April 26, 1996

Page 1

13 d

VH D 3 mh

^ATHOLIC

News & Herald Volume

Serving Catholics in Western North Carolina in the Diocese of Charlotte

In

Number 30

April 26, 1996

Warns Of

Bishops' Panel

Dangers

5

Genetic Testing

The Committee on Science and Human Values issues a statement addressing the moral issues raised by increased use of genetic testing and its "enormous potential for abuse."

By JERRY FILTEAU WASHINGTON (CNS) — Genetic testing has legitimate uses but poses an

"enormous

potential for abuse," said

the U.S. bishops'

and

Human

Committee on Science

Values.

"Genetic testing raises and will continue to raise moral issues for the individual, for the family, for racial or

The Committee on Science and Values, headed by Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo of Honolulu,

Human

convenes yearly meetings of bishops and scientists. The new statement grew out of their September 1995 meeting and was approved for publication by the bishops' Administrative Committee when it met in March. "Genetic testing is an important tool,

ethnic groups and for society as a whole," it

said in a

1

,500- word statement released

April 23. Just one week earlier two U.S. Marines were court-martialed in Hawaii for refusing to provide blood and tissue samples for the Defense Department's

four-year-old

DNA databank.

Their headline-making case brought

many will suffer if wisdom and sound morality do not guide its use," the

but

statement said. "Clearly, the scientific

community

cannot shoulder the whole burden of bringing ethics to bear," it said. It urged church collaboration with scientists "to harmonize scientific advance with

national attention to

some of the moral and legal issues that genetic testing

religious insight."

poses.

See Genetics, page 13

Chancellor Confirms Commitment During Visit a

ASHEVILLE

— Students,

faculty

and parents at Asheville Catholic School had taken a "snow-check" on Father Mauricio West's first scheduled visit during National Catholic School Week in February. When the diocesan chancellor and vicar general, Father "Mo," finally made it on March 29, Father Frank Cancro, the school's administrator, invited

him

to preside at

a school liturgy, tour the classrooms and

meet with the school board and members of the Parent Faculty Association (PFA) at a noon luncheon. While visiting informally with the students, Father Mo was asked by fourthgrade teacher Lynn Steen whether he ever used basic math in his work. "Of course," he replied. "When I have to make a loan from the diocese, for instance, I have to compute the interest rate." Unwilling to miss such an opportunity, Steen ventured to ask,

'Then, we could make our list right now and you could compute the figures." A leaky roof over the fourth grade classroom has recently ruined a wall map of the state which the students promptly pointed out to him. Not to outdone, Father Mo told Steen: "Order

new map and send me

the bill."

During his homily at the Mass for the student body concelebrated by Father Cancro and Father Andrew Latsko, pastor of St. Margaret Mary in Swannanoa, Father Mo asked the students: "Tell me things about your

Elizabeth Taylor Donates To

AIDS House Of Mercy

school." Again, the leaky roof led to a

By ELIZABETH

litany of to-do' s as well as to-give-

thanks-for's. Eventually the students

mentioned the value of learning about Jesus Christ as a salient feature of their

education

at

an opportunity to discuss school related issues with members of the school board, and members of the PFA. Judy Cavallo, principal of Asheville Catholic School, said that parents

Mo

wanted

to

convey

to

their concerns about the

school's continued existence and growth. "In respect to funding, Cavallo explained,

"we

are unlike the diocesan

schools of the Mecklenburg region. are

we simply

a parochial school.

are an inter-parochial entity

Nor

We

which

depends on the active participation of the parishes throughout the area for our operational revenues." Since most the students now enrolled are from St.

See Chancellor,

next page

MAYBACH

Staff Writer

CHARLOTTE visit to Charlotte,

spired others to

Asheville Catholic.

The noon luncheon gave Father Mo

Father

JOANN KEANE

two-year-old girl peeks around out of the corner of her "house" near Kingston, Jamaica. The child and her family are among the thousands living in destitute poverty on this West Indies island. (See notebook, page 4)

To Asheville School By PAUL FREDETTE

Photo by

A

During a recent

AIDS Foundation that gets support from

Elizabeth Taylor in-

her fragrance sales," Sister Straney said. "She' s very committed to helping those

make

a difference.

Taylor was in the Charlotte area to promote a new fragrance last week. She made a personal appearance to about 900 people at the Eastland Mall Belk store April 19, during which she presented a check to House of Mercy, Inc., a hospice-type organization of the Sisters of Mercy in Belmont that provides care to those who have AIDS. Taylor, long a supporter of AIDS ministries, donated $5,000 and established a matching program that provided another $5,000 each from the Belk Foundation and Elizabeth Arden

AIDS Founwas established in 1992, and gets its funding from activities directed by Taylor. The initial funding came from the sale of wedding photographs from her marriage to Larry Fortensky. Because Taylor underwrites all costs dations

for the foundation,

all

through the foundation to

AIDS

money

organizations. In

years, the

ETAF

raised

given directly

is

its first

two

distributed $2.3 mil-

lion.

Sister Straney said she

began

talk-

ing with Taylor's staff in February. "At

cosmetics.

Mercy

with AIDS." The Elizabeth Taylor

Sister

Margaret Straney,

first, I

didn't

know who it

CEO and president of House of Mercy,

would say was

accepted the $ 1 5 ,000 donation from the three groups. "Elizabeth Taylor has an

See Taylor, page

that

it

was 1

was. All they a celebrity,"


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April 26, 1996 by Catholic News Herald - Issuu