as widespread as DVDs are today. Backwards compatibility is sure to be an important selling point in whatever comes next.
So if you haven't already, go ahead and buy The Song of Bernadette or Casablanca on DVD. You won't be sorry. — SDG
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video Picks DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Mel Gibson wasn't the first filmmaker to conceive of a feature film devoted to Christ's passion. Carl Dreyer, director of The Passion of Joan of Arc, one of the greatest films of the silent era and a Vatican film list honoree, planned such a film for 10 years, but died before realizing his vision. Gibson's vision is utterly different from Dreyer's, yet his film, like The Passion of Joan of Arc, brings into agonizing focus the sufferings of an individual persecuted by religious authorities. Also like Dreyer's film, Gibson's Passion must be watched in contemplative, chastened spirit, as when praying the sorrowful mysteries or the way of the cross. In fact, Gibson's film is the way of the cross, as expanded and glossed by a number of older mystical writers, and by Gibson himself.
The horrific brutality is grueling to watch, yet the film establishes from the outset the reason for Christ's sacrifice, and is shot through with Marian, eucharistic and redemptive imagery, including a visual Divine Mercy allusion when Christ's side is pierced. Thanks to Gibson's inspired decision to film in Aramaic and Latin, Jesus (Jim Caviezel) and other Gospel figures are for the first time since the silent era unencumbered by the burden of English or some other modern language.
Content advisory: Extreme passion narrative brutality; some frightening and disturbing imagery. Subtitles.
The Leopard (1963)
Unavailable on home video until its recent DVD release, The Leopard is one of the Vatican film list's 15 films in the Art category. Based on the acclaimed Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Luchino Visconti's masterpiece is a lavish epic elegy of the decline of the Italian aristocracy in the final stages of the 19th-century Italian unification. Jeff Shannon of Amazon.com calls it “an Italian equivalent to Gone With the Wind,” a rough-and-ready in-a-nutshell description that is not without merit: Both films are elegiac wartime epics lamenting the passing of an elegant and aristocratic way of life, both are based on popular novels, and both deal with elevated soap-opera-like goings-on. Also, with both films there was scandal over the unconventional casting of the leading man, who was reluctant to accept the iconic role.
In The Leopard, this was Burt Lancaster as the aging Sicilian prince Don Fabrizio. Visconti was obligated to cast a Hollywood star in order to secure needed financial backing, but Lancaster came through majestically, bringing formidable presence and melancholy to the role of a still-virile great man who sees the writing on the wall. The film's spectacular final act, a nearly hour-long ballroom extravaganza, ranks among the grandest cinematic set pieces of all time.
Content advisory: Mature themes including unchastity and romantic complications; a scene of urban revolutionary violence. Subtitles.
I Confess (1953)
Newly released on DVD, Hitchcock's under-rated I Confess may not quite rank with his greatest masterpieces, but it offers the single most compelling variation on Hitchcock's favorite theme, the innocent man wrongly accused. In most variations, the wrongly accused protagonist's general decency (as opposed to his innocence of the specific crime in question) is a dramatic convenience, not an integral plot point. In principle, there's no reason the circumstances and mistaken suspicions that ensnared, say, the hero of The Man Who Knew Too Much couldn't just as easily have befallen a scoundrel as a decent citizen.
By contrast, in I Confess, based on the play by Paul Anthelme, the whole dilemma turns on the protagonist's principles, apart from which he could clear his name and finger the real culprit any time he wishes. That's because he is a Catholic priest and the identity of the culprit is known to him from the confessional, so the murderer's identity is protected by the sacramental seal. Celibacy and anointing of the sick also figure in the deeply Catholic story.
At a time when a shadow of suspicion has fallen on many innocent priests, this film's themes, and its humanizing depiction of a clergyman who is both virtuous and also more complicated than a mere stereotype of piety, are especially resonant.
Content advisory: Sometimes deadly violence and gunplay; romantic complications.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:SUNDAY, SEPT. 5
Garden Giants — Bigger and Better
Home & Garden TV, 9 p.m.
Have you ever seen thousand-pound pumpkins, or corn almost as tall as a house, or lily pads big enough to stand on? You will on this show. You'll also find out the special secrets expert gardeners use to produce these and other prize-winning plants.
MONDAY, SEPT. 6
The Creative Life: Indian Summer
PBS, 5 p.m.
Today's how-to home activities show features corn crafts, primitive-style quilts and preserving autumn leaves.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 7
Skyscraper Specials
History Channel, 10 a.m.
At 10 and 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m., with repeats at 4, 5, 6 and 7 p.m., these shows describe the Empire State and Chrysler buildings, Malaysia's Petronas Towers and how to build a skyscraper's skeleton. At 8, 9 and 10 p.m., see how to construct a skyscraper's exterior, its human environment and its “arteries” (elevators and plumbing).
WEDNESDAYS
Pope Pius XII
EWTN, 11 p.m.
EWTN debuts 14 new series this month, and we'll cover all of them in the coming weeks. In her new series, Religious Teachers Filippini Sister Margherita Marchione, a professor emerita at Fairleigh Dickinson U., outlines the life of Pope Pius XII (1876-1958) and defends him from calumnies. Also airs at 2:30 a.m. on Sundays.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 9
NFL Football
ABC, 9 p.m., live
The Monday Night Football crew switches to Thursday to air the NFL's regular-season opener — a rematch of last season's AFC championship between the Indianapolis Colts and the host New England Patriots. (The Pats won that game and went on to claim the Vince Lombardi trophy in the Super Bowl.)
FRIDAYS
The Gospel of Life in Health Care
EWTN, 10:30 p.m.
In this new series, Father Stephen Torraco, a theologian and medical-ethics expert, describes the qualities that medical professionals need and explains that, in the field of medicine, it is always necessary to defend the right to life of patients — including preborn babies, the disabled and the elderly. Also airs at 5 a.m. on Sundays and 4 a.m. on Wednesdays.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 11
Mass and Rosary in Remembrance
EWTN, 8 a.m., live
This 90-minute broadcast of Mass and a Rosary in remembrance of the victims of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, will repeat at noon, 7 p.m. and midnight.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 11
Notre Dame Football
NBC, 3:30 p.m.
In their first home game of 2004, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame host the Michigan Wolverines.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Daniel J. Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Grading Catholic Pols DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Dear Son and Daughter,
I never thought I'd see the day when politicians would try to prove they are Catholic. After all, our country has had but one Catholic president, John F. Kennedy. And his election was a concern to some Protestants and members of other religions who feared the Pope would be secretly making American policy decisions.
That fear was unfounded. And any fear of future papal influence is just as out of place, although our current president (a Protestant) has asked the Pope to encourage American Catholic bishops to be a little more aggressive in promoting Church teachings on life. If this strikes you as a bit bizarre, it should.
Equally bizarre is the effort of our own Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, who issued a tortured piece of research that tries to prove that some pro-abortion Catholic senators are “more Catholic” than some senators who oppose abortion. Huh? How? Well … Sen. Durbin's staff took a look at legislative issues on which the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops took a position. Senators who voted in accord with the bishops' position scored a point; those who didn't scored zero.
“ None of us can expect to measure up perfectly against the Church's full agenda of political engagement,” the report said. “What Catholic politicians can hope to see, however, is an attempt to evaluate their work comprehensively, not on the basis of only a narrow slice of the Church's teachings.”
Just in case it isn't apparent, that “narrow slice” is abortion. And I would contend that abortion and the sanctity of life is a rather broad slice of the Church's concern.
But for the sake of our discussion, I'll give you a simplified version of the Durbin analysis. I'll use fictitious names to protect the innocent and not-so-innocent senators. (You can get the full analysis at Sen. Durbin's website, www.durbin.senate.gov.)
Catholic Sen. Snortworth votes for gun control, for an increase in the minimum wage and for stricter controls on mercury exposure. He supports abortion. But his votes earn him a “Catholic” voting record of 75%. By Sen. Durbin's implication, Snortworth is a pretty good Catholic.
Then there is Sen. Fuznoddle. He votes against gun control, against an increase in the minimum wage and against stricter controls on mercury exposure. He is pro-life. But his votes earn him a “Catholic” voting record of just 25%. By Sen. Durbin's implications, Fuznoddle is a lousy Catholic.
But are these really equally weighted issues? Is this a sane way to determine how “Catholic” these two politicians are? Absolutely not. Gun control may or may not protect lives — and the right to bear arms is protected by the Constitution. The minimum wage would increase pay for some, but possibly increase unemployment. There is legitimate debate on the need for more onerous mercury controls.
However, there is no debate on the Church's position on abortion. Trying to get Catholic politicians off the moral hook for supporting abortion simply will not fly.
In 100 years, I rather doubt anyone will look back at our generation and wonder about how people voted about issues such as gun control, mercury exposure and the minimum wage. But abortion will be another matter.
We look back at Germany of the 1930s and wonder how the people could have supported Hitler, a man who directed the murder of millions of innocent people. Our descendents will wonder how we could have supported politicians who promote the killing of innocent babies.
Jim Fair writes from Chicago.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jim Fair ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Rocky Mountain Grotto DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Pope John Paul II's recent pilgrimage to Lourdes proved one of the most poignant and touching trips he has ever made as the Vicar of Christ.
The unforgettable images of the frail, plainly hurting Holy Father imploring the Blessed Mother's intercession may well set off a surge of pilgrimages to the small French village where Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858.
Of course, not all Americans will find it practical to travel to France. For many, consolation — and a bona fide Lourdes pilgrimage experience — can be sought and found at the Lourdes Marian Center in Denver. Many, no doubt, will come here to offer special prayers on Sept. 8, feast of the Blessed Mother's birth.
Physically, the center is a small brick bungalow. St. Bernadette would approve of its humility.
Close by is the large, stately St. Vincent de Paul Parish, spiritual home to 2,100 families and a school of nearly 500 students.
The move to open the Lourdes Marian Center was spearheaded by Father Michael A. Walsh, St. Vincent de Paul's pastor. It opened Feb. 11, 2002, feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and World Day of the Sick. Its main aims are to promote Marian devotion, distribute Lourdes water and organize pilgrimages to the actual site where Mary appeared 18 times to Bernadette, a teen-age peasant.
The official dedication was Jan. 1, 2003, when Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput blessed the site. Witnesses included Lourdes representatives, among them Tarbes-Lourdes Bishop Jacques Perrier and Father Patrick Jacquin (who was then shrine rector of Lourdes), plus many other church officials and laity.
“ Mary should be as close to the heart of every Catholic as she was to the heart of Jesus,” Archbishop Chaput said recently. “That's why Marian devotion plays such an important role in Catholic life, and why efforts like the Lourdes Center are so welcome and so important. Mary in her Immaculate Conception is the patroness of the Archdiocese of Denver. The Lourdes Center fits perfectly with who we are as a local church.”
Father Walsh, the center's spiritual director, together with Servite Father Gabriel Weber, the Marian pilgrimage coordinator, encourages people to come and experience the place “as a source of great grace and mutual support in the faith community to pray and build their devotion to our Blessed Mother.” The seasoned pastor stresses that the Lourdes water has no miraculous or curative powers in itself, but miracles that may result are due to God's mercy and one's faith in God.
As a first-time visitor in September 2003, I initially hesitated when I came to the simple blue-and-white sign on the front lawn of this tree-lined neighborhood. It seemed so modest, I wondered if I was at the right place.
I was quickly reassured upon entering the Tudor-style structure, which, I learned, is the former home of a past parish custodian. In fact, it still looks very much like someone's home, although various Marian and Lourdes-related wall hangings on the soothing blue walls give away its current purpose.
Another clue is a display near the front entrance with reading/viewing materials for all ages, including some helpful information for non-Catholics. Rosaries, scapulars, holy cards and Lourdes water are available for free, although donations are, of course, accepted. Tea and coffee are available in a cozy sitting area.
As you enter, you'll have no trouble finding a volunteer who will be happy to help you with whatever you need, including prayers. Don't be surprised to see a couple of regulars engaged in lively conversation in the old dining room as they string rosary beads.
Matt Werner, president of the Queen of the Apostles Mission Association, another St. Vincent de Paul affiliate, sometimes helps at the center. “Many people come to the Lourdes Center with great anxiety in their hearts regarding their own suffering and that of their loved ones,” he said. “We often get on our knees and lay our hands on them to bless them and ask for Jesus to heal them — heart, mind, body and soul.” Werner points out that the volunteers are gratified to see visitors “quickly and palpably relieved,” with their spirits quieter and more joyful.
H20 to Go
Continuing through the kitchen and out the back door, you'll come to a stone grotto hosting a flower-crowned Mary in her white robes with bright blue sash. A tiny insignia notes a granite piece from Lourdes. Surrounding the shrine are a bevy of plants and a Bernadette statue. Both sculptures were imported from France. An adjoining fountain enhances the setting.
Downstairs in the center basement is a special bottling plant of sorts. Here is where volunteers fill thousands of small containers, drawing Lourdes water from big barrels that were filled at the famous French spring.
The long-time chief bottler, Dick “The Dipper” Altman, oversees the operation to ensure its readiness for visitors and others requesting the healing water by mail. “Mother Mary ‘Mom’ as I like to call her,” he said, “has brought much more awareness into my life of how our hearts can be immersed in her immaculate heart and in the sacred heart of Jesus so that the Holy Spirit can make our human efforts more fruitful, happy and peaceful.”
A century-and-a-half ago, Mary first visited a poor shepherdess named Bernadette in a tiny, obscure village. Many faithful are convinced she still awaits those who trust her with the childlike faith of this French youth who became a saint on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8, 1933.
Having returned to the Denver Lourdes Marian Center several times since that summer day a year ago, I have gotten the distinct feeling that Mary, our Mother, who deliberately led an unpretentious life in a simple domicile in Nazareth, must feel right at home here, too. Her presence can be sensed in this warm, inviting place as she welcomes visitors from near and far to follow her beloved son, Jesus Christ, in a spirit of prayer, poverty and penitence — just as the Holy Father showed us last month.
Mary E. Manley writes from Littleton, Colorado.
----- EXCERPT: Denver Lourdes Marian Center ----- EXTENDED BODY: Mary E. Manley ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: One Mill at a Time DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Prolife Profile
In 2003, Priests for Life launched an effort to encourage every parish in the country to “spiritually adopt” at least one abortion business.
In this way, every clinic would have at least one parish praying for its closure, the conversion of the staff and the protection of women and children who enter the facility.
Among the dioceses in which the idea has found fertile soil is the Archdiocese of Chicago, whose Respect Life Office has tailored it to fit 375 parishes. It began when the office sent information on the initiative — called the Mother Teresa Project — to each church, asking parishioners to say rosaries, participate in holy hours and offer daily prayers for the end of abortion in their communities.
“ Ultimately, it is our goal to have people come out and pray in front of the clinics themselves,” says Margie Manczko, program manager at the Respect Life Office, noting that Chicago Cardinal Francis George has participated in a number of demonstrations. “However, any prayers offered in the home, at church or anywhere else certainly are beneficial.”
Mother Teresa's name was chosen for the initiative because the beatified nun was steadfast and outspoken in her opposition to abortion, and she was an inspiration to Priests for Life's national director, Father Frank Pavone. “It was her wish to have an adoration chapel beside every abortion clinic to pray for its closure,” Manczko says.
Among the Chicago parishes that have made the program their own is St. Mary of the Angels, thanks in no small part to the pro-life activism of Carol Walsh and Tessa Kocan, members of the young-adult ministry.
Walsh, Kocan and other friends had been sidewalk counseling at a clinic in January and felt a need for a greater spirituality to aid in their efforts. They promoted the program to the young-adult ministry and the parish at large, and their Saturday-morning counseling has since drawn a dozen “prayer warriors” each weekend to provide them with spiritual support.
“ A lot of Catholics think, okay, I'm pro-life, but what am I supposed to do about it? The Mother Teresa program is a great place to start,” Walsh says. “It is both feasible and effective, and something they can do right at their own parish.”
Priests for Life has paired St. Mary of the Angels with a clinic on Chicago's South Cottage Grove Avenue, but parishes can take additional clinics under their wings.
Kocan notes one immediate positive aspect of the program. “Although it's difficult to quantify the success of the Mother Teresa Project,” she says, “we have definitely received less hostility from the clinic staff since it began.”
Calvary at the Clinic
Manczko has observed similar improvements. A few years ago, she left a secular career to answer a challenge by Father Pavone to work full-time in the pro-life movement. She joined Chicago's archdiocesan pro-life office two years ago, volunteering for efforts such as praying in front of clinics.
“ It's like you're praying at the foot of Calvary with the Blessed Mother and St. John,” she says. “You're witnessing innocents being slaughtered, all the while praying and suffering with Christ.”
Kocan agrees. “Praying in front of an abortion clinic is a profound experience,” she says. “While we don't know how effective we are, I have grown closer to Christ and received many graces. It's also helped me grow in humility and compassion toward others.”
Kocan is candid about her pro-abortion opponents, including the “deathscorts” who accompany women into the clinic. “It really makes you see evil more clearly,” she says. “But while they hate us, we love them and pray for their conversion. And that's what the Mother Teresa Project is, a way of conversion.”
Walsh has always believed in the pro-life cause, although she did not always actively act on her belief. She began sidewalk counseling at the beginning of the year after friends recommended it to her. She has been a regular outside her designated clinic ever since.
Walking the Talk
Kocan's pro-life activism began at age 6, when she prayed in front of clinics with her mother. She returned to sidewalk counseling a few years ago and is working on a book about her experiences. She is enthusiastic about the prospects of the Mother Teresa Project. “I know we can close down these clinics in this way,” she says.
But Kocan is not content with only having laymen pray in front of the clinics. She wants members of the clergy to have a regular presence there, as well. So she went to her spiritual director, Father Burns Seeley, who was associate pastor at the nearby St. John Cantius Church, and asked him to join them Saturday mornings at the clinic.
“ She was an inspiration to me,”
Father Seeley says. “She was doing so much more than talking about being pro-life.”
Earlier this year, Father Seeley made a commitment to pray in front of the clinic at least once a month. The reaction, he says, has been varied. He recalls one female passerby reproaching him, saying, “Shame, shame.” But another young woman came over and said, “God bless you, Father.”
His collar may make him stand out on the sidewalk, but Father Seeley is quick to point to the laypeople who have turned Chicago's Mother Teresa Project into a force to be reckoned with.
“ I'm so impressed with what Tessa, Carol and all the young women who are out there do to save the lives of babies,” he says. “They're deeply spiritual young people, the hope for our future. It's so good to see them taking their faith seriously.”
Jim Graves writes from Newport Beach, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jim Graves ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prenatal Screening Reconsidered DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:What's really at risk in a ‘risky’ pregnancy — a life or a lifestyle?
“How do you feel about this pregnancy?” This question — or, more precisely, the frequency with which it is now asked — has changed the nature of the relationship between women and their doctors.
Often posed after an examination, a sonogram or the mother's age indicates “high risk,” the question subtly opens the door to a discussion about “options,” scary-sounding illnesses like Trisomy 18 and the possibility of undergoing further prenatal screenings and meeting with a genetic counselor.
A woman who is single, ambivalent about having a baby or exhausted from nausea, vomiting, backache or caring for other children may soon find herself talking about abortion in the confidential confines of her physician's office.
My wife and I had a brush with what I call the genetic-scare-tactic industry. When she was found to be pregnant with our second child during a routine visit with her gynecologist, the alarms starting sounding. At age 39, she was considered “high risk.” This referred not to my wife's health, which was fine, but to the possibility that the child would be deformed in some undetermined way.
We had chosen this woman doctor, after much searching, because she assured us that she did not do abortions. However, she advised a blood test and further screening because, she said, the more information, the better. Hoping to give our unborn baby all the advantages, and struck with a bit of anxious curiosity, we agreed.
Soon, we received from the local secular hospital pages of facts about a “detailed ultrasound examination,” information on amniocentesis and a long medical questionnaire that sought to establish our genetic profiles. Handwritten numbers on a form told us that, based on the blood test and other factors, my wife had a 1-in-148 chance of carrying a Down syndrome baby and a 1-in-10,000 chance of bearing a child with Trisomy 18.
My wife became worried, as a firm maternal instinct that wanted a healthy baby asserted itself. Were these good, bad, average or even accurate numbers? Was there anything we could do to improve the odds?
Another section of the forms told us what this “screening” was all about: “In the event of an abnormal result, you will be thoroughly counseled regarding the results and the options of continuing your pregnancy or stopping it by abortion. If termination of your pregnancy is a consideration for you, you should realize that therapeutic abortion in the second trimester of pregnancy has risks of its own. These risks are small and similar to the risks of bearing a child at the end of pregnancy.”
Why did they tell us this when we told them we had no intention of aborting? The whole process made us feel that we were doing something strange and risky, rather than simply seeking to bring another child into the world.
We received relief from the scare tactics, thank God, when the second sonogram showed that my wife was carrying a healthy boy. Still, the genetic counselor stopped into the examining room to say hello, congratulate us and discuss the 1-in-200 possibility of amniocentesis.
Selling Choices
How many Catholic couples go through this screening routine? How many — through soft-sell tactics and scary statistics — begin, at a weak moment, to think of their unborn baby as a burden rather than God's gift?
A July 21 article in The New York Times on genetic screening is revealing. The chief of maternal medicine for a health-care group in New Jersey says that “merely offering a test can exert pressure on a couple to consider abortion.” When he asked the obstetricians in his group whether they should offer screening for Fragile X chromo-some (which causes mental retardation), the majority replied, “We don't need another thing to scare our patients with.”
Yet, some prenatal tests, such as routine sonograms, are helpful and may identify problems that can be treated in the womb. Think of the famous photo of pre-born Samuel Armas grasping the doctor's finger during surgery. Prenatal tests can also help parents prepare psychologically and spiritually for a handicapped baby and place the delivery-room staff on alert for possible problems.
In Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), Pope John Paul II writes, “Special attention must be given to evaluating the morality of prenatal diagnostic techniques that enable the early detection of possible anomalies in the unborn child. … When they do not involve disproportionate risks for the child and the mother, and are meant to make possible early therapy or even to favor a serene and informed acceptance of the child not yet born, these techniques are morally licit.”
Yet, the Holy Father warns, in that same 1995 encyclical, that it “not infrequently happens that these techniques are used with a eugenic intention that accepts selective abortion in order to prevent the birth of children affected by various types of anomalies. Such an attitude is shameful and utterly reprehensible.”
Prenatal tests may also make for safer pregnancies. In my wife's case, the high-resolution sonogram showed a condition called placenta previa. The placenta was in front of the birth canal, which would make it difficult for her to deliver normally. The doctor said my wife would probably need a Caesarean section if the placenta didn't move and told her to report immediately the least sign of bleeding.
Life Lifts
Dr. Paddy Jim Baggot, a pro-life obstetrician who specializes in genetics and maternal/fetal medicine, calls prenatal testing a mixed blessing. Some tests have legitimate medical purposes, he notes, but too often they are used for “eugenic fishing expeditions.” The purpose is not to cure, but to kill, a less-than-perfect baby, said Baggot, who practices in Duarte, Calif., and works closely with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Sometimes women who have been told elsewhere they are carrying an abnormal baby come to him to escape the pressure to abort.
“ I think those who do genetic counseling frequently think those who turn down abortion are stupid, but I think women who carry a baby with a defect are heroic,” Baggot said. “I think they should have a doctor who recognizes their heroism and gives them support, who thinks what they are doing has value.”
A baby with birth defects has immeasurable value, said Erin O'Sullivan of Palm Beach, Fla.
In July 2002, O'Sullivan gave birth to Joey, the sixth of her seven children, who had Trisomy 18, excessive fluid on his brain and a hole in his heart. He lived nine months at home, with ordinary care and extraordinary love, before dying in April. Joey was baptized, and the family knows he is in heaven.
“ Caring for Joey, I encountered God in a way that I had never encountered him before,” O'Sullivan said. “I was caring for Christ himself. The handicapped babies are the perfect ones. God has set them aside for the rest of us to see him in this world.”
Stephen Vincent writes from Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Duties of Catholic Pols
AVE MARIA LAW SCHOOL, Aug. 21 — The school and the Our Sunday Visitor Foundation will sponsor a conference on the duties of Catholic politicians with respect to the Church's teaching on life issues on Sept. 16 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Speakers will include Robert George, a professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University; Newsweek religion editor Kenneth Woodward; First Things editor Father Richard John Neuhaus; and Gerard Bradley of the University of Notre Dame School of Law.
While the conference — called “Public Witness/ Public Scandal: Faith, Politics and Life Issues” — is free and open to the public, call (734) 827-8073 or write to mpcastro@avemarialaw.edu by Sept. 10 to reserve a space.
Free Ride Less Free
“ For public colleges, in par ticular, the increase … has been dramatic,” said consumer advocate Miriam Kramer, who acknowledged that students in state colleges are not accustomed to bearing so much of the cost of their education.
She reported that tuition increases this fall at the State University of New York will range to as high as 23% more than last year.
Freedom for Fliers
The unanimous three-judge panel concluded that the school district does not endorse religion by distributing fliers advertising religious activities along with those from the Red Cross, 4-H Club and sports leagues.
The decision noted that other federal cour ts have reached a similar conclusion.
Religious Objection
In a similar case last year, the university recognized and funded the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship after originally balking at the idea. The university switched course, distinguishing between InterVarsity's leadership, which is restricted to Christians only, and its membership, which remains open to all UNC students.
Catholic-Franciscan Ethos
ST. BONAVENTURE UNIVERSITY, Aug. 16 — The university announced that it is developing a new program to provide information, resources and support to enhance care at the end of life through inter-disciplinary scholarship and research, teaching and public outreach.
Known as the GRACE project — which refers to ger-ontology research, academic preparation and community enrichment — the university said the project will be distinguished by its location “within the distinctive Catholic-Franciscan ethos of St. Bonaventure.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: 'Uncompromising Catholicity' DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Derry Connolly is convinced that one way to shape the next generation of innovators, leaders and entrepreneurs is to help them understand, and fearlessly proclaim, the Catholic faith.
He also believes there's no better way to do that than in the college classroom. This outlook explains Connolly's plan to open a new Catholic university in the San Diego area by this time next year — a school whose unofficial tagline is “Uncompromising Catholicity.”
“ Right now in the Church, we absolutely need our leaders to be proud that they're Catholic,” said Connolly, formerly an associate dean at the University of California-San Diego. He has taught entrepreneurship and business innovation there and is currently working part-time as the university's director of the Center for the Commercialization of Advanced Technology.
If students of the new school allow the spiritual, moral and social teachings of the Church to guide their career decisions, Connolly said, vast changes in society will result.
One of Connolly's volunteer advisors is Stan Williams, a Catholic filmmaker who is designing the school's film curriculum. He made the point more bluntly.
“ Christians ought not to be abdicating the culture to pagans. They ought to be leading the culture,” said Williams, founder of Stan Williams Communications.
The temporary name of the school Connolly and several businessmen are forming is New Catholic University, a name that will change once a major benefactor donates. He said the university should open its doors, pending state approval, at a temporary, rented site during September 2005.
The college will offer degrees in business, technology and mass-media communications. The senior faculty will be required to have 15 to 20 years of experience in leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship and will have already formed their own companies, Connolly said.
A student's senior thesis will be the result of forming teams with fellow students who will help the student conceive, plan and implement business plans during a two-year, team-based and faculty-guided planning exercise. Connolly hopes that, after graduation, about 50% of the students form profitable businesses based on their senior theses.
“ If it's not profitable, you won't accomplish anything that will benefit society,” he said. “The Passion of the Christ is an example of something that is profitable and has huge value to society and the Church.”
Connolly also hopes students will take away from the university a conviction that they must actively promote their values in the business world. He points to statistics showing that about 50% of the workforce is disengaged from its work.
If a businessman treats his employees with the kind of respect Christ talked about and demonstrated, that employer will get 100% commitment from his employees, Connolly said.
The courses students will be required to take reflect how Connolly hopes to pass on the Catholic faith to students. Each quarter, every student will be required to take a faith-based class, such as “Getting to Know Jesus: Scripture I,” “Moral Theology and Ethics” and “Courtship, Marriage and Family.” Students will also be encouraged to participate in mission work in the poor areas of the United States or in third-world countries.
“ If we can't bring kids closer to Christ,” Connolly said, “there's no reason for us to exist.”
Catholic to the Core
The idea to start the university came to Connolly after he visited Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, several times over the past few years. Two of his children were interested in attending; one is about to enter her junior year there in the fall. He recalls how impressed he was by the large number of students who attended Mass and spent free time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
After a September 2003 visit, Connolly said, he felt God was calling him to start a new Catholic university. He talked with several friends — all Catholic entrepreneurs — and they decided some could help teach and some would be benefactors.
The founders also talked to Auxiliary Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, from the Diocese of San Diego, whose bishop, Robert Brom, consented to allow the word “Catholic” in the name of the university.
No one was concerned about competition with another prominent Catholic college already well established in the county, the University of San Diego. In fact, university spokeswoman Pamela Gray Payton told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the 65-year-old school would welcome another Catholic university into the region. “There is an enormous need out there,” she said in the July 30 edition of the newspaper.
Connolly said all faculty members will be required to take an oath of fidelity, pledging their faithfulness and obedience to the magisterium, consistent to Pope John Paul II's apostolic constitution on Catholic higher education, Ex Corde Ecclesiae (On Catholic Universities).
Although the university remains independent of the diocese, Bishop Cordileone knows some of the founders well and thinks highly of the proposed school. “I think it's an excellent idea because they're trying to seize, to put it into business terms, a corner of the market that hasn't been developed yet,” he said. “I think it's a good idea to prepare people with these kind of values to go out into the world.”
Challenges Ahead
Barbara Nicolosi, the founder of Act One, a training program for Christian screenwriters, encourages the creation of a university that will offer training to future Catholic film artists and writers. However, she cautions that it's extremely expensive to create a competitive film school, suggesting instead that the university concentrate on just screenwriting. She also says there are not many “solid” Catholics with film credits who could teach classes.
“ The reality is the Church is so far behind in the arts we don't have any masters to teach the next generation who have their act together in every aspect,” Nicolosi said.
University officials are “going to have to be patient and be willing to breed the program up,” she said, “and count on the alumni coming back, eventually having mastered the craft and taking their place.”
But Connolly said the university will start the film program by teaching screenwriting and — if funding is available to buy the necessary equipment — will begin teaching film directors starting in 2008. He also believes there are enough theologically sound Catholics who have the experience necessary to teach film directors.
“ This is one of several new or planned Catholic colleges across the country, so understandably there are concerns about competition for donors and the best faculty members,” said Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society. “But clearly the Holy Spirit is at work here, and we are certain they will have no problem attracting students.”
Mark Canales, founder of ChemTelligence Partners, a business-consulting firm in La Jolla, Calif., and one of Connolly's unpaid advisors, said business education usually doesn't include promoting specific codes of ethics — just broad bromides that can be synopsized: “Have a humble heart, have an open mind and be willing to share ideas.”
“ I will contend that a business culture that has a basis in authentic Catholic teaching in all its richness is a very strong basis for running an organization where people matter,” said Canales, who also teaches part-time at the University of California-San Diego. “You can build great teams like that. Great teams build great products. And great products build great companies.”
Carlos Briceno writes from Seminole, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: New Catholic University pledges fidelity and effectiveness ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceno ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Here's One for Harry DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:LOOKING FOR GOD IN HARRY POTTER
by John Granger Tyndale House, 2004 202 pages, $16.99 Available in bookstores
Publisher's Weekly calls this book — subtitled Is there Christian meaning hidden in the bestselling books? — “easily the best examination to date of the spiritual legacy of ‘the boy who lived.’” Given the number of books for or against Harry Potter's “spiritual legacy,” that's saying something.
John Granger's book, above all the others, deserves to be taken seriously by serious Christians. As a Greek Orthodox Christian, he takes seriously the reality of Satan, demons, hell and the dangers of the occult. In fact, he read the first Potter book in order to tell his daughter why she couldn't read it. However, he not only approved the books, but they became required family reading.
What did Granger see that many others have missed? He saw J.K. Rowling's adaptation and application of themes from great literature as influenced by Christian imagery, literary tropes and symbols. He noticed it because his education was similar to Rowling's, both holding honors degrees in classical languages (Greek and Latin) and classical literature. Granger also shares a love for many of the authors Rowling claims as primary influences: Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and C.S. Lewis.
Whereas other pro-Potter books modestly claim that the Potter books are spiritually “neutral,” Granger contends they actually help “baptize” our imaginations and inoculate us against anti-Christian world-views. The spiritual messages are forged from the literary structures, themes and symbolism that Granger contends have developed during centuries of Christian artistry and literature.
This literary tradition is discussed in chapters such as “The Alchemy of Spiritual Growth.” He writes: “Alchemy, whatever it might have been, no longer exists except as a synonym for ‘magical transformation’ and as a resource for artists and authors writing about personal change. Alchemical symbols are a large part of classic English literature.”
Each Harry Potter book receives a chapter: “The Purification of the Soul” (Philosopher's Stone), “Dangerous Books and Edifying Books” (Chamber of Secrets), “Despair and Delivery” (Prisoner of Azkaban) and so on. In “The Triumph of Love Over Death,” Granger writes: “Rowling has us share in the spoils of a life spent in love and resistance to darkness by this cathartic death and resurrection — and it is the great joy, relief and lesson of each book. Death is not final. Death has been overcome by Love himself.”
The book has a modestly disarming style that makes it a pleasure to read. While too sophisticated for most young teens, it is profitable for interested older teens, though clearly geared toward adults. Parents especially will appreciate the final chapter on communicating biblical values and virtues to children through literature. Granger writes: “However individual families may differ in their approach and understanding, I commend these stories to you as you ‘train up a child in the way he should go’ (Proverbs 22:6). I believe the books are a providential help to parents in these end times to win the hearts of our children for Christ and to support us in our walk as individuals and as families.”
Offering a great deal of persuasion and not a hint of rancor, this book can — and should — be read by people on both sides of the Harry Potter debate.
Robert Trexler is editor of CSL: The Bulletin of the C.S. Lewis Society.
----- EXCERPT: Weekly Book Pick ----- EXTENDED BODY: Robert Trexler ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Get Those Children to Church DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Family Matters
What do you think about the notion that forcing adolescents to attend church against their will only breeds more resistance and eventually could deaden their faith altogether?
I think it is clichéd, illogical, infinitely stupid and soul jeopardizing. (We shrink types are trained to communicate our opinions in soft, affirming language.)
So many utterly shallow notions now dominate the parenting landscape, for little reason other than that they're endlessly repeated and seldom challenged. They become mantras. For instance, “Don't force a child to do anything he strongly opposes because he'll only rebel further.”
The thinking is, it's better to negotiate, compromise or follow the child's lead so that what you desire for him will gradually become his desire for him. Push too hard, so goes the warning, and he'll only push back harder. He won't personally come to accept your way of thinking or doing.
I don't think it's an overstatement to assert that, for almost all of human history — except perhaps until now — parents instinctively understood that, if they wanted a child to embrace a way of life, they had to expose him to it, often against his will. They realized he was not in a position to know better than a parent what was in his long-range good. Did all those people in all those times and places get it wrong, and we moderns finally figured out how kids really need to be guided?
Next, let's check the logic of your notion. If a child resists healthy food and seeks mainly candy and cupcakes, by mandating good nutrition will you risk shaping her into a raging sugar addict who will someday regurgitate all your forced feeding? Similarly, suppose a youngster needs long-term medical treatment but struggles against it, becoming more frustrated with time. If you insist and, yes, force him to take his medicine, will he begrudgingly swallow it for now, persevering only until he is old enough to chuck it all? Or, as he matures, will he come to see the need, indeed the value, of what you made him do? Alas, it is the nature of children — even adults — to initially fight against the things that will do us the most good.
Then, too, the theory you're testing is stupid. And soul jeopardizing, to boot. Nothing compares in importance to a child's infinite well being. Everything is of no ultimate matter if it does not lead a person closer to God. To allow a child to retreat from a relationship with the Almighty because he wants to, or because he's bored, or because he sees little value in it, is to cooperate in a decision with results that neither the child nor the parent can remotely foresee. It allows a child to ignore and potentially reject her very reason for existing.
Further, just being present for worship, however marginally, offers a chance for a homily to shape thoughts and a prayer to soften a heart — in essence, to give God's grace room to work. Simply put, the risks of not visiting God far outweigh the risks of temporarily being forced to visit him.
Okay, so it's off to church, whether or not a youngster wants to go. Then what? Then comes the critical part. We must be able to convey to our children why the Catholic faith is of infinite worth — the logic, the meaning, the depth of it all. Which means we must educate ourselves about it all. We can't give to our kids what we don't ourselves possess. We must learn, know and understand the reasons why we worship as we do. As we give these to our children, their resistance will slowly be replaced by their own understanding and their own commitment.
Dr. Ray Guarendi is a psychologist, author and father of 10. Reach him at DrRay.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: DR. Ray Guarendi ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 09/05/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 5-11, 2004 ----- BODY:Free to Protest
A federal judge ruled that a plan in Allentown, Pa., to prevent pro-life protesters from accessing the street across from an abortion facility improperly infringed on their First Amendment rights.
Meanwhile, in the face of a lawsuit from pro-lifers, the city of West Palm Beach, Fla., admitted before a judge that the property outside an abortion business there is in the public domain, and the city will stop arresting pro-life protesters for trespassing. According to the Associated Press, West Palm Beach defended its noise ordinance, which prevents the protesters from using certain types of sound amplification but allows the abortion facility to play music to annoy the protesters.
Cambodian Pro-Aborts Thwarted
It is not known if Tenofovir is safe for people who are healthy, and the government disagreed with the “human values” espoused by the drug test's sponsor, Family Health International, which promotes abortion and contraception in more than 70 countries and gives no place to abstinence in its AIDS awareness and prevention programs.
The organization's plan was to test Tenofovir on 8,000 healthy individuals, mostly prostitutes, to determine its preventive capacity against AIDS.
South African Conscience
The pro-life effort, which also includes a push for legislation to require parental consent for minors seeking abortion, flies in the face of efforts by pro-abortion groups to provide greater access to abortion by permitting registered nurses and midwives to perform them.
Reins on Violent Games
“ From an educational point of view, parents have no idea what their kids are watching,” said Jim Watson, minister of consumer and business services.
Earlier this year, the Ontario government took the unusual step of assigning an R rating on the game “Manhunt,” in which players control a murderous death-row inmate who earns points for killing guards and other prisoners. The game, already banned in New Zealand, rewards players with additional points for dispatching enemies in elaborate and bloody ways.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Uprooted DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Catholic aid workers work far from home for persecuted Sudanese Christians who lost theirs.
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Nurse practitioner Katie Gesto doesn't think God wants her to join a medical practice, settle down in the suburbs and earn good money.
Instead, she thinks he wants her in the northeast African republic of Sudan, living on a few thousand dollars a year while serving the sick and poor in a country ruled by a brutal, Christian-hating, Islamic regime.
“God asked me to go and be present with these people, evangelize to them and help them however I can,” Gesto said from her part-time home in Washington, D.C., where she's trying to recruit Catholic volunteers to join her on another mission into bloodshed and misery.
Sudanese Catholic bishops issued a statement Aug. 24, pointing out that the humanitarian crisis in Darfur has resulted in the deaths of some 35,000 people during the past 18 months due to fighting, starvation and disease. The bishops said the people of civilized nations must stop talking about the crisis and start finding ways to help.
The U.S. Agency for International Development reports that 350,000 lives are at risk because of escalated fighting between the official government ruled by Umar Al Bashir and rebel groups that rose up against it last year.
“All of Sudan's Christians suffer horrible persecution right now,” Gesto said.
The Sudanese government, based in Khartoum, has been accused of backing Arab militias and gangs known as Janja-weed in their fight for control of the region and its resources.
Gesto, 37, first traveled to Sudan in 1996 as part of the Switzerland-based Christian humanitarian organization Medair, shortly after she graduated from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, with a nursing degree. She first took an interest in the country after befriending Bishop Macram Max Gassis of Sudan's El Obeid diocese.
She spent two years in the Upper Nile region before returning to study to become a nurse practitioner — which allows her to prescribe medicine — at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Gesto traveled again to Sudan in 2002 for a two-year stay before returning to the United States in April in order to educate people about Sudan and convince fellow Catholics to help.
She describes a country in which there are almost no cars or roads, and most villages have no running water or electricity. Medicine is scarce and primitive, and refrigeration non-existent.
Living in a Hut
Gesto has been living in a mud hut and working among the Dinka tribe in an area that is several days south and east from Darfur by foot — the common mode of transportation throughout Sudan. She and other Christians who live east of El Obeid are safe, but she believes that Al Bashir has every intention of conquering all regions of Sudan that are protected by rebel groups that organize under the umbrella of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement.
“Your personal safety is something you have to consider before going into Sudan, and it's a concern you have to settle between you and God,” Gesto said. “But this is what God wants me to do, and I can't lead a life doing something other than what God has planned for me just because I want to be safe. How can I not go over there, even if I know I might die of a disease?”
Though Gesto spent her last two-year stint in Sudan at a safe distance from the war's central battlegrounds, she frequently treated, comforted and prayed with black African refugees who escaped Darfur to save their own lives.
“I would meet entire families, with young children, migrating south by foot to escape the violence and persecution, with no resources other than one mosquito net for five people,” Gesto said.
What astonishes her most is that the Sudanese, in their hunger and thirst, seem more interested in hearing the Gospel than in receiving food and drink.
“So many of them don't even know who Jesus is, but they have a hunger for him,” Gesto said. “When they hear about Jesus, they want more. They can't get enough. I have food and medicine for them, and they mostly want more Gospel.”
Gesto, who attends St. John Neumann Parish in Gaithersburg, Md., said she grew up Catholic but didn't understand that Catholics are often called to serve the least fortunate until she attended Franciscan University and began to fully understand her faith.
“I just didn't really get it before I went to Steubenville and became solid in my faith, really understanding it and developing a relationship with God that let me hear what he wants me to do,” Gesto said.
Can't Wait
It costs Gesto about $4,500 a year to live and provide medical services in Sudan — an amount she raises by asking family and friends for donations. She often finds herself serving the poor along with Missionaries of Charity and Ugandan missionary priests, who also provide daily Mass when they're not trying to acquire and serve food and water.
Gesto says she needs help from a few Catholics willing to sacrifice comfort and safety to help the poor and persecuted.
“It's very difficult to find people to go with me,” Gesto said. “A lot of Catholics are interested in helping, but it's as if they're waiting for an organization to come along and facilitate the trip and make things happen. If we wait for a group to solve this, it's never going to happen.”
The bishops of Sudan want organized intervention from the United Nations in order to counter the Janjaweed. In their statement, Sudanese bishops urged the United Nations and the rest of the international community to put pressure on the Sudanese government “not only to halt arming of the Janjaweed, but also to immediately disarm them and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
The statement continued, “If the government of Khartoum is reluctant to assume this responsibility, then we appeal to the international community to intervene immediately.”
Writing in a year when the world marked the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, the bishops said, “The holocaust of the African ethnicity in Darfur is ethnic cleansing.” They urged the U.N. to “assume their responsibilities” in the face of a situation characterized by “terror, rape, torture, murder and slavery.”
As “shepherds and pastors, we cannot ignore the annihilation of an entire ethnic group whatever their creed, gender or clan,” the statement said.
After an early August trip to Darfur, the chairman of the U.S. bishops' international policy committee said there was “no question” that the killings in the Darfur region of Sudan represented ethnic cleansing. Bishop John Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., said the Sudanese government is engaged in a policy to Arabize and Islamize the population.
In a July 30 Security Council resolution, Sudan was given 30 days to show progress in securing Darfur, disarming militias and allowing more aid access, or face possible sanctions.
On Sept. 1, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report to the Security Council that the Sudanese government had made some progress in reining in Janjaweed militias but had failed to fully protect African villagers.
Wayne Laugesen writes from Boulder, Colorado.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Wayne Laugesen ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Judge Casey's Difficult Decision DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:NEW YORK — Pro-lifers across America were shocked that a devout Catholic judge in New York ruled the ban on partial-birth abortion to be unconstitutional.
Judge Richard Casey, a man known to attend daily Mass in Manhattan, in an Aug. 26 decision described partial-birth abortion as “gruesome, brutal, barbaric and uncivilized.” But he also held that the “law of the land” required him to invalidate the ban because it did not include a health exception for mothers.
“We pro-lifers are profoundly disappointed,” said Chris Slattery, president of the New York City crisis pregnancy center Expectant Mother Care. “I had high hopes in the back of my mind during the trial, especially because of his aggressive questions. Here was a Roman Catholic who I thought could give the cause the benefit of a doubt.
It makes you wonder, when you have a highly intelligent Catholic who can't find a way to be pro-life. When can a Catholic judge make a difference?”
Casey's office said he does not comment on cases on which he ruled.
While some Catholic pro-life activists in New York questioned whether Casey should be allowed to receive Communion, pro-life Catholics in the legal profession were less critical of the decision. The common observation was that as a federal district court judge, Casey had little room to maneuver.
“People are surprised and confused,” said Cathy Cleaver Ruse, director of planning and information for the pro-life secretariat of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “I can understand that. But he was following his role as a lower court judge. The Supreme Court has issued mandates regarding abortion, and, as a lower court judge, he does not have the power to overturn them, even if he wanted to. I'd be surprised if anyone faulted him from the standpoint of Catholicism.”
Msgr. William Smith, professor of moral theology at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., suggested that Casey may have “per-formed a real service by forcing this information into the public.”
“I'd be slow to read the riot act to him,” Msgr. Smith said. “The real riot act is with the Supreme Court.”
In fact, some observers believe that Casey may have been trying to give the Supreme Court a strong message with his ruling.
“What he could have been doing,” said Princeton University's Robert George, “is saying to the Supreme Court, ‘You have created a ridiculous body of law. When you get it on appeal, here's your chance to straighten it out.’”
George is the McCormack professor of jurisprudence at Princeton. He believes that applying Catholic teaching regarding public officials is complicated in this case.
“Catholic teaching can be applied in a straightforward way to legislators because they create laws. But judges are asked to interpret laws, not create them. For a lower court judge, the teaching doesn't apply in a direct way. Catholics are not allowed to lie about interpreting the law, even if it means upholding something like abortion or slavery.” Shannen Coffin agrees. He's the deputy assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice who coordinated the government's defense of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in three simultaneous trials in California, New York and Nebraska until returning to private practice.
“The notion that he (Casey) is not a good Catholic is absurd,” Coffin said in an interview. “He's a judge who took an oath under God to uphold the law. He understands his place within the legal cosmos. As a federal district court judge, he is bound by Supreme Court decisions.”
The U.S. government has already appealed a similar decision from a judge in San Francisco. It will likely appeal Casey's ruling as well. Coffin's primary criticism of Casey's ruling was that perhaps he had construed the law “too narrowly.” But if he did, Coffin said, “he did so with a great deal of good faith.”
Casey's decision came after a three-week trial in the case known as National Abortion Federation v. Ashcroft. President George W. Bush signed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act into law in November 2003. Abortion-rights activists immediately protested that it conflicted with three decades of Supreme Court precedents and filed to declare the act unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court case which figured heavily in Casey's decision was Stenberg v. Carhart of 2000. of 2000.
“In Stenberg, the Supreme Court was looking at a Nebraska state statute that banned partial-birth abortion,” Ruse said. “The only exceptions it allowed were for the life of the mother. The Supreme Court said that the life exception was not good enough. There must be a health exception, too.”
With the Stenberg ruling, the new standard was that a health exception is constitutionally mandated when a significant body of medical opinion believes an abortion method “may” be safer for “some” women. Casey heard testimony from doctors who came down on both sides of the question. Some testified that this procedure was never necessary, and others argued that it could be helpful sometimes.
“Basically, you had dueling doctors,” Ruse said. “Casey was bound to apply this crazy Stenberg standard that a division of opinion mandates a health exception.”
As Casey wrote, “The Supreme Court has held that when there is…a division of medical opinion” regarding the relative safety of an abortion method, “a health exception is constitutionally required.”
Professor George, though a believer in Casey's good faith, said he would have ruled the case in a different manner.
He believes there was room under the Roe v. Wade precedent to uphold the Partial Birth Abortion Ban as valid. “As I read the Carhart opinion, which is horrible, Casey reads it as saying that in any difference of opinion, the ruling must go in favor of the abortion procedure,” George said. “I think it doesn't have to be read that way. I'd say that if conflicting evidence is supplied by the witnesses, the law authorizes the judge to decide the question in favor of whom he thinks it should go to, in light of the evidence.”
Discovering the Facts
During the trial, Casey's aggressive questioning of partial-birth abortion proponents frequently was noted in news accounts.
“Throughout the trial, his repulsion for the act was pretty clear,” Ruse said.
One needs only to read through the transcripts of the trial and the decision itself to see how Casey felt about the issue at hand.
“Judge Casey was clearly troubled by the morality, ethics, and purported medical justifications of this abortion method,” Coffin wrote in National Review Online on Aug.
27. “After a three-week trial, he found that D&X abortions ‘subject fetuses to severe pain.’”
“D&X” is shorthand for dilation and extraction, the most common form of partial-birth abortion.
Casey noted that many abortion-ists did not care about the pain experienced by a child being aborted, nor did they convey to their clients that their babies undergo severe pain. He also concluded that many of the justifications given by abortionists for performing partial-birth abortions were “false,” “incoherent” or “merely theoretical.”
A press release by the U.S. bishops' conference on Aug. 26 stated: “Testimony from the ACLU's team of abortion doctors about their methods for killing children in the fifth and sixth months of pregnancy revealed partial-birth abortion to be every bit as real and as horrible as the pro-life community claimed.”
Sabrina Ferrisi writes from Jersey City, New Jersey.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Sabrina Ferrisi ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Pro-Life Platform, Pro-Abortion Speakers DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:NEW YORK — By most accounts, the Republican National Convention produced positive results for Catholics, including a platform which, while not perfect, includes language that maintains the party's pro-life positions and remains consistent with Church teaching on important moral issues.
Even so, Catholic activists expressed deep misgivings over the prominent role abortion supporters played in the proceedings.
James Bopp, a delegate from Indiana and general counsel to the National Right to Life Committee since 1978, has served for 24 years on the committee that crafts the pro-life plank of the Republican platform.
He said the drafting process went better than expected at this convention. The section entitled “Promoting a Culture of Life” generally affirms the party's positions against abortion — including support of a human-life amendment to the Constitution.
“What is really notable is that, for the first time in many years, there wasn't any motion to weaken the plank,” Bopp said. “No statement was made against it, whereas, in the past, we figured that every four years there was going to be a fight … I think (that) illustrates how the pro-life position has become broadly accepted in the party.”
The platform also indicates that President George W. Bush will “vigorously defend the Defense of Marriage Act,” which “reaffirms the right of states not to recognize same-sex marriages licensed in other states.” It encourages abstinence as a healthy choice to prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
And it calls for Congress to enhance current government faith-based and community initiatives.
The issue of stem-cell research is mentioned in a section of the platform that reads: “We strongly support the President's policy that prevents taxpayer dollars from being used to encourage the future destruction of human embryos. In addition, we applaud the president's call for a comprehensive ban on human cloning and on the creation of human embryos solely for experimentation.”
The one aspect of the platform that had some pro-life advocates calling it “less than perfect” was that it allows for the use of some existing embryonic stem cells; it also does not call for restrictions on privately funded stem-cell research.
While the platform was written with specific terms, convention speakers — like the Democrats in Boston — skillfully avoided the use of the “A” word.
Prior to the convention, Father Tadeusz Pacholcyzk of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, an expert on stem-cell research, predicted that speeches would not only avoid using the word abortion, but also eschew the “C” word — cloning.
But some of the loudest applause during President Bush's acceptance speech Sept. 2 came when he said, “We must make a place for the unborn child.” Even louder cheers greeted him when he said he supports “the protection of marriage against activist judges.”
First Lady Laura Bush, in an address Aug. 31, extolled the president's position on stem-cell research this way: “I could talk about the fact that my husband is the first president to provide federal funding for stem-cell research,” she said. “He did so in a principled way, allowing science to explore its potential while respecting the dignity of human life.”
Bill Donahue, president of The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, expected that the Republicans would generally steer clear of mentioning the hot-button social issues. “I don't expect any punctuation here, any emphasis on these moral and social issues,” he said, because the Republicans are “looking to affect the undecideds.”
Prime-time speakers such as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former mayor Rudolph Giuliani seemed to confirm Donahue's hunch.
Schwarzenegger, in his speech Tuesday night, spoke of those who “don't agree with this party on every single issue” but said these individuals could “still be good Americans and good Republicans.”
Steve Wagner isn't so sure that's a bad thing. In 1999, he conducted a poll of Catholic voting behavior for Crisis magazine, showing the difference between self-identified Catholics who no longer practice their faith and Catholics who still go to Mass.
Wagner updated the poll this year and found that respondents still see Bush as “a better representative of Catholic values.”
It also tracked the opinions of undecided voters. “The undecideds have very little positive to say about Kerry,” Wagner said. “They're looking for a reason to vote for Bush.”
Yet some pro-life advocates questioned whether the “widening of the tent” strategy the Republicans apparently are pursuing would turn off pro-family voters.
Prior to a pro-life prayer vigil outside Madison Square Garden Aug. 27, Father Alfred Guthrie of St. Matthias Church in Queens said there is a danger of pro-abortion elements becoming much more prominent in the party. Republicans, he worried, are too concerned about media criticism of any pro-life stand.
The Republican campaign held a number of programs to appeal to Catholic voters, including an event on the last day of the convention which included RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie, Fox News commentator Sean Hannity and Catholic legislators.
Michael Hernon, a councilman in Steubenville, Ohio, said he was impressed with Republican outreach activities in his state. He said that Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas gave talks to Catholic groups throughout Ohio.
Our Saviour Church in Manhattan was chosen as the site of an interfaith prayer service on the morning of the convention's last day, Sept. 2, with President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush in attendance. Father George Rutler, a well-known preacher and writer who is pastor of the Park Avenue church, gave a homily on the divine source of serenity in a storm, such as the terrorist threat the United States continues to face.
“Today, stormy controversies attend questions of biotechnology on the micro level and world politics on the macro level. The answers are not easy, but they are simple: Everything will be fine so long as human rights respect the rights of God,” he said. “The deepest question is, ‘Why did God make you?’ The simplest answer that calms every storm is this: ‘God made me to know him, to love him and to serve him in this world, and to be happy with him for ever in heaven.’”
In an interview, Father Rutler remarked that the president, a devout Christian, “isn't wearing his religion on his sleeve” for the purpose of gathering votes.
Rather, he said, “he is almost forced to bring faith and religion into political discourse because of the kind of issues we are facing today, such as same-sex marriage, stem-cell research, prayer in schools, display of religious principles in public places, abortion, the war in Iraq and the death penalty.”
Two Catholic bishops gave benedictions during the convention. Bishop Emeritus Rene Gracida of Corpus Christi, Texas, after Vice President Dick Cheney's speech Sept. 1, prayed for the guidance of the Holy Spirit on voters, that through their choices they may “strengthen our nation in the service of goodness and truth.”
And Cardinal Edward Egan, archbishop of New York, followed President Bush's acceptance speech and closed the convention with a prayer that God make the American people “holy, as you are holy.”
Steven McDonnell writes from New York.
----- EXCERPT: Presidential Campaign 2004 ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven Mcdonnell ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Keyes Gets Mixed Reviews DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — From the time Illinois Republicans named former U.N. ambassador Alan Keyes as their candidate for the U.S. Senate, his detractors have stuck him with the “carpetbagger” label he affixed to Hillary Clinton when she entered the Senate race in New York.
They ask why her candidacy represented “the destruction of federalism,” as Keyes claimed at the time, if his move from Maryland to Illinois did not.
He says he's glad they asked.
“I was called into this race, and that respects the sovereignty of the people, which is one side of federalism,” Keyes explained to the Register. “What I have to show is that I have come into this state to defend the other side of federalism, the principles of our national union. And that's what I'm doing, because on the deepest issue of principles, Barack Obama has taken the most extreme position possible.”
Obama is Keyes' opponent in the race for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring conservative Republican Peter Fitzgerald.
The contest is one between two black intellectuals with opposite worldviews. Obama has been called as liberal as Keyes is conservative. Both are Harvard trained and known as gifted speakers.
Obama took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to deliver a keynote speech that launched him to a new level of party stardom. Keyes occupied many stages nationally to debate candidates over the course of two presidential campaigns — debates that established him as a force to be reckoned with.
“He's one of the best rhetoricians in America,” columnist Jonah Goldberg wrote of Keyes. “Off the cuff, he can articulate very conservative positions on everything from abortion to the United Nations better than most politicians can in prepared speeches.”
His oratorical style is considered either fiery or shrill, eloquent or abrasive.
“Alan Keyes is extremely articulate and tells it like it is,” said William Beckman, a Chicago pro-life advocate. “When the general populace has an opportunity to hear what he has to say, they'll hear the truth. He certainly has thoughtful answers on just about any issue.”
Beckman has produced a candidate survey for his parish, St. George in Tinley Park, listing the positions of major candidates on life, marriage, national security, religious freedom, school choice and other issues. “I'm just convinced that when people are able to look at something that clearly shows, on the record, what politicians believe, they'll stop voting like robots and ask, ‘Is that really what that person stands for?’”
‘Issue to be Heard’
Keyes hopes so. “I know for a fact that there are many, many people who care deeply about abortion issues and the moral principles that are involved, about the destruction of the moral fabric of our country, the undermining of the foundation of the family and the destruction of the moral basis of education,” he said.
Nonetheless, voices on the right and left have said Keyes has little chance of winning.
“The Republican nomination of Alan Keyes has all the marks of a placeholder candidacy: He's not on the ballot to win, but to help turn out a conservative base that will help GOP candidates in other contests,” wrote National Review political reporter John Miller. “Democratic state senator Barack Obama is all but guaranteed victory in November.”
Not so fast, says Dolores Grier, former vice chancellor of the Archdiocese of New York and co-host of EWTN's series “Black & Catholic.”
She believes Keyes' views are widely shared in the black community. “Despite the fact that many blacks are Democrat, they're conservative on many issues,” she said. “Most black ministers are pro-life, but don't want to get involved in the movement. Keyes entering this race will be good for that movement, because the issue will be heard now, and people will be enlightened.”
Keyes entered the race with a loud declaration to make that the central issue. He accused Obama of representing “the slaveholder's position” on abortion, depriving the unborn of their equal rights. “I believe that the No. 1 issue facing this country is the collapse of the moral foundation of our liberty, and the issue that epitomizes that destruction is abortion.”
The political wing of Illinois Citizens for Life couldn't be happier with this candidacy, forcing the issue onto a prominent stage.
“Alan Keyes will energize grass-roots pro-life people and help pro-life candidates,” said Illinois Citizens for Life political action committee chairman Ralph Rivera. “He articulates the position so well. His political handlers might say, ‘Don't spend so much time on that issue,’ but this is where his heart is.”
If Keyes has handlers, they are challenged.
“Saying the abortion issue should be played equal to every other issue is like in 1854 saying the slavery issue is equal to whether you should build canals,” Keyes said. “This is untrue. We're going to talk about other issues, but life is about priorities. … I want the people of this state, without equivocation, to choose between someone who fights to save innocent life and someone who is willing to stand by coldly while it is destroyed. Candidates haven't been willing to do this, to look black Christians in the eye and say, ‘You say this on Sunday; why aren't you voting it when Tuesday comes around?’ I'm not going to let them off the hook.”
Earlier in the campaign season, Obama called for six Lincoln-Douglas style debates. Now, with Keyes as his opponent, Obama has asked for three or fewer debates. The debates are eagerly anticipated by political observers far beyond Illinois, with United Press International calling this “a contest of intellect.”
Whoever wins, Illinois will have the only black U.S. senator. Keyes' entry into the contest has taken race off the table as a wedge issue. “That is one of the keys to this election, to break the Democrats' hold on that community,” he said. “You can't be seen to make appeals that are opportunistic. They have to grow out of the person you are.”
Sheila Gribben Liaugminas writes from Chicago.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Sheila G. Liaugminas ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: She Resigned in Protest Over Massachusetts Marriages DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Linda Gray Kelley resigned in protest as a justice of the peace in Massachusetts.
She and other justices of the peace thought they would have a “con-science clause” when the Massachusetts Supreme Court ordered the state to legalize homosexual “marriage.” But once the law was changed, they were told that they had no choice. They could either perform same-sex marriages or become criminally guilty of discrimination.
Kelley stood up for her beliefs, then walked out. Raised in Cleveland, Kelley has been married for 25 years and has long been active in her parish, St. Joseph's in Charlton, Mass. She spoke to Register correspondent Joseph A. D'Agostino.
Have you been active in the Church your whole adult life?
I went to the convent directly after high school back in the 60s. That's kind of the way it was done. I went into the Ursuline convent where I was for two years. It was during a very volatile time in religious life throughout the country. The Vietnam war, the civil rights movement, the ecumenical council were causing things to be wild, and not only in seminaries but in convents.
I was in the novitiate, and 23 of us went in and 20 of us came out during that time. Finally, many convents nationwide, as well as seminaries, decided for three to five years they would stop accepting new applicants. When have you ever heard the Church saying we aren't taking anybody for a while?
When I came out of the convent, I was away from the Church for a while because when I left, I had a bad taste in my mouth. I didn't like the things that were said to me. I was young and passionate, and I didn't think I was understood.
So I stayed away from the Church for about 15 years. That's a long time. For a while now, I've been in charge of a group at my church called Re-Membering. And ReMembering is a national movement to work with alienated Catholics and get them back to their Catholic roots. It involves a lot of missionary work.
There was a time when I was mad at the Catholic Church myself. I thought, why did I come back?
And all these other churches were making overtures to me. And you know what? They looked real good. They had the fellowship that I wanted, they had the praise that I wanted.
There's just one thing missing.
They don't have the Eucharist. For the last 2,004 years, there have been problems. And I'm not going to change religions because of the human element. I'm in it for the divine element.
Given that the Church does say that people should be married in church, how do you defend being a justice of the peace?
Father Bob Grattaroti, my pastor, said, “You know how you do evangelization all the time? This is going to put you in front of a lot of couples.” When couples would come to me, I would say to them, “Tell me about yourself. Tell me what kind of wedding you would like to have.”
They would tell me and I would say, “Would you want any mention of God in your ceremony?” They would say Yes or they would say, “No, we're atheists” or Buddhists or whatever they were.
I would say, “Do you mind if I ask what religion you were raised?”
If they say, I was raised Baptist or I was raised Congregational or Unitarian, I would say, “I'm just curious, why aren't you going to the Unitarian church to get married?” And then usually you hear this big long ugly story. And I would just listen and then I would say, “I just want you to know that I am more than happy to go forward with this, and I would love to do your ceremony for you. However, if you have an interest in being reconciled with the Congregational church, my friend Jim Chafe is a minister over there …”
What I would always do is use the platform to say, “One last chance!”
When did you first start to think you might have to resign?
It was last fall. I would go to these Massachusetts Justices of the Peace Association meetings. There would be breakfasts on a Sunday morning. Everybody would be asking questions about it, and the president of the association would say, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know you guys are worried about it, but you know what? It's going to be okay because we have the website and we're going to list these user-friendly justices of the peace. ‘Call these user-friendly justices of the peace if you want a same-sex marriage.’ We're going to set it up so there are hundreds to pick from.”
There are 1,200 justices of the peace in the state, 500 in the association.
Then we have another meeting in February, and now they said, “We're figuring out what we're going to do here. If you're a conscientious objector, if you have a problem with doing this, don't worry. There's going to be room for everybody.”
On April 26, Dan Winslow, chief legal counsel to Gov. Mitt Romney, came to speak to the association.
We had two speakers. The first guy spoke on discrimination. He said, “I just want you to know that I'm with the Office of Discrimination and if any of you for any reason decide not to do your job like marry a same-sex couple, that you will get sued for $1 million. If they go through my agency, it will be $25,000, but because this is a high-profile case, they will hire private attorneys and go to the state Supreme Court, and you will be found guilty of discrimination.”
He said, “And don't come to us for help. We are always on the side of the victim.”
Dan Winslow made his speech — a three-minute speech. He said, “So on May 17, when same-sex ‘marriages’ are made legal in Massachusetts, you took an oath. You said you would uphold the laws of Massachusetts. And so you have to. And so I want everybody in this room to just go and do it. There will be no exceptions.”
I resigned the next day, April 27. I did take an oath. It is the law. It's a bad law, but it is the law. I knew then that I was going to have to quit. Winslow ended with this line: “You just don't have a choice.”
I was appalled. And I thought to myself, “You know what, Linda, you always have a choice. You learned that in second grade. It's called free will. And if this isn't sitting right with you, with the Church, with the Bible, with any of that stuff, the choice is to cease being a justice of the peace.”
After the speech, there was a break and I rushed up and I said, “Where do I send my letter of resignation?” And all the cameras went from the guy over to me. My husband sees me talking to this guy. My husband grabs my arm and walks me politely out to the parking lot.
He says, “What are you about?” And I said, “I'm quitting.” And he said, “Oh, thank God. I thought you would never give up.” I said, “Honey, it's a no-brainer.”
I felt I had to quit. When St. Peter is going through the litany of my sins, if he says to me, “You know when that thing was going on? Where were you in all that? You've got a big mouth; why didn't you stand up and be counted as someone who said this is wrong?” And that was the haunting thing.
Joseph A. D'Agostino writes from Washington, D.C.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph A. D' Agostino ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Teens Adjusting to Life Teen Changes DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:WOODLANDS, Texas — During the four years he was a high school student and a Life Teen member at his church, Joshua Gautreau used to gather in front of the altar with several hundred other teen-agers, standing just several feet away from the priest during the Eucharistic Prayer.
It led to a greater appreciation of the Eucharist, he said. Gautreau, 19, is now a core team member of the Life Teen program at a different church, St. Anthony of Padua Church in Woodlands, Texas.
Life Teen is an international Catholic ministry that encourages teen-agers to get closer to Christ. During a typical Life Teen Mass, the liturgy is geared toward teens, with a rock band providing upbeat music.
But, starting this fall, some changes will occur in about 950 parishes that use Life Teen as their youth ministry program. Msgr. Dale Fushek, Life Teen's founder and director of special projects for the Diocese of Phoenix, announced last month that, in accordance with the new General Instruction of the Roman Missal, Life Teen is asking that all who participate in their Masses conform to the following:
The teens won't be allowed to enter the sanctuary during the Eucharistic Prayer because that location is reserved for the celebrating priest, concelebrants and those in a specific ministry.
The phrase that Life Teen has advocated to end the liturgy — “The Mass never ends, it must be lived” — cannot be used.
After music practice and a welcome, there should be a period of silence before the liturgical celebration starts.
The music must not detract from the action at the ambo, altar or chair.
Msgr. Fushek, the pastor at St. Timothy's in Mesa, Arizona, where the Life Teen Mass originated 19 years ago, acknowledged the changes might be difficult for some parishes and teens. But he emphasized in the letter that was sent to all Life Teen programs that “our cooperation with Rome and the (U.S. bishops' committee on the liturgy) will only enhance our liturgical celebrations and our mission in the Church.”
He also advocated obedience to the local bishops and said that the General Instruction should be fully implemented by Oct. 1 and “accomplished with a spirit of joy.”
Gautreau, who spent a year in the seminary after high school, said the new liturgical directives make sense. “They don't come out with random stuff,” he said, referring to the Vatican. “They spend a lot of time discerning about that.”
Discussions in Rome
Life Teen was a topic of discussion when Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix was in Rome for his “ad limina” visit — to report on the state of the diocese — earlier this year.
“Since arriving in Phoenix as its new bishop, I have been able to see first hand how Life Teen is touching so many teen-agers through the liturgy, and the positive impact of its mission is now felt worldwide,” Bishop Olmsted said in a statement released to the Register. He cited the apostolate for its work for vocations, commitment to Pope John Paul II as its role model and Mary as its patron.
In Rome, he discussed Life Teen with Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship, whom he described as “supportive” of the apostolate. Cardinal Arinze also has been a major proponent of liturgical reform.
The bishop also met with Msgr. James Moroney, executive director of the U.S. bishops' liturgy committee, who said he was pleased that Life Teen was “humbly seeking” the will of the Church in conducting its Masses in accordance with the new General Instruction.
Msgr. Moroney said that, by submitting to the Church, Life Teen sets an example of what the Holy Father has been seeking in the celebration of Mass: “To look carefully at the liturgical practices that may have crept into our lives and to humbly embrace an authentic celebration of the liturgy as the Church gives it to us.”
Life Teen officials recently sent out a training video to parishes to make sure people are catechized as to what the changes are, said Msgr. Fushek in his letter.
Phil Baniewicz, Life Teen's president, predicted that “some people will be disappointed” with the restrictions. “Some teen-agers have a profound experience of the Eucharist maybe being closer around the altar,” he said. But he added that the Church “in her wisdom has a much better perspective than myself or anyone in Life Teen. We always submit to the authority of the Church.”
Baniewicz recently told the St. Louis Review, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, that the changes would reflect a uniformity with the way Mass is celebrated universally.
Bob McCarty, executive director of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, said adolescents live in their own world with their own symbols and music. But they also belong to the body of Christ, he said. It's important that they learn not only about their own personal spirituality, but also what it means to belong to community, he said.
“When there are changes in the Church, we have to help young people understand that part of being in a large community like this, you have to know the community's traditions and teachings,” he said.
Barbara Beale, director of youth ministry at St. Anthony of Padua in Woodlands, Texas, didn't think the changes would affect her teens. For one thing, there is always a pause for silence before the Mass begins, she said, and her teens don't actually gather around the altar during the eucharistic prayer. About 300 usually stand, in a semicircle and usually three to four rows deep, on one of the three steps that lead up to the altar, she said.
“I think…they will want to do what's best for the liturgy,” she said. “If that's what Rome and the bishops are asking to bring everything into agreement and accordance, the kids will follow suit.”
“It doesn't matter if you're sitting in the front pew or the back pew — it's all the Eucharist,” Gautreau said. “As long as you're in the right state of mind, it's still the same presence.”
Carlos Briceno writes from Seminole, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceno ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Reuters Executive ‘Appalled’ by Email Remarks
According to Howard Kurtz's “Media Notes” in The Washington Post, Todd Eastham's email to Johnson asked: “What's your plan for parenting and educating all the unwanted children you people want to bring into the world? Who will pay for policing our streets & maintaining the prisons needed to contain them when you, their parents & the system fail them? Oh, sorry. All that money has been earmarked to pay off the Bush deficit. Give me a … break, will you?”
David Schlesinger, Reuters' global managing editor and head of editorial operations, told the Register that he was “appalled by the incident” and that it has been “handled robustly through our internal disciplinary process.” He quoted the wire service's code of conduct, which forbids employees from taking sides.
Said Schlesinger, “Freedom from bias is integral to all that Reuters represents, and I intend to keep it that way.”
Vatican Won't ‘Bully’
But attendees at the Conference of Women Religious and the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, in the words of the Dallas daily, “urged one another not to allow the Church to be hijacked by seemingly dictatorial pronouncements by a conservative hierarchy” and to be “bold, prophetic and, when necessary, even defiant.”
Attendees were told “not to be cowed into silence by the Vatican on issues such as the role of women in the Church and priests who wanted the celibacy rule lifted.” Not all were on board with the defiant agenda. Sister of Charity Constance Phelps, president of the sisters' conference, apparently recalled the original purpose of the gathering when she said, “In the face of escalating violence, let us be the face of escalating love.”
Bill's Bucks Help Usher in California Stem Cells
The wire service did not say how much Gates contributed but noted that the $27 billion Gates Foundation is one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the world committed to curing disease. “Bill believes in the promise of science and research and development to create new ways to improve health and well being around the world,” a family spokesman said.
While the campaign to defeat Proposition 71 has received only $15,000 so far, EBay Inc. founder Omar Omidyar and his wife gave $1 million. Savings and loan billionaires, venture capitalists, Hollywood celebrities and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation have also made big contributions to the pro-stem-cell campaign.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: In New York, Pro-Lifers Target GOP and its Opponents DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:NEW YORK — At the Democratic National Convention in Boston, members of Democrats for Life and other pro-life advocates protested in the streets because of their party's adamant pro-abortion stance.
Pro-life advocates also turned out in force for the Republican National Convention, but to counter-demonstrate in the midst of tens of thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets against President George W. Bush and his party's policies.
The scores of pro-life demonstrators and hundreds of pro-life advocates also seemed to be sending a message to a Republican Party that gave convention prime-time speaking spots to so-called “moderates” like former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who support legal abortion.
It began with prayer Aug. 27, as clergy and active lay people from across the religious spectrum gathered for a peaceful Friday-night candlelight prayer vigil in front of Madison Square Garden, where the convention would open three days later.
Organizers said they were fortunate to be the last group to have access to the area before it was closed to the public; they obtained a court order from the city to be able to hold the service.
As the pro-lifers arrived, a few bystanders with anti-Bush slogans on their shirts shouted from across the barriers: “It's a woman's right to choose” and “It's their bodies, their choice.” Some of the pro-lifers engaged them briefly before the prayers began.
The vigil was led by Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue; Paul and Rob Schenck, twin brothers who run a Christian outreach to members of the federal government; and Chris Slattery, the Catholic founder and president of Expectant Mother Care, a network of New York crisis pregnancy centers.
The group of about 50 got down on their knees — some on metal street gratings — to pray for peace, the rights of the unborn and safety during a convention threatened with acts of terrorism and civil disobedience.
Scriptural passages were read, and one participant blew a shofar, the ram's horn sounded on Jewish holy days such as Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
Throughout the rest of the week, pro-lifers took up strategic positions at pro-abortion rallies and marches. They stationed themselves on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge Aug. 28 as a sea of marchers headed for a rally at City Hall, picketed against an anarchist march on Madison Square Garden Aug. 29 and held a prayer vigil at Ground Zero that afternoon.
Confrontations
They also let their feelings be known at a few soirees for pro-abortion Republicans.
On Aug. 30, they demonstrated in front of Planned Parenthood's “Stand Up for Choice: Big Tent Republicans for Choice Extravaganza,” a variety show held at the Beacon Theater. While 50 to 60 pro-lifers picketed outside, some attempted to enter the event. Slattery purchased four tickets and was about to go in when he was identified.
“Suddenly I was surrounded by four security guards who said if I didn't leave right away I'd be forcibly removed,” he said.
A similar demonstration the group held in front of a Republicans for Choice black-tie fundraiser at the SkyClub, sponsored by New York Gov. George Pataki and New York City Mayor Michael Bloom-berg, went by with less incident, Slattery said.
There was some back-and-forth between the 50 or so pro-life activists and half a dozen pro-abortion demonstrators, Slattery said, with the pro-abortion group shouting “pro-choice!” and the pro-life side completing the thought by responding, “… kills babies.”
As if to send a message to the Republican Party, several hundred people gathered at Tavern on the Green, a ritzy Central Park bistro, Sept. 1 for what was billed as the “Life of the Party party.” The Republican National Coalition for Life honored several pro-life congressmen, including Catholics Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas and Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey.
The events elicited much media attention for the pro-lifers, who had more than 150 interviews with press from all over the world, Slattery said.
Throughout the convention, there were reports of anti-Bush demonstrators showing up at events and delegates' hotels, doing their best to make them feel unwelcome and even spitting on delegates entering Madison Square Garden.
Protesters were arrested for parading naked in front of the building, their bodies marked with slogans. Anti-war activists carried inflatable dolls of Bush in camouflage and with an elongated Pinocchio nose — and accompanying fliers with the slogan “Bush Lies — Who Dies?”
The day before the convention opened, a group called United for Peace and Justice led a march with a crowd that some estimated at 500,000 people.
On the first night of the convention, various activists chanted slogans and crushed against barricades on 34th Street, on Seventh Avenue. Amid the chaos, an anti-Catholic pamphlet called “Earth's Final Warning” was distributed on the street.
Delegates interviewed by the Register reported a few negative encounters. Dr. Allen Unruh of South Dakota, an ardent pro-lifer, said that when he went to Ground Zero with his wife, they were taunted by protestors who were ringing tiny bells continuously to express their opposition to the war in Iraq.
He said he answered them by saying that “the Liberty Bell meant the ability to express your opinion freely.” Throughout the convention, Unruh distributed pamphlets promoting abstinence.
James Bopp, a delegate and a member of the party's platform committee, played a key role in crafting the pro-life plank. He said Aug. 31 that he had experienced just one incident. While waiting in line to enter an event hosted by Gotham's Grand Old Party, someone called him a bigot and asked, “Why do you hate gay people?”
“It was the first time anyone had been anything but courteous,” said Bopp, a pro-life attorney from Indiana. “I said, ‘Sir, you're being childish.’”
Steven McDonnell writes from New York.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven Mcdonnell ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Black Leaders Back Catholic University DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:MANASSAS, Va. — Black and Catholic leaders have issued a statement in support of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., for its refusal to recognize and fund a student chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The Cardinal Newman Society released the statement Sept. 6. Catholic University denied the group's request this spring, citing the civil rights organization's support for legal abortion. Signers of the statement, who included Father Robert Stoeckig, vicar general of the Diocese of Las Vegas, and several officials of diocesan black Catholic ministry offices, rejected NAACP president Kweisi Mfume's charge that CUA's decision was “racist.” They called on the NAACP to cancel its threats of legal retaliation.
Stating that a black child is twice as likely to be a victim of abortion as a white child, the signers charged: “It is the NAACP's position that ignores the plight of African Americans who are disproportionately victimized by abortion.”
Student clubs that already exist at CUA, including two devoted to black concerns, can “carry on the struggle for civil rights without affiliation with the NAACP,” they said.
(Register staff)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Russian Orthodox Icon Returns from Rome DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:MOSCOW — An icon held sacred by Pope John Paul II has been returned to Russia as a gesture of good will intended to help bridge the long-standing divide between the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches.
The ornate relic, an 18th-century copy of the Mother of God of Kazan, was delivered to Patriarch Alexei II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, following a liturgy Aug. 28 in Assumption Cathedral on the grounds of the Kremlin.
The icon was placed on a pedestal to the right of the altar in the legendary gray limestone church, where Patriarch Alexei marked the feast of the Dormition of Mary, the Byzantine equivalent of Mary's assumption into heaven.
“This sacred image traveled a long and difficult path across many countries and cities of the world. Catholics and Christians of other confessions prayed before it,” the patriarch, wearing a blue robe embroidered with gold, told several hundred Orthodox faithful.
For more than a decade, the icon — which was spirited out of the country after the Bolshevik revolution — hung over the desk of the Pope. John Paul had hoped to deliver it personally, but Patriarch Alexei has resisted such a visit.
Instead, some 5,000 people gathered Aug. 25 in the Vatican's audience hall to see off the 12-inch-by-10-inch relic, which was delivered in a special wooden case, sealed with wax, by a Vatican delegation headed by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington also was part of the delegation.
Marian Unity
The patriarch said that the homage to Mary in both churches “reminds us of ancient times and undivided churches.” During the three-hour ceremony, he added that he hoped that the overture by the Pope “attests to the firm wish of the leadership of the Vatican to return to sincere relations of mutual respect between our churches — relations that would be devoid of hostile rivalry, but would fulfill the wishes to help each other in brotherhood.”
Since the early 1990s, Russian Orthodox leaders have accused the Vatican of proselytizing in Russia and failing to stop what they characterize as discrimination against Orthodoxy by Byzantine Catholics in western Ukraine. Both issues will need to be addressed before the first Slavic pope in history can set foot in the most important Slavic country in the world, said Father Vsevolod Chaplin, the Russian Orthodox spokesman.
Pope John Paul sent a message to Patriarch Alexei:
“Despite the division which sadly still persists between Christians, this sacred icon appears as a symbol of the unity of the followers of the only-begotten Son of God, the one to whom she herself leads us,” the message said in part.
Patriarch Alexei placed the return of the icon in the following context in an interview with Itar-Tass, a Russian news agency: “Over the past decade, we have observed the return to the motherland of many icons and church plates that were lost in the country during the years of repression against the Russian Orthodox Church, and this copy is one among them.
“Still, we hope that the matter isn't limited to the transfer of the icon, that this act will be followed by others, and that our relationship will improve,” the patriarch said.
Thanks
In a written message to Pope John Paul, Patriarch Alexei thanked him for the icon's return and called the gesture “a step in the right direction.”
“I believe that your decision to hand over the icon points to the sincere desire to overcome the difficulties existing in relations between our two churches,” the patriarch wrote the Pope.
A copy of an icon — what Latin Catholics would call a “sacramental” — while something less than the original, can also be an occasion for grace, depending on the disposition of the believer who venerates it, said Father Sergio Mercanzin, director of the Russian Ecumenical Center in Rome.
The Mother of God of Kazan is one of the most revered — and most copied — icons in Russian Orthodoxy. According to legend, when a fire almost completely destroyed the city of Kazan in 1579, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a young girl and told her to dig in the ashes of her burned home; the girl found the icon, and it became one of the most revered Russian images of Mary. It has been credited with working many miracles, including the repulsion of an invasion by Poles in the 17th century, and was said to be cherished by Peter the Great.
The original — which, like the copies, shows the faces of Mary and an infant Jesus beneath a gilded silver cover inlaid with precious stones — vanished in 1904 from the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan in what is now St. Petersburg.
To this day, the fate of the icon is disputed. Some believe it is being held in secret abroad, while others point to a police report indicating that it was burned by a thief in whose home were found valuable stones and, in the fireplace, the remains of an icon.
Patriarch Alexei said the icon from the Vatican will be housed in his private chapel.
“If a monastery were to be reconstructed on the site of the appearance of the miracle-working icon in Kazan — where now, unfortunately, sits a tobacco factory — then the (eventual) transfer of this icon to Kazan cannot be excluded,” he said.
As far as a papal visit to Russia, the patriarch said, “For now, that possibility does not present itself.”
Father Igor Kovalevsky, secretary-general of the Russian bishops' conference, told radio station Ekho Moskvy that he hoped the return of the icon would at least bring Catholics and Orthodox closer together.
Said Father Kovalevsky, “Regardless of all our differences, which, over the course of centuries, have aggravated tensions between our confessions, we nevertheless believe in the same God and the same Jesus Christ.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Bryon Macwilliams ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:More Miracles Attributed to Mother Teresa
“Only one more miracle is necessary,” Missionaries of Charity superior general Sister Nirmala told reporters at the order's mother house in Calcutta. “The postulator's office in Rome has received some testimonies …They are going through the testimonies and will have to select the best.”
Mother Teresa was beatified last October, on the basis of a confirmed miracle involving an Indian woman who was cured of an abdominal tumor after seeking the Albanian-born nun's intercession.
Sister Nirmala said the Missionaries of Charity have received accounts of other miracles that have not yet been sent to the Vatican for investigation. Promised Sister Nirmala, “We will do so soon.”
Jailed Palestinians Appeal to John Paul
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Aug. 24 — A Bethlehem-based Palestinian prisoners' association has appealed to Pope John Paul II to intervene on behalf of thousands of Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli prisons, the French news service reported.
In an Aug. 24 letter to the Pope, prisoners' association president Issa Qaraqea said the inmates are being subjected to “a campaign of repression and unjustifiable violence.”
The letter said, “The policies of the Israeli government are designed to leave the prisoners to die by ignoring their demands and repressing them.”
At the time the letter was sent, approximately 4,000 imprisoned Palestinians were entering the second week of a hunger strike. The prisoners' demands include visiting rights and an end to “intrusive” body and cell searches.
Milosevic Blames Vatican for Balkan Wars
DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR, Aug. 31 — In the opening statement of his defense against war crimes charges, former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic said the Vatican was partly responsible for the ethnic conflict that led to the breakup of the Balkan nation in the 1990s.
Milosevic, 63, is being tried in The Hague, Netherlands, by an international tribunal on charges stemming from the civil wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo .
Milosevic, who is Serbian, accused the Vatican of harboring a longstanding anti-Serb prejudice, citing alleged Vatican actions against Serbia in World War I. He also accused Germany and the United Nations of conspiring against Serbian interests, Deutsche PresseAgentur reported.
Presiding judge Patrick Robinson told Milosevic not to spend too much time on history, as little of it would count as admissible evidence in the trial.
Robust Pope Prays for Persecuted Christians
ANSA ENGLISH MEDIA SERVICE, Aug. 29 — Addressing pilgrims gathered in the courtyard of his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, Pope John Paul II offered prayers Aug. 29 for persecuted Christians, whom he said were heroes in their everyday lives.
According to the ANSA news service, “The Pope looked decidedly better than in recent weeks: He smiled frequently and spoke in a clear voice as he addressed the faithful.”
The report said, “The Pope appeared extremely happy when a group of pilgrims from his native Poland chanted a new version of a traditional song, ‘sto Lat,’ wishing him a life of 100 years.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED Vatican ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Pope to Youth: Become Third Millennium Magi DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II's message for the next World Youth Day, to be held in Cologne, Germany, is a heartfelt plea for young people to turn away from idolatry and embrace the true God through the worship of Christ.
World Youth Day will take place in August 2005, during the Year of the Eucharist that will begin with the Oct. 10-17 International Eucharistic Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico.
In his Aug. 26 message, released a year ahead of the event to enable young people to spiritually prepare themselves, the Pope calls on youth to be “worshippers of the only true God, giving him pride of place in your lives.”
John Paul continues: “My dear young people, do not yield to false illusions and passing fads which so frequently leave behind a tragic spiritual vacuum. Reject the seduction of wealth, consumerism and the subtle violence sometimes used in the mass media.
“Worship Christ,” the Holy Father says. “He is the rock on which to build your future and a world of greater justice and solidarity.”
And the Holy Father advocates the imitation of the spirit of the Magi who set out “boldly along unknown paths on a long and by no means easy journey” but who “did not hesitate to leave everything behind to follow the star that they had seen in the East.”
“It's a very beautiful message as it compares young people with the Three Kings,” said Father Francis Kohn, head of the Vatican's youth section. “The Magi are searching for truth, and the message is telling young people that it is possible for them to do so, too.”
Cologne has a special history concerning the Magi. Their relics are believed to have been transferred from Constantinople, possibly late in the fifth century, to Milan and to Cologne Cathedral in the 12th century where they have been housed since in a gold shrine built on the high altar.
“We are very glad that the Pope has pointed out the rich tradition of the Three Magi,” said Matthias Kopp, spokesman for World Youth Day 2005. “It's important that the Pope engages all young people in starting their pilgrimage now.”
For Father Kohn, the emphasis on worshipping Christ in the Eucharist is particularly significant because of the signs of the renewal in Eucharistic adoration in the U.S. and Europe. It's also important for this generation to “rediscover the sacraments, the Eucharist in particular,” he said.
Another person who is hoping the message's emphasis on worship will attract youth is Father Terry Quelquejay, chaplain of Rome's Emmanuel School. The school's mission is to help young adults to lead authentically Christian lives.
Said Father Quelquejay, “I hope the adoration theme of the message will draw more young people to Eucharistic adoration and to discover what it means.”
Another noteworthy feature of the World Youth Day message is John Paul's explicit appeal to non-Christians. “This is the first time that the Pope says that the world is not just for Christians and the baptized,” said Father Kohn, who works at the Pontifical Council for the Laity. “He's saying there is a possibility for every person, every soul to have a great desire to find truth and peace.”
As exemplary models of those who have made that intellectual journey, the Holy Father refers to the “Saints of Cologne” who fully committed themselves to search for the truth. In particular, he highlights St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross —otherwise known as Edith Stein — and St. Albert the Great.
St. Teresa was an atheist of Jewish descent who converted to Catholicism through her study and knowledge of philosophy and later joined the Carmelites in Cologne. Another resident of the city for many years, medieval scholar St. Albert the Great was the teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas and is patron of the natural sciences.
The Pope emphasized that both saints demonstrated how faith and reason are linked and seek each other. “It's important that this generation understand this,” Father Kohn said. “They show that there is the possibility to find Jesus Christ through a human, rational process, and so become committed (to the faith).”
Preparations for World Youth Day begin in earnest this month within youth committees of the world's bishops' conferences, especially in Germany. The Vatican is working closely with the committees and is preparing to issue invitations to the world's bishops. In 2002, 550 bishops attended Toronto's World Youth Day, and even more are expected next year.
Cologne is gearing up for a gathering of more than 800,000 young people in an event unprecedented in Germany, both in the secular world and in the Church.
“It's always a big event,” Father Kohn said. “It's an opportunity to give a new image to the world of a Church that is always young and near to people amid the world's difficulties.” He called the occasion a “great possibility for renewal in the German Church.”
Matthias Kopp agreed: “We hope that after WYD, Germany's youth will hold on to a new idea of faith and spirituality.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Idolatry Is a Temptation for All Mankind DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Register Summary
During his general audience on Sept. 1, Pope John Paul II encouraged Christians to resist any temptation to idolatry, whether it be wealth, power or success. The Holy Father made his remarks during a meditation on Psalm 115 as part of his ongoing series of teachings on the psalms and canticles of the Liturgy of the Hours.
In Psalm 115, the chosen people recognize their God as the all-powerful creator of heaven and earth, who is different in all ways from any pagan idol. “Faithfulness and love are the virtues that are characteristic of the God of the covenant in relationship to Israel — his chosen people,” Pope John Paul II said. “Therefore, both the universe and history are under his rule, which is the power of love and salvation.”
In Psalm 115, a contrast is made between the concept of the true God and the worship of idols. “Idolatry is a temptation for all mankind everywhere and at all times,” the Holy Father noted. “Whoever adores the idols of wealth, power and success loses his dignity as a human person.” It is only by looking to the true God, the Holy Father went on to say, that we receive in ourselves the characteristics of God's nature and the strength we need to resist the enticement of the idols of this world.
The living God and a lifeless idol are confronted in Psalm 115, which we just heard and which is a part of the series of psalms in the Liturgy of the Hours' evening prayer. The ancient Greek translation of the Bible, the Septuagint, which the Latin version of the ancient Christian liturgy follows, combines this psalm in honor of the true Lord with the preceding psalm. The result is a single work, which, however, is clearly divided in two distinct texts (see Psalms 114 and 115).
After some opening words, which are addressed to the Lord to attest to his glory, the chosen people present their God as the omnipotent Creator: “Our God is in heaven; whatever God wills is done.” (Psalm 115:3). Faithfulness and love are the virtues that are characteristic of the God of the covenant in relationship to Israel — his chosen people (see verse 1). Therefore, both the universe and history are under his rule, which is the power of love and salvation.
Temptation of Idolatry
Immediately, a contrast is made between “the work of human hands” (verse 4) and the true God that Israel worships. Idolatry is a temptation for all mankind, everywhere and at all times. An idol is an inanimate object that is the work of man's hands, a cold statue that is deprived of life. With a certain irony, the psalmist describes it by listing its seven totally useless members: a mouth that is silent, eyes that are blind, ears that are deaf, a nose that does not smell, hands that do not feel, feet that are paralyzed and a throat that does not make a sound (see verses 5-7).
After his merciless criticism of idols, the psalmist makes a sarcastic remark: “Their makers shall be like them, all who trust in them” (verse
8). His desire, expressed in a way that is surely effective, is to make a radical effort to dissuade anyone from idolatry. Whoever adores the idols of wealth, power and success loses his dignity as a human person. As the prophet Isaiah said, “Idol makers all amount to nothing, and their precious works are of no avail, as they themselves give witness. To their shame, they neither see nor know anything; and they are more deaf than men are” (Isaiah 44:9).
God's Blessing Is True
On the contrary, the Lord's faithful know that they have their “help” and “shield” in the living God (see Psalm 115:9-13). They are divided into three categories. First of all, there is “the house of Israel,” which consists of all the people — the community that gathers in the temple to pray. Secondly, there is the “house of Aaron,” which refers to the priests, custodians and heralds of God's word, who are called to preside over the worship services. Finally, mention is made of those who fear the Lord, that is, those faithful who are genuine and steadfast in their faith, which in Judaism, following the Babylonian exile and in later eras, also denotes those pagans who were drawn to the community and faith of Israel because of a sincere heart and a genuine quest. This was the case, for example, of Cornelius, the Roman centurion (see Acts 10, 1-2:22), whom Peter later converted to Christianity.
God's blessing descends on these three categories of true believers (see Psalm 115:12-15). According to the biblical mindset, this is a source of a fruitful life: “May the Lord increase your number, you and your descendants” (Psalm 115:14). Finally, the faithful, who are full of joy because of the gift of life they have received from the living God who is the creator, sing a short hymn of praise, responding to God's fruitful blessing with their own blessing of gratitude and trust (see verses 16-18).
Resist All Idolatry
In a very lively and evocative way, St. Gregory of Nyssa (fourth century), a father of the Eastern Church, refers to this psalm in his fifth “Homily on the Canticle of Canticles” when describing mankind's passage from the “coldness of idolatry” to the springtime of salvation. Indeed, St. Gregory recalls, it seemed as though human nature had transformed itself “into immobile beings” without any life, “which became objects of worship,” as it was specifically written: “Their makers shall be like them, all who trust in them.”
“And it was logical that it should be like that. Indeed, as those who fix their eyes on the true God receive in themselves the characteristics of God's nature, so too those who turn to the vanity of idols are conformed to that which they behold and, instead of being the men they were, become stones. Therefore, since human nature, which became stone because of idolatry, was immobile before the best there is, gripped by the coldness of idol worship, it is for this reason that the sun of justice rose over this terrible winter and brought forth springtime through a gust of wind from the south, which melted any ice that had formed and warmed everything here and below with the rays of the sun. Thus, man, who had been turned into stone because of the freezing cold, was warmed by the spirit and cooled by the rays of the logos, and once again was transformed into water that gushes forth to eternal life” (Omelie sul Cantico dei Cantici, Rome, 1988, pp. 133-134).
(Register translation)
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: John Paul Says U.S. Church Will Recover From Abuse Scandal DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Addressing bishops from Boston and other New England dioceses, Pope John Paul II said he was confident that the Church in the United States could heal the wounds caused by the sex-abuse scandal.
While the cases of priestly abuse have “cast a shadow” on the Church, they must never be allowed to weaken Catholics' public witness of faith and hope, the Pope said Sept. 2.
At the same time, the Holy Father offered words of encouragement to the many good priests he said have “suffered deeply because of the much-publicized failings of some of the Church's ministers.”
The Pope made the comments in a text that he read in part to some 25 bishops during a meeting at his summer residence outside Rome. John Paul had been meeting individually all week with the bishops, who were on their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican. Bishops make these visits every five years to report on the state of their dioceses.
Among the bishops was Archbishop Sean O'Malley of Boston, who, in a short speech to the Pope, spoke of the “great pain” caused by the sex-abuse cases. The Archdiocese of Boston was the center of the scandal, with more than 160 priests accused of sexually abusing minors over the past 50 years.
John Paul told the bishops, “The Church in your country has been chastened by the events of the past two years, and much effort has rightly been expended on understanding and addressing the issues of sexual abuse, which have cast a shadow on her life and ministry.”
He acknowledged that the sex-abuse crisis has left behind “significant spiritual and material challenges,” but reminded the bishops of the power of grace to “inspire wisdom, reconcile differences, heal wounds and point to a future of hope.”
Support Priests
Priests deserve particular support from their bishops during this time of trial, the Pope said. He expressed his personal gratitude for “the generous and selfless service which marks the lives of so many American priests.”
“In a very real way, the renewal of the Church is linked to the renewal of the priesthood,” the Holy Father said. “Tell your priests that I hold them in my heart.”
Throughout this year's “ad limina” visits, Vatican officials have asked groups of U.S. bishops to encourage their priests in the wake of the abuse scandal.
Archbishop O'Malley, who was sent to Boston last year after the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law, told the Pope the Church was still trying to bring healing to families who feel betrayed by priestly sex abuse.
“Oftentimes, the victims and their families were among those most committed to the life of the Church, and so the abuse has been experienced as the most serious betrayal,” Archbishop O'Malley said.
The archbishop also echoed John Paul's message of hope, saying good can come out of evil.
“We are humbled by our sins and offenses but confident that God does not forsake us and calls us to strive for healing and reconciliation,” Archbishop O'Malley said.
In his text, the Pope emphasized the leadership role of the Church in the United States in devising new and successful forms of evangelization in a changing global culture.
For all its relativism and materialism, he said, modern culture is “struggling to discover its spiritual roots” and needs the Church's guidance. The challenge is to develop a style of evangelization that appeals to the needs of contemporary men and women, offering them clear answers grounded in the Gospel, he said.
The Pope also encouraged the bishops to maintain the Church's strong voice in public debate on such issues as human rights, human dignity and other ethical areas. In the United States, that can be better accomplished through ecumenical and interreligious cooperation, he said.
The efforts by U.S. bishops in their own country can have far-reaching effects, the Pope said.
“As the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, have made clear, the building of a global culture of solidarity and respect for human dignity is one of the great moral tasks confronting humanity today,” he said.
“In the end, it is in the conversion of hearts and the spiritual renewal of humanity that the hope of a better tomorrow lies, and here the witness, example and cooperation of religious believers has a unique role to play,” he said.
The Pope praised the traditional generosity of U.S. Catholics in training and sending missionaries to all parts of the world. He asked the bishops to make every effort to revive this “missionary zeal,” above all by promoting vocations to missionary institutes.
‘same Wavelength’
After the New England bishops met Sept. 1 with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Bishop Robert Mulvee of Providence, R.I., said the bishops felt they were generally “on the same wavelength” with the Vatican about the effects of sexual abuse.
“We got a very positive response, and we were pleased with how cases are being handled” by the congregation, he said. He also said the bishops were “impressed with how open and concerned they were.”
Auxiliary Bishop Peter Rosazza of Hartford, Conn., said the bishops spoke Aug. 31 with U.S. Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, who heads the Apostolic Penitentiary, an office that deals with matters of conscience involving the sacrament of penance. The meeting included a “theological discussion about sin and what it does to the entire body of the Church,” Bishop Rosazza said.
Said Bishop Rosazza, “The obvious case is sex abuse, but all sin as well. Evil committed by one member of the Church, or by 10, or by a thousand members, hurts the whole body.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: John Thavis ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Israeli Parliamentarians Reach Out to Christian Groups in Holy Land DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:JERUSALEM — Until recently, Christians who had a problem renewing their Israeli visas or who wanted to launch a humanitarian project in Israel had to deal with individual government offices, with all the bureaucracy that entailed, in the hope that their requests would be handled promptly.
Much of the time, they weren't. Since January, however, Christians have been able to deal with the Israeli government through a single address: the Christian Allies Caucus.
The caucus was established by Israel's parliament, the Knesset, to streamline communications, coordinate activities and increase cooperation between the government and various Christian churches and organizations, including the Vatican.
The caucus “is also intended to increase awareness, both in Israel and the international community, of Israel's appreciation for the many contributions that its Christian supporters have made to its well being,” said Josh Reinstein, director of caucus operations.
What is remarkable about the caucus, Reinstein said, is the non-partisan participation of Knesset members from a variety of religious and non-religious, right-wing and left-wing factions. In all, 12 members — fully one-tenth of all Israeli parliamentarians — attend the frequent meetings alongside representatives from both mainstream and evangelical churches.
Since its inception, the caucus has dealt with a wide range of issues.
During one noteworthy meeting on visa problems, Interior Minister Avraham Poraz personally fielded complaints from frustrated church officials. Since then, say Christian representatives, the problems have lessened somewhat.
In a separate meeting devoted to anti-Semitism and its impact, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Vatican's nuncio to Israel, said, “We must understand that if Christians separate themselves from their roots, they cannot be complete Christians. We must make antiSemitism a sin, and those who practice it should be considered traitors.”
Seated in his cramped office in the Knesset, Yuri Shtern, co-chairman of the caucus, said that the group endeavors to underscore what Jews and Christians have in common, rather than what divides them.
“It is clear that nowadays, the Judeo-Christian civilization and the values we share are under attack by radical Islam but not only radical Islam,” Shtern said. “We see pagan cults, neo-Nazi and radical-left groups that are trying to chip away at our societies.
“To fight this modern war, both Jews and Christians must understand the source of these problems and realize that we can accomplish a great deal by working together.”
Knesset member Gila Gamliel said she jumped at the opportunity to join the caucus when she heard about it late last year. “It's a wonder that this kind of body wasn't created decades ago,” she said. “We have so much to give each other.”
Gamliel expressed hope that the caucus will spur various churches, including those not traditionally considered to be pro-Israel, to help counter the often-negative image of the Jewish state.
“People around the world need to realize that a small number of Jews are living in a sea full of dictatorships,” she said. “It's the same with Middle East Christians. We saw it recently in Iraq, when Muslim fundamentalists bombed churches.”
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., a recent convert to Catholicism, acknowledged as much during a recent address to the caucus.
“Our past and present and our futures are intertwined together,” Brownback said. “As a Christian, I thank you for my faith that is rooted in yours. And, as a Christian, I deeply apologize for the pain and bloodshed and deafness to suffering that we have hoisted upon you and your ancestors.”
At the same time, Brownback warned Israelis against ignoring “the lessons of your ancestors.”
Said Brownback, “If your nation, in the culture wars of today, embraces relativism, redefines right and wrong, good and evil, many will be led astray.”
Christian leaders say the caucus has already had a positive impact on their relations with both Israeli government officials and ordinary civilians.
“We have received validation from the Jewish community,” said Clarence Wagner, international chairman of the pro-Israel organization Bridges for Peace. “The Knesset members now understand why we need to be here, and it has helped cut government red tape and frustration. They know the work we're doing and the fact that we're not just foreign workers taking away Israeli jobs.”
Petra Heldt, who heads the Ecumenical Theological Research Fraternity in Israel, a roof organization for what she terms the “historic churches” — Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and others — says that the 40 mainstream churches she represents have been a bit more circumspect toward the caucus than their evangelical counterparts.
“The historic churches don't just join the bandwagon when there's something new,” Heldt said, adding that she sends out a report to all fraternity members. “Still, the longer it exists, the more people are taking it seriously. I think by the end of the year, we will see a personal representative from (all) the major churches,” Heldt said.
When asked whether Michel Sabbah, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, planned to participate in the caucus, Father Shawki Baterian, chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate — the local arm of the Catholic Church — said that, to the best of his knowledge, the patriarch had not been informed of the group's existence.
“We have no problem to sit with anyone, but first someone must give us a proposal” to examine, Father Baterian said.
Patriarch Sabbah, who is a Palestinian, has been an outspoken critic of Israeli policy vis-à-vis the Palestinians.
In response to Father Baterian's comments, Reinstein said the caucus “is still young, and we have had the opportunity to meet with only a limited number of representatives.”
Reinstein noted that Archbishop Sambi has already participated in at least one meeting.
Israeli Parliamentarians Reach Out to Christian Groups in Holy Land.
Projects
The officials from various denominations who are participating in the caucus have already launched a number of projects, including the distribution of 16,000 backpacks and school supplies for Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Druze children. They have also launched an “Israel Experience” scholarship program for young Christian men and women to enable them to visit the Holy Land.
“This initiative has the potential for turning the tide in favor of Israel on American college campuses,” Shtern told the caucus in June. “American Christians have become our indispensable allies in positive advocacy for Israel in America.”
Michele Chabin writes from Israel.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Michele Chabin ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Non-Catholics Flock to Marian Shrines
“There are lots of them,” Bishop Jacques Perrier of Lourdes said of non-Catholic pilgrims during Pope John Paul II's visit to Lourdes in mid-August, the Philadelphia daily reported.
However, the interfaith flocks have given rise to controversy. Many of the non-Catholics regard Mary as one of their own goddesses, a belief that is heretical to the Catholic understanding of Mary as the purely human mother of God.
In May, pictures of a Hindu event at Fatima were posted on the Internet by critics who alleged that the non-Catholic ceremony had desecrated an altar.
Msgr. Luciano Guerro, Fatima's director, issued a statement in June denying that such defilement took place during the ceremony, the Inquirer reported.
“The priest sang a prayer which lasted a few minutes,” he said. “No gesture was made, no rite was performed, on or off the altar.”
Patriarch Attacks Syrian ‘Plot’ Against Lebanon
ASIANEWS — Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir charged Aug. 29 that the Syrian government was “plotting by night” to push through a constitutional change to keep Lebanon's Syrian-backed president Emile Lahoud in office after his term ends in November.
Currently, Lebanon's Constitution prohibits him from another term.
AsiaNews, a Catholic news service, reported that a “hastily convened cabinet requested such a change to extend Lahoud's term by three years” on Aug. 28 despite widespread opposition from prominent political leaders, including Lebanon's prime minister.
“What happened yesterday regarding the Constitution and the presidency is unfamiliar, plotted by night and carried out swiftly by day,” Patriarch Sfeir said during Sunday Mass in Diman. “I call on all to be aware … and for God to help Lebanon and the Lebanese.”
Added Patriarch Sfeir, who has been a vocal critic of Syrian interference in Lebanese affairs, “Lebanon has become a toy in the hands of regional and international interests, disregarding the interests of the Lebanese people who are now outsiders in deciding vital national issues.”
Aussie Priest Bets on Lourdes Miracles
The Catholic Church has recognized 66 miracles at Lourdes since a 14-year-old French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, said in 1858 that she had seen an apparition of Mary there.
The most recent was recognized in 1987.
Father Glynn and his cousin Bill Dougherty, a former regional newspaperowner, offered the reward — worth about $3,500 in U.S. dollars — from their own pockets to anyone who can disprove 24 recognized miracles that Father Glynn has personally examined. He announced his offer at Sunday Mass Aug. 29, the Morning Herald reported.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Bush vs. Kerry: The Conscience Issues DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Using Church documents, Catholic Answers has written a guide citing “Five Non-Negotiable Issues” for Catholic voters.
“These five current issues concern actions that are intrinsically evil and must never be promoted by the law,” says the guide. We used the guide as a starting point to compare each candidate's positions.
1. Abortion
The Church teaches that, regarding a law permitting abortions, it is “never licit to obey it, or to take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or to vote for it” (Evangelium Vitae, The Gospel of Life, No. 73).
President Bush signed into law the partial-birth abortion ban and the Unborn Victims of Violence Act and nominated several pro-life judges to the federal bench. He mentioned the importance of protecting the unborn in his convention speech.
Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts has voted at least six times to keep partial-birth abortion legal. He voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. He voted at least 25 times in favor of using taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions. Kerry has vowed to keep pro-lifers out of judgeships — and the Supreme Court.
2. Euthanasia
“In euthanasia, the ill or elderly are killed, by action or omission, out of a misplaced sense of compassion, but true compassion cannot include intentionally doing something intrinsically evil to another person” (Evangelium Vitae, No. 73).
President Bush's justice department challenged Oregon's assisted-suicide law in court.
John Kerry says he is personally opposed to assisted suicide but won't challenge Oregon or any other state's assisted-suicide laws.
3. Embryonic Stem-Cell Research
Human embryos are new lives from conception to eight weeks, with their own DNA, sex, life-expectancy — and right to life. “Respect for the dignity of the human being excludes all experimental manipulation or exploitation of the human embryo” (Pontifical Council for the Family, Charter of the Rights of the Family, No. 4). Recent scientific advances show that medical treatments that researchers hope to develop from experimentation on embryonic stem cells backfire in frightening ways. At the same time, effective treatments have been developed by using morally obtained adult stem cells instead.
President Bush's embryonic stem-cell decision in August 2001 was criticized by many pro-life groups and praised by others. First Lady Laura Bush spoke at the GOP convention about the importance of respecting human life in stem-cell research.
John Kerry says he will end Bush's block on funding embryonic stem-cell research. Ron Reagan Jr. spoke at the Democratic convention in favor of embryonic stem-cell research.
4. Human Cloning
“Attempts … for obtaining a human being without any connection with sexuality through ‘twin fission,’ cloning or parthenogenesis are to be considered contrary to the moral law, since they are in opposition to the dignity both of human procreation and of the conjugal union” (Charter of the Rights of the Family, No. I:6). Human cloning also involves abortion because the “rejected” or “unsuccessful” embryonic clones are destroyed, yet each clone is a human being.
President Bush has called human cloning “morally wrong” and called for a ban on all human cloning.
John Kerry voted against a ban on human cloning, and in 2004, he sponsored his own bill to make human cloning legal.
5. Homosexual “Marriage”
“When legislation in favor of the recognition of homosexual unions is proposed for the first time in a legislative assembly, the Catholic lawmaker has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it. To vote in favor of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons, No. 10).
President Bush supports a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
President Kerry voted against the Defense of Marriage Act in the Senate and wouldn't vote to even allow a debate on the federal marriage amendment.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Faith and Balance
First of all, thank you for the best Catholic newspaper this country has to offer and for the fair, balanced view of issues facing the Catholic Church in this country and throughout the world.
Second, the page-one article “In Today's Climate, Can a Priest Clear His Name?” (July 11-17) is a blessing beyond words. I am personally grateful for your “daring” in publishing the concerns on an issue that has caused a number of the clergy much hardship, and of course the Church itself.
Yet another example of the Register's well-balanced thought and reflection on the priest-hood and the Church as a whole.
FATHER MARIO MARZOCCHI, S.S.S.
Holiday, Florida
Title Trickery
Regarding “Eerie Silence? Convention Speakers Avoid the ‘A’ Word” (Aug. 8-14):
Titles are misleading. What happens when the title for anything loses its intended message? To retain that same message, you simply change the title. The image created in your mind will change along with it. Basic advertising!
Take, for example, the term “abortion.” An accurate definition is “the induced termination of a pregnancy resulting in the death of the embryo or fetus.” If you approved of this procedure, you were labeled pro-abortion. Abortion-rights activists concluded that, by retitling their position to “pro-choice,” the impact of what they were championing would be softened. Using this logic, Christians opposed to abortion could now, with clear conscience, feel comfortable backing political candidates who covertly support abortion by saying that they are “pro-choice.”
Lately, it appears that the term “pro-choice” may be losing its grip, so the abortion cause is again feeling the need for re-labeling. The new term is “single issue.” The question asked is, “Does a single issue outweigh the merits of a good social program?” Abortion supporters urge voters not to cast their ballots on any one “single issue.”
Could the term “single issue” be a defense mechanism created by Christians to justify their support of pro-choice or pro-abortion candidates? Does the need for title changes signal any guilt feelings on the part of pro-abortion Christians? Perhaps so. Nevertheless, they have opted for material gain and a higher standard of living, all at the expense of 4,000 aborted babies a day. What a trade!
One final question. How do Christian people end up supporting a position such as this? Do these Christians just choose to ignore fundamental beliefs of our faith, or is it that our clergy in general are not vocal enough? Religious leaders should seek to form the consciences of their followers by spelling out principles of morality. If they don't, then people are free to assume that these precepts are probably not too important. The leaders need to instruct persons on how they need to consider, first and foremost, the candidate's position on abortion — before the candidate's position on material, health and social issues.
People are intelligent enough to differentiate right from wrong, but leadership and guidance from our shepherds is essential. When this leadership decides to stand up in unison and defend the fundamental laws laid down by almighty God, then and only then will the number of Christians supporting abortion start to decline.
EARL AND MARGO HAGEN
Grand Blanc, Michigan
Wages of Abortion
Regarding “Kerry Admits Life Begins at Conception” (July 18-24):
Is a hired gun obliged to keep a contract to waste the intended victim? No, he is not bound to keep the contract, according to sound moral theology. There is no obligation, ever, to carry out a contract to do something evil. “Therefore contracts to do what is evil induce no obligations; for example to commit murder or theft” (Noldin, Summa Theologia Moralis, Vol. II, No. 526,4).
Is a lawmaker obligated to promote abortion if he has received money and support from prochoicers? The contract or agreement, if such was made, is null and void. He or she is not under obligation to keep a contract to do evil. The same holds for a promise to do something evil. God does not hold anyone responsible for not keeping a promise to do something evil.
Abortion, and the promotion of abortion, is a sin — a mortal sin by nature — because it is a grievous offense against God. As such it is against the natural law. The natural law, subjectively, is the obligation that God necessarily imposes on man to pursue his proper purpose through suitable actions. It is therefore the eternal law itself that God, by his will, imposes upon man (Noldin I, No. 112). “Thou shalt not kill the unborn child” is a law that God imposes on all of us alike, whether we are voters or legislators or judges. Because God has created us in his image and likeness, we are by nature and by birth obligated to reflect in our thoughts and actions on earth the eternal beauty and truth of the wisdom of God in heaven.
From this, it follows that no legislator, judge or voter is bound by any contract or commitment he or she may have made to promote abortion. Is it a mortal sin? God was not dealing with trifles when he promulgated the Ten Commandments. The matter is grave. If anyone does abortions, or promotes abortion, while he is in his right mind and is free to act, he offends God gravely and thereby forfeits the right to heaven and justly deserves the pains of hell. Not even God can distance himself from justice.
FATHER ANTHONY ZIMMERMAN, STD
Nagoya, Japan
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: God's Medicine is Never Too Bitter to Take DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Regarding “Penitential Plea” in the June 27-July 3 letters to the editor:
The writer's wise father confessor gave great advice, and it is clear the penitent is truly concerned about her dilemma. However, I think the writer should divide the issue into two parts: one dealing with the vegetative and uncommunicative patient and one part with a merely ill patient who is able and cognitive. These are quite different situations and whole treatises have been written on each.
Regarding the vegetative state: If feeding tubes are not yet installed, then a request not to use them would not pose an ethical problem for me. If the tubes are in place when decisions are asked for, then I suspect, an ethical question can arise: If the tubes are removed and the patient dies shortly; is it killing? I don't know. Technology has created this proposition. A hundred years ago, there were no tubes and the patient expired in the normal course of events.
Concerning the cognitive state, we have a rather complicated set of issues. Let's take the case used by the writer where she states that, if she were diagnosed with cancer, she would “do nothing about it.” She expresses concern for her children and for offering up her sufferings to God for good as an explanation for her choice. Again, I suspect it is not nearly so uncomplicated.
Bluntly put, you don't just lay down and die because you're ill. Not so long ago, any number of afflictions would have killed us. Today, thanks to medical advances, our useful lives can be extended many years no matter what we come down with. Each of us is obligated to take advantage of these modern miracles made possible by the grace of God.
In the very beginning, the Father Almighty gave us an admonition: “Be fruitful.” When you contract cancer and your doctor tells you he can cure you or, in most cases, says he can extend your life for five or eight or 10 years, can you, the patient, rightly decline treatment without risking the possibility that you could be committing suicide? And when you do meet our Lord Jesus face to face and he asks why you didn't take the gift of life he offered through your doctor, tell me what you will say.
BILL QUINN
Montague, New Jersey
Editor's note: Pope John Paul II has clarified the question of whether feeding tubes are “extraordinary care” or mandatory “ordinary care.” On March 20, he said providing food and water to patients in a persistent “vegetative” state is “morally obligatory” and withdrawing feeding tubes constitutes “euthanasia by omission.” Nutrition and hydration are required ordinary care and may not be withheld or refused, unless the body can no longer assimilate them.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: The Sin, The Sinner and the Difference DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Catholic moral teaching emphasizes the crucial distinction between the sinner and the sin.
In the context of homosexuality, we affirm the dignity of the person with same-sex attractions and the need to accept such a person with “respect, compassion and sensitivity” (Catechism, No. 2358).
At the same time, however, we recognize that homosexual liaisons are “acts of grave depravity” and “intrinsically disordered” (Catechism, No. 2357).
This distinction between the homosexual person and homosexual acts is vitally important and must be patiently communicated to our contemporaries.
But what about the condition itself, the “inclination” or “tendency” or “orientation” to commit such acts? How does that fit in?
The most definitive teaching on this subject is found in The Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons (1986), published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican.
This document notes that there has been an overly benign interpretation given to the homosexual condition itself, leading some commentators to adopt the error that the condition is neutral or even good.
In response, the congregation says that while the homosexual condition itself is not a sin, it “is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil, and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder” (No. 3).
One might ask, “So long as we love the sinner and hate the sin, what difference does it make whether we consider the condition itself to be ‘neutral’ or ‘good’ or an ‘objective disorder’?”
It makes all the difference in the world.
There are Catholics who dissent from traditional Christian teaching on the sinfulness of homosexual acts. For them, a step toward “bringing the Church around” on this issue is to have us believe that homosexuality is not a disorder at all, but a gift to be celebrated.
We frequently hear the lie that homosexuals are “born that way.” The often unspoken implication is that if homosexuals are born that way, then that's simply the way they're wired and it's unjust to prohibit them from acting upon that condition.
Certainly, homosexuality is a complex reality, and we rightly support honest research by objective science regarding its causes. In the meantime, though, we must affirm that the overwhelming state of the scientific evidence adduced to date shows that homosexuality is not genetic.
Regardless of the causes of one's homosexuality, the Lord clearly expects and requires those who follow him to leave the lifestyle behind (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Have homosexuals who strive to live chastely been given a difficult cross? Undoubtedly.
This distinction between the homosexual person and homosexual acts is vitally important and must be patiently communicated to our contemporaries.
But no one has been given a cross that's beyond his or her strength.
Those who labor under the heavy weight of same-sex attractions uniquely share in the sacrifice of Christ and should be assisted in their labors by the prayers, pastoral support and friendship of all the faithful.
Rejecting the cross, however, is not an option. Let's look at it this way. Some people are clearly born with the genetic predisposition to alcoholism.
Does this fact mean that laws against public intoxication, drunken driving and the like unjustly discriminate against such people? Do we relax our laws and standards regarding sobriety because they were born that way? Of course not, even though it means that they must exercise far more diligence and restraint regarding alcohol than the rest of the population.
St. Thomas said that action follows being. In this context, pastoral charity must follow the nature of homosexuality.
If homosexuality is a neutral or even good condition, we might be inclined toward a false tolerance — a tolerance of the sin itself, and not just the sinner. Such an approach reflects a lesser love, the love of a coward or an enabler, the love of one who wants above all to be liked or to not make waves.
But if homosexuality, as the Church has always taught, is a disorder that inclines a person to grave sin, pastoral charity is reflected not only in calling people out of the homosexual lifestyle, but also by assiduously searching for new therapies and encouraging those who have successfully overcome the condition itself to tell their stories.
This love should ultimately lead homosexuals out of the closet and into the confessional. But they may have to wait — I'll already be in line.
Leon J. Suprenant Jr. is president of Catholics United for the Faith and Emmaus Road Publishing. His email address is leon@cuf.org.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Leon Suprenant ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Art and Liturgy DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:“Where do we go?” My sister's question echoed through the car after Sunday Mass not long ago.
I was back East to visit my family, and we had all just stumbled out of their church like shell-shocked infantry falling out of the trenches. Apparently, the only musician available in a thousand-mile radius of the parish was an organist who had never quite mastered a single chord. Worse still, the accompanying cantor's vocal range spanned only about half an octave.
Horrifically, he covered for this by dragging out each note with wavering tenacity. I imagine the Divine was up there hearing the resulting perverse version of “Gather Us In” and saying, “You're kidding, right?”
But it was worse than just the music. From where he sat sprawled on the side of the sanctuary, the altar boy's unlaced high-tops protruded out from under vestments that looked like they had been slept in. Considered as oratory, the homily found a launching point in the day's Gospel, at least, but then quickly devolved into a rambling mess of startlingly obvious declarations with no discernible through-line. If the talk was on television or radio, most adults would have switched it off as a tedious waste.
The problem is, this parish is the most doctrinally orthodox one in the rural area where my family lives. Their other options are to go to the next town with the priest they all call “Father Dissent” or drive 40 minutes to the more functional parish three towns over. The issue gets more pressing as my sister's little boy grows up. He's 5 now, and we are worried about the long-term effect of him only seeing the liturgy obscured by disorder and absurdity.
It has to be said. Much of the art we are making as a Church is ugly and painful.
It has the opposite effect that it should.
There is a problem when the Church is roughing up music that would be better suited to an episode of “Barney,” while Nora Jones trills songs that sting people to the heart. It is not a diminution of the liturgy to evaluate it from the standard of what Hollywood calls “good production value.” The sad truth is, on a weekly basis, most parishes offer their long-suffering sheep all the beauty and excellence of a high school talent show.
I teach Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults to people in the entertainment industry. These are incredibly talented people. It is most often embarrassing to take them to church and have them come to the realization that what they do every day professionally is far superior to the artistic expression that is supposed to be an offering to God and inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The liturgy is the principle work of art for the Church. Liturgy doesn't use art, so much as it is art. It is something that the people of God create together that becomes the occasion of God's ongoing artistry of renewing and sanctifying the Church.
The point of the liturgy is not to provide an aesthetic experience for the faithful. However, an aesthetic experience can foster and heighten the point of the liturgy, which has two aspects: to bring the reality of humanity into encounter with the reality of God. That is, an authentic “climate of prayer” is one in which the arts lead the people to experience both the glory and holiness of God — which leads to awe and joy — along with their own isolation, anger and desperate need, which leads to humility.
In the best book I've read on the subject, Worship and Theology, Don Saliers notes that we have to reexamine the whole way we have taken to thinking about the liturgy.
In too many churches, the goal is not to rouse the community to worship, but to keep the community amused. Saliers notes, “To put it bluntly, God is not adequately praised and adored with the showy, the pompous, the self-serving, the mawkish, the cleverly casual or the thoughtlessly comfortable forms of art.”
The understanding of beauty, as with everything else in our post-modern confusion, has become one more flag to wave in the strange and tortured world of Church polarization. On the left, beauty has become a bad, elitist word that is seen as incongruous in a Church with a “fundamental option for the poor.” Disguised as compassion, this is a profoundly insulting attitude towards the poor.
A poor man can be just as moved by the “Pieta” as Donald Trump. Arguably, even more.
I was born in the mid-'60s amid the iconoclastic impulse in which the Church seemed to be purging herself of dross. I grew up as a Gen-Xer, mystified by the missionary zeal with which clerical and religious Baby Boomers eviscerated every ritual, symbol and tradition from our faith.
Back in 1990, I was a junior professed sister with the Daughters of St. Paul. A big feast day for our community was the Solemnity of St. Paul, and we were celebrating the liturgy at a local parish for the friends of our community. One of the other juniors and I wanted to make it as cool and beautiful as possible, and so we set out the nicest vestments and did the flowers and coached the musicians.
When Father came in, we asked him if it would be okay to use incense, and he suddenly got inappropriately irate. He fumed at us, “It took us 25 years to get rid of all that crap, and now you people want to bring it all back?”
I didn't know what “people” he was talking about.
I wanted to use incense because it feels mysterious and holy, and because I loved the symbol from the psalms of our prayers rising like incense. The priest was reacting against something of which I had had no experience and associating it with incense. Incense is not the problem. The problem was formalism. The problem was also that many of the rituals and signs had lost their meaning for people. What should have happened was to restore the meaning. Not dump the signs.
The art that has been commissioned in these years has mostly consisted of very ugly things which were justified for their political or propagandistic purposes, as opposed to aesthetic or devotional ones.
A particularly egregious example of this kind of project is the statue that looms over the door of the new Los Angeles Cathedral.
My students nicknamed the piece “Man-hands Mary” because the short-haired image has our Blessed Mother with sleeves rolled up to her shoulders, revealing heavily veined masculine arms and hands stretched out like she's ready to catch a football. She looks more like a bouncer than a vessel of grace.
The tour guide at the cathedral told us that the artist wanted to portray Mary as strong and “more human than strictly female.” I responded, “But I don't know any real people like that. Real people tend to have genders.” The tour guide exhaled patiently. “This statue represents what the Mary figure symbolizes.” (The Mary “figure”?) “Yes,” I rejoined, “but it is kind of, you know, ugly.” The guide pretty much tossed her head. “The Church isn't about that kind of thing any more.”
Why? What happened to make beauty in the Church a value associated with the past?
On the right side of the spectrum, there tends to be an overemphasis on reverence as almost an end in itself in the liturgy. Poor needy humanity gets left out of the exchange completely. The liturgy is not some kind of holiness show that substitutes propriety and formalism for genuine encounter between God and his sheep.
A genuine difficulty is the dearth of beauty and talent available, even if a parish wants it.
There are very few devout artists left in our community. Added to this is the fact that we have mostly lost the ability to appreciate beautiful contemporary art, so a lot of traditional parishes are cluttered with tacky, sentimental images of saints and angels.
As the great Catholic writer Flannery O'Connor noted, sentimentality is an inexcusable error for a believer.
On the worst side of the right are those Catholics who have reacted to the aesthetic mess of the post-Conciliar period by stripping down the liturgy with a kind of vengeance: no music, no style to the homilies, quickie Masses that offer no sensual helps at all for the poor sheep who have wandered in from the insanity of the confused world outside.
One priest told me once, with anger, “The Church was never stronger in Ireland than during the years of persecution when the people used to have Mass huddled in fields with no singing or ceremony.”
Yes, but see, time of persecution creates its own climate of prayer. People who are praying at the risk of their lives have an amazing ability to stay focused. This is not the situation of the glutted, bored and, catechetically ignorant Church in America.
Most parish priests reading these words will have shrugged early on. They hear me talk about better music, well-prepared homilies, training programs for lectors and altar servers, commissioning beautiful statuary and paintings, and their eyes glaze over. Every parish budget is stretched between social service projects, religious education programs, outreach ministries and so on.
This kind of attitude is short-sighted. Creating a climate of prayer that works will also stimulate the members of the parish to respond with more committed attention to service and self-donation.
And the word will get out that the liturgies at this church are powerful and beautiful, and many more people will come to stuff your pews and say “Thank you” via collection baskets. To the priests who tell me, “We can't afford to have beauty in our parish,” I have to shrug back, “Father, you can't afford not to.”
This is the first of a three-part series on beauty and the Church. The next installment will look at the elements of beauty. Email Barbara Nicolosi at actone2000@aol.com.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Barbara Nicolosi ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Trilogy Sunday: Part Two, The Afternoon DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Friends would call, asking for us to come out and play.
This was before the social-calendar, play-date ritual that permeates Western Civilization today. In these long-ago days, a pal would either knock on the door or call you on the phone to ask if you could play.
On Saturday, we tried to get out of the house as soon as humanly possible before our mother could start assigning room-cleaning details. But Sunday was different. On Sunday, we could hang around our house and even entertain a few friends outside in pick-up football games or tag, but we couldn't go over to a friend's house. And the answer we got from our mother when we asked “Why not?” was always the same: “Because it's Sunday.”
We never asked our father follow-up questions to a response we didn't care for. For some reason, deep down in the DNA of every one of us (and every kid I have ever known), moms were much easier to debate than dads. At least our mom was easier. We never got very far with her, either, when she said No, but she at least humored us with the fantasy that, somehow, by employing Lincoln-esque rhetoric, we would be able to dissuade her position on everything from why we should buy a swimming pool or why we would be different from all those other kids and be responsible BB gun owners.
But even for her, “Because it's Sunday” was a debate-stopper.
The afternoons were downright laconic. A house full of 10 children in just about every stage of development imaginable — from young adult to teen to adolescent, as well as two parents and one uncle — is usually not the quietest place on earth.
But on Sunday, especially Sunday afternoon, there was a strange calmness that no other day of the week could ever duplicate. There might be an odd yard-work assignment and various preparations for the big Sunday dinner that was to come, but for the most part, there was quiet. The Sunday paper was read and re-read, there might be a John Wayne movie on the local TV station, but that was about it.
The example that our parents were trying to set was a biblically based, Church-sanctioned tradition of keeping the day set apart. Now, we weren't all on our knees in the living room, praying the rosary and wondering what all the “sinners” were up to that day. We were just living one day of the week in a throttled-down profile for no other reason other than “Because it's Sunday.”
Of course, I didn't think of it in that way when I was 10 and I wanted to go over to a friend's house and participate in some less-than-legal pyrotechnics. Then, I was thoroughly convinced that the permission my mother and father withheld on those Sunday afternoons had more to do with what I believed was their mission in life: to make sure I had as little fun as possible.
But as the afternoon dragged on, things began to pick up. People would start to show up. In my earliest years, those people were aunts, uncles and cousins who would drop by to see my parents and Uncle Rich. Our house was like a magnet in those days, and Sunday seemed to be the day when its magnetic charge was at its zenith.
As I got a little older and my brothers and sisters got a lot older, fiancees were brought around for further evaluation on Sundays. Then those fiancees turned into husbands and wives. Grandchildren soon followed. Through it all, Sunday at the house remained a staple.
And then, there was cork ball. Now, I never really understood cork ball. Being the youngest, I was banished to the position of “pig tail,” whose basic job description was chasing after cork balls that the catcher was too lazy to chase after himself. The ball itself was like a baseball with a leather cover, but it was much smaller and light as air. The “bat” was usually a sawed-off mop handle. It was all rather confusing, and when I finally reached the age where I might participate more fully, the rest of the family had grown too old to play cork ball.
Now, a game for Irishmen that includes wooden sticks in their hands usually comes to a bad end, but as I recall, there was no blood spilt during these games that transpired on the side yard of our house on Sunday afternoons.
By the latter half of the afternoon, there would be a sea change in the house. It started to fill up more and more with noise. There were kitchen preparations going on for the big Sunday dinner, and more people would begin to gather in the living room.
It was now too late to even think about going over to a friend's house to play, and as the sun began to set, the .003% of a child's brain that worries about school would usher forth thoughts of Monday-morning consequences when that weekend project did not receive the attention to detail that Sister Angela Claire would be expecting.
But Monday morning could wait. Sunday wasn't over yet. As late afternoon waned into early evening, our uncle, Father John, would recklessly drive a Chrysler (that needed a harbor pilot to maneuver it) up into our front driveway, and the next phase of our Sunday ritual would commence … Sunday dinner.
Robert Brennan writes from Los Angeles.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Robert Brennan ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:SUNDAY, SEPT. 12
Save Our History
History Channel, 11 a.m.
Steve Thomas hosts this look at three restoration projects: Montpelier, the home of James Madison in Virginia; the Soldiers' Home in Washington, D.C., which Abraham Lincoln used as a retreat; and Longfellow House in Cambridge, Mass., George Washington's first headquarters during the Revolution.
MONDAY, SEPT. 13
All-American Festivals
Food Network, 10:30 p.m.
On Labor Day weekends in Ligonier, Ind., the Marshmallow Festival features a parade, crafts, every marshmallow dessert imaginable — and a big helping of the family life and community spirit that make small-town America special.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 14
P.O.V.: Freedom Machines
PBS, 10 p.m.
Engineers, designers and disabled people pinpoint how technology helps overcome some but not all features in everyday environments that hinder the disabled.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 15
Syria: The Cradle of Christianity
EWTN, 4:30 a.m., 6 p.m.
This documentary from the year 2000 depicts the history of Christians in Syria and their life there today. Spotlights the various rites and their traditions, charities such as Aid to the Church in Need, and Christians' relations with Islam.
WEDS., SEPT. 15-22
The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud
PBS, 9 p.m.
This two-part, four-hour special derives from a longstanding Har vard seminar and recent book by clinical psychiatry professor Armand Nicholi Jr. that compare the lives and thought of lifelong atheist Freud (1856-1939) and Lewis (1898-1963), who converted from atheism to Christianity in the mid-1930s. Dramatizations of pivotal episodes in the lives of Lewis and Freud, and commentary by Nicholi and seven panelists, focus on God's existence and the meaning of life, sexuality and love.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 16
Does the Church Still Teach That?
EWTN, 10 p.m.
Of course it does, says Father Shannon Collins of the Fathers of Mercy in this new series. He notes areas in which some catechesis jumped the tracks in recent decades, and he offers authentic teaching on the Eucharist, Mary, purgatory and more.
FRIDAYS
Welcome Home
Familyland TV, 1 a.m.
You'll want to record these hour-long shows — practical advice from pro-life Peg Luksik and Dr. Robin Bernhoft on how you can meet the challenges of family life.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 18
The Victory Garden
PBS, 12:30 p.m.
Series regular Kip Anderson says late summer is a good gardening time, and guest Sharon Lovejoy suggests ways to encourage garden-friendly wildlife.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Daniel J. Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: The Gift of Song Alighted Upon Her DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Kristin Taylor has set up ministries in Tampa, Fla., to help the homeless and in the Pacific island of Samoa to help the needy.
She also is an internationally known singer who has turned over her talents to God so that he — not she or her beautiful voice — is glorified.
Also the mother of 13 — she and her husband have four children of their own and have adopted nine others — Taylor spoke about the importance of music in her ministries from her home in Riverview, Fla., with Register correspondent Carlos Briceno.
When did your love of music start?
I grew up in Massapequa, N.Y. My parents were spiritual Catholics — charismatics. They introduced me to a new realm of the Catholic Church; it was very lively and upbeat as far as the music was concerned. That's what really drew me in: the music. There was one specific girl; her name was Chris. She would always sing after Communion and one time, she sang this song called “A Little Less of Me,” which, in the '70s, was a famous song. I was only 6 or 7, and I remember after Communion I sat on the platform they had set up and sobbed and sobbed. That song just touched me so much. And I ran up to this girl after Mass and hugged her and told her I wanted to do exactly what she was doing when I grew up. I knew at that moment that the Lord had put something in my heart, that that's what I would do.
What did your parents say?
That I was too young to join the music group. You had to be 13. When I was 10, we moved from New York to Indiana. I was devastated because I thought I could never be in that group. When we went to Indiana, there wasn't really any music in our church. It was very quiet. They might have had an organ. About three years later, there was a priest who came to my parents' prayer group. He had a bunch of teen-agers with him. When I went in, I was listening to these teens sing, and it was the same feeling I had back in New York. I was so touched by it.
The next day they had this Life in the Spirit seminar. I came to observe. They had a laying-on of hands and prayed over people for the gift of the spirit to be released. As everyone was asking for a gift, like the gift of healing, I went up at the end, and I said, “Is it okay if I get prayed with, even though I didn't go to the seminar?” Father Christian (Moore) said, “Sure.” He prayed over me and asked me what I wanted as my gift. I said, “I want to be able to sing.” He laughed and said, “Oh, no, that's kind of a tall order.”
I definitely could not sing prior to this moment. And so when he prayed over me, I looked at him and said, “That's it?” He goes, “That's it.” I go, “You mean I can sing?” And he said, “I sure hope so, if we have to listen to you.”
That night, I went home and couldn't sleep. So I went into my sister's room, knowing she had a guitar. I picked up the guitar and immediately could play it, like I had been taking lessons for years. I began hearing my first song, and I wrote it down. I could actually sing it. It came all at once. I could hear the words and the music at the same time. I grabbed the guitar and woke my parents in the middle of the night to sing it to them. From that day forward, I began to hear songs constantly. And I began to play in the church that following Sunday, leading music in the church. I was around 13.
How has music affected your ministries?
It was always a very big struggle not to go secular. From the perspective of the world, I had a tremendous talent. People kept saying to me, “You should be famous.” I knew in my heart that this was a gift. I was so concerned, even at this young age, that if I used my voice for the world that God would take it from me as quick as I received it. I felt that, if I sang in bars, I would lose my gift. I had to learn very, very young to trust the Lord, rather than listen to what the world tells you.
Learning to trust the Lord has been such a blessing in ministry. Nothing I do makes sense in the eyes of business. How do we feed 1,000 homeless people a week with very few donors? How do we get 16 containers of medical supplies to Samoa, a country on the other side of the world, without money? Through faith, that's how.
What happened in Samoa that caused you to start this ministry?
Following one of the concerts, we went on a tour of the island. I fell in love with the people, the country and the culture. I was asked to come and pray over a newborn named Gordon, who was born without a face. He had one eye and a partial mouth and a huge mass on his face. Carol (Ah Chong, now director of THORN Ministries) and I went over there. We wanted to pray over Gordon, but the mother became fearful and turned us away. I returned to Samoa three months later to find that Gordon had not died. Once the mother heard I had returned, she begged for us to help her. Upon saying Yes, I knew that a ministry had been born. (THORN is an acronym for “Thankfully Helping Others Real Needs.”)
What is your message from the stage?
I try to inspire people to believe that the Lord is alive and well and wants them to know that he has a purpose for their life. Not everyone has to do what I'm doing. I just tell them what he has done through my life. I tell the silly stories, the funny stories, the sad stories, the trials. When you have this many children, you're going to have constant chaos. When you give your life to him, he doesn't remove all your problems. He hands you the cross and says, “Carry it!” I try to teach people that they can carry their cross, whatever it is, with the grace of Our Lady and the Holy Spirit. You can do it. And if you do it, people will see the fruits of what you do. That it could only happen through the Lord.
Carlos Briceno writes from Seminole, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly Video Picks DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Ella Enchanted (2004)
The bad news for fans of Gail Carson Levine's fairy-tale novel Ella Enchanted is that, other than the premise and a few character names, there's not much resemblance between Levine's charming text and the comparatively unambitious adaptation. The good news is that the movie version, starring Anne Hathaway as the young lady cursed from infancy by a “gift” from a thoughtless fairy compelling her to obey any imperative statement completely — perfectly and to the letter — is still worthwhile on its own, more modest, terms.
In place of Levine's fairly straightforward fairy-tale realism, the film substitutes Shrek-like anachronistic humor. But the comedy is both funny and pointed, satirizing the teen-idol-worship culture of its own target audience with scenes of screaming maidens swooning over dashing Prince Char (Hugh Dancy), while the more sensible Ella protests injustices committed by Char's nefarious uncle (Cary Elwes, The Princess Bride). Refreshingly, where many girl-empowerment flicks make the heroine heroic at the expense of the male lead (e.g., Ever After), Ella manages to make both its leads appealing and admirable.
Content advisory: Some mildly objectionable language and humor.
Toy Story 2 (1999)
It's too good to be true, yet true it is: Toy Story 2 is more magical, more heartfelt, more hilarious, more ingeniously plotted, more all-around perfect than the brilliant original.
Monsters, Inc. may have achieved a higher level of demented brilliance both in character design and in that insane climactic chase on the closet-door monorails, and Finding Nemo may be the high-water mark to date for mesmerizing visual beauty and sheer emotional power. But Toy Story 2 remains Pixar's gold standard for storytelling sophistication, and is not only its best all-around film, but one of the best films ever made, period.
In the first movie, Woody (Tom Hanks) helped Buzz (Tim Allen) come to terms with the fact that he was only a toy. Now it's Woody who has an identity crisis when he learns more about his own identity — he's the central figure in a highly collectible 1950s-era phenomenon called Woody's Roundup with vintage television episodes and numerous side-kicks — while Buzz is left to uphold the toy ethic that nothing matters as much as being loved by a child.
Content advisory: Some animated action and excitement.
Toy Story (1995)
Pure magic. Toy Story, the first-ever fully computer-animated feature and the film that put Pixar Studios on the map, is more than a technical tour de force. It's movie-making alchemy — a breathtaking blend of wide-eyed childhood wonder and wry adult humor.
For young Andy, the sun rises and sets on his lanky Sheriff Woody doll. And Andy is just as important to Woody (Tom Hanks), who presides in Andy's absence over the inhabitants of Andy's room. Until, that is, the status quo is upset by the arrival of a flashy new toy. Buzz Light-year (Tim Allen), space ranger, who impresses the other toys with his nifty features and threatens Woody's place as Andy's favorite — and, in an inspired stroke, doesn't realize he's a toy. Woody's jealousy and pettiness toward Buzz lead to a series of increasingly serious consequences. Of course, Woody must work through his resentment and redeem himself, Buzz must face the truth about himself, the two must learn to get along, and a bad boy must be taught a lesson. The joy, though, lies in the sure touch bringing all these elements together.
Content advisory: Some scenes of menace and mildly scary imagery.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Say What? DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Msgr. Ronald Knox once observed: “To be present when two other people are arguing is, almost always, to be in a state of impotent fury at their joint incompetence.” I've sometimes been one of those “two other people,” and I've made my share of incompetent remarks.
But I've also been on the receiving end of comments that aren't so much incompetent as they are incomprehensible. These are the sort of comments that give the Catholic apologist pause as he scratches his head in wonderment: Did he really just say that? Such remarks offer an unexpected glimpse into the thinking of those opposed to the Catholic faith.
Conversing with an evangelical Protestant pastor about John 6 and the Eucharist, I was stunned to hear him say this of the belief that the Eucharist is the true body and blood of Jesus Christ: “That's crazy. That demands too much faith.” This from a godly man who believes that faith is the most important gift from God. So, I asked, does this mean that God is limited? He insisted it didn't, but wouldn't retract his statement.
I once exchanged several letters with the head of the local “Atheists and Freethinkers Society.” This atheist continually insisted that his thinking was rational and scientific, apparently to cover up the fact that his arguments were highly emotional and illogical. Amazingly, in his final letter to me, he wrote: “I never stated ‘there is no God.’ A supernatural being may exist. I would submit, however, that your God doesn't exist, since your concept of God is internally self-contradictory.” Since the entire exchange had been about the existence of God and he called himself an “atheist,” I was slightly confused and quite amused. I still am.
Talking with two Jehovah's Witnesses, I asked why anyone should believe the Watchtower Society, established more than 1,850 years after the founding of the Catholic Church. The defensive reply: “We trace our beliefs back to men such as John Huss and John Wycliffe.” When I pointed out that both Huss and Wycliffe believed in the Trinity — a doctrine they had vehemently attacked earlier in our conversation — they quickly changed the topic.
Then there are my exasperating conversations with hip, neo-Hindu types about the nature of truth. All of them insist, matter-of-factly, that “there is no truth.” For some reasons, those conversations went nowhere fast.
Tim LaHaye, creator of the Left Behind books, exchanged a few emails with me about some points of Church history. Responding to my statements about the inquisitions and the medieval era, he wrote: “You have bought into the spin that Catholic schools have put on history. Once you decide to accept that protective and often flawed view of history — what has happened to you is understandable.” When I pointed out that all of the data and information I relied on came from non-Christian sources, he did not respond.
Similarly, a fan of The Da Vinci Code wrote this in response to my criticisms of that novel: “[The Da Vinci Code] is the first book you have ever read on this subject not written by the church. You believe everything you are told. You are a blind religious fanatic.” Never mind that The Da Vinci Hoax, which I co-authored with Sandra Miesel, contains a selected bibliography with more than 100 titles — most of them of non-Christian. Or that Sandra has two graduate degrees from the University of Illinois, hardly a bastion of orthodox Catholicism.
Did they really say that? I'm still scratching my head.
Carl E. Olson writes from Eugene, Oregon. The Da Vinci Hoax is available from Ignatius Press (www.ignatius.com).
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carl E. Olson ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: The (Largely Catholic) Circus is in Town DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:It's a never-ending high-wire act for those in circus and carnival ministry
Father Jerry Hogan loves the circus. Really loves it. In fact, he loves it so much that he travels to circus shows 37 weekends of the year.
For most people, the circus is pure entertainment. But for Father Hogan, it's part of his vocation. Along with his duties as a parish priest at St. Michael Catholic Church in North Andover, Mass., he also serves as circus chaplain under the U.S. bishops' office of migration and refugees.
Under the big top, he's performed confirmations and baptisms, blessed animals and counseled performers. Once he married two clowns. “It's like a little mini-world,” says Father Hogan with a chuckle.
At any given time during the warm-weather months, there might be as many as 50 circuses and carnivals traveling throughout the United States. And upwards of 40% of the performers are Catholic, many hailing from northern Europe and Latin America. Thanks in no small part to their frenetic travel schedules, they and their non-Catholic colleagues are hungry for spiritual sustenance.
“They're people of God, like anyone else,” says Father Hogan. “They are part of God's mystical plan. They have to be ministered to like anyone else.”
Notre Dame Sister Charlotte Hobelman, coordinator of migrant ministries for the bishops' conference, estimates that about five dozen people serve in the ministry to traveling performers, which has garnered attention in the secular media. In recent years, religious involvement in the ministry has exploded into the public consciousness. That's thanks to a handful of religious sisters who ran away to join the circus, fulfilling a unique vocation of their own.
Bible Barkers
With all the baby elephants, trapeze artists and Friesian horses, the circus does appear to have an air of the exotic. But it only seems that way to visitors, says Sister Joel Byrne. “When you're in the circus,” she explains, “it's very ordinary.”
That's why she's there, along with Sister Priscilla Buhlmann. Members of the international order Little Sisters of Jesus, they live, work and travel with the Carson and Barnes Circus precisely because it is a traveling village, and precisely because — contrary to spectators' beliefs — life in the circus is rather routine.
Sister Joel, who comes from Maryland, and Swiss-born Sister Priscilla have worked in circuses since 1978. Outside of Europe, where the Little Sisters' circus tradition started in 1961, and Japan, where a group of sisters works with fairs that entertain in front of temples and shrines, they are the only Little Sisters who work with traveling entertainers.
They are not, however, the only religious women in the circus in the United States. Two Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, Sisters Dorothy Fabritze and Bernard Overkamp, joined the circus ministry in 2000.
Sisters from the two orders approach their circus vocations differently. The Little Sisters act as witnesses of love, peace and faith — but without preaching. The Missionary Sisters, who moved from Circus Chimera to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in late 2003, look on their work as “proclaiming the word of God wider,” as Sister Bernard says.
“Our charism is to proclaim the love of God to everyone,” she adds, “and to convince them that God loves them — proclaiming the love of God where it has not been proclaimed, where it has not been received or where other people cannot go, or will not go.”
The sisters are in community with a people who have a well-defined character of their own, adds Sister Dorothy. “Performers help us see the joys and inconsistencies of life,” she points out. “That's their charism.”
Neither the Little Sisters nor the Missionary Sisters just sit back and enjoy the show. They work alongside the people they serve — taking tickets, selling souvenirs, cooking, working the wardrobe, helping youngsters with homework, doing whatever needs to be done. And, of course, praying.
“They're vital, being there all the time,” says Father Hogan. “I'm like middle management; they're down there doing the grunt work.”
Three-Ring Sanctity
According to Sister Charlotte, most of the people involved in circus ministry are diocesan priests who make themselves available when traveling entertainers come through town. These priests perform any necessary rites and services, from baptisms to weddings to counseling.
Still, because they're constantly on the move, Catholic performers have a hard time feeling at home in the Church. One carnival couple called a rectory to arrange a baptism for their baby only to be told that, since they were not members of the parish — and the priest would likely never see them again — he could not baptize the child.
For members of Ringling Bros. and the Carson and Barnes Circus, the situation is somewhat simplified by the presence of the sisters, who can help them make vital connections with priests in the towns they pass through, and assist in arranging sacraments and memorial services.
The Little Sisters once arranged a Mass for a circus worker's father 13 years after his death. Over all those years, the performer was never able to schedule a Mass to be celebrated before the circus left town. It took the Little Sisters' help to make it happen.
Although they're part of their circus families now, the sisters admit that, at first, some of the show people were unsure what to expect from them. Would they preach at everyone? Would they try to convert anyone? But before long, the sisters' mission was plain: to live and work in the circus, to adopt its culture and to bear witness to the love of the Heavenly Father with their loving presence.
“They're not out to ‘market’ God. They're to be a living example of love and joy,” says Michael Gorman, vice president of Circus Chimera. “When you've got mud up to your ankles and times are tough, the nuns just have this wonderful, loving, God's presence that is felt by everyone they see. This is the joy of having nuns aboard.”
And this is the sisters' vocation. “We allow our lives to proclaim the evangelistic message,” says Sister Bernard, “sharing God's love and compassion with everybody else in the circus.” And why not? After all circus workers “share their gifts so openly and willingly with the audience. We bring God's news with a joyful face.”
Elisabeth Deffner writes from Orange, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Elisabeth Deffner ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:‘Best’ Catholic Colleges
Catholic colleges and universities fared best in the categor y of best universities-master's, which ranks schools with undergraduate and master's programs but few, if any, doctoral programs.
Divided by region, eight Catholic schools were in the top 15 in the categor y in the North with Villanova University first. First-place Creighton University and three other Catholic institutions were among the top 15 in the Midwest.
Seven of the top 15 regional universities in the West are Catholic, and three Catholic schools made the top 15 in the South.
Collegians for Life
Time suggested that even the more “liberal” positions of students are really “libertarian.” These include 40% suppor t for legalized marijuana use (the most since the 1970s) and homosexual “marriage,” endorsed by a record 59% of freshmen as opposed to just 30% in the general population.
Applications Accepted
SOUTHERN CATHOLIC COLLEGE, Aug. 23 — The regional Catholic college now in formation is accepting student applications for its inaugural freshman class in 2005.
An hour's drive nor th of Atlanta, in Dawsonville, Ga., Southern Catholic will initially ser ve a student population of 150, with projected growth to an estimated 3,000 by 2020.
The 100-acre site, surrounded by the Appalachian mountains, already includes buildings for classroom, worship and living space.
Donation Lost in Scam
Benefactor Conrad Col-brandt is being treated as one of some 40 victims in the swindle and will face no criminal charges.
College officials maintain that only capital projects were affected by the loss of the $100-million pledge and that St. Mar y's endowment remains sound.
‘Harvard of the Right’
ASSOCIATED PRESS, Aug. 18 — The Rev. Jerr y Fal-well will open a law school as par t of Liber ty University in Lynchburg, Va., this fall in hopes of training a generation of attorneys who will fight for traditional causes, especially those involving freedom of religion and the right to life.
“We'll be as far to the right as Har vard is to the left,” Falwell told the Associated Press.
Heidi Thompson, one of 61 founding students, said she would like to help reverse the decision to legalize abortion. Said Thompson, “I'd love to fight Roe v. Wade.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Going Places DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Bachelor's degree from an average, private, four-year college or university: $80,000. Preparation for life from a Catholic college or university faithful to the Church and all its teachings: priceless.
Want evidence of that equation in action? Speak with graduates of some of the best and most exuberantly Catholic schools in the United States.
We did and were encouraged by what we found. In fact, it may sound clichéd, but it's no exaggeration: The worth of a truly Catholic education is not to be found in the fame or fortune it produces.
What our sample group learned in their four years on campus was more basic. They came to appreciate the truth of the Gospel and grew in their ability to apply it to everyday life.
(This is the first in an occasional series on Catholic graduates who are succeeding in bringing the faith into the world.)
Making Music
Matthew Cameron didn't want to go to Christendom College at first. As he recalls it, he was just an average teen who went to Mass because his parents made him. His older brother had gone to the college in Front Royal, Va., and Cameron knew that Christendom was serious about the faith.
“I didn't believe much of anything at the time,” he says. “I wasn't interested in formal religion. But my parents wanted me to go. They told me to try just one semester. So I went, dragging my feet.”
After a few weeks at Christendom, Cameron was on his feet and running to classes and activities. He was hooked for life.
“The people there struck me as totally fascinating, alive and interesting,” he recalls. “They talked about their faith openly and were practicing in a real and vibrant way. It was unlike any place I'd ever known.
“Looking back,” he adds, “the education was great, and it prepared me for whatever I wanted to do in life.”
Cameron graduated in 1993 with a degree in political science, but he felt drawn to the media. With no real experience, he helped a friend produce a small film and moved to California to make movies. “I'm good at bringing people together and getting them to work as a team,” he says. “I worked on film crews, doing every job possible, 16 to 18 hours a day.”
When he met Tatiana, who had been a pop singer in her home country of Croatia, he realized that his life to that point had been a preparation for a new mission. They began producing musical performances promoting the Catholic faith and were married in December 1999. Now the parents of two young children, they spend months at a time on the road, performing concerts in churches throughout the country. They have made six albums and are completing their first DVD.
Without Christendom, Cameron says, he may have remained a halfhearted Catholic, more conformed to the world than to Christ.
“I learned that you have to engage the world and bring it to God by loving people first,” he says. “Through our work, Tatiana and I try to remind the world that there's more to this life than just this life. There's Christ.”
Pro-Life Politics
As the youngest of nine children in a strong Catholic family in California, Maggie Wynne naturally chose Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula. An older sister had been in the inaugural graduating class of the college, whose curriculum is based on the great books of Western Civilization. After reading classic political texts, from Plato's Republic on, she knew she wanted to change the culture through the modern democratic process.
“Since I came from such a large Catholic family, I can't say that I had a conversion experience in college,” says Wynne, who graduated in 1983. “But I definitely did learn how to think more clearly. The goal of Thomas Aquinas College was to help us strive toward a greater perfection of the intellect.”
Steeped in Western tradition, Wynne recognized that America's abortion laws were patently unjust — and set out to change them. In 1992, she became executive director of the Pro-Life Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives, whose chairman was Rep. Chris Smith (RN.J.). She labored through the hostile Clinton presidency, working to protect the Hyde Amendment that banned the use of federal funds for abortion, and drafting pro-life legislation on abortion that Clinton vetoed or the courts blocked.
Four years ago, she left the House caucus to become a legislative analyst at the Department of Health and Human Services, where she serves as a liaison to Congress on key issues such as stem-cell research, cloning, abstinence education and family planning. Since the Bush administration is basically pro-life, she does not meet many conflicts in her current post. But, she notes, “Were this a different administration, I wouldn't feel that confidence.”
Moral Medicine
Erik Severson, a medical resident, has faced situations in which his Catholic views conflicted with his training. A 2000 graduate of Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, Severson went on to graduate from the University of Minnesota Medical School. He decided not to do his residency there after the medical school opened a research project on embryonic stem cells.
“I would not put on a white coat that said ‘University of Minnesota’ on it, knowing that they're doing research on embryos down the hall,” says Severson, who is a second-year resident in orthopedic surgery at the University of Utah Medical School in Salt Lake City.
He married his college sweetheart, Rachel, after graduation, and they have three children. “As a resident, I'm putting in18-hour shifts, so I don't get to see her or the children for long stretches,” he explains. “Basically, I'm getting by on five hours (of) sleep a day so I can spend free time with my family.”
One of four children, Severson grew up in a town of 600 people in Minnesota, where his father, Paul, is a general surgeon. His father convinced him to go to Franciscan University, Severson recalled, “because he said it was the best place for me to be for the all-important years of 18 to 22, when I would become formed as a man and set the direction of my life.”
“Right away, I fell in love with it,” he continues. “I loved the camaraderie. It was awesome to see people who loved the truth and beauty of the Church, and were willing to conform their lives to it.”
The education was top-notch and prepared him well, he said. He scored in the top 2% nationally in his medical board exam and achieved high honors in medical school.
Franciscan University also affirmed his sense of service. He chose to specialize in orthopedic surgery after traveling to Haiti with an orthopedic surgeon, who corrected clubfeet and other deformities of people in the villages.
“In a few days, he changed so many lives,” Severson says. “I realized that's how God was calling me to use my medical skills. I know that missions to Haiti will be part of my practice.”
Stephen Vincent is based in Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: Catholic Grads on the Move ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Weekly Book Pick DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:EVENING PRAYERBOOK: SUNDAY VESPERS, LITURGY OF THE HOURS: THE PRAISES OF GOD — AN UNCOMMON DIALOGUE
Patmos, 2004 157 pages, $24.95 To order: (570) 685-5168 or www.patmos.us
The Church has been expressing its hope that the laity would come to know the Liturgy of the Hours ever since the Second Vatican Council.
In his 2001 apostolic letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the Beginning of the New Millennium), Pope John Paul II concluded that it “is important to devote greater pastoral care to promoting the Liturgy of the Hours as a prayer of the whole people of God. … If, in fact, priests have a precise mandate to celebrate it, it is also warmly recommended to lay people.”
The problem is that the breviary is not something you can simply open and run with. It requires some instruction.
Beginners are often frustrated and confused, having to flip back and forth from “Ordinary” to “Hymns” to “Psalter” to “Proper of Seasons.”
In addition, there are various rubrics accompanying the prayers (sign of the cross, bowing, knowing when to sit or stand) that can further complicate the learning process.
To the rescue comes Evening Prayerbook. This workbook contains vespers for every Sunday and major feast day of the year. Each two-page spread contains everything needed for each evening — no search-and-flip missions required. Parenthetical comments on gestures and rubrics are in the margins. Especially helpful to those who do not have the guidance of a priest or religious is the tutorial page, which carefully explains each prayer and rubric, and how to alternate responses for vespers in a group setting.
Less essential, but certainly well worthwhile, is the artwork on the margins of each page. Here are lovely designs, reminiscent of old illuminated manuscripts and color-coordinated to the liturgical season of each Sunday's evening prayer.
The book's foreword, by Wayne Hepler, will both inform and motivate the reader to investigate the Liturgy of the Hours. Hepler seasons his own enthusiasm for liturgical prayer with copious quotes from the magisterium. Referring to Dies Domini (The Lord's Day), he writes:
“The Holy Father reminds us in his gentle way that Sunday isn't over when Mass is over. How fitting it would be indeed if after Mass, the football game, naps, or visiting family, the faithful would come together with the whole Church throughout the world and complete their Sunday with the celebration of Sunday Vespers?”
“There is no other prayer like the Liturgy of the Hours,” Hepler continues. “It is the official public prayer of the Church for every day of the liturgical year celebrating the life of Jesus Christ in its Seasons, Feasts, and Saints — especially in the morning and evening. It is the ‘very prayer which Christ himself, together with his body addresses to the Father’ (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Chapter 4).”
Hepler is certain that praying just one hour of Sunday vespers regularly will “be the introduction into the love affair of a lifetime.” Many of his readers will no doubt end up similarly persuaded.
Evening Prayerbook will be immensely helpful to pastors who need a simple resource for introducing their parish to the Divine Office. Recitation of evening prayer takes between 10 and 15 minutes: a modest investment with an eternal return.
Daria Sockey writes from Cincinnati.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Daria Sockey ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Family Spirit DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Torsten and Cathy Helk weren't convinced that Sunday Mass, grace before meals and a loving home were enough to nurture their children's faith. So they took their two children on family retreats. “We wanted to give them something more,” says Cathy. “We wanted them to grow up with a relationship with God.”
The family played and prayed at the Marianist Family Retreat Center in Cape May Point, N.J. They took part in lively sessions on forgiveness and commitment in the morning, attended noontime Mass, frolicked at the nearby beach after lunch and, in the evening, enjoyed ice cream at sunset or participated in a decade of the rosary at the Mary statue.
The retreats taught the Helks “how to have fun with one another,” says Cathy. “We learned you don't need permission to talk about your faith. You don't need to keep your faith private.”
The Helks credit the retreats with enlivening their children's spiritual lives. “She's grown up inspired by the Spirit,” says Cathy of Kimmie, 17, who in the fall will attend a college run by the Sisters of Mercy.
The Helks found what other Catholic families seek. The frenzied pace of life, the lack of family time together and the secular trappings of society make it difficult for parents today to keep their faith foremost. Families are pulled in so many different directions that the call of the Holy Spirit can be drowned out.
“We live in an individualistic society. It's so easy for young people to get lost all day in a video game,” says Holy Cross Father John Phalen, president of Holy Cross Family Ministries in North Easton, Mass. “So often we have very little to do with one another. Prayer is very important for bringing us together. Prayer brings us together. It forms us in community.”
Trying to deepen your family's spirituality is not just about making sure everyone is polite and respectful with one another or that family members attend Mass regularly and otherwise outwardly observe the rituals of the Catholic faith. Without consciously working toward the goal, it's more a matter of building a small Christian community within the family unit. Families with a vibrant spiritual life can handle crises both large and small and offer unstinting support and compassion amid daily challenges.
“A deeper trust level develops (in spiritual families),” says Beth Mahoney, mission director for Holy Cross Family Ministries, founded by “the rosary priest,” Father Patrick Peyton. “When we come together and pray, God's presence is with us and around us and allows us to be vulnerable and fragile with one another. Look at the life of Christ. He led a life of vulnerability.”
Those engaged in family ministry say a family's spiritual growth won't happen by accident and won't happen merely by attending Mass together. It has to be done intentionally. And what works for one family may not agree with another. But it can be done.
Here are some concrete ways to cut through the clutter of everyday life and enrich your family's spirituality.
Mend the Marriage
A marriage that is floundering or one even operating on cruise control is not ripe for spiritual riches. “Make sure your marriage is working,” says Father Phalen. “Don't just go through the motions of saying prayers. Improve the relationship between the partners. Consider Marriage Encounter or Cursillo.”
It's within the family that children develop a spirituality that will stay with them when they grow up. Children learn by observing, not by commands and dictates. Parents able to work together, disagree respectfully and help each other get over personal humps leave a greater impression than a stern parental lecture on right and wrong or even a Sunday homily from the pulpit.
“Young people decide who they are and what they want in life through family relationships. Bringing people together for give and take gives us a model for what we can be,” says Father Phalen. “If people forgive one another at home, that will carry over later. Forgiveness helps people connect in their relationships.”
The family is also where the drama of being human and the calling to a life of holiness is played out. “The family is the domestic church. All the elements of the Church are available in this basic unit of society,” says Father Phalen. “Our salvation is together, not just as individuals. We're saved as a community.”
Find the Sacred in the Routine
Catholics wrongly tend to confine God to one hour on Sunday. Barbara MacDonald, president of the National Association of Catholic Family Life Ministers, likes to recount an anecdote about a Jewish girl who befriended a Catholic girl. Before long, the Jewish girl discovered the difference between the two faiths. “For Jews, everything important happens in the home,” she concluded. “For Catholics, it's at church.”
‘When you renew your spiritual life, that will overflow to the kids’
a Deeper Spiritual Life (Servant, 2004). “If you are serious about your faith, if you show your love for God, your kids will be turned on to God.”
Cirner has five children, ages 33 to 21. As teen-agers, they went through the typical rebellions of youth. But she and her husband did not waver from the Catholic faith.
When her children became adults, “they came back to us and said, ‘Everything you told us was based on your belief in God.’ It's not like they felt we imposed something on them.”
Don't fret, says Cirner, if your spiritual batteries seem to be running low. “John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila said, pay attention to the dissatisfaction in our life. That's a sign of the Holy Spirit leading you to Christ,” she says. “If you feel like your spiritual life is faltering, rely on God to breathe some winds into your sails.”
Be sure to share with your children your own struggles and successes in following Christ, advises Father Phalen. Children benefit immeasurably from hearing their parents talk about their personal concerns.
“What's the cross you are bearing today? Is it an overbearing boss? Let your children know you've prayed for patience,” he says.
Likewise, openly give thanks for positive experiences. “What are your resurrection experiences? What's gone right with you? Share that, as well.”
Go on Family Retreat
Most families want to spend their precious vacation time on the beach or sightseeing in a far-flung locale. Indeed, most of the families who attend a family retreat include a reluctant spouse (usually the husband) and wary children. But that changes dramatically as the retreat unfolds.
“Ninety-five percent of our families return,” says Anthony Fucci, director of the Marianist Family Retreat Center. “Kids realize they can have a good time and be spiritual at the same time. They also realize they can have a positive experience with their parents.”
A family retreat offers “the perfect formula. It reaches you at every level,” says Cathy Helk. Part of the appeal is the camaraderie that develops among and within families as people realize what they share in common. “Families realize they all struggle with the same issues,” she says. “There's not enough time, trying to limit the negative influences on the kids, getting them to go to church.”
Families on retreat quickly discover that, while Mass is the highest form of prayer and worship on earth, it isn't the only place you can glorify God. For example, many rediscover the joys of praying a family rosary while on retreat.
Part of the beauty of the family rosary is that it's “the catechism on a string,” according to Father Phalen. The mysteries open our hearts and minds to truths about the human condition and the divine plan.
“Link the rosary to everyday life,” says Mahoney. “It's not only one of the prayers that's part of our tradition but it allows us to reflect on everyday life.” The visitation, for example, can be related to how we receive visitors into our home and how we relate to friends or those in need.
The bottom line: Over time, through prayer, retreats and generally paying more attention to the workings of the Holy Spirit in day-to-day family life, God can be more manifest in every home.
“The family that prays together stays together,” says Father Phalen, echoing Father Peyton's mantra. “A family may face a big problem, but nothing is bigger than the grace that supports us.”
Jay Copp writes from La Grange Park, Illinois.
----- EXCERPT: Is the Holy Spirit at home in your home? ----- EXTENDED BODY: Jay Copp ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Who Knows Best? DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Facts of Life
Parents who forbid their daughters to date older boys are wise, after all. A study published Aug. 19 by Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse shows that teen-age girls who associate with older boys are more likely to smoke, drink and use drugs. The survey of 1,000 teens also found that young people welcome their parents' guidance. Asked in the telephone survey what they wished they could “honestly discuss with parents at dinner,” 42% said dating and 30% said substance abuse.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: One is the Loneliest Number, Spouse DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:Family Matters
What if your spouse is just as devout a Catholic as you, but far less interested in improving the marital relationship? I perceive serious problems in our marriage, but my wife is indifferent about it. It's hard to get her to invest in changing something she doesn't seem to care much about.
Nothing is truer than the old adage that says you cannot change your spouse; you can only change yourself.
Husbands and wives are fundamentally called to lead one another to holiness. Just to be certain that pride or stubbornness are not obstacles, spend some time in deep, honest reflection about your own conduct in the marriage. Ask yourself if you have truly done everything possible to be the best model of virtue for your wife.
Are you patient, generous, self-giving and understanding? Do you listen well? Are you empathetic? Have you actively worked to identify and meet her needs? Do you pray fervently and regularly for her conversion of heart? Do you pray for your own perseverance? If you are lacking in any of these areas, devote yourself to “be Christ” to your wife. That is, lay down your life for her even more.
What if she is still unresponsive to your desire to improve the marriage? The answer, and your vocation, is the same: Be Christ to her. In making a complete gift of yourself to your wife and children, you are embracing the vocation to which God has called you. Remember that Christ's sacrifice consisted not just in the gift of himself, but also in his realization that those to whom he was giving so much were the very ones who were persecuting him.
The most important obligation you have is to be faithful to the Lord. In the marriage covenant, that means an unconditional gift of self to your spouse, whether it is reciprocated or not. Just as important is not losing hope that things can get better. The savior who died for your sins has the power to change hearts. Never stop believing that all things are possible with God, even this!
Recently in this space, we encouraged couples not to be afraid to seek outside help if there were recurring problems in the marriage. We would also urge you to consider counseling as an option, even if your spouse refuses to join you. A solid counselor may be able to help you more accurately identify problems that you don't perceive, due to your closeness to the situation. An experienced counselor who is also a well-formed Catholic may be able to help you come up with specific strategies you can use to improve your situation at home.
Enlist a saint to be your ally in prayer. We recommend newly canonized St. Gianna Beretta Molla, a wife and mother of four par excellence. Ask her to intercede for your wife, that she will develop into the kind of wife and mother that God is calling her to be.
The McDonalds are directors of family life for the Archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tom & Caroline Macdonald ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 09/12/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 12-18, 2004 ----- BODY:New Zealanders Defend Marriage
Marchers, led by a group of indigenous Maori warriors, chanted, “Enough is enough.” The report added that “there were many schoolchildren and babies in prams in the crowd.”
One mother, Claire Story, with a 5-month-old baby, said she felt compelled to take part in the rally. Said Story, “I'm just really here to support families and to support life.”
Parliament to Reconsider Abortion
In British law, babies can be aborted up to 24 weeks after conception, but the latest ultrasound images of children in the womb and the fact that babies born at 24 weeks can survive outside the womb may be prompting a shift in popular opinion.
Pro-life activist Anthony Ozimic warned that any review would be in the hands of Parliament's pro-abortion majority, and that this attempt at reform “would again be wide open to hijack by the pro-abortion lobby, which calls explicitly for total deregulation of abortion.”
Zanzibar Refuses to Sanction Sodomy
The bill was passed unanimously by Parliament, and President Amani Karume signed the bill into law in August. Muslim Zanzibar is an Indian Ocean archipelago and a semi-autonomous state of Tanzania that is famous for its white-sand beaches. Travel agencies that specialize in tours for homosexuals threaten a boycott.
Teen Sex is of a Piece
A study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found that teen-agers who reported at least half of their friends were sexually active were 31 times more likely to get drunk, 5.5 times more likely to smoke and 22.5 times more likely to have tried marijuana.
The survey asked teens extensive questions about the activities of their friends as a surrogate for the teen-ager's own behavior. It showed that a teen-ager with a majority of friends who regularly viewed Internet pornography was “three times more likely to smoke, drink or use illegal drugs than a teen who has no such friends.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of Life -------- TITLE: Skewed Science? DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:ST. LOUIS — The July 28 decision by the 150,000-member American Psychological Association (APA) to endorse homosexual marriage and adoptions was portrayed as a key victory for homosexual activists.
But it didn't feel like a victory for many homosexuals.
Experts in the reparative treatment of homosexuals estimate that 40% are victims of childhood molestation. This was the fate of Peggy, a 39-year-old Minnesotan, who spent 18 years in the lesbian “community.”
When she read the results of the “APA Working Group on Same-Sex Families and Relationships,” she saw a repudiation of her own experience.
The working group was appointed in February by the APA's Council of Representatives. According to a July 28 APA press release, it was “charged with developing policy recommendations for APA that would guide psychologists in the current public debate over civil marriage for same-sex couples.”
Peggy finds its recommendations in support of same-sex marriage a psychological disaster waiting to happen.
Molested as a child by an adult male, Peggy grew up alienated from men, believing them interested only in sexual exploitation. She became alienated from the Church after she began sexual relationships with women.
Peggy spent 12 years in a “committed” relationship with another woman. “We really kept up with the Joneses,” she said. “We had a great joint income. Both of us were in the professional world. We had beautiful cars and traveled. We built a new house. I had everything I thought I wanted. Then one day I was sitting in the family room of the new house, and everything came crashing down. I thought, ‘I am spiritually and emotionally dead inside.’”
Peggy abandoned the “lifestyle” four years ago and was reconciled to the Church. “I might still struggle with loneliness, but even if I never marry I know a peace and a freedom I never knew before,” she said.
Linda Nicolosi, publications director of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), said that psychological and psychiatric associations have developed methodologies that guarantee pro-homosexuality findings. NARTH is a proponent of reparative therapy, through which those caught up in homosexual behavior are helped to abandon the lifestyle.
Said Nicolosi, “Sadly, the professional organizations seem to think that only gay-identified people can fully understand gay issues. So they turn over the study and discussion of these issues to gay-activist groups… Opposing them would mean being called ‘homophobic — not something most clinicians would like to risk. It hurts their careers.’”
The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses in 1973; a decision endorsed by the Psychological Association in 1975. Recently, both associations have flirted with the normalization of pedophilia; both backtracked after public outrage.
Heartbeat News editor Dale O'Leary, a Catholic writer and social analyst who has extensively researched homosexual issues, said that the enemies of traditional morality create a false dichotomy between science and religion.
“But they don't have science on their side,” O'Leary said. “The science is pretty concrete — same-sex attraction is not genetically determined; it is the result of early childhood experiences.”
Predetermined Conclusion?
The working group's chairman, Dr. Armand Cerbone, was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame last year.
Other members included Dr. Beverly Green, editor of Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Issues, Dr. Kristin Hancock, former president of the APA's Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Issues and Dr. Lawrence Kurdek, author of Social Services for Gay and Lesbian Couples.
Another member was Dr. Candy McCullough, a deaf lesbian who deliberately created (through the artificial insemination of her deaf lover by a deaf sperm donor) one child totally deaf and another mostly deaf, the better to proclaim pride in the “deaf community.”
The sixth member, Dr. Anne Peplau of UCLA, told the Register she was unaware of Dr. McCullough's actions, and dismissed as “nonsense” the allegation that the Working Group was “stacked.” Said Peplau, “I'm happily married, married to the same man for years, have a son, and I was a member.”
However, Peplau is herself a long-standing proponent of homosexual relationships. According to a list of her published works available at the Web site of UCLA's Faculty of Psychology, an article she co-authored, “Women in Love: Attachment and autonomy in lesbian relationships,” won the 1979 Evelyn C. Hooker research award by the National Gay Academics Union.
Peplau has retained that pro-homosexuality perspective. In 2000, she co-authored an article in the summer issue of the Journal of Social Issues that asserted that “the illness model of sexual orientation is no longer scientifically viable” and therefore “scientific researchers should avoid taking heterosexuality as the norm for mental health.”
The Working Group summarized existing research to conclude “that same-sex couples are remarkably similar to heterosexual couples, and that parenting effectiveness and the adjustment, development and psychological well-being of children is unrelated to parental sexual orientation.”
Nicolosi said that the evidence cited by the APA working group is flawed. “The data they are using is studies showing ‘no harm’ to children raised by same-sex parents,” she said. “But most of these studies compared children of single heterosexual mothers — a population known to be at risk — to children of two lesbian mothers.”
More important, “What the public fails to understand is that data alone cannot tell us about psychological health; it must be interpreted through a philosophy, a worldview. And the APA's worldview is that heterosexuality is no longer to be considered normative.”
Peggy said she only grew mentally at ease when she left the lifestyle.
She said she never expected this to be so. “I had a friend from college. I told her back then I thought I was a lesbian, and she said she would pray for me every day. She still does.
“Back then she was kind of a thorn in my side, but now I know she is very much part of my conversion story. She said to me nine years ago, ‘Peggy, you might be right. You might go to Heaven, and I'll see you there, and wouldn't that be great? But what if you're wrong, and I'm right?’ Then she did a 30-day mass novena for me.”
Having escaped from homosexuality, Peggy now believes that everyone is created heterosexual — and with an innate yearning to know God.
“Our sexuality is imprinted at birth,” she said. “We are oriented to love the Lord. I think it's unfortunate so many people aren't interested in exploring the richness of what the Catholic Church teaches about our sexuality.”
Kevin Michael Grace writes from Victoria, British Columbia.
----- EXCERPT: Some Psychology Gives Homosexual Marriage Clean bill of Health ----- EXTENDED BODY: Kevin Michael ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Is This the Cave of John the Baptist? DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:JERUSALEM — One American professor says the skeptics are wrong about John the Baptist's cave.
After the Aug. 16 announcement that a cave that once housed John the Baptist had been found, scholars adopted a “wait-and-see” attitude.
They had good reason to, they said. First, no one other than the team that found the cave had seen it. Second, the only reports about this so far are what British archeologist Shimon Gibson told the Associated Press. N scholarly journals have yet published peer-reviewed articles on it.
This has not stopped James Tabor, though, from agreeing with Gibson's identification of the cave as one used by John the Baptist.
Tabor, is chairman of the religious studies department at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. A team of students from his school helped Gibson in the excavation of the site, and Tabor says Gibson's new book, The Cave of John the Baptist, makes its case effectively.
There are many reasons for the identification, Tabor said. One is the site itself. Located outside of Ain Karam, which patristic history identifies as John's hometown, the cave is in a remote, desolate and environmentally hostile area. That makes it easy enough to identify this with the “wilderness” to which John went as he grew up, he said.
“The word aramos [wilderness] means a solitary place,” Tabor explained. “What I think Luke was trying to say is that he was reclusive and solitary. It's more a statement about his spiritual formation” than his actual location.
Msgr. John Meier, a New Testament professor at Notre Dame, said the “identification of Ain Karim with John the Baptist is a patristic, not a New Testament, tradition.” But Tabor countered that it's a very old tradition coming from St. Sera-pion of Antioch in the late second century.
There are also a number of churches in the area that have connections to the Baptizer, including an Orthodox monastery with a cave where the monks claim John stayed.
Along with this are images found in the cave which appear to be representative of St. John. One shows only a head, another a man with his hand raised as in a proclamation mode dressed in what appears to be an animal skin. There is also a hand stretched out in blessing and a cross nearby. “We would normally bring in an art historian on such a case,” Tabor explained, “but that style is just not around.”
The possibility exists that this is the earliest Christian art to have ever been found, though Tabor and Gibson have initially identified it as from the Byzantine era.
But what is most remarkable about the cave is how it appears to have been used. There are a number of steps leading down into the cave, and in the Roman period diggings, “we found thousands and thousands of broken vessels,” Tabor said.
There is also a pool in the cave. While one might think the broken vessels could have been large water-holding jars, that was not the case, he said; these were all the size of small pitchers. In addition, there is “nothing practical” in the cave, suggesting that it was “used as a sacred space.”
Anointing Feet
The Associated Press also reported that “a niche is carved into the wall, typical of those used in Jewish ritual baths for discarding the clothes before immersion.”
And there was an unusual find at the bottom of a flight of stairs — a channel in the wall leading to a deep footprint in the floor. “We speculate it had something to do with anointing the right foot” with oil, Tabor said.
Possible parallels to this in Scripture, Tabor thinks, are found in Leviticus 8:23 when Moses anointed Aaron for ordination with the blood of a sacrificed ram on his right ear lobe, right thumb and the big toe of his right foot. There is also Mary anointing Jesus' feet before the Last Supper and Jesus' washing the feet of the disciples at the Last Supper.
There is a group still in existence today in Iraq and Iran, the Mandaens, who claim to be followers of St. John, though they do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah and scholars “are up in the air” about their identity, Tabor said. But they “practice baptism and do anoint with oil before going into the water,” he said.
“And they don't do it just once, but as often as possible,” he added. While it's not a definitive link, he said, it does allow for possibilities.
All of these factors indicate that some sort of purification ritual was done on a regular basis, he said.
Another point of concern scholars raised is that this cave is very close to Jerusalem but about 15 miles away from the Jordan River where the all the Gospels state John performed his public ministry. In fact, in 2000, officials in Jordan unveiled what they claim was the spot where John baptized.
But the two are not necessarily in conflict, Tabor said. “The cave would be earlier in John's life,” he said. “What did he do for the previous 15 years in the wilderness before he revealed himself?” The hypothesis shows that John was “already practicing some kind of water purification.”
Another possibility, Tabor added, is a second century apocryphal document that says when Herod sent his soldiers out to kill the Innocents, Elizabeth fled with John, who was only six months older than Jesus, “to a cave with a spring.”
Skeptics
Despite Tabor's and Gibson's scholarly reputations and confidence in their identification, other scholars are skeptical.
“I've known Shimon Gibson for several years…and consider him a careful scholar with a good reputation,” wrote David Aune, a professor of New Testament at Notre Dame in an e-mail to the Register.
What seems most likely to him given the reports so far is “that the cave in question was a cultic center for activity of a largely unknown group in Byzantine Judea who revered the memory of John the Baptist.”
Salesian Father Francis Moloney, chairman of the theology department at The Catholic University of America, said there could be a link to John, “but I don't think it goes back to his presence” in the cave. There is nothing in Scripture or Tradition “of any cave practice or anointing” in connection to John the Baptist, he added.
Max Bonilla, a New Testament scholar at Franciscan University of Steubenville, said there could have been any number of uses for the cave since ritual purification was a constant in Jewish life.
In spite of all this, Tabor is steadfast. “John is the best guess,” he said. “It's a hypothesis, it's not proven.” Others who question it “will have to come up with a better explanation.”
Thomas A. Szyszkiewicz writes from Altura, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Thomas A. Szyszkiewicz ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Youth Revolt DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:STEUBENVILLE, Ohio - Seeking voters in a key swing state, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry thought his message on the economy would resonate in the predominantly Democratic steel-working city of Steubenville, Ohio.
What his staffers didn't realize, however, was that he was walking into the neighborhood of a Catholic university known for its energetic support for the magisterium.
Approximately 500 students prayerfully marched from Franciscan University of Steubenville down to the Kerry rally to offer a silent witness about standing up for their Catholic faith.
While Senator Kerry has described himself as a “believing and practicing Catholic” and has said that he is personally opposed to abortion, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and NARAL Pro-Choice America has given him a 100% rating for his consistent pro-abortion voting record.
The students met on campus and began walking the two miles to downtown's Fort Steuben beginning at 11:45 a.m. The marchers prayed the rosary along the way, eventually arriving downtown at about 1 p.m. The rally was set to begin at 4 p.m., so in the meantime, members of the group prayed and sang together.
Members of the group each held one of three signs. They had 800 signs professionally made that read either “To Be Catholic is to Be Pro-life” or “Mr. Kerry, Please Stand Up for What you Believe.” Other members carried signs donated by the American Life League and Ohio Right to Life. They read “You Can't Be Catholic and Pro-Abortion.”
At 3 p.m. Kerry supporters began arriving for the rally. At that point the “Catholics for Life” group went into silent mode.
“Our group did not protest. We were not partisan or political,” said Bissonnette. “Our challenge to Senator Kerry was to stand up for what the Church teaches and fully embrace the Church's teachings on life.”
“It was our desire to be a silent witness,” said Bissonnette. “At 3:00, Gabriel made the sign of the cross and all 400 members of our group began praying the Divine Mercy prayer silently for Senator Kerry. It was a beautiful witness.”
The Catholics who showed up to defend the Church's teaching on human life felt positive about the impact their presence made.
“Kerry was visibly shaken,” said Steubenville City Councilman-at-large Michael Hernon. “John Kerry will not be coming back to Steubenville.”
Both Hahn and Bissonnette noted that Kerry did not address those holding the signs, but at one point he looked at the signs and stumbled over a sentence. “There was a point where he looked at the signs and faltered,” said Bissonnette. “He couldn't find his words for a moment.”
The college year had started only the Monday before the Saturday rally, but that didn't stop Franciscan University juniors Gabriel Hahn and Emily Bissonnette from organizing community members and fellow students.
Hahn, son of Steubenville professor Scott Hahn, came up with the idea for what he described as a “respectful challenge” after first learning of Kerry's visit while watching television news the Sunday prior to the rally.
“We didn't learn of the time of the visit until Tuesday evening,” said Hahn. “We had three days of preparation.”
No Free Speech?
The crowd was delayed entering the rally area for an hour while a discussion ensued between a Kerry campaign staffer, Steuben-ville Police Chief Bill McCafferty, and Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla about whether members of the Franciscan University group should be allowed to bring signs into the event. A Kerry campaign staffer attempted to take away their signs.
“A young man from the Kerry campaign grabbed about 10 signs,” said McCafferty. “He said he was going to take all the signs. I told him, ‘No you're not.’”
McCafferty told the staffer that Fort Steuben was a public park and that he did not want to be accused of restricting freedom of speech at a national political rally.
“They were taking the signs away outside the fence, but giving them Kerry signs inside the fence. They wanted to make it look like everyone there was for Kerry,” said McCafferty. “If the Kerry campaign had held the rally at a private place, like an arena, they could do that. My stance was that the others should be allowed to express their displeasure.
If I had to do it all over again, I would do the same thing.”
Eventually, the crowd was allowed in with their signs.
“Typically signs are not permitted,” said Brendon Cull, spokesman for the Democratic coordinated campaign in Ohio. As Cull did not attend the Steubenville rally he declined to answer any further questions about it. The Kerry campaign did not return the Register's telephone calls.
During the warm-up event at least two of the speakers made derogatory remarks directed at those gathered with the pro-life signs.
Rob Corzine, director of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, who was present at the rally reported that Ohio Senator Greg DiDonato “angrily said, ‘I'm Catholic. My family is Catholic. My grandparents were Catholic, and we're voting for John Kerry. Abortion is a woman's right to choose.’”
In addition to the university students, additional community members and Bush supporters also attended, including many with their families. Regis Martin, a professor of systematic theology at the university, attended the rally with his 10 children.
“County Sheriff Fred Abdalla, who, in railing against us from the platform, made the following novel theological pronouncement: ‘Anyone who makes fun of someone with a Purple Heart is committing a mortal sin,’” Dr. Regis Martin told the Register.
Witness Media reports of the event were widely varied. The Associated Press stated that there were only several dozen pro-life advocates present. Fox News reported that it was the largest pro-life turn-out for a Kerry event outside of the Democratic convention. According to the Steubenville Herald-Star, officials estimated the crowd at 3,500 as “almost split in half with people for and against the Massachusetts senator.”
Kerry supporters said that they didn't find the pro-life group's presence distracting.
“I think they wanted it to be disruptive, but it wasn't,” said Jason Wilson Jason Wilson, a local Kerry campaign volunteer who distributed more than 700 tickets for the event. “I don't think holding a sign up in the air is disruptive to anyone.”
Because the majority of those offering a silent witness were students, he described their presence as “disingenuous.”
“Most of them were not from the area,” said Wilson, who himself graduated from the university. “They don't necessarily live here. They are visiting while they are students. They don't follow the trend of the area.”
The students disagree. “We are a small community,” said Bissonnette. “Yet, we were able to make a difference. We were able to witness our total commitment to defending human life and the teachings of our Church to Senator Kerry, to our local community, and the entire nation.”
Tim Drake writes from Saint Cloud, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: Hundreds of Ohio students march for life at Kerry rally ----- EXTENDED BODY: Tim Drake ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: U.N. Takes Cloning Debate Out of Public Eye DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:NEW YORK — While the United Nations is gearing up to vote on a comprehensive ban on human cloning next month, some cloning proponents have sought to move the debate to a more cloning-friendly organization — the International Bioethics Committee at UNESCO in Paris.
The committee, established in 1993, is charged with drafting the first document defining a global ethical framework for life sciences, the “Declaration on the Universal Norms on Bioethics.”
Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, a non-governmental organization at the U.N., said the switch constituted “venue-shopping.”
“If you think that you can't win in one court, then you go to another,” he said.
But a recent appointee to the panel, Dr. Edmund Pellegrino, an opponent of all types of cloning, said in an interview that everything in the process of drafting a document is transparent. An outline the International Bioethics Committee will discuss was posted on the committee's website Aug. 23.
Pellegrino, founder of the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University in Washington, promised that he would be vocal in promoting the magisterium's stance on cloning during his four-year term on the committee.
Another Catholic involved in the proceedings is Legion of Christ Father Gonzalo Miranda, dean of the faculty of bioethics of Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum of Rome. He and other religious representatives were invited to speak before the 11th session of the bioethics committee recently. He later told Zenit news service that he spoke about “the obligation not to discriminate against anyone and not to violate anyone's human rights” and the “respect due to the human being from his embryonic state.”
“I said that a UNESCO document…must not propose, approve or endorse any practice that is contrary to the Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, especially the right to life, proclaimed in Article 3,” he said. “I also called attention to the danger that the text might approve, indirectly or implicitly, certain practices that go against those fundamental rights, simply by the fact of condemning some modalities of certain practices without mentioning other modalities. This would be the case, for example, if so-called reproductive cloning was condemned and therapeutic cloning was not mentioned.”
UNESCO stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Over the past three years, human cloning has been the subject of heated debate at the U.N. In November 2001, France and Germany proposed an immediate ban on all reproductive cloning that would prohibit the implantation of cloned embryos in women for an eventual birth. The initiative did not, however, propose to ban “therapeutic” cloning — which would create human embryos for the purpose of scientific research. These embryos would be destroyed to extract their stem cells.
“The problem is that any statement that doesn't address the cloning issue right is bad news,” said Nigel Cameron, president of the Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future. With regards to therapeutic cloning, the French and German silence on the issue was “loud tacit approval,” Cameron said. “It's basically wink-wink.”
A coalition of countries — led by Costa Rica, the Holy See and the United States — drew up a counter proposal in March 2002 that would ban all human cloning, both reproductive and therapeutic. Support for this ban has grown considerably since then. As of November 2003, the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute reported that more than 60 nations had co-sponsored the ban, with 40 more nations voicing their intention to vote for it.
“As the developing world learns more about the procedure, they have grown more uncomfortable with it,” said Douglas Sylva of the institute. “Perhaps this is because millions of eggs will be needed to do the research. Human eggs would basically become commodities.”
Because of this momentum, Sylva said the institute and other like-minded organizations noted a kind of “desperation” on the part of pro-cloning countries. Once the pro-cloning nations began to see that they could lose a vote at the U.N., they maneuvered to stall it. They called for a delay of two years, which was eventually reduced to one year. This group of countries, about 25 at last count, includes Belgium, South Korea, China, Israel and the United Kingdom. Ironically, France and Germany have national laws which outlaw human cloning in any form. Their U.N. delegates have thus been at odds with their own national policies.
French national policy is clearly against cloning. A law that completely forbids cloning was passed there July 8. Scientists caught attempting any type of cloning could be jailed for up to seven years.
Germany also has strong laws against cloning in any form. When the German Parliament heard about the French/German initiative at the U.N., an uproar ensued. German politicians across the political spectrum were furious, and in February 2003, passed a parliamentary motion supported by all three major German political parties. The motion stated that any form of human cloning, regardless of its goal, was an assault on human dignity. The motion also questioned why the German government was working towards an international convention on cloning that was weaker than its own laws, which protect human embryos from all scientific research.
“This shows that when people hear about the cloning debate, the process becomes much more democratic,” Cameron said. “It also shows that international delegates are much more influenced by scientists and elites, who have no accountability, than by national legislation.”
The United States is another odd case. It has no national laws outlawing human cloning, yet the U.S. delegation is currently one of the strongest opponents of cloning at the U.N. — because of Bush administration policies.
The move by the International Bioethics Committee to draft a document has been viewed with alarm by pro-life UNESCO observers. Past statements of committee members show that the majority favors the cloning of human embryos for research.
The draft will be submitted to UNESCO's member states for approval in October 2005.
Though there is no announced effort to undermine the cloning debate, it is clear that any statement which appears to support therapeutic cloning could have the potential to cause problems for anti-cloning nations at the U.N. this fall.
For now, pro-life observers at the U.N. and UNESCO must wait and see how the cloning debate will flesh out this fall. In the meantime, anti-cloning groups are doing whatever is necessary to make their arguments heard.
“There is a sense of urgency that has been growing by the minute,” Sylva said, “because the UK has decided to go ahead with therapeutic cloning, as well as South Korea.”
In fact, a group of German politicians feel so strongly about this issue that they sent Sen. John Kerry a letter June 2 urging him not to change U.S. policy in the event he wins the presidential race in November. “We very much support the engagement of the Bush administration to fight against all kinds of human cloning,” the Germans said. “We do not support the position of some European governments…that only reproductive cloning should be banned because, firstly, a ban of only reproductive cloning will not be enforceable. If you have thousands or hundreds of thousands of cloned human embryos, there will be people who implant them in the womb.”
They went on to remind Kerry that the creation of human embryos solely for research purposes “is clearly against fundamental ethical principles.”
“One of the main arguments is that if…therapeutic cloning would ever lead to treatments, then one would need millions of human egg cells donated by women,” they wrote. “Egg-cell donating is, in fact, a very risky and painful procedure.”
Developing nations, which will be crucial to any vote at the U.N., are also watching this debate closely.
“People in the developing world need clean water,” Sylva said. “They have all kinds of problems they are dealing with. They look upon the cloning debate and the promises of research with a jaundiced eye. Even if medical miracles occur, it won't help their people with clean water. They are also starting to see that any of these biotechnological experiments will come at the expense of their own people.”
Sabrina Ferrisi writes from Jersey City, New Jersey.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Sabrina Ferrisi ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: The Pope, the Bishop and the Lost Icon of Moscow DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, D.C., received a singular honor in Russia on Aug. 28.
At the request of Pope John Paul II he presented to the Russian Orthodox church a highly At the request of Pope John Paul II he presented to the Russian Orthodox church a highly esteemed relic, an ornate 18th-century icon of the Mother of God of Kazan, as a gift from the Holy Father. In a Sept. 3 interview with Register correspondent Ellen Rossini, the cardinal reflected on the experience and how he came to be part of the story of the icon, which had been quietly removed from Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution.
This icon has been such a symbol of tensions between Moscow and Rome. How did you get so involved in it back when you were in New Jersey?
I had been bishop of Metuchen (N.J.), where the headquarters of the Blue Army is located, and some years after that, when I was changed to Newark as archbishop, I was asked by the Holy See to become apostolic visitator of the Blue Army. They had had some difficulties of organization and other arrangements, so the Holy See wanted to have someone try to look in on them, and I'd work it all out with them. So I was doing that with a couple of other bishops for awhile.
During that period a man in Washington state contacted me and said that he believed that the Blue Army, probably without knowing it, owned the icon of Kazan. I said, well, could you send me information about this and I'll have it looked into. He sent the information and I then contacted the Holy See through the nuncio, and we were able to verify that it did seem to be the real icon of Kazan.
How did the icon get to Rome?
I asked the Holy See if they thought it would be important for us to try to find it and to get possession of it so the Holy Father would be able to do whatever he wanted with it.
They agreed that this would be important to do. So then I found it actually in the (Blue Army) pilgrimage house in Portugal—in Fatima—right in the vestibule of the chapel. I then said to the group, “The Holy Father has been so good to you and has been so careful in trying to foster all the devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. It would be wonderful if we could give him a gift of this beautiful icon.” And they discussed it with the board and decided that yes, they would be willing to do that.
So we then had to take possession of it and very quietly bring it over to Rome. The Holy Father, having taken possession of it, put it in his private office where he venerated it for almost 10 years. It was his desire right from the start, I believe, to return it to Moscow, to return it to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Why was this done in secret?
We were doing this sort of quietly lest some government find out that he had it and say, “Well you'll give it back right away.” The Holy Father was hoping, I think, at the right time, to say to the Russian Orthodox Church, “I have been able to obtain the icon through the generosity of some people who voted and who gave it to me. I would like now to bring it and return it personally to Russia.”
That was where we were in negotiations for a long time. The Russian Orthodox church was actually very anxious to receive it, but not to have it brought personally by the Holy Father.
How did it feel to you to be his emissary?
It was a bittersweet thing. On the one hand I regretted that he was denied the opportunity of bringing it over himself, which he would have so much loved to have done as a sign of his love and respect for the Russian Orthodox church, as he wrote in the letter which accompanied our visit.
On the other hand, when I saw the faces of the people of the Russian Church in Moscow who were so overjoyed to have the icon back, I felt this was the right thing to do.
What were some personal highlights for you during the event?
I would say the Mass, the Russian Orthodox liturgy in the Cathedral of the Dormition. That is the greatest of the cathedrals of Russia. It is not the largest, but it is the most historic. It goes back hundreds and hundreds of years.
And there in a very ancient church we were able to bring this ancient, sacred image and to see the joy of the people. They did not see it politically, they did not see it competitively; they just saw it as the Holy Father wanting them once again in their land to be able to venerate this image of Our Lady, whom they love so much.
What did you observe about the relations between Orthodox and Roman Catholics?
I think our Orthodox brothers and sisters still may feel threatened by the Roman Catholic Church. I don't really believe that the people feel that way, but I think some of the leadership may feel there are some issues which divide us, and these issues have to be dealt with honestly and frankly. I think certainly that's what the Holy Father always wants to do. He never wants to walk away from issues. He always wants to see if they can be worked out in love and in honesty.
There are always going to be some people in communities who feel troubled by other religious communities, possibly fearing that they're going to proselytize. I think the Holy Father has really been so clear that his role is never to proselytize; his role is to find the key to unity.
What was the state of things in Moscow and some of the concerns of Christians there?
We were there at a tense time in Moscow. The two planes had just blown up a couple of days before. Just the day after we returned to Rome this terrible hostage-taking thing occurred.
I think there are people in Moscow who are troubled and very worried and anxious by the onslaught of terrorism in Russia today, and I think maybe that was one of the reasons they were so happy to be able to be conscious of Our Lady's coming back to them, of feeling the protection of her very wonderful maternal grace there in that land.
The Russian people are a very spiritual people. There's a deep faithfulness in them that I think we all have to recognize and admire. For the common people in Russia Our Lady is so very important. Whatever way she comes to them, they will rejoice in.
I think that as far as the leadership goes, they were very happy to have Our Lady back. Even though they may have some difficulties, they seemed willing to open a door to continuing the discussions and dialogue. I think that is a very important step.
What about your own Marian devotion — did the icon touch you in a particular way?
I think, really, this visit was very special. I said to the Holy Father, “I thank you for this privileged grace of being able to accompany the Madonna back home.” I felt that way. I said to my secretary earlier, “You know we've been so fortunate this year. I was able to be in Ephesus in October offering Mass on that great feast of the Theotokos, of the Mother of God. I was able to be in Lourdes last May with the Knights of Malta and their procession. And now this happened.”
Our Lady has been very especially good to me. I just hope I will participate in that grace and be the kind of man and priest and bishop that she wants me to be in the service of her Son.
Do you anticipate more work on your part in furthering ecumenical relations between the Orthodox and Roman Catholics?
I serve as a member of the Pontifical Council of Christian Unity, and Cardinal (Walter) Kasper (the president of the council) knows that if there's anything that I can do, I'd be happy to be part of it. I think this is a work that the Holy Father continues to say is not just an add-on to the life of the Church. This is part of the essential life of the Church as the Lord Jesus founded it.
Ellen Rossini writes from Richardson, Texas.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Ellen Rossini ----- KEYWORDS: Inperson -------- TITLE: Attracting Teens to the Church - and Keeping Them DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:LA CROSSE, Wis. — Sarah Hofkes wants to be a teacher, and she decided to go to a Catholic college this fall because she wants to teach about the faith.
What gave this La Crosse-area woman her strong sense of direction? A lively, fast-growing Catholic youth group known as the Dead Theologian's Society.
Hofkes' father isn't worried about his daughter's involvement in a group whose name sounds a bit dark. In fact, he's pleased as punch.
“It's just been awesome as far as I am concerned,” Steve Hofkes said. “Over the past year, both my girls have been involved, and I have seen an increase in their receptiveness to the faith.”
The group may be called the Dead Theologian's Society, but it makes the faith come very much alive, Sarah agreed. “It inspires you to learn more and to get closer to God,” she said. “It has inspired me to work with young people, probably through youth ministry and teaching people about the faith.”
Keeping young people interested in the faith after they finish their preparation for confirmation has been a perennial problem for pastors, catechists and youth-ministry leaders. The Dead Theologian's Society is one of several innovative approaches, from Catholic Kids Net, which targets young children, to Life Teen, which has been around for almost 20 years, to groups for 20-somethings such as Thank God It's First Friday and Theology on Tap (see sidebar).
“The formation process for young people must be constant and active, capable of helping them to find their place in the Church and in the world,” Pope John Paul II wrote in his 1999 exhortation, Ecclesia in America (The Church in America). “Consequently, youth ministry must be one of the primary concerns of pastors and communities.”
Michael Barone has taken the Pope's advice to heart. He and fellow musician Eddie Cotter founded the Dead Theologian's Society in 1997 for high school students. “We have a very simple formula: something the Church has always taught,” Barone said. “We are using the lives of the saints to inspire others.”
The organization now has 140 chapters and has drawn praise from clergy, parents and youth. Utilizing prayer and emphasizing the lives of the saints, the society seeks to bring young people to a greater awareness of their Catholic heritage and a greater devotion in their lives.
Last fall, it moved its headquarters from Ohio to La Crosse, Wis., at the request of Bishop Raymond Burke, now the archbishop of St. Louis, Mo.
Archbishop Burke praised the group, in a letter posted on its web-site, for carrying out “very effectively the new evangelization among the youth and their families whom it serves.”
The Dead Theologian's Society “draws young people to an ever deeper understanding of Christ and his Church,” the archbishop wrote.
Soul Food
According to co-founder Barone, the Dead Theologian's Society gets to teens' minds and hearts through their stomachs. “We knew kids thought church was geeky and stupid, so we asked, ‘What would Jesus do?’” Barone explained. “We decided to follow the sixth chapter of John: to feed and to teach.”
The plan worked, and the little group began to grow. “Eddie knew a teen who was doing a Dead Poet's Society (named for the 1989 movie), so we decided to call our group the Dead Theologian's Society because of our emphasis on the saints and their teachings,” Barone said.
Within a year, the group spread to six other parishes. Then “Mike and Eddie” — as the founders are known — went on EWTN's show “Life on the Rock.” As a result, their website was so inundated with hits that it crashed, and though they were unprepared for the surge of interest, Barone said that 48 groups were started as a result.
Barone said there have been three religious vocations among the students he has worked with — with plenty more in other chapters — and many conversions. Most of the groups target high school students, but Barone said about half a dozen college chapters exist, as well.
And while the food may be the hook, according to Barone, the plan is to get the youths intrigued. After a snack, the group moves to a meeting room lit only by candlelight. There, they say a prayer and study the life of a saint for a few minutes before turning to the saint's writings.
Because of the anonymous environment, questions fly, Barone said. The group concludes with a prayer of intercession to the saint and a prayer for the souls in purgatory. “It is our charism to pray for them,” Barone explained.
Teens who come to three meetings in a row or five overall can become members. They are given hooded sweatshirts, affectionately known as “hoods.”
“We took the idea from St. Francis of taking the clothing of the average person,” Barone said. Medals, holy cards and scapulars are also given out at meetings.
Patrick Gallichio is another teen who was sold on the program. “It's helped me in becoming more Catholic,” said the junior at McDonnell Catholic High School in Chippewa Falls, Wis. “Before DTS, I did not care about my religion. Before that, I didn't go to church or care about the faith. Now I go every week.”
He said the society has taught him how to pray and gave him “examples of who to follow — the saints.”
“They really know how to draw kids in,” said Hofkes, who said his daughters can't get enough of the Dead Theologian's Society programs.
Sarah Hofkes agreed, adding that most of her friends are society members. She particularly enjoys the emphasis on the saints. “You don't learn a lot about them in school,” she said. “You learn about everything else, but not the saints.”
Andrew Walther writes
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Andrew Walther ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Where Teens Can Grow in Faith DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:More information about the Dead Theologian's Society can be found at www.dtsroom.com.
Other movements with a focus on teen-agers include: Teens Encounter Christ, which emerged from the Cursillo movement in the 1960s and emphasizes the “paschal mystery of Jesus” (www.tecconference.org).
REACH Youth Ministry (Retreat Evangelization and Conversion of Hearts) recruits teens to serve for one year on a traveling retreat team. Members are trained in Catholic doctrine and spirituality, community living and retreat ministry skills (http://pages.prodigy.net/reachym).
Youth for the Third Millennium trains youth and adult lay missionaries to evangelize and carry out works of charity (ytm.org).
Youth 2000 is based on Eucharistic adoration, evangelization and retreats (www.youth2000ny.com).
NextWave Faithful works through the Internet, conferences, publications and radio shows to equip youth and young adults “to answer the call of Christ (www.next-wavefaithful.com).
Life Teen, approaching its 20th anniversary, provides resources and training that encourages “vibrant Eucharistic celebrations and opportunities for teens to grow in their faith” (www.lifeteen.org).
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:Energizing Nuns From Developing Countries
Their presence is energizing the Sisters of Christian Charity at Mallinckrodt, which the newspaper said was beginning to feel like an “old-age home.”
“Everyone who comes into contact with them is enlivened,” said Sister Joanice Carlson, 74.
The American nuns hope the project will inspire more women to consider religious life. At least 15 young women have inquired about vocations in the two years since the new sisters began populating the college.
Everyone stands to benefit. Sister Melania Tarimo of Tanzania was quoted as saying, “The knowledge that I have now … I want to take it home to the people who are struggling.”
Media Confusion Over Pro-Choice Politicians Persists
A similar headline in the Detroit Free Press said recently, “Catholics allowed pro-choice vote.”
Earlier this year, the cardinal wrote to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington: “When a Catholic does not share a candidate's stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons.”
The Post quoted Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis saying it is difficult to imagine what those reasons might be. Father Stephen Torraco, chairman of the theology department of Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., explained in an interview with the Register Sept. 5 that “proportionate reasons” means that one may vote for a pro-abortion candidate if one is trying to avoid voting for a candidate who embraces an equally serious or graver evil. Archbishop Burke will publish a pastoral letter on the subject Oct. 1.
Study Links Teen TV Viewing With Sexual Activity
REUTERS, Sept. 7 — A study funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development concluded that teen-agers who watch a lot of television with sexual content are twice as likely to engage in intercourse as those who watch few such programs.
The study found that the 10% who watched the most television with sexual content were twice as likely to have initiated sexual intercourse than the 10% exposed to the least amount.
A Reuters story quoted Rebecca Collins, a RAND Corp. psychologist who headed the study, as saying, “The best way for parents who are trying to figure out what is a lot versus little is to realize that the average (U.S.) child watches about three hours of television a day, and that the heaviest rates of sexual content are in prime time, which is probably what those hours are made of.”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Arguments Over Schiavo Aired in High Court DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The end appears near for Terri SchindlerSchiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman whose husband has been fighting to allow her to die by dehydration and starvation — the end of the bitter legal battles that have gone on for about six years, and, quite possibly, the end of her life.
The Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments Aug. 31 about the constitutionality of an emergency law passed last fall by the Florida Legislature that saved the 40-year-old Schiavo's life.
Several of the seven justices on the panel were clearly troubled by Terri's Law, which was swiftly enacted and signed last October by Gov. Jeb Bush to save Schiavo, who suffered heart failure and severe brain damage in 1990. The courts have found her to be in a “persistent vegetative state,” which her parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, deny.
She is not in a coma and can breathe on her own, and her family believes she might be able to recover if given the proper therapy. They also dispute the contention of her husband, Michael Schiavo, that Terri told him she never wanted to be kept alive by artificial means.
A series of court decisions gave Michael Schiavo the right to remove his wife's feeding tube last fall, which would have allowed her to starve and dehydrate. But several days later, with a public outcry opposing those decisions, the Legislature passed a bill that gave the governor the authority to prevent the withholding of nutrition and hydration if the patient had not written an advance directive, was found by a court to be in a persistent vegetative state and a family member was challenging the withholding of the feeding tube.
A judge ruled the law unconstitutional, and after the governor's lawyers appealed, the case bypassed the 2nd District Court of Appeals in order to reach the Florida Supreme Court, which can happen during matters of public importance.
During the hearing Aug. 31, Chief Justice Barbara Pariente was one of several justices who wondered about the constitutionality of the law. She wondered if the law was an “unlawful delegation of unfettered discretion to the executive branch,” which gave the governor “super-appellate power.”
Robert Destro, a law professor at The Catholic University of America and an attorney representing Gov. Bush at the hearing, countered by saying the governor is “the ultimate defender” of people's civil rights within the state, which gives him the right to raise due process questions on behalf of someone.
Another justice, Charles Wells, said that one of the main principles of the separation of powers in the U.S. Constitution was that legislatures cannot reverse a court's determination.
“Isn't, in reality, what this is all boiled down to,” he asked, “the Legislature stepped in here and reversed a decision that was final in a specific case?”
Wells was also concerned that the law was enacted with only one person in mind — the woman who is living in a Clearwater nursing home, who has become the eye in the hurricane of arguments swirling around right-to-life issues for several years now.
“Without a doubt, it does apply to Terri Schiavo because she met the criteria,” said Ken Connor, another lawyer at the hearing representing Gov. Bush and former president of the Family Research Council. “There are others who likewise meet the criteria.”
George Felos, who was representing Michael Schiavo, said the law intruded on Terri Schiavo's right to privacy. “The essential question here is: Who is entitled to make a decision on a matter so personal and private as to whether one would want artificial life support?” Felos said. “Does that power constitutionally reside with the patient — or the state?”
Justice R. Fred Lewis questioned whether Felos was suggesting that the Legislature could never exercise its power to protect disabled children who cannot make decisions for themselves.
“Are you suggesting that the Legislature can't come in and place safeguards to protect the well being and the virtual life of these disabled children?” Lewis asked.
“Absolutely not,” Felos responded. “Terri Schiavo was a competent adult who expressed medical treatment choices.”
Lewis pointed out that Schiavo never indicated in writing whether she wanted to be taken off life support — a reference to the fact that she allegedly told her wishes to her husband and an in-law.
“We didn't have the testimony of Mrs. Schiavo in this case, did we?” Lewis said. “It was all other individuals.”
Felos also expressed his irritation that the governor was trying to re-litigate a case that has already been tried in the courts.
Family Strain
Bob Schindler Jr., Terri's brother, who was at the hearing along with his parents, said they believe the law is constitutional. He said his parents are “tired.”
“You have no idea what we're up against with this death organization,” Schindler said, referring to the culture-of-death mindset that Michael Schiavo and his lawyers have. “They're constantly trying to…to isolate my sister from our family visiting her… Our visitation is extremely restricted; although we can visit her, we can hardly touch her without being reprimanded… It's emotional torture.”
Since the beginning of the bitter legal fight, he said his family's only intention has been to bring Terri home and take care of her.
The Florida Catholic Conference issued a statement after the hearing that addressed some issues in the case, since the Schindler family is Catholic. The conference said that Catholic tradition advocates in favor of providing patients with nutrition and hydration, “as long as the benefits outweigh the burdens to the patient.” It reiterated an earlier statement by Florida's bishops that if additional medical treatment can help Terri's condition, then the bishops urged that “the safer course” be taken and the treatment used.
Although many disability groups — such as Not Dead Yet — have filed briefs in support of the Schindler family's fight, one of the friend-of-the-court briefs was from Autonomy Inc., a disability rights group, and 55 prominent U.S. bioethicists, who urged that the court allow Terri's food and water to be withdrawn. Seven of the 55 bioethicists work at Catholic institutions, including Catholic universities.
In a statement, Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, said, “It is frightening that our Catholic institutions and their employees could bear responsibility for this woman's horrible death by starvation. This certainly renews questions of what kind of Catholic ethics and theology these colleges are presenting to students.”
Carlos Briceno writes from Seminole, Florida.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Carlos Briceno ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Prayers for the Innocent: Rome Reaches Out to Russian Terror Victims DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II prayed for the more than 330 victims of the Russian school siege, calling their deaths a “cruel epilogue” to a savage attack.
In a telegram Sept. 4, the Pope said the takeover of the school in the North Ossetia province town of Beslan was a “vile and heartless act of aggression against defenseless children and families.”
The Pope once again condemned “every form of terrorism” and said he hoped that a “spiral of hatred and violence would not prevail.”
The school siege ended Sept. 3 in a shootout between police and the hostage-takers, believed to be Chechen rebels. More than 700 people were injured and some 450 hospitalized. About half of the dead and injured were children.
Some feared the tragedy could set off revenge attacks in the area. Most residents of North Ossetia are Orthodox Christians, while the neighboring breakaway republic of Chechnya is predominantly Muslim.
The papal telegram offered prayers for the eternal repose of the victims and words of comfort for the families. He also expressed his affection for the Russian people “in this moment of anguish.”
He prayed that the Virgin Mary, “so deeply venerated by the Christians of Russia,” would inspire wisdom and efforts toward reconciliation in the region.
At a papal Mass in Loreto, Italy, Sept. 5, the Pope and others offered prayers “for the Russian people, stricken by the inhuman violence of this tragic hostage-taking, for all the dead, for the wounded, for the many innocent young victims and for the families so sorely tried.”
Before the Mass began, Archbishop Angelo Comastri of Loreto announced an Italian relief plane had left that morning to deliver medicine and other aid to the wounded in Beslan.
When reports of the death toll began to arrive at the Vatican Sept. 3, the Pope, who was staying at his residence outside Rome, went to a private chapel to pray, a spokesman said.
In Milan, Orthodox Bishop Teofan of Stravropol and Vladikavkaz, the Russian Orthodox diocese that includes the town of Beslan, described to hundreds of religious leaders from around the world how he personally carried wounded and dead children away from the school.
The bishop spoke Sept. 5 at a meeting on religions and peace sponsored by the Rome-based Community of Sant'Egidio.
“How can they claim to be fighting for freedom when they kill children?” he said.
The bishop asked all people of good will to unite “against the evil of terrorism, which can strike in New York as well as in Madrid or in Beslan or anywhere.”
“What I saw was terrible, and I ask you all to give us the moral support we need,” he said. The bishop thanked the Pope for his prayers and words of support.
Bishop Teofan said that as soon as he heard that children and adults were being held hostage, he rushed to Beslan and offered to serve as a mediator.
“But every attempt at dialogue was refused,” he said.
“They put all the children in a gym where there wasn't even room for them to sit down,” the bishop said. “They strung a rope between the two basket hoops and forced the children to hang grenades from it.”
“On the third day, the terrorists exploded two bombs, which was what killed most of the children. Those who tried to flee were shot in the back,” he said.
“I myself closed the eyes of several children killed that way,” the bishop said. “How can someone who acts like that call himself a liberator?”
Defining the Cold War as the “third world war,” Cardinal Renato Martino said terrorism appears to have unleashed the “fourth world war” in a way that touches almost everyone in every part of the globe.
The cardinal, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, spoke Sept. 6 at the interreligious meeting in Milan.
Terrorism on the scale seen since Sept. 11, 2001, has become a type of war outside the bounds of “all of the political and juridical canons consolidated by a very long tradition” for defining war and regulating combat, he said.
The reaction, the cardinal said, particularly in the “preventative war” on Iraq proclaimed by the United States and its coalition partners, is also outside the bounds of traditionally accepted definitions of national self-defense.
Cardinal Martino previously has said that the war in Iraq was not justified, but that once the coalition forces invaded, they had an obligation to stay and to provide security while the new Iraqi government is formed and consolidated.
The cardinal said two aspects of “the war of terrorism and the war on terrorism” are completely new.
The first regards the ability of terrorists to strike in one place, yet make an “interruption” into the daily lives of people around the globe, he said.
The immediacy of news coverage brings images of the attacks into everyone's homes, the cardinal said, and the unexpected and horrifying acts make people feel that they may not be safe anywhere, including their offices or their schools.
“With terrorism, war is no longer a far-off event, but is terribly close,” Cardinal Martino said.
The cardinal also said that, while war always has been horrible and has “sinisterly shone light on the abyss” of human hearts, “the war we are living through at this moment is particularly disturbing because these acts sometimes are committed in the name of God.”
Cardinal Martino said neither politicians nor people of faith could afford to be simplistic when looking at what triggers or contributes to terrorism.
The new world tensions combine more than one motivation: historical tensions among peoples, “economic recriminations caused by great poverty,” the search for new political assets, “the vindication of cultural diversity” or other factors, he said.
The cardinal said people also cannot ignore the fact that international arms trade makes it easy for disgruntled groups to get weapons, frequently using them against the country that provided them.
Because the factors contributing to terrorism are so complex, he said, the response must be as well. Because the causes are complex, “they can be removed only with joint action by a number of local and international actors,” he added.
The Christian contribution, he said, must be a more concerted effort to teach and live the truth that God is love and demands that those who believe in him love all men and women.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: John Thavis and Cindy Wooden ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:Anglican Convert Who Defended Pius XII Dies at 87
Drawing on archival material released by the Vatican, as well as British and German Foreign Office archives, Rhodes' 1973 book The Vatican in the Age of the Dictators offered a persuasive rebuttal of claims that Pius XII didn't strive hard enough to help persecuted Jews.
Rhodes “revealed how, as Secretary of State in the 1930s, Pius (then the Secretary of State Cardinal Pacelli) had an important part in the writing of Pius XI's encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge (The Church and the German Reich) which denounced the Nazis. During the war, he was closely involved in keeping Jews out of Germans' hands,” the Telegraph said.
In a review of the book, British writer Rebecca West praised Rhodes' work as “elegantly written, scrupulously fair and informative on matters much obscured by the mutterings of fools.”
Rhodes, who wrote two other books on 20th-century Vatican history, was an Anglican when he wrote The Vatican in the Age of the Dictators. He was appointed a knight commander of St. Gregory by Pope Paul VI in 1976, but did not convert to Catholicism until the mid-1990s, the Telegraph reported.
Pope Praises Good Friday Agreement
The agreement, which was signed on Good Friday in 1998 in Belfast, set out a plan for self-government in Northern Ireland and for the decommissioning of paramilitary militias there.
Said the Pope, “I pray that every effort is being made to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Good Friday agreement, which has given new impulse and new hope to the people of Northern Ireland.”
In his remarks to the Holy Father, McDonagh highlighted the contributions of the many Irish Catholics who have gone to Rome to live and work, The Irish Times reported. As an example, McDonagh noted Archbishop Michael Courtney, the apostolic nuncio to Burundi who was murdered there in a car ambush on Dec. 28.
Bush Helps Broker Vatican-Israel Talks
ANSA ENGLISH MEDIA SERVICE, Sept. 6 — At the urging of the White House, discussions between representatives of the Vatican and the Israeli government resumed Sept. 6 in Jerusalem.
The four-day negotiations covered a number of issues involving the rights of Catholics in Israel, including custody of holy sites.
Israel broke off talks a year ago, ANSA said, but returned to the bargaining table at the request of United States. The wire service cited an article in July in the Jerusalem daily Maariv, which reported that President George W. Bush had been asked by the Holy See “to apply pressure on the Israeli government” to resume discussions.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Vatican: No Change Possible on Communion Wafers DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Not even the Pope can change the fact that only bread can serve as the host that is transformed into the body of Christ during Mass.
That's the reality that Bishop John Smith of Trenton, N.J., and senior Vatican officials stressed again last week in Rome. They were commenting about the controversy that erupted last month in Bishop Smith's diocese after Elizabeth Pelly-Waldman, whose 8-year-old daughter can't eat wheat products for health reasons, complained to reporters that the Church was heart-lessly denying her child Communion.
Pelly-Waldman, who lives in Brielle, N.J., has asked the Vatican to change Church teaching governing the validity of species used in the Eucharist.
Her disagreement began in May when her daughter's first Communion was deemed invalid because she received a rice-cake wafer instead of the traditional wafer made of wheat.
The child, Haley, suffers from celiac disease, which makes her unable to ingest gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye, but not rice or corn.
Other Options
Many media accounts of the controversy have suggested that the Church has denied Haley and other celiacs any safe way of receiving the Eucharist. But options are available.
One is to receive an approved, low-gluten host first produced by members of the Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in northwest Missouri. The host contains 0.1% gluten, a level that doctors say is low enough to be safe for celiac sufferers.
A second option is for Haley to abstain from receiving bread and instead receive low-alcohol wine, otherwise known as “mustum,” in which the alcohol level is said to be “infinitesimal” — but known definitely to be present.
Church teaching holds that receiving either species is equally valid because “Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1377).
However, Pelly-Waldman, a single mother of four, refuses both alternatives because she believes that any amount of gluten can put Haley at increased risk of health complications and that alcohol is inappropriate for a child.
Bishop Smith reiterated to the Register that he had no option but to inform Pelly-Waldman that only a host in the form of bread, or the other options available, can be administered at Communion. “The Holy See is very clear on this,” he said Sept. 8 while on an “ad limina” visit to Rome. “The Church is not free to substitute bread for rice cake because rice cake isn't bread — it's not valid even if the right words are used at the moment of consecration.”
Bishops make “ad limina” visits to Rome every five years to report on the status of their dioceses.
Pelly-Waldman has written to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, asking him to intervene. “This is a Church rule, not God's will,” she wrote in the letter. “It can easily be adjusted to meet the needs of the people, while staying true to the traditions of our faith.”
But, according to theologians, the issue involves two millennia of consistent Church teaching about a matter that was settled at the Last Supper. Sacramental theology has, since the early Church, taught that “form and matter” —- the spiritual and physical elements of the Eucharist — must be present in order for a sacrament to be valid.
The specifications for the bread are very exact; therefore, to attempt to consecrate something other than what is prescribed invalidates the sacrament.
“The Church only knows that it can consecrate bread (for the host) and nothing else,” said Father Augustine DiNoia, undersecretary at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. “It's not a question of whether the Church can change a rule because it's what the Church has been authorized to do for over 2,000 years.”
Added Father DiNoia, “This is not a law — it is not the disposition of the Church to be able to alter the nature of the sacraments. “
What Jesus Did
Since the New Jersey case came to light, Bishop Smith has frequently faced the question, “What would Jesus do?”
“It's not a question of ‘What would Jesus do?’” he said. “It's a question of what he did. Jesus said, ‘This is my body, do this in memory of me,’ and he was referring only to bread when he gave it to the disciples at the Last Supper.”
Vatican sources expressed regret at the erroneous publicity the case has generated. “None of this is mumbo jumbo,” said one priest in Rome. “The Church has no way of changing its teaching on this, but unfortunately, humanity seems to have gone so far down the road of stupidity, and this is another triumph for therapeutic victimology.”
This is not the first time the celiac issue has generated adverse publicity in the United Sates. In 2001, the parents of a 5-year-old Boston girl left the Church because she was not allowed to receive a rice wafer at her first Communion.
Bishop Smith, who has been the diocesan bishop in Trenton for six years, has not encountered such a case before. He said he is aware that “others who suffer from this have found a way in which they are able to receive the Eucharist.”
Said the bishop, “The Church is very sensitive to celiac disease. It has developed these low-gluten materials. The use of low-alcohol wine is very common, as it's used for first Communion and is consumed by some priests who are alcoholic.”
Bishop Smith acknowledges that Pelly-Waldman “feels she's bringing a matter to public notice and for reconsideration by the Church, and she should be commended for that and for her sincerity.”
The matter is now being dealt with by her parish priests and by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Said Bishop Smith, “The Holy See has jurisdiction on this, and that is where this matter ultimately rests.”
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Pope John Paul Grieves Over the Suffering of Children DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:Register Summary
Pope John Paul II departed from the usual format of his general audience on Sept. 8, the feast of the Nativity of Mary. With more than 7,000 pilgrims in attendance, the Holy Father made an anguished plea on behalf of all children who are victims of violence in the world and prayed especially for the victims of the terrorist attack on a school in Beslan, Russia.
Pope John Paul II began his talk with a meditation on Mary as a child. “We gaze upon a child who is like all other children, yet at the same time unique — the ‘blessed among women,’” he said. “Mary is the immaculate ‘daughter of Zion,’ who was destined to become the mother of the Messiah.” However, his thoughts quickly turned to the week's tragedy: “As we gaze upon the child Mary, we cannot help but think of the many defenseless children of Beslan in Ossetia, who were victims of a barbarous kidnapping and who were tragically massacred.”
The Holy Father pointed out that countless children around the world are still victims of violence, hatred, exploitation and death. “Before the cradle of the child Mary, let us renew once again our awareness of the duty we all have to watch over and defend these fragile creatures and to build for them a peaceful future,” he said.
At this point, a papal aide led the pilgrims in a “prayer for justice, peace and solidarity in the world.” Pope John Paul II ended it with his own prayer, asking God to help men understand that every child is “the richness of mankind and that violence against others is a blind alley with no exit or future.”
Today's liturgy commemorates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast, which popular devotion holds in great esteem, leads us to an admiration of the pure dawn of redemption in the child Mary. We gaze upon a child who is like all other children, yet at the same time unique — the “blessed among women” (Luke 1:42). Mary is the immaculate “daughter of Zion,” who was destined to become the mother of the Messiah.
As we gaze upon the child Mary, we cannot help but think of the many defenseless children of Beslan in Ossetia, who were victims of a barbarous kidnapping and who were tragically massacred. They were inside a school, a place where children learn the values that give meaning to the history, culture and civilization of nations: mutual respect, solidarity, justice and peace. Instead, they experienced abuse, hatred and death within those walls, the fatal consequences of cruel fanaticism and insane contempt for the human person.
Innocent Victims
Our gaze now extends to all those innocent children throughout the world who are victims of the violence of grown-ups: children who are constrained to take up arms and who are trained to hate and kill; children who are forced to beg on the streets and exploited for an easy profit; children who are mistreated and humiliated by the arrogance and abuse of grown-ups; children who have been left to their own resources, deprived of the warmth of a family and of prospects for a future; children who are dying of hunger, and children who have been killed in the many conflicts in various regions of the world.
This is a loud cry of pain from children whose dignity has been wounded. It cannot and must not leave anyone indifferent. Dear brothers and sisters, beside the cradle of the child Mary, let us renew once again our awareness of the duty we all have to watch over and defend these fragile creatures and to build for them a peaceful future. Let us pray together so that the conditions will be created for them for a life that is peaceful and safe.
A Prayer for Peace
(At this point, a papal aide offered the following prayer for justice, peace and solidarity in the world.)
Brothers and sisters, accepting the Holy Father's invitation, let us raise our voice in prayer to God. Let us respond together: Hear us, O Lord!
For the children of Beslan, who have been snatched from life with brutal violence as they prepared to begin the school year, and for their parents, relatives and friends who were massacred along with them, that God in his mercy will open wide the doors of his house to them, let us pray.
Hear us, O Lord!
For the wounded, for the victims' families, and for all the members of the community of Beslan, who, with broken hearts, weep over the death of their loved ones, so that, sustained by the light of faith and comforted by the solidarity of so many people throughout the world, they will be able to forgive all those who have done evil to them, let us pray.
Hear us, O Lord!
For all the children who, in so many parts of the world, suffer and die because of the violence and the abuse of adults, that the Lord will help them feel the comfort of his love and soften the hardness of heart of those who are the cause of their sufferings, let us pray.
Hear us, O Lord!
For the many people who have been kidnapped in the troubled land of Iraq, especially for the two young Italian women who were working as volunteers and were kidnapped yesterday in Baghdad, that they will all be treated with respect and soon be returned unharmed to the love of those who are dear to them, let us pray.
Hear us, O Lord!
For justice and peace in the world, that the Lord will enlighten the minds of all those who are subject to the deadly fascination of violence and open the hearts of all to dialogue and reconciliation in order to build a future of hope and peace, let us pray.
Hear us, O Lord! (The Holy Father then ended the prayer with the following words.)
God, our Father, you created men to live in communion with one another. Help us to understand that every child is a treasure of mankind and that violence against others is a blind alley with no exit to the future. We ask this through the intercession of the Virgin Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever and ever.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: A Connecticut Bishop at St. Peter's Court DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:VATICAN CITY — Bishop William Lori has done a lot since leaving the Washington archdiocese, where he was an auxiliary bishop.
Since early 2001, he has served as shepherd of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., overseeing renovations to the cathedral and beginning spiritual initiatives in the diocese.
Bishop Lori spoke with Register correspondent Edward Pentin on Sept. 3, at the end of his first “ad limina” visit to Rome to report on the state of the diocese.
What do you feel was the most significant aspect of the “ad limina” visit for you?
Bishop Lori: Obviously, visiting the Holy Father is the most important aspect, simply to be in his presence and to receive from him encouraging words. To see his own courage at this stage in his life is a grace for every shepherd, and it was for me.
Also, visiting the tombs of Peter and Paul was a high point for me. I will particularly remember celebrating Mass near the tomb of Peter, in the Hungarian chapel, and as we passed by the actual tomb of Peter, we paused and recited the Nicene Creed — that's what this is all about.
To what extent was the sexual-abuse crisis raised in your discussions?
It was an opportunity for U.S. bishops and heads and officials of dicasteries to exchange views, to reflect on our experience, to renew our commitment to young people and to families for the common good of the Church and to ensure that, in honoring that commitment, we do so fairly and with great love and respect for our priests.
We also reflected on the broader context of the problem, in society and in terms of continuing need to strengthen authentic lines of renewal in our dioceses.
Is there a lot of convergence now between the U.S. bishops and the Vatican on this issue, compared with a few years ago and after Dallas?
That's probably a detailed discussion for another time. But I do believe that the ongoing contacts with many bishops and the Holy See have been beneficial in promoting greater understanding. And one of the good things to come from them has been that the Holy See has encouraged us to share experiences and concerns, and we feel that discussions are in a very healthy state.
Do you feel you are receiving enough support from the Vatican?
I feel supported as an individual bishop from the Holy See, in the processes that the Holy See has set up. They are refined, done with discernment — that is a very difficult form of service for bishops of the U.S. and for their priests.
Was the issue of Communion and pro-abortion politicians raised at all?
It was raised briefly, but it wasn't the centerpiece of discussions. But satisfaction was expressed with the statement issued in Denver, and therefore, that was significant.
Was the sexual-abuse crisis the centerpiece of discussions?
It wasn't the centerpiece. I believe we covered a wide range of topics. Obviously, the sexual-abuse crisis was one of them. But we also concentrated hard on strengthening Catholic education, vocations, catechetical renewal and evangelization.
There is a sense one takes away from this visit that, while one must look serious problems in the eye and address them with gifts of grace and nature, one must also look ahead with hope and look at how to strengthen the ordinary ecclesial life in our dioceses. That's the real sense one takes.
That's why we go to tombs of the apostles — that really is the centerpiece.
Was the issue of the mandatum and Catholic universities discussed?
We spoke of it and those who have universities and colleges were able to talk about it. We also talked about review of the statuta which is also part of this, part of Ex Corde Ecclesiae (On Catholic Universities). Given the time frame, no concrete steps were agreed to be taken, but there is something on horizon.
What else will you take away from the visit?
The biggest thing about this visit is to see it as a pilgrimage to the first apostles and a realization that Church is built on the foundation of the apostles. Also that this is no time for bishops to shrink from their God-given duties on behalf of the Church. To me, that is always the grace of an “ad limina” visit and particularly for me as it's the first one I have attended as a diocesan bishop.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Edward Pentin ----- KEYWORDS: Vatican -------- TITLE: Catholic Priest Murdered in India as Violence Continues DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:NEW DELHI, India — Three vicious attacks on Church targets within a week in late August have stunned the Catholic Church in India.
On the morning of Aug. 28, Father Job Chittilappilly was stabbed to death by an unknown assailant in the southern Indian state of Kerala. The 71-year old vicar of Thuruthiparambu Parish in the diocese of Irinjalakuda was saying the rosary on the veranda of his residence prior to celebrating morning Mass when he was stabbed from behind.
Parishioners who came for Mass found the priest dead in a pool of blood, clutching the rosary in his hands.
Six days earlier, two priests of the Kudu parish in the archdiocese of Ranchi in the eastern state of Jharkhand were injured when several masked men stormed into their residence and stabbed them.
Father John Sundar remained in hospital in early September with serious injuries, while Father Alba-nus Tirkey suffered only minor wounds. The priests were saved by the prompt response of neighbors who rushed to the church on hearing the cries of the priests.
And on Aug. 26, Our Lady of Charity Church in Raikia in the eastern state of Orissa was desecrated by Hindu fundamentalists, as police stood by without intervening even after nearby Catholics were assaulted by the Hindu mob.
“What has happened in Kerala and Orissa has shocked us,” said Cardinal Telesphore Toppo of Ranchi, who described the attack on the two priests in his archdiocese as a simple robbery for which the culprits have been arrested.
“It is very unfortunate that such things are happening all over the country,” added Cardinal Toppo, who is president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India.
Bishop James Pazhayattil of Irinjalakuda told the Register Sept. 2 that the brutal murder of Father Chittilappilly was clearly not motivated by robbery, as the gold chain the priest wore was not taken.
The murder, Bishop Pazhayattil reasoned, was the “handiwork of someone who knew the routine of the priest thoroughly.” The bishop noted that some Hindu militants had threatened the priest recently after a Hindu who used to attend prayer meetings organized by the priest removed Hindu idols from his house.
On Sept. 7, police arrested 25-year-old Panthalkoottam Raghukumar for the murder of Father Chittilappilly, UCA News service reported.
According to UCA News, Raghumakar told police that he stabbed Father Chittilappilly to protest the priest's “anti-Hindu” charitable activities on behalf of Hindu families.
Orissa
In Orissa, Church leaders report that police commonly turn a blind eye toward anti-Christian violence.
“They broke the main door of the church in the presence of police,” said Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, commenting on the Aug. 26 attack against Our Lady of Charity Church. Bhubaneswar is the state capital of Orissa.
The armed Hindu mob broke the church's door with crowbars and stormed inside after police chased away Catholics who had gathered to protest the removal of protective fencing the church had erected with government permission.
Once inside, the rampaging fundamentalists pulled down and destroyed the tabernacle and crucifix, broke statues and destroyed electrical fittings and furniture.
The mob later turned its fury onto nearby Catholic homes, damaging half a dozen houses and injuring several Catholics, including a journalist.
“What is happening here is nothing but a repeat of their Gujarat experiment,” said Archbishop Cheenath.
In the western state of Gujarat, Christian and Muslim minorities have been at the receiving end of violence since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party took control of the state government in the early 1990s. Under this party's rule, Hindu militants have seldom been prosecuted despite dozens of attacks on churches and mosques.
The wave of unpunished violence reached its peak in the riots of early 2002, which were triggered by the burning of a train carrying Hindu pilgrims. In the ensuing violence, more than 1,000 Muslims were killed in Gujarat.
“The sad part is that even after coming to know of the trouble (in Raikia), the police made no effort to prevent or stop the attack. Instead, they remained spectators,” said Archbishop Cheenath, criticizing inaction by the Orissa police who are under the control of the state's party-led coalition government.
Added the archbishop, “This attack is not an isolated incident. It is part of the uninterrupted indoctrination and orchestrated attacks targeting Christians here.”
Earlier Murders
Orissa has witnessed dozens of anti-Christian attacks since January 1999 when Australian Baptist missionary Graham Stuart Staines, who had been running a leprosy home in Orissa for decades, was burned alive along with two young sons sleeping with him in their wagon in remote Manoharpur village.
Months later, Father Arul Doss of the Diocese of Balasore was shot with arrows in another remote village. Hindu militant Dara Singh — who has been sentenced to death by the court as the ringleader in Staines' murder — is now facing trial for the murder of Father Doss.
The Indian bishops' conference issued a statement condemning the Orissa church desecration and requesting “respect (for) the beliefs and sentiments of fellow brothers and sisters.” A delegation of Church officials, led by Cardinal Toppo, called on senior party leader Lal Krishna Advani in New Delhi on Aug. 31, urging him to advise the government in Orissa to take action against the recent attacks on Christians.
Those appeals appear to have had little impact. Archbishop Cheenath said that, as of Sept. 2, police had arrested a dozen Christians on flimsy charges while the Hindu culprits in the Aug. 26 attack remained at large.
Said Archbishop Cheenath, “This tells exactly what is going on here.”
Anto Akkara writes from New Delhi, India.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Anto Akkara ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Media Watch DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:Former IRA Bomber Heads to Seminary
Officials at St. Patrick's College confirmed that O'Doherty is taking theology at the seminary. If he completes his studies successfully, he could eventually become a candidate for the priesthood.
O'Doherty, who was identified during his trial as the IRA's chief bombmaker in the county of Derry, allegedly once targeted a Catholic bishop with a letter bomb hidden inside a Bible. The bomb failed to explode.
But after his release from prison in 1989, O'Doherty publicly renounced terrorism, The Belfast Telegraph reported. A spokesman for St. Patrick's College, Father Enda Cunningham, told the paper that school officials were aware of his terrorist background, but said they also took into account his subsequent repentance.
“The college's policy is to receive any student who has been recommended by his bishop,” Father Cunningham said. “This has taken place in Shane's case, and he arrived here two weeks ago with 20 other students to begin their training.”
Kenyan Catholics Seek Canonization of Cardinal
Archbishop Mwana a'Nzeki made the announcement during an anniversary Mass for Cardinal Otunga, who died Sept. 6, 2003. The archbishop said the late cardinal had all the attributes of a saint, including simplicity, innocence, humility and detachment from material wealth, the Nairobi daily reported.
Cardinal Otunga died in a Nairobi city hospital at the age of 80 after spending the last six years of his life living at an old-age home with almost no material possessions.
Said Father Emmanuel Ngugi, rector of Nairobi's Holy Family Basilica, “He chose to live with the old, where his belongings at the home included the Bible, a chair, a table and a bed.”
British Nuns Fear Loss of Charitable Status
Under the new charities bill, which is expected to be introduced into the British parliament in November, the automatic presumption that religious organizations act for the benefit of society has been dropped. Instead, they will have to meet a yet-to-be defined test of “public benefit” to retain their status.
Sister Anne Thompson of the Daughters of Jesus warned in August that government authorities may not be willing to grant “public benefit” status to many of the services that nuns offer to society, The Telegraph reported.
“Who can measure the comfort brought to a frightened old lady by a listening ear when a stone has been thrown through her window?” Sister Anne asked. “How is the alleviation of loneliness, the comfort of panic or distress, the restoration of hope and the injection of humor into lives made dull and even intolerable by bereavement or isolation to be estimated?”
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: News -------- TITLE: Why Do So Many Catholics Stress Just One Issue? DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:It's a question most pro-lifers have faced.
“What's the big deal about abortion? Why does this one issue loom so large in your mind, outweighing so many others?”
It's an excellent question. We don't want to seem like extremists — and we certainly don't feel like extremists — but the abortion issue does loom larger than all others in our minds.
But there's another question many of us have faced from our children: “Daddy, what's partial-birth abortion?”
It's another good question, and we struggle to answer it in a way that describes this procedure as monstrous without convincing our children that the “pro-choice” people we know are monsters.
The difficulty we have answering this second question goes a long way to addressing the first.
How to answer that second question fairly?
We can use recent court testimony and admit that those who perform abortions for a living don't call it “partial-birth abortion.” They call it “D&X” or “dilation and extraction.” They give a woman drugs to induce signs of premature labor. The child is then delivered feet-first. At the point when the head would be born — the most difficult part of birth — the child's skull is crushed with forceps.
Judge Richard Casey decided a partial-birth abortion case in New York. He called D&X abortion “gruesome, brutal, barbaric and uncivilized.” He established that the babies are moving up to the point that their skulls are crushed, and that these abortions “subject fetuses to severe pain.”
Then he said that Congress can't ban the procedure because the Supreme Court has ruled that this and all forms of abortion must remain legal.
If it's hard to explain why plain old first-trimester abortion is such a major problem to us, we can point out what the legal system has had to do to make abortion legal.
Since life begins at conception, courts can't point to a moment in the pregnancy where the unborn child is qualitatively different from what he was the moment before. So to protect abortion, courts have had to say that abortion at any time is legal.
Partial-birth abortion exposes abortion for what it is.
It exposes the emptiness of the slogan “pro-choice,” for what woman would consider partial-birth abortion an empowering “choice?”
In fact, most women who have abortions at all stages, when they are willing to talk about their abortion at all, don't talk about it as a choice. They describe it as a desperate act done because the father of the child or other family members refused to honor or support their pregnancy. One woman compared the decision to an animal chewing off its leg when it's caught in a trap.
Partial-birth abortion has tarnished the medical profession. “In no case involving these or other maternal health conditions,” wrote Judge Casey, could defenders of abortion “point to a specific patient or actual circumstance in which D&X was necessary to protect a woman's health.” And yet prestigious medical organizations defend the practice in the same ways they defend earlier abortions.
Partial-birth abortion has implicated the legal profession, as well. Courts had to do mental gymnastics to explain how even this form of killing can be legal under a constitution which was written by our founding fathers to codify the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In order to keep abortion legal, they had to make D&X infanticide legal.
So partial-birth abortion has made it clear: Pro-life voters aren't the extremists. “Pro-choice” voters are.
Saddest of all, in a self-governing nation in which the people vote for lawmakers, abortion implicates all of us who have voted for the lawmakers who protect its place in our law.
This November's presidential election does not pit a great hero against a great threat, as political propagandists on both sides would have us believe. Catholics can't be entirely comfortable with either candidate.
But it does pit a Democratic challenger who voted six times to keep partial-birth abortion legal — six times! — against the president who signed the nation's first law outlawing it and who says he wants to work toward ending abortion in the United States.
In the face of so grave an evil, what option do Catholics have, other than to vote for life? And in the face of this stain on our nation's honor, we should do all that is in our power to register pro-life voters and to educate other Catholics about this important issue.
This is one of several editorials addressing major issues at stake in the Nov. 2 elections.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Letters DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:Senator Santorum
In “Santorum Defends Specter Campaign” (June 20-26), Catholic Sen. Rick Santorum proposes a reason for his sad and tragic support for the re-election of abortion advocate Arlen Specter to the U.S. Senate.
Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis recently re-emphasized the Holy Father's concern over how “the moral gravity of abortion ‘has become progressively obscured’ in our time.” In order to combat this tendency, we must “have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name” (Evangelium Vitae, No. 58): Sen. Arlen Specter is a committed advocate for the legality of directly slaughtering pre-born children. Such a position is dramatically antithetical to the moral law and the most basic duty of civil government to protect the innocent from bloodshed. This means that Specter is at least as unworthy of Catholic support as a proponent of terrorism, slavery or genocide.
How grave is Santorum's advocacy for such a candidate? According to Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs, when a Catholic supports such a culture-of-death candidate for office, they “may not receive holy Communion.” In addition, Santorum recently affirmed that he would “require” legal abortion in cases involving “life of the mother, rape and incest.” This is from his most recent candidate survey filed with the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference.
Should he “obstinately persist” in such a position, according to Canon 915, he must be just as surely excluded from the reception of holy Communion as John Kerry.
Jesus Christ is in no way partisan. Should a politician on either side of the aisle violate “non-negotiable ethical principles” and thus affirm the deadly secularist moral relativism in the culture, they may not be admitted to holy Communion. Every member of Christ's mystical body has the duty to witness to the horror of abortion according to his or her state in life. Sen. Santorum's obvious and scandalous failure to do so significantly undermines the efforts of the Church as a whole — which he presumes to criticize.
PATRICK DELANEY, Madison, Wisconsin
The writer is a member of Pro-Life Wisconsin's speakers' bureau.
Sen. Santorum Replies:
The writer questions my support for pro-choice Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., as a pro-life Catholic member of Congress. My remarks in the Register and in CRISIS magazine answer this question. Republicans hold a narrow Senate majority, only 51 seats. If Republicans lose the majority, we lose our ability to schedule debates and votes on pro-life initiatives in the next Congress. A primary defeat for Sen. Specter would have hurt our pro-life Republican majority and pro-life President, George W. Bush and, thus, the pro-life cause.
Regarding the likelihood of Sen. Specter becoming the next Judiciary Committee chairman: It's important for Catholics to keep in mind that, without Arlen Specter's support, Clarence Thomas would not have been confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. Furthermore, the senator has backed all President Bush's judicial nominees, including filibustered nominees. And one correction regarding my pro-life positions — I would not require exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.
RICK SANTORUM, Washington, D.C.
The writer is a Republican senator from Pennsylvania.
Celibacy: Now More Than Ever
The letter by Ronna Devincenzi, “Stamp Out Celibacy?” (Aug. 8-14), is a good example of “not thinking with the Church.” First, she dismisses the opinion of 269 U.S. seminarians just because they are free to leave and some may not go on to be priests. That is like saying medical students in school don't know what it takes to be a doctor because some may drop out.
Then she cringes at the thought of a priest being an icon of Christ. In fact, it has always been understood that a priest is called to be “another Christ.” He acts in persona Christi. When he consecrates the bread and wine at Mass, he says, “This is my body” and “This is the cup of my blood.” He does not say, “This is Christ's body” and “This is Christ's blood.” When he forgives sins in the confessional, he says, “I absolve you,” not “Christ absolves you.”
Perhaps it is the symbol of marriage that best shows the priest's connection to the Church. He is wedded to the Church. He is the bridegroom and the mystical body of Christ — the Church — is his bride. The priest is called to love, serve and even give his life for the Church, just as Christ did. That is why a priest is called Father. He brings forth spiritual children by administering the sacraments and serving the needs of his congregation.
Next, she says “to say that Jesus had the gift of celibacy is to deny his divinity.” Jesus is a divine person, but he has two natures, a human and a divine. His divine nature was always in line with the Father's will. But his human nature was subject to temptation, just as we are. (See the narrative on the agony in the garden in Luke 22:42-43.)
To be a Catholic priest is to be engaged in a spiritual enterprise. We are also engaged in a spiritual battle. The secular de-Christianizing forces are striving to suppress any public display of the Kingdom of Christ. Thanks to our sex-saturated society, the witness of clerical celibacy is needed now more than ever.
JOSEPH GESING, Silver Creek, Georgia
Carl, Converts and a Growing Congregation
Just a few words to inform you just how much we enjoy Carl E. Olson's “Spirit and Life” columns. Mr. Olson is a very gifted and excellent writer who can say much in a few words.
Converts to our Catholic Church from evangelical and fundamentalist churches bring much richness and blessings to our Church. With countless problems in our Catholic Church, the Lord's grace is moving many souls to join the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church that Jesus established. God is indeed good!
Those of us who are cradle Catholics must pray and be well informed about our Catholic faith. We need to always make anyone interested in the Catholic Church feel right at home.
Our family is blessed to be part of a Byzantine Catholic Church in San Luis Obispo. At this friendly parish, no newcomer is a stranger, since any new face is greeted and invited to join us for refreshments (free) after Mass. Yes, the Lord is good indeed! In eight years, the congregation has doubled — thanks to a beautiful, reverent liturgy, orthodox and inspiring sermons, and a warm and friendly congregation.
Back to Carl E. Olson — we thank God for you and the many gifts that you have brought into the Catholic Church. Keep up the good work. We look forward to continuing to read your columns in the Register.
MR. AND MRS. CONSTANTINO N. SANTOS
Atascadero, California
No Clear Choice in This Campaign
The Register has recently printed numerous articles and letters suggesting that all Catholics express a pro-life position at the ballot box in the coming presidential election. The clear implication is that we (must) vote for President Bush. This attitude is myopic and ignores Catholic social teaching and the teaching of our Lord in the Gospels.
The Bush administration, consistent with the Republican Party's mission to enrich the wealthy and impoverish the poor, has shifted enormous wealth from the lower and middle classes to the wealthy, has siphoned billions from our treasury for a war of dubious necessity, has continued a decades-old refusal by Republicans to raise the minimum wage to a level above servitude, has cut many social programs while billions are lost to corruption and has overseen the transfer of thousands of jobs to the Third World.
These policies and many others have caused great suffering among the poor and needy all over the world. By making abortion the only issue in the election, the Catholic press gives credence to the left's charge that we are more interested in the unborn than the living.
The Register ought to present a balanced picture of our political and social landscape instead of campaigning for one candidate over the other. If Catholic social teachings are to be our guide in the voting booth, clearly neither of the candidates is worthy of the Catholic vote.
FERDE ROMBOLA
Beverly, Massachusetts
Real Marriage
Regarding your editorial “How to Defend Marriage” (July 25-Aug. 7):
Women and men feel, think and express themselves differently, but in ways that can complete them both. This I call complementarity. (See the Catechism, Nos. 372, 2333 and 2357.)
In traditional “marriages,” children begin dealing with and learning from these differences early on and begin building fulfilling relationships. Good relationships require work and sacrifice.
In same-sex marriages, the children would not be able to deal with and learn from complementarity. This would leave them seriously handicapped in forming realistic expectations of others and achieving lasting and fulfilling relationships.
If same-sex marriages become acceptable in communities, the whole idea of complementarity will become unimportant. Achieving good relationships will become much harder. This will cause more disorder and suffering in families and larger communities.
These readily observable facts are why those who defend marriage feel so strongly about it and are so opposed to allowing same-sex “marriages.” Catholics owe it to those who think and feel otherwise to try to explain that the Catholic Church teaches that homosexual desires are not sinful unless the person intends to carry out homosexual acts. This is explained in the Catechism 2357-2359.
In “Swedish Pastor Gets Jail Term for Anti-Homosexuality Sermon” (July 18-24), the word “homosexuality” was used to mean the same thing as homosexual acts. It gives the false impression that the Church teaches that “homosexuality” is always condemned by the Bible and the Church. This misunderstanding makes an already difficult teaching much more difficult to understand.
FATHER WILLIAM HOCHHEIM
Jacksonville, Florida
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: Strength, Courage and Love DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:Elizabeth Hruska's letter, “Mystery of the Magdalene” (Aug. 8-14), was most welcome. I have long held the belief that Mary Magdalen belongs in the family of Martha and Lazarus, that she is the repentant sinner mentioned in the account of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Thomas á Kempis, Lives of the Saints, and by tradition.
This beautiful woman deserves our admiration because of her strength (willing to anoint the dead body of our Savior); of her fearlessness (confronting those in authority); and for her great love, (rewarded by her honor of being first to see Jesus after his resurrection). We need her powerful example for our times.
BONNA HOLZHEIMER, Louisville, Kentucky
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Bonna Holzheimer ----- KEYWORDS: Opinion -------- TITLE: When the Eucharist Isn't The Eucharist DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:Several years ago, my father underwent a very serious health scare.
For no apparent reason, he lost the ability to assimilate any food and started losing weight at an alarming rate. The doctors attending him advanced a number of hypotheses as to what the problem might be, and after numerous tests, diagnosed him with celiac sprue — celiac disease — a chronic digestive disorder that destroys the body's ability to metabolize gluten.
Since all wheat products contain gluten, my dad's illness affected his ability to receive Holy Communion at Mass. For a while, he tried having priests break off a very tiny portion of the consecrated host, but even that small quantity affected his digestive process. Eventually, he opted to simply receive Christ's precious blood, in lieu of the host, according to a Code of Canon Law provision for cases such as his (Canon 925). Since Catholics understand that the whole Christ — body, blood, soul and divinity — is present under either of the “species” (bread or wine), my dad doesn't miss out on anything by receiving only the chalice.
I was reminded of this experience several weeks ago on reading of the now celebrated case of 8-year-old Haley Waldman of Brielle, N.J., who also suffers from celiac sprue. On May 2, Haley received her first Communion, which, according to news reports, was later declared invalid since the priest had used a gluten-free host.
As might be expected, many commentators have latched onto the Waldman case as an excuse to whack the Church for its supposed intolerance and rigidity. A recent Chicago Tribune editorial by Julie Deardorff, entitled “Church Should Have Mercy on Celiac Sufferers,” frames the story as a David-and-Goliath battle between little Haley Waldman and “a formidable obstacle: the Catholic Church.” Deardorff takes issue with the Church's “pro-gluten stance,” as if Catholics had some inordinate attachment to gluten for gluten's sake, at the expense of defenseless celiac sufferers.
Similar cases have begun to spring up elsewhere. In Sydney, Australia, Father John Crothers upbraided his bishop, Cardinal George Pell, in a recent online article entitled “It's Time to Take a Stand.” Crothers narrates an emotional meeting with a parishioner named Anne, a depressive who suffers from celiac disease who “was devastated” on hearing of the Vatican decision reaffirming Catholic teaching that hosts must contain some gluten in order to be considered bread. Father Crothers uses the gluten issue as a springboard to launch an all-out attack on Cardinal Pell's inflexible “model of leadership” and his “ultra-conservative views.” Yet, on closer examination, Cardinal Pell's crime in the gluten case seems to consist solely in adhering to canon law provisions that stipulate the use of wheat bread for the celebration of the Eucharist (Canon 924).
Leaving aside whatever may motivate some of these criticisms, I see three fundamental problems with the underlying arguments.
The specific problem here concerns the importance of sacramental “matter.” Catholics understand that Christ consecrated bread and wine at the Last Supper and instructed his apostles to “Do this in memory of me.” In the sacraments, words are important, but they aren't everything. Priests cannot say the words of consecration over potato chips or Oreo cookies, as if they were some magic formula by which anything could be converted into the body and blood of Christ. Bread must be used, and the Church understands wheat to be essential to the nature of bread.
A second problem arises in the area of the Church's authority to change doctrine. Typical criticisms leveled against the magisterium for a failure to modify its moral or doctrinal teachings seem to presuppose an almost limitless authority to do so. The question “Why doesn't the Church just change that archaic ruling?” implies an understanding that the Church can freely change its teachings as it pleases. If doctrine poses problems, change the doctrine. Any failure to do so is attributed to willfulness and inflexibility. Hence, in her letter to the Vatican, Haley's mother, Elizabeth PellyWaldman, wrote: “This is a Church rule, not God's will, and it can easily be adjusted to meet the needs of the people.”
This model of doctrinal adaptation reflects a Protestantized understanding of Church teaching. We have seen in recent years how some Protestant communions, “liberated” from both a magisterium and a belief in the sacred nature of Tradition, have democratically managed to keep their moral and doctrinal teaching pretty much in line with the social trends of the contemporary world. Catholics have a more modest understanding of authority and see the Church as custodian of a deposit of faith rooted in the Gospel and confirmed and tested over 2,000 years of lived tradition.
A final problem is that of misguided compassion. Many Church critics complain of the cruelty of “invalidating” Haley Waldman's first Holy Communion. How could Church officials tell a little girl that what she received wasn't really the Eucharist? If the Eucharist were merely a symbol, such reasoning would be convincing. Yet since Catholics believe that the Eucharist really is the body and blood of Christ, the Church needs to be able to distinguish when this takes place and when it doesn't. Lying to a little girl to make her feel good about her first Communion hardly qualifies as good pastoral practice. The real cruelty would seem to lie with the priest who consecrated something other than bread and then presented it to Haley as if it were really Christ's body.
Pope John Paul II has declared this coming year to be the Year of the Eucharist. Let's hope that it will be an occasion to grow in our appreciation and respect for this priceless gift we have received.
Legionary Father Thomas D. Williams is dean of the theology school at Rome's Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Thomas D. Williams ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Judges vs. Catholics? Three Recent Decisions DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:Bad news, the old superstition tells us, comes in threes. American Catholics have recently gotten their share in the form of three judicial opinions.
First, a California court ruled that Catholic hospitals must subsidize contraceptives as part of their employee health insurance plans, despite acknowledging that doing so violated Catholic teaching. Then, a federal court in Washington, D.C., prohibited the national Americorps program from giving educational funds to volunteers in Catholic organizations. The court expressed concerns that the volunteers' hours would somehow be tainted by their religious environment and were not therefore “secular” enough to be eligible for the program.
Finally, just this past August, a Florida appellate court ruled in Bush v. Holmes that the state's school voucher program violated the “no aid” provision of the Florida Constitution. This case will have national impact because other states' courts are facing similar constitutional language. It will also have major implications for the nationwide system of Catholic schools, which will now have to prepare for challenges in different states.
These cases cast a disturbing light on where judges think the place of religion is in public life. Religion is viewed as a threat that must be contained, even where the danger of “establishment” is remote at best, while the actual consequences — children forced into failing schools, volunteers compelled to choose between educational support and the charity of their choice, religious institutions required to violate their faith — are very real indeed.
The Florida case concerns the state's “Opportunity Scholarship Program,” which the Legislature enacted in 1999. Parents in failing schools were eligible to receive vouchers from the state, which the parents could then use for private or other schooling. The criterion determining when parents could receive support was clear: the public school had to fail to meet state standards for two years in a given four-year period. To protect against coercive tactics by religious schools chosen by parents, the program requires, among other things, that the school receiving the vouchers affirm that no religious test would be applied against the students.
Thousands of parents took advantage of the opportunity the program offered, and many selected Catholic schools. Indeed, in one county, more than 90% of the vouchers were used for parochial schooling, a testament to the reputation and ability of the Catholic school system, and to the devotion of parents to provide a better future for their children.
In the 2002 Zelman decision, the U.S. Supreme Court found an almost identical arrangement in Ohio to be perfectly constitutional under the Establishment Clause. The key to the program's constitutionality was that the money was given to parents, to use as they chose, and not given directly to religious institutions. There was, therefore, no risk that the government was “establishing” any religion through financial support.
But the Florida court, while acknowledging that there was no federal constitutional prohibition, found that the Opportunity Scholarship Program was unconstitutional under the no-aid provision, which requires that “(n)o revenue of the state … shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid … of any sectarian institution.” The appellate court affirmed. A final ruling will likely come from the Florida Supreme Court.
The no-aid provision became part of the Florida Constitution in 1885. It is a legacy of a dark period in American history. The provision was one of the so-called “Blaine amendments” that many states adopted in the late 19th century as a direct result of anti-Catholic bigotry, which was then at a fever pitch. They are named after Maine Sen. James G. Blaine, who supported an amendment to the federal Constitution prohibiting support for “sectarian” schools. “Sectarian,” in these statutes, means Catholic, and the laws were designed to restrict the growth of Catholic schools by preventing their access to public funds.
These laws have little to do with the First Amendment and much to do with discrimination and double standards. They will be the next battleground in the fight for educational opportunity: Some 30 states have adopted Blaine amendments. Having lost at the Supreme Court, which has recognized the “shameful pedigree” of the “sectarian” language in anti-Catholic prejudice, activists are now shifting the battle to the individual state constitutions. Catholics, especially, should be aware of these cases and of the prejudicial history of the Blaine amendments.
Despite the provision's association with bigotry, the Florida court used it to invalidate the Opportunity Scholarship Program. The decision generated a vigorous dissent, which noted that the majority's reasoning extends far beyond schools. Florida has several programs that offer assistance of various types to religious institutions, including those providing health or other social services. All these are now at risk.
The majority skirted this issue, essentially arguing that “schools are different.” But this reasoning is disingenuous, because it arrogates to judges the authority to rule which activities count as religious and which do not. Indeed, the majority here noted that religiously affiliated social services are usually “operated through non-profit organizations” and implied that these may not be so “sectarian” as to be excluded from the no-aid provision. This understanding of the connections between explicitly religious and other activities is not a Catholic one, and it is a distinction the U.S. Supreme Court has largely, and wisely, rejected, because it places the activities of religious groups at the mercy of judicial panels.
These recent decisions force the Church either to conform to a world hostile to its faith or lose out on public benefits. In response, Catholic institutions need to take a hard look at their relationship with the secular world and to reaffirm both their faith and their rightful place in the public square.
Gerald J. Russello, a lawyer, lives in Brooklyn. He is the editor of Christianity and European Culture: Selections from the Work of Christopher Dawson.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Gerald J. Russello ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Senator Kerry and Family Values DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:In his speech to the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Sen. John Kerry made sure that he underscored the importance of “family values.”
“Values are not just words,” he said. “Values are what we live by … And it is time for those who talk about family values to start valuing families.”
His point is well taken. We should practice what we preach. It is useless to preach “family values” if we do not value families in practice. Actions surely speak more convincingly than words.
The larger question, for American voters, however, is whether the Democratic candidate for the presidency himself truly values the family. In attempting to persuade us that he does, he presents a montage of personal vignettes in which his role as a genuine family man shines with a luster that appears to be irresistible. This family portrayal, with Kerry as the shining centerpiece, nonetheless may not be enough to convince the more perceptive voters that Kerry is, indeed, a family man who practices what he preaches.
In that same address to the Democratic Convention, Kerry said, “What if we had a president who believed in science?”
Here, Kerry is alluding to the restrictions President Bush has placed on stem-cell research, choosing to balance scientific research with sanctity-of-life values rather than endorse an approach to science that omits moral values. Kerry's remark is consistent with, but less blistering than, the one he made on the same topic in a December 2003 campaign speech: “Nothing illustrates this administration's anti-science attitude better than George Bush's cynical decision to limit research on embryonic stem cells.”
He went on to condemn the Bush administration as a “recessive gene of pessimism about progress and people,” while vilifying the sitting government leader for his decision “to go to the right wing instead of the right way.”
President Bush is hardly “anti-science.” He instituted the President's Council on Bioethics and named scientist Leon Kass to lead it. The 18-member council operates with an acute awareness of science, but also with a sense of ethical values. It is not obeisant to the technological imperative. Its first published book, Being Human (628 pages in length), sold out within a few months. At the council's first meeting, President Bush spoke of the need to explore how medicine and science interface with the dignity of life.
The council has called for a ban on implanting human embryos into an animal uterus, producing embryos with human sperm and animal eggs or animal sperm and human eggs, initiating pregnancy solely for research purposes, producing a child with four genetic parents (“blastomere fusion”), conceiving a child whose father or mother is a dead embryo or aborted fetus, and human cloning.
The restrictions the council advises are based on sanctity-of-life values.
But these values are convergent with family values. The kinds of gametic manipulations that scientists now envision, together with a wide variety of reproductive technologies have called into question the very notions of “motherhood,” fatherhood,” “procreation” and “family.”
Is it “left wing” to allow science to advance unchecked by ethical restrictions? Is it “liberal” to follow the model set by Nazi scientists? Is it consistent with “family values” to endorse mechanisms that, by blurring the notions of mother, father, parent and offspring, threaten the very meaning of the family?
Kerry, as is well known, has consistently voted in favor of abortion, including partial-birth abortion. He would have a hard time, if he were willing to face the issue, to reconcile his abortion stance with the integrity of the family. But stem-cell research and new modes of technological reproduction clearly threaten the integrity of the family even further.
There are currently about 400,000 frozen embryos in storage. What is the family status of these tiny human beings? Do they have parents who are committed to their best interest?
Are they children, property or scientific guinea pigs? Are they part of the human family? According to the current and amorphous notion of “family,” it seems that we arbitrarily define out of the family any human being whose continued existence we happen not to condone. Two competing bills have been stalled in Washington: the Brownback bill that would ban all human cloning, and the Hatch-Feinstein bill that would approve cloning human beings for research and then mandate their destruction. If the latter bill passes, it would be the first time in human history that a class of human beings was produced with the legal requirement that they must be destroyed. Would it be “right wing,” cynical” and “unprogressive” to oppose this bill?
Sanctity-of-life values are at the heart of family values. This most basic point seems to elude Sen. Kerry. He talks glibly about finding a “common ground so that no one who has something to contribute to our nation will be left on the sidelines.” He seems to be unaware that American people who believe and practice sanctity-of-life values have something to contribute to their country.
And it is precisely these people that Kerry would leave on the “sidelines.” By abandoning their values, he will look in vain to find his “common ground.”
We get a better understanding of his views on the family by examining the implications of his acceptance of abortion and his unfounded, caustic, misguided, unthinking and purely political diatribe against President Bush and the Bush administration's willingness to temper science with values.
Eric Cohen, editor of the The New Atlantis and resident scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, together with William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, have shown that there are three rather insidious implications that flow from Kerry's stance on biotechnology (The Weekly Standard, May 10, 2004). They are: 1) the destruction of human life; 2) the degradation of the family; 3) the threat of eugenics. No serious-minded voter should ignore these implications.
There are no “family values” in any positive sense without regard for life. The family is the principal generator and caretaker of human life. It is both the school of love and the cradle of liberty. Kerry claims that he endorses family values. Yet his record shows that he does not oppose the destruction of the family's most innocent members, whether they reside in the womb, are nearly out of the womb, exist in some laboratory apparatus or lie in suspended animation in a cylinder of liquid nitrogen.
Such an egregious contradiction illustrates how rhetoric can be completely divorced from the reality it presumes to reflect. Kerry's abuse of rhetoric only thinly conceals his program for an abuse of science, as well as an abuse of the family.
Politicians may carry their rhetoric to new levels of unreality. But the voter has a solemn obligation to keep his feet on terra firma and his heart in the right place.
Donald DeMarco is an adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College & Seminary.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Donald DeMarco ----- KEYWORDS: Commentary -------- TITLE: Prayer Power DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:We nicknamed it “the prayer heard round the world.” It most certainly was that.
In the spring of 1999, our extended family received a letter from my brother-in-law. The child his wife was carrying in her womb was in serious trouble. Tests had revealed the likelihood of some severe birth defects and the possibility of others. We all began to pray fervently.
For me, this didn't seem like enough. I saw prayer as something passive; I wanted to do something proactive. So I sent out an e-mail prayer request to almost everyone I knew and tapped into the international e-mail lists of the Schoenstatt Marian Apostolic Movement, of which I'm a member. “With this many people praying,” I thought, “surely God will grant a miracle.”
Further testing confirmed the specialists' suspicions: Not only would this child have serious deformities, but he or she probably wouldn't even survive the birth. My brother-in-law and his wife began to feel the pressure from doctors urging them to abort. They stood strong against the tide.
In the meantime, the prayer petition was spreading globally. Hundreds of e-mail prayer pledges poured in from all over the world. Volunteers translated my message into Spanish and German, spreading the message even further. The outpouring of hearts was incredible to witness. As each new batch of responses came in, I put them into a folder and took them to my brother-inlaw and his wife. They read them again and again, drawing fresh strength each time.
The Catechism teaches us: “Just as Jesus prays to the Father and gives thanks before receiving his gifts, so he teaches us filial boldness: ‘Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it and you will.’ Such is the power of prayer and of faith that does not doubt: ‘all things are possible to him who believes’ (No. 2610). With that in mind, I continued my prayer campaign with fervor and confidence.
Gabriella Nicole was born Sept. 14, 1999 — feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. She spent three months in the neonatal intensive-care unit, very near death at times. Her parents had to make some crucial and difficult decisions regarding her treatment. She has required reconstructive surgery to repair internal organs and replace missing bone and muscle tissue, and she'll need more surgeries in the future. She's small for her age and needs some special care. Yet her parents never wavered from their conviction that this child has a purpose and that the gift of prayer would see them through whatever God has in store for them.
After the birth, I sent an e-mail to those on the prayer chain, regretfully telling them that we had not gotten the miracle for which we had prayed. Shortly thereafter, I received a phone call from Gabriella's father. He gently admonished me, saying that the life of Gabriella was a miracle itself and that the prayers offered worldwide were a miracle that brought them courage and comfort. He made me realize that I had used prayer as a bribe rather than the instrument of God's grace.
Today, Gabriella Nicole is a feisty, intelligent and determined bundle of delight — one who, in spite of her prosthesis and walker, easily keeps up with her 6-year-old sister. I still receive e-mails inquiring about Gabriella and her family and offering more prayers, sacrifices, and good wishes. The “prayer heard round the world” continues to circle the globe and is a reminder that prayer is not a matter of manipulating God, but a way of opening hearts to the fact that he knows best.
Happy 4th birthday, Gabriella Nicole!
Marge Fenelon writes from Cudahy, Wisconsin.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Marge Fenelon ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Going Mobile DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:First-time Catholic visitors to the deep-South stronghold of Mobile, Ala., are surprised to discover that the port city's heritage is so — well, so Catholic.
Founded by both French and Spanish settlers who were accompanied by priests and monks of their day, it's the original American home of a grand pre-Lenten festival, for example. Today's Mobile, once considered “the Paris of the Confederacy” for its stately oak trees, continues the tradition — with a Mardi Gras noted for family-friendly fun, not mind-boggling lewdness.
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is the centerpiece of Old Town Mobile. Located at the city's inviting Cathedral Square, it's a Greek Revival masterpiece. It was founded by Bishop Michael Portier, who was sent in 1826 as the apostolic vicar of “Alabama and the Floridas,” which extended from Florida to Arkansas.
When we attended Mass at the Mobile cathedral earlier this year, the sanctuary had just been reopened after more than a year of extensive renovations. We're happy to report that it was well worth the wait. This 1835 structure is the only church in the South to be named a minor basilica.
The cathedral, classic and staid Roman Corinthian on the outside, is “an explosion of splintered light” within. That's how it was described in Stained Glass Window Quarterly, which also noted how “the southern sun filters through dark wine reds, Prussian blues and the velvety greens of the magnificent German stained glass windows.” A glorious statue of the risen Christ is a focal point.
And so is the history here. For one thing, the church's original construction was frequently interrupted because of lack of manpower, materials and, later, costs of the Civil War. Work on the windows, built in Germany, began in the 1890s under Bishop Jeremiah O'Sullivan. Final installation was completed in 1910. During World War II, a low-flying plane struck the twin bell towers. Both had to be completely rebuilt.
Monastery Memories
Another vital part of Mobile's Catholic history is Visitation Monastery, established in 1832 when Bishop Portier invited five Visitation Sisters from Georgetown to establish a convent and school for girls on 27 acres of land. Rapid enrollment made it necessary to build a dormitory and convent. In 1843, a chapel for the nuns, students and about 300 neighborhood Catholics was erected. An 1854 fire destroyed the convent, but the nuns rebuilt it six years later.
The showpiece of the monastery is the Romanesque-style Sacred Heart Chapel. The chapel is beautifully laid out with the tabernacle in the center, visible to both the nuns' cloister and visitors' pews. We were there on the first Friday of the month, when there is regular exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Pausing to pray in these serene surroundings proved an unexpected blessing.
The female academy closed in 1952 because of a conflict between modern educational regulations and certain monastic privileges and rules. The order changed its focus to retreat ministry in 1956. Then-Archbishop Thomas Toolen designated it the official retreat house for south Alabama and northwest Florida. Today, retreats are held almost every weekend amid the aroma of lush flowers. In addition to traditional retreats, the monastery offers weekends for engaged and married couples, Cursillo and charismatic groups, and days of prayer and recollection. The weekend my husband and I were there, an icon-making workshop by master iconographer Philip Zimmerman was concluding. He explained one of his icons, Our Lady of the Sign. Students had produced icons of St. Therese of Lisieux. Our visit ended with Sister Mary Gabrielle inviting us to sample yummy chocolates, made and sold by the sisters as a fundraiser.
Father Ryan's Footsteps
The final stop in our tour of Catholic Mobile was at Father Ryan Memorial Park, with its striking statue of famed Father Abram Ryan, the “poet-priest of the Confederacy,” who is also celebrated in Mobile's impressive City Museum. A chaplain to the Confederate Army, he acquired fame for patriotic poems such as “The Conquered Banner,” “The Sword of Robert E. Lee” and “The Lost Cause.”
There is an amusing story often re-told of Father Ryan: One day he saw his young niece looking at a picture of the Crucifixion. He said to her, “Do you know what caused that?” She replied, “The Union Army!”
The Catholic Encyclopedia remembers Father Ryan this way: “As a pulpit orator and lecturer, he was always interesting and occasionally brilliant. As a man, he had a subtle, fascinating nature, full of magnetism when he saw fit to exert it; as a priest, he was full of tenderness, gentleness and courage. In the midst of pestilence he had no fear of death or disease. Even when he was young, his feeble body gave him the appearance of age, and with all this there was the dreamy mysticism of the poet so manifest in the flesh as to impart to his personality something that marked him off from all other men.”
When Father Ryan died in 1886, his body lay in state in the cathedral. The altar was covered in black. Officiating clergy wore robes of black ornamented with silver. Honorary pallbearers included presidents of the Italian, Spanish and French benevolent associations. Despite a downpour, thousands lined the funeral route. Father Ryan was buried in the Old City Catholic Cemetery, in the Children of Mary section — among orphan children laid to rest under his own care and ministry. His grave is marked with a marble cross, symbols of his office and a Celtic cross.
Father Ryan retired here when his work was done. It's not hard to imagine him praying for the salvation and sanctification of all who come to the city he loved, desiring a closer walk with Christ.
Lorraine Williams writes from Markham, Ontario.
----- EXCERPT: Exploring the Catholic roots of Alabama's port city ----- EXTENDED BODY: Lorraine Williams ----- KEYWORDS: Travel -------- TITLE: Armed With Books DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:If a monastery without a library is a fort without an armory — a saying popular in medieval Europe — then a college without a library must be an armory without an arsenal.
Indeed, the mind boggles to think of the conversations the stacks of books must have fueled between Sts. Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas, for example, at the University of Paris in the 13th century.
Just so, if the library walls could talk at today's centers of high-fidelity Catholic learning, they'd doubtless tell similarly inspiring tales of intellectual and spiritual development unfolding in the service of the Gospel.
At Franciscan University of Steubenville's John Paul II Library, a collection of more than 200,000 volumes and 500 journals offers students a chance to drink as deeply as they care to from the well of civilized thought through the ages. As might be expected, the theology, political science, history and psychology sections are especially robust.
And among the nice little “extras” they wouldn't find at a comparable secular facility is a “Franciscan collection” — nearly 300 books dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi. “You name it, it's out there on the shelf or soon will be,” says library director William Jakub.
The Pope John Paul II collection is equally impressive. The library attempts to purchase anything written by, or about, the Holy Father.
Jakub points out another fascinating specialty. “We also have a Civil War collection of materials that examines the entire war only from a southern perspective,” he says. “This ties in with the whole idea of the university giving all the information from which students can make educated decisions. You can see where this other side is coming from, and you can then get into an intellectual debate.” Which explains the space given to decidedly anti-Christian works by the likes of Karl Marx, Jean-Paul Sartre and Friedrich Nietzsche.
Students use the library, located next to the chapel, like a home away from dorm. “By midterm,” Jakub notices, “there's not an empty seat in the house.”
Reading is Fundamental
At Christendom College in Front Royal, Va., head librarian Andrew Armstrong points out how the library's theology, philosophy and history sections flex their proverbial muscles. Shelves are chock full of the classics, of course — Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas and so on. And, because Pope John Paul II's works are studied throughout the curriculum, including a full course on his thought, the Holy Father's writings and related materials are plentiful.
Today's 55,000 volumes are set for a big buildup when the campus's new St. John the Evangelist Library building opens in October with room for 130,000 volumes. The domed entrance, featuring a stained-glass portrait of St. John showing the way, will encourage students to walk with faith illuminating the way into reason.
“This is a library for Christendom College that we won't need to build again,” Armstrong says.
Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Mich., likewise houses about 50,000 volumes. “We're about the size of a good seminary library,” says library director Sarah Beiting. “We probably have the best theology section in the area.” The library is also big on British literature.
“It's a very patron-centered library,” explains Beiting. “We go out of our way to help people find information and help students with their work.”
Beiting says students also can borrow books from Eastern Michigan University, just blocks away. Such interlibrary loans are commonplace. Christendom, for example, is part of a Virginia state consortium. Franciscan U. belongs to Ohio Private Academic Libraries, which opens the door for students to more than 4 million additional items.
That means today's Catholic colleges easily outstrip the fabled libraries of history, such as the Alexandria Library in Egypt and the library at Oxford University.
“Those libraries believed in total ownership of everything,” Jakub explains. “In today's society, you can't have ownership of everything, but you try to provide maximum access for students.”
Ave Maria University's new library in Naples, Fla., is on its way to becoming a landmark, even though the new permanent campus isn't ready. Bob Verbesey, director of library services, says that, when the permanent campus opens in two years, the new library will hold more than 300,000 books.
Right now? “We already have a top-notch, first-class theology library supporting undergraduate and graduate studies,” Verbesey says.
He notes that even the rare-books section is off to a running start with items like a handwritten journal kept by a priest who accompanied Ignatius Loyola at the beginning of the Jesuit order and a first edition of Cardinal Newman's works.
“Our goal is to be one of the premier liberal arts and theology libraries in the country,” Verbesey says.
Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., began its collection of 400,000 volumes with the merger of the St. Benedict Abbey and Mount St. Scholastica College libraries.
“The biggest eye-catcher is the rare-book room,” says reference librarian Jennifer Nehl. One of the major sets that would make any researcher happy is the Patrologus, the writings of the Church fathers in Latin and Greek.
“Definitely, the religion section is quite substantial,” Nehl notes. The “Benedictina” — works by and about Benedictines — is a natural among the special collections, too, as is an out-of-the-ordinary collection on monastic history.
Great Books
At Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, Calif., the new St. Bernardine of Siena Library offers students more than 50,000 volumes — and it has room to add 20,000 more. The works of the greatest thinkers appear in the best translations as well as the original editions.
Almost the entire collection comes from donations. “Somehow, it makes it more meaningful to know you've received these as gifts from people who love the college,” says Dr. Michael McLean, the college's dean.
Opened in 1995, the new Romanesque and Spanish mission-style library is a unique place. Students study under a beautifully restored ceiling with hand-painted “tiles” interlining the intricate beamwork ceiling, originally crafted in 1620 for a convent in Granada, Spain. It was first bought by William Randolph Hearst, who intended to use it at San Simeon.
The Thomas Aquinas library was designed not only with quiet study areas, but also with rooms suitable for group study to support the college's great-books curriculum (which is oriented around student discussions rather than lectures by professors).
The rare-books room includes pages from early manuscripts of the Bible, circa 1120, and a copy of the illustrated Book of Hours, circa 1480.
“We're not really looking to amass a huge collection,” McLean explains. “We want the best works to support our program — original texts in philosophy, theology and natural sciences, including volumes in the original languages, not only in translations, and the best commentaries that support those works.”
It's exactly what you'd expect of a world-class Catholic college library — one in which Bonaventure and Aquinas would feel right at home.
Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: Catholic libraries make the cut ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joseph Pronechen ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Weekly Book Pick DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:LEPANTO
by G.K. Chesterton
edited by Dale Ahlquist Ignatius, 2003 124 pages, $10.95
To order: (800) 651-1531 or www.ignatius.com
This poem, written in 1911 about a largely unknown 16th-century sea battle, speaks directly to the situation of the world today. Decision-makers in the Department of Defense should read it. Soldiers on the front lines in Iraq should memorize it. It should be printed on op-ed pages, and passages should be quoted from the pulpit. Every voter would do well to consider its message before going to the polls.
This is Chesterton's “Lepanto,” a triumph of the English language about a triumph that may have saved that language itself and, in the process, all of Western civilization. In the waters off Greece, in October 1571, a fleet of Christians from a divided Europe faced a larger and more storied fleet of the Muslim Ottoman Empire. Led by young Don John of Austria, the illegitimate son of Spain's Charles V and half-brother of the reigning Philip II, the Christian ships “burst the battle line,” as Chesterton writes, to crush the Turks and reclaim the Mediterranean and historical momentum for the West. It was an epic battle that marked the decline of Ottoman power — yet, if people beyond history buffs know of it today, it is likely because they've heard of Pope St. Pius V's mystical vision of victory while praying the rosary. (The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, Oct. 7, comes from this battle.) The poem itself is almost entirely unknown, even among English-literature majors.
This is more than a shame, writes Dale Ahlquist, editor of this slim volume and president of the American Chesterton Society. Hailing the poem's style, wit and heroic theme, Ahlquist writes, “It should be in every anthology of English literature and part of the standard syllabus in every class of English 101.” Yet the poem “suffers in obscurity because of a combined prejudice against rhyme and meter, against Catholicism, and against G.K. Chesterton.” He also notes an allergic reaction among academics to a poem celebrating war.
In 143 galloping lines, Chesterton sets the stage of the world at the time, with the Pope calling for arms against the Muslim foe. Christian Europe is deeply divided by Protestantism and internecine intrigue, and Sultan Selim II smiles at the prospect of overrunning the West, as Mohammed (or “Mahound,” as Chesterton calls him) guides the galleys from his place in Muslim paradise. The poem does not shrink from blood or the glory of war, and states that God takes sides, as the Holy League raises the cross against the crescent.
Ahlquist reports that “Lepanto” was first published in the Oct. 12, 1911, edition of The Eye-Witness, whose editor, Hilaire Belloc, would say later that the poem “is not only the summit of Chesterton's achievement in verse but in all our generation.” Surprisingly, Chesterton wrote it before he became a Catholic.
The book includes essays by three academics and a retired U.S. Army colonel, who outline the poem's historical background and its significance for our post-9/11 world. Perhaps the people of the West, facing implacable radical Muslims, are ready to read this poem anew.
A further treat for Chesterton fans are two essays, presumably included to flesh out the book to a presentable length, “The True Romance” and the intriguingly titled “If Don John of Austria Had Married Mary Queen of Scots.”
Stephen Vincent writes from Wallingford, Connecticut.
----- EXCERPT: Pivotal Battle, Beautiful Poem ----- EXTENDED BODY: Stephen Vincent ----- KEYWORDS: Education -------- TITLE: Campus Watch DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:Christian Hate Zone
CATHOLIC LEAGUE FOR RELIGIOUS AND CIVIL RIGHTS, Aug. 27 — While Illinois' Black Hawk College is a “Hate Free Zone,” it “did no good, for hatred of Christians,” opined the League's William Donohue in reaction to sociology professor Bruce LeBlanc, who recently wrote “F--- God” on his classroom blackboard.
LeBlanc, an openly homosexual former priest, is known for his classroom practice of graphically describing homosexual acts and for openly mocking Christian beliefs, Donohue said.
A faculty committee said LeBlanc violated the school's harassment policy and should apologize but no disciplinary action has been taken.
Ramadan Canceled
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO, Aug. 30 — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security revoked the visa of Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan nine days before he was to take up his new post as a lecturer at the University of Notre Dame.
He was impeded under a provision of the Patriot Act that bars foreign visitors with a “position of prominence to endorse or espouse terrorist activity.”
Ramadan, a Swiss citizen, lives in France, where a number of municipalities have forbidden him to speak because of the violent reaction of Muslim youth.
Vibrant Schools
The archdiocese also an nounced that Chicago's Catholic-school students scored well above the national average on standardized tests this year.
Growth and good performance were on display as Catholic schools superintendent Nicholas Wolsonovich announced the test results at a press conference at a new $8 million wing of the school at Old St. Pat's Church, the first Catholic school built in the city in 43 years.
Christians Standing Up
TOWNHALL.COM, Aug. 31 — Columnist Mike Adams has seen a new willingness to speak out by Christian faculty and staff at secular colleges.
He singled out Ed Geh-ringer and the 135-member Christian Faculty/Staff Community of the University of Nor th Carolina-Chapel Hill for publicly challenging the administration for a seeming bias against Christianity.
The university was legally compelled to fund a student-run Christian newspaper and is now being sued by a Christian fraternity that has been denied funding because it includes only Christians and requires members to abstain from sex outside of marriage (which the university considers unfair to homosexuals).
Alleged MIT Persecution
Machinist Mark Peterson claims the trouble began in 1987 when he and another employee began meeting during breaks to discuss the Bible. He says he was told not to bring his Bible to work again.
In a discrimination lawsuit pending in federal court, Peterson contends supervisors at MIT's Lincoln Lab in Lexington refused to reprimand workers for bad behavior and joined in the harassment.
-------- TITLE: Weekly TV Picks DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:SUNDAYS
New Series on Virtue EWTN
At 10 a.m., in Voices on Virtue, chastity promoter and pro-life activist Barbara McGuigan and her guests discuss personal and public virtue. (Re-airs every Sat. at 2:30 a.m.) At 4 p.m., in The Virtues: Seven Habits of Champions, evangelizer and theologian Marcel-lino D'Ambrosio explains how to practice faith, hope, charity, prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude. (Re-airs every Fri. at 5:30 a.m.)
SUNDAY, SEPT. 19
The True Story of Tripoli History Channel, 8 p.m.
The United States fought the Tripolitan War (1801-1805) to stop North African powers from plundering U.S. merchant ships, exacting tribute and enslaving our seamen. On April 27, 1805, after a 45-day, 600-mile desert trek, Lt. Presley O'Bannon, seven fellow Marines, naval agent William Eaton and some Mamelukes and mercenaries stormed the seaport citadel of Derna, freeing 307 Americans and deposing the Bey of Tripoli.
MONDAY, SEPT. 20
Growing Up Rhino Animal Planet, 8 p.m., 11 p.m.
In the Wildcare Africa Trust in Pretoria, South Africa, orphan rhino twins Tunzi and Tandi encounter the pleasures and pangs of growing up.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 21
Live from Lincoln Center PBS, 8 p.m.
This two-hour presentation of the New York Philharmonic's 2004 opening-night gala features violinist Maxim Vengerov as Lorin Maazel conducts the orchestra in Beethoven's Violin Concerto and Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.”
WED. & FRI., SEPT.-OCT.
Election 2004: The Catholic Vote EWTN
Every Wed. at 5 a.m. and every Fri. at 10 p.m. from now until Election Day, Nov. 2, Priests for Life founder Father Frank Pavone and his guests quote the popes and U.S. bishops about the moral responsibility of voters and politicians in this age of abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell experimentation and other monstrous evils.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 23
Toolbox History Channel, 8 a.m.
Half-hour episodes starting at 8 a.m. profile the history and uses of the handsaw, wrench, drill, hammer, chainsaw, axe, blowtorch, ruler, screwdriver and plane, followed at 1 p.m. by The Toolbench: Power Tools. Beginning at 2 p.m., the entire slate re-airs.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 24
Debbie Travis' Painted House Home & Garden TV, 8:30 p.m.
Debbie and her crew fix up nurse Sandra's tiny apartment by finding small-room-appropriate furniture, repainting with colors that make rooms look larger and remodeling to store clutter away.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 25
Wild Game World Cook-Off Food Network, 9 p.m.
Wild-game cooks compete in Springville, Ala.
Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Daniel J. Engler ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Why Catholics Can Sing - But Too Often Don't DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:It is the right of the Christian community that there be “true and suitable sacred music” during Mass, especially on Sundays.
So says Redemptionis Sacramentum (The Sacrament of Redemption), written by the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments which was released last spring to address liturgical abuses and to stress that Mass norms must be followed exactly to ensure reverence. Register correspondent Gord Wilson asked a pair of accomplished music ministers why — despite the Church's emphasis on music — it's so often said that “Catholics can't sing.” Angela Kim is director of the young adult chorus and music ministry at Blessed Sacrament Church in Seattle. Jamie Twinings is music minister at Sacred Heart Church in Bellingham, Wash.
It's been more than a decade since the book
Twinings: Many of the old traditional hymns are from Luther and the Protestant tradition. There's been a long history of sharing, but it's mostly Catholics using Protestant songs, not the other way around. It seems to me that Protestant congregations do sing more, and that's a concern. But when people talk about “great hymns,” they're only referring to a few dozen of the best. There are a lot of bad hymns that sound like Dr. Seuss gone bad. It's obviously important that the words don't run counter to Church doctrine. But, having said that, I tend to look more at the musical content, because if it's good musically, it's going to really allow people to connect to worship. One of the things that turns me off at some Protestant churches is that, instead of the altar, what you see is a stage with a band. I think the Catholic spirituality is different than that. The group is more part of the assembly, and the center of focus is the altar. Protestants have preaching at the center of the service, but, in the Catholic Church, the Eucharist is at the center of the Mass.
One reason men (in particular) don't sing is that many songs are written outside of the male vocal range. Although I'm a musician, I have a very narrow range. So I'll transpose these songs down a bit so they're more in the male range. That helps quite a bit. One thing I like in the Mass is the responsorial psalm, the song between the first and second readings. I have the leeway to write music for those psalms, and it's a lot of fun for me. I hope to make these arrangements available for other parishes in the coming year.
Kim: Sometimes we need to transpose music or do it in a different key. A song may be keyed too high for congregational singing. You can't key the music for someone who's an opera singer; you really want to key it for just the average voice, so the average person coming to Mass will want to participate. We'll key it higher or lower, depending on the piece, to make it more friendly.
About 50 people in our parish were interested in being part of a choir that would focus on music education and be a ministry in and of itself. You don't have to have any musical experience whatsoever, but you come to learn to sing, recognizing that this is a gift from the Lord. We rehearse in the church every week. What I was hoping for was that it would be an ecumenical community. We do special Masses and liturgies at Blessed Sacrament, and we've done concerts at nursing homes. We want to bring music centered on the Lord out to the public, as when Pope John Paul II has talked about the idea of being light to the world and, as part of the New Evangelization, bringing the Church into the world.
How do the Masses at your respective parishes differ from one another musically?
Kim: We have four Masses, very different from one another. The 7:30 Mass is a silent or quiet Mass, with no chanting or singing. There's a 9 o'clock Mass with a volunteer choir-ensemble. It's very folk-driven, with guitar, violin and piano, and they'll do things out of Oregon Catholic Press. The 11:30 Mass is much more traditional. There's a schola, which is the Latin word for choir. The person who leads that is a professional singer; she's one of two people who are paid. One week is women's schola, the next, men's schola, the next may be children's schola. The Creed and the Agnus Dei are in Latin. The songs are early English polyphony and classical pieces, but they're for schola and not necessarily for congregational participation. Then there's the 5:45 Mass, which is like the young adult Mass. There are only two guitars, with voices, and most of the music is from Oregon Catholic Press.
Twinings: People refer to our early Mass as “the adult choir” Mass, which left us wondering what we were — the children's choir? The early Mass is very traditional, with an organ, and with the emphasis on a lot of classic anthems. In 1982, when I moved to Bellingham, I joined a folk group at the parish that was started by Paul Orlowski, a singer and composer at Sacred Heart. They had guitars, flutes and voices. I joined and began to play piano for the group. A few years later, I took over as music director for that Mass. It's volunteer now, but at the time, it was a paid position.
What makes a song appropriate for liturgical use?
Kim: Its prayerfulness and its basis in Scripture. For me, it's not about, “I like this style of music better.” It's about theological content and good music written to that. Good liturgy is so important. Latin is so much richer and more concise than English. After the Second Vatican Council, when they were translating all these things from the Vulgate to English, they sometimes came out watered down. Hopefully, that will be tempered in the future. There's a lot of good stuff in the Oregon Catholic Press, but there's newer stuff it doesn't incorporate. To my ear — and I think I speak for a chunk of people in my generation — the OCP seems dated in the sense of what they might consider to be folk or contemporary. It harks back to a generation ago. It's a ’70s and ’80s style of composition and melodic lines, and also from a time of looser theology that's not as tight and rich.
Twinings: Since the Catholic Church is the universal Church, it really must encompass the various cultures on the planet. Obviously there is no one culture, so we've got all these diverse cultures. One way some people connect is through rock music, and I think that's perfectly understandable. That's the music that we grew up with, that is our culture.
When it comes to lyrics, that's a different story. Here we can get into issues where we are saying things in our lyrics that are counter to Church doctrine, and I think it's appropriate for the Church to say, “You cannot say that in a song at Mass.”
Gord Wilson is stationed in Iraq with the Washington National Guard.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Gord Wilson ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Weekly DVD/Video Picks DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:Finally on DVD:
As The Wizard of Oz is the quintessential American fairy tale, Star Wars is the quintessential American mythology.
If The Wizard of Oz is Snow White re-imagined in a land of cornfield scarecrows and sideshow hucksters and repackaged as a Hollywood musical, then Star Wars is The Lord of the Rings re-imagined with saloon shootouts, World War II dogfights and1950s hot rods — and repackaged as a space-opera swash-buckler in the tradition of the Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon stories.
Critics have derided George Lucas's stereotypical characters and situations, his B-movie dialogue, his simplistic morality-play vision of good and evil. Pundits extolling the first three-quarters of the ’70s as the apex of Hollywood sophistication have blasted Lucas for ruining American cinema, turning it away from mature fare like The Godfather, Taxi Driver and Annie Hall toward the romanticism and spectacle of the likes of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park and The Lord of the Rings.
But this is unfair, not to say misguided. To begin with, Lucas's characters and situations aren't so much stereotypical as archetypical — deliberately so, as Lucas consciously drew upon Joseph Campbell's analysis of common patterns and structures in myths and mythic stories in his influential The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Stereotypes work by exploiting popular cultural prejudices and assumptions. For example, Titanic exploited stereotyped notions of the rich as snobbish, repressed twits, of the poor as life-loving free spirits, of passionate love as transcending moral or social rules, and so on.
Archetypes, by contrast, work by connecting with primal or basic categories. Archetypal figures and situations in the Star Wars movies include the hero (Luke Sky-walker), the wise old man (ObiWan Kenobi), the call to adventure, the “belly of the whale” (the heroes are “swallowed” by the Death Star) and so on.
Lucas breathed new life into these familiar patterns by relocating them in a galaxy far, far away — a galaxy of laser swords, landspeeders, remarkably non-anthropomorphic aliens and other super-cool sci-fi conceits. He also played with his mythic patterns; for example, the “rescue of the maiden” motif is modified by making Leia not a helpless maiden in distress but a pistol-packing, take-charge Rebel leader.
What's more, Lucas invented a new vocabulary of action cinema-tography predicated on a breakthrough computer-controlled camera technique.
The Joseph Campbell influence in the Star Wars movies can be seen not only in its mythic archetypes, but also in the vague mysticism of “the Force.” Taken literally, the idea of the Force would clearly imply a pantheistic worldview. The Force is said to be an “energy field” generated by living things and binding the galaxy together. It has a good side and a dark side, and while it's established that the dark side isn't stronger, it's never stated that the good side is stronger either, allowing for the possibility of a yin-yang balance of good and evil.
Yet the films' moral outlook — including the climactic triumph of good over evil, especially in the daring redemptive twist at the end of Jedi — suggests that evil isn't really on an equal footing with good. On a literal level, the Force is make-believe, like the fantasy magic in The Wizard of Oz; taken metaphorically, the Force is a symbol of the unseen, of mystery.
This long-anticipated DVD release of the original Star Wars trilogy is controversial because of Lucas's deeply disappointing decision to release only his most recently tweaked special editions, depriving fans of access to the original versions. But this is unlikely to be permanent. Sometime after next year's release of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, I predict another DVD release of the original trilogy in its original form.
Content advisory: Stylized scifi combat violence and menace.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Steven D. Greydanus ----- KEYWORDS: Arts -------- TITLE: Combat Imposed Death 5 Ways DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:Visit, call or send a cheerful note to someone who is elderly, disabled, lonely, chronically ill or dying.
Support and assist families and other caregivers experiencing compassion fatigue.
Volunteer at a day care or respite care program to allow family members to work or recreate while their loved one is cared for.
Reject the vocabulary of the euthanasia lobby. Read critically and listen to what they say. Become better informed so you can better inform others.
Be a voice for the vulnerable. Watch for pro-death efforts in your state and speak out in defense of life through letters to newspapers and policy makers.
— Barb Ernster
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Barb Ernster ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of life -------- TITLE: He Got Serious With God DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:Priest Profile
He's known for his animated air and quick wit, but Father John Klockeman turns pensive and serious when he recounts the moment he knew God was calling him to the priesthood. He was in Avila, Spain, kneeling in prayer before a painting of St. Teresa of Avila impaled with the love of God by an angel.
True to his calling, today he continues to seek deeper conversion to Christ — not only for himself but also for the people God has placed within the sphere of his ministry.
Born and raised in west St. Paul, Minn., to devout Catholic parents, John Klockeman always loved Mass and always felt a keen awareness of God's presence in his life. But then, just after college, something happened that startled him while at Mass. During the elevation of the Eucharist, he heard a voice that he describes as being outside of himself but also within. It said: That's what I want to do for the rest of my life.
“And I thought, No, I don't! I literally turned around and was like, you're kidding me,” he recalls. “I thought I'd live overseas, have a wife from another country, maybe have some kids. So, when this thought occurred to me at Mass, it just didn't jibe with where I thought my life was going.”
Still, over the next year, he prayed hard — and the thought of the priest-hood never left him. He fought thoughts of being unworthy, but couldn't see himself doing anything else.
“I remember being on a business trip in Peachtree, Georgia, and driving in a taxi to my hotel room and seeing these beautiful homes,” he says. “I thought, I'll never own one of those. It sounds superficial, but it represented a wife and children. But the desire for priest-hood kept growing and growing and overshadowed everything else.”
He left for a pilgrimage in Portugal and Spain with Miles Jesu, an international lay institute, and it was there that he confirmed his calling while praying before the painting of St. Teresa. Upon returning to the United States, he enrolled at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he earned a master's degree in theology. Next, he entered the seminary in St. Paul and was ordained on May 27, 2000.
The first assignment Father Klockeman received after ordination was as the associate pastor to St. Olaf Church in downtown Minneapolis, where 150,000 souls occupy the streets daily — millionaires and mendicants, the brilliant and the mentally ill. It was with this swath of humanity in mind that Father Klockeman embraced the sacramental life of St. Olaf. He saw it as an opportunity to help many experience the joys of Christian conversion.
“There would be like 16 people in line for confession over the noon hour, and that's not counting the people who went up to Ole's Café for lunch, and then would come down later for confession,” he says. “We would easily hear confessions for an hour or two. Every day.” Father Klockeman would remain in the confessional until the last person in line had received the sacrament.
It was at St. Olaf's that he first met Nate and Cathy Clyde. It was immediately apparent to them that Father Klockeman put the needs of his parishioners ahead of his own.
“I remember one morning, we were at daily Mass, and the priest who was supposed to celebrate didn't come for whatever reason,” Cathy says. “Someone was sent to get Father John from the rec-tory. Ten minutes later, out comes Father John in his vestments, ready to celebrate Mass with his hair all matted up to one side.”
Nate interrupts to add, “Even though he had just woken up and had no time to prepare, he gave a great homily.”
When Nate and Cathy's daughter, Theresa Rose, was born, Father Klockeman came to pray over her. Nine months later, when Theresa Rose was hospitalized with a rare form of leukemia, the young priest ran to the hospital to be with the family. He was present when Theresa Rose was confirmed in the pediatric intensive-care unit. Only a few days later, Theresa Rose passed away. But during Father Klockeman's visit that evening, other hurting and spiritually hungry families approached him. And before he left, two more children had been confirmed.
Father Klockeman's zeal for souls and his passionate love for the priesthood have made him a natural fit for his current role: spiritual and formation director at St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul — where 72 young men are now discerning or studying for the priesthood.
Formation Seminar
Earlier this summer, Father Klockeman spent four weeks in Leggiuno, Italy, participating in an international seminar on the integral formation of the Catholic priest. Together with 80 other priests from throughout the world, he was shown how to fully implement Pastores Dabo Vobis, Pope John Paul II's 1992 apostolic exhortation on the formation of priests, now in it's 14th year, the program run by the Legionaries of Christ promotes the authentic renewal of seminaries.
The seminar, he explains, stressed the need to form holy, academic, spiritual young men who are able to “own” their vocation and resist the currents of the surrounding secular culture. And, he adds, it legitimated the work he's been doing with the young men at St. John Vianney.
“They are a real inspiration to me,” says Father Klockeman. “They are in Eucharistic adoration (from) six to seven every morning, Mass every day and adoration again from 9:30 to 10:30 every evening. They have a devotion to Our Lady, the Eucharist, the Mass. They read the lives of the saints, pray the Liturgy of the Hours and live in fraternal Christian life.”
The feeling must be mutual. Father Klockeman spearheads Team Vianney, a group of young men of high-school age who come the first Thursday of every month for pizza and fellowship with Father Klockeman and the young men of the college seminary. It began with two or three seekers and has grown to 75 under Father Klockeman's leadership.
“Father John is in tune with the spiritual life,” says Father Thomas Wilson, vocation director for the seminary. “He is a prayerful, zealous priest, and the kids can sense it.”
And why not? Recalling the days he discerned his priesthood, Father Klockeman remembers: “I said to myself, I will only be a priest if I can be holy.”
It would seem that he is well on his way.
Joy Wambeke writes from St. Paul, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Joy Wambeke ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of life -------- TITLE: Vegetables grow in gardens, not beds DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:ANSWERING ENTHUSIASTS OF EUTHANASIA AND ASSISTED SUICIDE
Mike Gross found himself in a ticklish position. As conservator and guardian of a 76-year-old Alzheimer's patient, he'd been asked before to make decisions about the woman's health-care needs.
But this was different. The client was in the hospital and would not eat. One of the options, an attending physician told Gross, was to “just let her die.”
“I was surprised at this doctor, that it was even an option,” recalls Gross. “It would have been immoral to let her die. I remember thinking, ‘How can this even be legal?’ She was not at any point near death, yet I could have made that decision.”
Which was precisely why he left a long-term career in computer programming and started Guardian Conservator Services, basing it in St. Paul, Minn.
As a Catholic father of nine children, Gross felt called by God to defend people like his Alzheimer's client — whose situation, not incidentally, turned around with a change in her medications.
“What convicted me was that these people really need to be defended, and that is my sole purpose in doing what I'm doing,” says Gross. “Their very life is at a place where they are vulnerable.”
Then, too, it's no longer just the pre-born or the elderly who are in danger, notes Julie Grimstad, who co-founded and directed the now-disbanded Center for the Rights of the Terminally Ill from 1985 to 2003. “We're all in danger when someone else feels our life is not worth living. We really need to understand what's going on in the medical and legal fields,” she says. “Terri Schiavo (the Florida woman whose husband is fighting her parents in court for the right to remove her feeding tubes) probably never expected to be in the situation that she's in, and it can happen to any one of us. She's caught in a legal system where the legal guardian has been changed from one who protects to one who can decide to kill. We must be able to protect our loved ones.”
Early this year, Grimstad, of Stevens Point, Wis., founded the national organization Life is Worth Living, which she named after the late Bishop Fulton J. Sheen's television program. Its members are dedicated to restoring authentic respect for human life through educational efforts and prayer.
“Our main focus is on prayer and changing the culture one person at a time, starting with ourselves,” says Grimstad. “We are trying to promote and explain the Church's teaching, because it has the best teaching and most consistent of anything on this planet.”
Grimstad points out that Pope John Paul II has vigorously upheld that providing food and water, even when ingestion has to be medically assisted, is an ordinary means of preserving life. His declaration last March — an address to participants of the International Congress on “Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas” — was very definitive and welcome, she adds. Yet, even now, “Catholic health facilities defer to ethicists and moral theologians who are saying, ‘Let's study what the Pope is saying,’ and the bishops have yet to agree on this issue.”
Grimstad recalls a 1991 case in which a 30-year-old Texas woman named Terri was shot in the head and doctors deemed it too dangerous to remove the bullets. At the time, most of the Texas bishops had signed a statement approving the withholding of feeding tubes from people in vegetative states, which conflicted with Church teaching. But Terri was not in a vegetative state — she was paralyzed and needed to be fed because she couldn't speak or swallow.
Doctors convinced Terri that they could “keep her comfortable if she wanted them to remove food and water,” and Terri agreed. But Terri's family did not want her to die and contacted Grimstad for help. Grimstad communicated with Terri through a letter board and found that she only wanted to die so she “could go to heaven.” A psychological evaluation also found that Terri was suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. Even after Terri decided to live, the hospital hired an attorney to protect her right to die.
“We got a pro-life attorney to protect her right to live. She lived for 6 1/2 more years, she got to see her son grow up, and she died peacefully in her sleep,” says Grimstad. “Ironically, the doctors would not remove the bullets because they were afraid it would kill her, yet they were willing to kill her by starving her to death. And the legal system claimed she was competent to make a decision to die, but determined she was not competent when she made the decision to live. Those kinds of cases are happening all over the country. People are not able to make decisions for themselves, they do not have an advocate, and they are being starved to death.”
The euthanasia and assisted-suicide movements have not gained ground in legislatures, ballot boxes or the courts since Oregon passed its assisted-suicide law in 1994, according to Rita Marker, executive director of the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide in Stuebenville, Ohio. But “right-todie” attitudes, along with the pressure incapacitated people feel not to be a burden to others, have filtered down into medical and legal communities, clergy and patients.
Dianne Johnson, a radiation and oncology nurse at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, says it's common for patients to feel like a burden to their families. “There's an unspoken feeling that, at some point, there will be no more support, no relationship left, so we might as well kill them,” says Johnson. “One time, a wife of a patient told me, ‘They might as well take me out to the cornfield and do me in because I wouldn't want to be a burden like this.’”
That attitude is very dangerous and should be of great concern, says Marker. “We tend to say that old phrase, ‘I wouldn't want to live like that,’ until we are like that. And then we say, ‘Oops, I've changed my mind.’ There are many ways that many of us would not choose to live, but life isn't always what would want.”
Marker says most people only become aware of these attitudes when they find themselves in a stressful situation where someone close is sick and decisions must be made. And many of them do not have someone to advocate for them. Her organization provides a protective medical-decisions document, an advance directive that can be customized to each state's laws. To obtain a package, call the International Task Force at (800) 958-5678 or visit internationaltaskforce. org on the Internet.
Grimstad recently completed an informational supplement for the Human Life Alliance. Titled “Euthanasia: Imposed Death,” it clarifies many of the legal and medical issues regarding health-care decisions. For it, call the Human Life Alliance at (651) 484-1040 or visit humanlife.org on the Internet.
Barb Ernster writes from Fridley, Minnesota.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Barb Ernster ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of life -------- TITLE: Be Not Afraid to Test God's Generosity DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:Family Matters
When it comes to tithing, I am one of those “average Americans” you have noted who give only 1% of their income to charity. I would like to start tithing the full 10%, but my finances aren't in good shape. I never seem to have enough money to get through the month and am dealing with credit-card debt. How does someone in my situation get to the point of giving 10%?
The fact that you now want to tithe will be a key in finding a way to do so. The tithing journey is one that requires both stepping out in faith and personal responsibility.
Normally, our Lord tells us not to test him. But, when it comes to tithing, he specifically directs us to do so. In Malachi 3:7-10, we read, “Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. … Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and try me in this, says the Lord of hosts: Shall I not open for you the floodgates of heaven, to pour down blessing upon you without measure?”
While some families decide to increase giving immediately to a full tithe, in most cases, I encourage them to take an incremental approach, especially when there are other financial problems as you described. If a family is currently spending 110% of its income, then starts tithing without making any adjustments, they'll find themselves spending 120% of their income — and falling deeper into debt. While we need to trust in our Lord's providence as our Heavenly Father, he expects us to use tools at our disposal to properly manage our finances. Here are some suggestions:
Complete an overall review of your finances to get a better understanding of where you stand. Catholic Answers' Guide to Your Family Finances (available at www. catholic.com) may prove helpful in this process. Your next step will be to create an initial budget, which factors in an increase in your giving from, let's say 1% to 3%, and includes appropriate amounts for debt repayment. Does your new budget balance?
If not, you'll need to come up with cost-saving ideas to implement until it does. Once your initial budget is completed, you'll want to track your expenses to verify that your actual spending is in line with your budget.
Once you have completed these steps, I would encourage you to “test” our Lord by increasing your giving by a percentage point every few months. At the same time, be “working” your budget to keep it balanced. Keep your desire to tithe in prayer and, while it may take a couple of years to reach a full tithe, you'll find that keeping God first in your finances has positive ramifications on many other areas of your life as well. God love you!
Phil Lenahan is director of media and finance at Catholic Answers in El Cajon, California.
----- EXCERPT: ----- EXTENDED BODY: Phil Lenahan ----- KEYWORDS: Culture of life -------- TITLE: Prolife Victories DATE: 09/19/2004 12:00:00 PM CATEGORY: September 19-25, 2004 ----- BODY:Zell Sees the Life
LIFENEWS.COM, Sept. 1 — Democratic Senator Zell Miller has not only crossed party lines to support President Bush, but he has also come to embrace the pro-life position on abortion, breaking with his own past as a pro-abortion governor and senator who actively supported “pro-choice” Bill Clinton for president.
In a recent book, A National Party No More, Miller says the births of his great-grandchildren — and the science and technology that can now show the surprisingly active life of an unborn baby — helped to change his mind.
The Georgia lawmaker was prompted to begin “to seriously wrestle with where I was on the real question. I began to pray earnestly for God's guidance.”
Ethical Stem-Cell Bank
REUTERS, Sept. 2 — A biotech company based in Cape Town, South Africa, has established the first ethical stem-cell bank on the African continent to collect cells from umbilical cord blood, one of the most promising sources of stem cells for research and disease treatment.
The wire service article confuses stem-cell research and cloning, referring to the storage of ethical stem cells as “controversial,” even though the controversy is entirely over the use of embr yos for research.
In its announcement, Lazaron Bio-technologies says stem-cell disease research offers the potential of treating more than 40 different diseases.
India Won't Bow to Naz
INTER PRESS SERVICE, Sept. 2 — The Supreme Court of India has refused to lift a 141-year-old criminal penalty against homosexual behavior.
The court ruling, which upholds India's traditional beliefs on the uses and meaning of sexuality, was handed down in response to a petition brought by the Naz Foundation, a homosexual-activist organization that attempts to legalize homosexual behavior in South Asia.
The Naz Foundation and various United Nations organizations claim that homosexuality is a civil-rights issue, a tactic that has been used effectively in many countries.
The government argued that the law has rarely been used to prosecute homosexuals but is often used to punish sexual abuse of children and to support other laws against rape.
Abortion Protester Vindicated
OPERATIONRESCUE.ORG, Aug. 26 — A year after her violent arrest while protesting against abortion at the Kansas Coliseum, 20-year-old Karen Myers was declared innocent of failing to obey a policeman's order, reported the website of Operation Rescue.
The judge declared that the police officer's order — to move back from the coliseum driveway 100 feet — was unlawful.
Sheriff's deputy Edwin Simpson not only issued an unlawful order to Myers and the other protesters, said the court, but he also inflicted severe injuries on the woman while arresting her and threatening two others if they did not leave the scene.
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